Learn to open the vault

When you read a lot of the stories of the Saint’s lives, there is one theme that seems to come up again and again; most of them didn’t set out to be saints. Many did not even know Christ until He called out to them. And He revealed Himself to them always when they were at their lowest points of self-esteem, when they had seemingly lost it all. At these points in our lives we always look “inward”, towards our souls for guidance, and we should think of our soul as a “bank”, where nothing exists except a love for God.

It seems to me that it is “human” nature that we seek Christ out only as a last resort even though, deep down, our souls are aware that all we need to do to lighten our burdens is to give them to Christ, Who asked us to trust in His mercy. But instead, we ignore our soul’s request that we go to the One who created us in His own image, and pretend that it is we who have power over our own lives. The saints are those who have found the key to “open the vaults” in their souls and give small portions of the total love found there to others.

So how can I find the key to open my soul’s vault? I think the answer is found through silence, prayer, fasting (my hardest obstacle!)and persistence.

Take for example the case of Elijah. (1 Kings 19:9a, 11-16)

Elijah had been faithful to the Lord and all that was requested of him. But now it seemed everyone was out to kill him, because he had been speaking out against the wrongs the Israelites had been doing to God, and he was afraid for his life. Elijah is told to go outside the cave and “listen for the Lord, who will be passing by.” Elijah expects the Lord when the hurricane comes, but He is not there. Then an earthquake occurs, and the Lord is not there. Then a fire! The Lord did not come in any of these spectacular events, as Elijah assumed He would. The Lord finally “whispers” in the silence. I think it is interesting that God doesn’t deliver Elijah from his fears immediately, as Elijah hopes. God actually requires that Elijah show even more love through obedience by confronting those who are out to kill him! And, of course, God does eventually reward Elijah by sending a fiery chariot to lift him to Heaven!

Sometimes we look for God to come into our lives with the blaring of horns and flashing of lights, as Elijah did. Or we look for “signs”. If we would just sit in silence and speak to Him, He will come and speak to us. As Jesus said, (Matthew 6:6) “Go into your inner rooms and pray to your God in private. And the Father who sees all that is private will answer.” Our “inner rooms” could be interpreted two ways that come to my mind right away.

The first is literally. Find a quiet room and pray in earnest. Or (one of my favorites) find a church that offers perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. I have never left the Adoration Chapel feeling anxious or hopeless!

The second is figuratively, and the way I feel the Lord is speaking to me most often. My soul becomes my “inner room”.  When I listen fervently with all my soul and with the only intention of love for God, I will not be denied His presence.