My Prayer Book_LASANCE - the Catholic Kingdom!

186 The Imilath of Christ
'obey Christ in poverty. Hence living the lift of Christ
does not mean always living in Christ's earthly fashion,
but it means living in conformity with the mind and
will of Our Lord, living in union of thought and affection
with Him.
"Bat then how can this be? How can we enter into
this communion with the living Christ? By faith and
by love.
"Faith is, as it were, the hand which lifts theveil which
hides Him from our carnal minds and shows Him to
us that we may gaze and see.
"Love binds us to Him in the bond of understanding
and sympathy. By faith we come to gaze upon Him,
to find Him; love completes the work begun by faith
and makes us one with Him. It is by faith that the
spouse exclaims: 'I will seek Him whom my soul loves.'
Her faith has passed into perfect love when she is able
to say, 'I have found Him, nor will I let Him go.'
-Cantick of Cauticles.
"You have faith, you say, but do you use your faith
to find Christ, to see Him? Faith is but a faculty of
gaining knowledge, but the knowledge of Christ is to
be found in the teaching of the Church, in the lives
of the saints, and in prayer. How much attention do
you pay to the Church's teaching? How often do you
study the lives of the saints? How do you pray?
"If your mind is chiefly, perhaps altogether, wrapt
up in things which do not lead to Christ, how can you
wonder that with all your faith, you do not know Him?
If you prefer to give your attention to the observation
of the world and yourself, you naturally fail to observe
the things which make Christ known to you. And
then there is the love of Christ. It is not enough ro
know Him; He must be loved, too. We must enkr
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