Readings for the Second Sunday of Advent.

The Word came in the desert. God’s Word and Grace come in what feels like the desert of everyday life. The present moment "is like a desert in which the soul sees only God in whom it delights. And it is occupied only about those things that he requires of it, leaving and forgetting all else, and abandoning it to Providence."  This is the teaching of Jean-Pierre De Caussade, a French Jesuit and mystic. He teaches us to be faithful to the will of God here and now. We do so by carrying out our duties. Caussade calls this “active faithfulness.” We could describe our duties as being faithful to our commitments. God's will for us in the moment is to be faithful to the Gospel, our baptismal vows, our marriage vows, to our families and friends, to our jobs and any groups to which we may belong.

These duties occupy the bulk of our time.  Whether these duties are raising children, cleaning the house, or getting a project for work done, they are opportunities to surrender to God. Caussade asks if life is “not made up of numerous, unimportant little actions? Well, God is quite satisfied with these.” The little choices we make every day to do what is required of us are the choices we can make with loving surrender to God.

Then, there are the things that happen to us. They may be hard or annoying. They may be interruptions or happenstances. Life never fails to remind us we are in in charge. All of us experience pain, frustration, disappointment, or discomfort. Caussade invites us to surrender to God amidst these experiences by bearing them with patience. He calls this “passive faithfulness.”  He says, “it consists only of accepting what most frequently cannot be avoided, and in bearing with love, consolation, and sweetness what we too often endure with weariness and irritation.”

Normal Christian duty requires us to alleviate suffering when we can. Therefore, surrendering to God in our crosses does not mean we become so resigned to suffering that we never seek to change it. We do not simply give up if we are suffering and do nothing about it. We need discernment. There is pain we can alleviate, and then there’s pain we can do nothing about, even if for the moment. Here, Caussade recommends submission to God in the events we have no control over.

Even more, God calls on us to respond actively to the divine will by following the inspirations the Spirit sends us. We follow the attraction of grace. We may think these are extraordinary, but they are, quite common. For instance, you are at home, and your phone rings. It's your friend who talks too much in your opinion. You know that if you pick up it is an hour-long conversation at least, and you want to watch something on television. Still, there is something in you that says, "pick up." So, you follow that little suggestion, and it turns out your friend needed to talk because his wife just passed. Caussade teaches us to follow these inspirations, which always come to us in the present moment. We know these “nudges of grace” come the Holy Spirit if peace arises in our souls and the inspiration does not conflict with faithfulness to our duties. An everyday act of love happens through everyday inspiration.

Caussade is clear. The “state of surrender” requires letting go of past and future: “I am content with the present moment. I think of nothing beyond that.” In this state, “The treasure is offered to us at every moment, in every place.” The treasure is the mercy and love of God found in the desert of the present moment by inner silence, fulfilling our duties, bearing some trial, or following an inspiration.