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Let me show you a good way to ask
for happiness, even in this world. It is
a way that will oblige God to listen to you.
Say to Him earnestly: either give me so much money that my heart will be
satisfied, or inspire me with such contempt for it that I no longer want
it. Either free me from poverty, or make
it so pleasant for me that I would not exchange it for all the wealth in the
world. Either take away my suffering, or
– which would be to Your greater glory – change it into delight for me, and
instead of causing me affliction, let it become a source of joy. You can take away the burden of my cross, or
You can leave it with me without my feeling its weight. You can extinguish the fire that burns me, or
You can let it burn in such a way that it refreshes me as it did the three
youths in the fiery furnace. I ask for
either one thing or the other. What does
it matter in what way I am happy? If I
am happy through the possession of worldly goods, it is You I have to thank. If I am happy when deprived of them, it gives
You greater glory and my thanks are all the greater.
This is the kind of prayer worthy
of being offered to God by a true Christian.
When you pray in this way, do you know what the effect of your prayers
will be? First, you will be satisfied,
whatever happens; and what else do those who most desire this world's goods
want except to be satisfied? Secondly,
you will not only obtain without fail, one of the two things you have asked
for, but, as a rule, you will obtain both of them.
St. Claude de la
Colombiere, S.J.