The Greater Glory of God
Fr. Lionel Gamache, SMM
The Greater Glory of God
IN His Agony in the Garden of Olives, Our Lord saw in detail the physical torture that He would soon undergo. His flesh rebelled. He was frightened. He could escape it all if He chose. But He chose to follow His Father’s plan. ”Thy will be done.”
Those words He had taught us in the ”Our Father”. Every day and hundreds of times a day, we are encouraged to repeat; ”Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. In heaven God’s will is done. The angels and saints join in that continual outburst of praise described by St. John in the Apocalypse: ”To Him who sits upon the Throne, and to the Lamb, praise and glory and power forever and ever” (Apoc. V, 13) .
”The Heavens Proclaim . . .” And God’s will is done on earth too,
sometimes. The skies and the stars, the winds and the rain and the snow and lightning and thunder all silently sing that same hymn of praise. By their very existence they manifest the goodness and excellence of God. They continually render to God external glory. That is why God created them. The final goal of any creature is to increase the external glory of God.
But Man . . .
The glory of God is also the primary purpose of our existence. We were not but into this world to be doctors, or priests or carpenters’ helpers. We were placed on this earth primarily to glorify God, to sing His praises . . not after we die . . . but in riding the subway, and filling out forms in triplicate, and weeding the garden and caring for the sick.
Creatures of God who possess intelligence and will cannot be expected to glorify Him like the oceans and the sea. They must do more than simply testify, by their existence, to His omnipotence and goodness. God demands that we know, love and serve Him. The glory that we render to God must result from the clear knowledge that we possess of Him. That glory is a song of praise that constantly bursts from our loving hearts.
Many of our people accomplish this purpose in their lives by an habitual intention of living out: ”God made me to know Him, to love Him, and so serve Him in this world. . . .” But it is often a hit-and-miss job. That habitual intention does not influence them at all times and in everything that they do. They too often forget. Catching trains, raising a family, competing in an unscrupulous business world is mighty distracting. They become selfish and instead of loving and serving God, they wind up loving and serving themselves. Instead of rendering honor and glory to God in every breath that they take, they are soon seeking their own honor and glory.
The glory of God is also the primary purpose of our existence. We were not but into this world to be doctors, or priests or carpenters’ helpers. Rather, we were placed on this earth primarily to glorify God, to sing His praises . . not after we die . . . but in riding the subway, and filling out forms in triplicate, and weeding the garden and caring for the sick.
We encourage all readers to listen to this Spiritual Insight audio: Live for the Greater Glory of God
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Montfort’s Remedy
Seeking God’s glory is then the first principle of spiritual life. How can a man improve in the observance of this important principle? Obviously, it is by seeking a means of identifying his will with God’s, in every thought, word and deed.
Holy Slavery is that means, first of all, because it forces the slave to renew his intention of glorifying God in all things, as St. Paul admonished us: ”Whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all to the glory of God” (I Cor. 10, 31). An habitual intention, to exert any influence upon an action needs revivifying. The slave of Mary is encouraged to renew his consecration daily . . . even many times a day. He is instructed to adopt Mary’s intentions in all that he does, to depend upon her suggestions, to beg her help, to ask her permission, to do all his actions by, with, in and for Mary. This alone makes an individual more conscious of his obligation to seek God’s glory in all things.
But Holy Slavery does more. It is an excellent means of procuring not only God’s glory in all things, but His greater glory . ”Greater” is the comparative. It supposes a choice of one among various alternatives. Needless to say, however, that these various alternative means must be good, free from any taint of sin.
In a sense, then, we can say that when someone chooses to do his actions for the ”greater” glory of God, he is far advanced on the road to perfection. According to St. Ignatius’ ”Spiritual Exercises,” someone who is continually disposed to seek God’s greater glory is practicing the Third Degree of Humility. This is the highest degree of sanctity attainable as far as our personal efforts are concerned.
Mary, Mold of Christ
St. Ignatius tells us that someone in this state of perfection always selects the action that will make him more closely resemble Christ. The choice of that which makes us most closely resemble Christ, necessarily gives more glory to God.
The slave of Mary, by virtue of his consecration surrenders himself completely to Our Lady in order to resemble Christ more closely. He pours himself completely by submission to her will into this very mold designed by God to give us Christ. And this submissive pouring of oneself is not done once, forever. This surrender is renewed at least by an habitual disposition in every action that he performs. His psychology becomes Christ-like, true. And Mary with her grace fashions his soul to such a point that he resembles Christ as much as that is possible. Thus Holy Slavery is an excellent means of procuring God’s glory because it forms the slave into ”another Christ”.
The Slave of Mary, by Virtue of his Consecration Surrenders Himself Completely . . . to Resemble Christ More Closely
Of course, in a concrete situation, seeking the greater glory of God will often depend upon a slave’s judgment. If he has a choice, one day, between saying his rosary or reading his missal at Mass, and wishes to do that which will give greater glory to God, his personal decision will be involved.
As a slave of Mary, he should present his problem to her. Normally, Mary’s answer to this question – an answer that she will give by the voice of conscience and by the inspiration of grace – will be crystal clear. Yet, he can still easily make a mistake in his choice of that which will render more glory to God.
Sometimes he may imagine that Our Lady says : ”Yes,” when her answer is ”No”. But his mistakes in seeking the greater glory will not be too serious. If he is continually docile to her inspirations he can be certain that habitually he will be acting not only subjectively but objectively also according to her desires and intentions.
Application of Spiritual Value
St. Louis de Montfort wrote: ”This devotion, faithfully practiced, is an excellent means of making sure that the value of all our good works shall be employed for the greater glory of God” (T.D. 151) .
For the sake of clarity we should distinguish here between the action itself and the spiritual value that accrues from it. Thus far, we have been describing the action itself. In the fourth motive of the True Devotion, Montfort speaks only of the spiritual value of that action.
A slave of Mary can be mistaken in his choice of the action that will give God greater glory. For instance, I can wonder in what will give God greater glory on a steaming hot July morning meditating in the chapel or in the cool shade of a maple. That may be difficult to decide. I could make the wrong choice.
But, as a slave of Mary, I have given to Our Lady the spiritual value of all my actions, to dispose of as she sees fit. Therefore, no matter what decision I take, the spiritual value derived from, let’s say that meditation, will always be applied to the greater glory of God.
Holy Slavery Gives Me the Assurance … My Actions will Certainly be Applied to the Greater Glory of God
Holy Slavery gives me the assurance that at least the disposing of the value of my actions will certainly be applied to the greater glory of God. ”Our Blessed Lady, to whom we cede the value and merit of our good works, knows most perfectly where the greater glory of God is to be found; and in as-much as she never does anything except for the greater glory of God, a perfect servant of that good Mistress . . . may say with the hardiest assurance that the value of all his actions, thoughts and words is employed for the greater glory of God.. . .” (ibid. )
This should be a heartening consolation for someone who has been trying to live out; ”Thy will be done.” Pretty hard at times to decide which will give God greater glory! If only we were Christ Who said: ”My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me .. .” (Jo. 4, 34) .
Holy Slavery makes us continually unite our will with Our Lady’s and she has but one wish; To do the will of God. A faithful slave of Mary is sure that at least the value of all that he does is always used exactly according to the Divine Plan, for the greater glory of God.
