Page 25 - Nurturing the Nurturer 2018 Flip Page Program

heartfelt prayer of someone upright works very powerfully” (James 5:16). What goes
for prayers goes also for virtuous actions and sufferings.

United to the Vine

Second, there is our union with Jesus. This is closely related to the first factor, but
it is less formal and more relational. It’s a question of being aware of our union with
Christ. We are members of his mystical body, and so he is always with us. The more
conscious we are of this union, the more meritorious all of our actions become. When
we are working on a project with another person, the beneficial synergy happens more
fully and dramatically if we are in constant contact with that person along the whole
process. Our project as
Christians is to build up Christ’s Kingdom in our hearts and in the world around us. If
we try to do the work on our own and then check in with the Lord at the end of the day,
that’s good. But it’s much better if we work side-by-side with him throughout every
phase of the project. This is the spiritual discipline of living in the presence of God, and
it turns even the most mundane tasks into meaningful encounters with God. If I am
habitually living and
working aware of Christ’s presence in my heart, then saying the words “Lord, I offer
this up to you” resonates deeply in my soul, opening up a wider flow of God’s grace
(merit) through that offering. St. Paul encouraged the Christians of Colossae to practice
this
spiritual discipline: “…Whatever you say or do, let it be in the name of the Lord Jesus,
in thanksgiving to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17).

To Want or Not to Want…

Third, there is our purity of intention. We can “offer up” our sufferings, using them
to gain merit, for many different reasons: because we don’t want to go to hell; because
we want more glory in heaven; because we want our sufferings to win graces for others
who are in need; because we want to show God that we love him no matter what, even if
he permits suffering in our lives; because we want to conform our lives more perfectly
to Christ… The same variety of reasons can be present in our prayers and virtuous
actions. We can obey because we don’t want to be punished, or because we recognize
that the virtue of obedience is pleasing to God and glorifies his wisdom; we can exhaust
ourselves to earn a decent living because we are afraid of being labeled a failure, or
because we recognize that God has given us a mission to provide for a family and
thereby be a mirror of the Father’s goodness… The default setting for our interior
intention is usually self-centered. But with God’s help and constant effort on our part,
we can make it more and more mission-centered, Kingdom-centered, Christ-centered.
Of course, usually we have more than one intention, e.g. we work for the satisfaction of
a job well done, but also to benefit the world around us and to make a living, and also to
glorify God. Multiple intentions are natural and normal – human beings are complex
creatures. But the more we can consciously renew our supernatural intention, stirring up
the reasons for doing things that are based on the wisdom of our faith, the bigger
pipeline of grace we can become. This factor applies even to the littlest things we do, as
St Paul makes clear: “Whatever you eat, then, or drink, and whatever else you do, do it
all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

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