Union with God

When we love someone, we want to be united to him or her at all times.

The more we are united to God, the more we will become like him. Union with God involves being one with him in mind, heart and will at all times. We never want to be separated from God or do anything that is contrary to his will. This union involves different aspects.

The first aspect is to be recollected, still and present to God who is always present to us. Stress, anxiety and distractions are obstacles to our communion with God. We live in a culture that is filled with noise, information, and distractions. This makes it difficult to be truly present to God.  At the same time, our culture tells us that we need to be busy and "productive," so we are made to feel like we have to always be "doing" something, accomplishing some task, or else we feel like we are being unproductive or wasting time. This emphasis on "doing" rather than "being" makes it hard for us to be relaxed, recollected and be one with God.  

We know that in the Biblical passage of Mary and Martha, Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to him speak, while Martha was running around trying to get things done and even complaining to Jesus to tell Mary to help her.  But Jesus replies to the contrary:

"Martha, Martha, you are worried and anxious about many things, there is need of only one thing, Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her" (Lk 10:38-42).  

Jesus tells Martha and us that resting at his feet and being attentive to him is the one thing necessary - everything else is secondary. In other words, our communion and oneness with God is more essential than getting things done.

In fact, Jesus tells us, "I am the vine and you are the branches, he who abides in me and I in him will bear much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing" (Jn 15:5). If we are not connected to God then whatever we do has less meaning, value and potential to contribute to the building of the Kingdom of God. Conversely, if we are one with Jesus, then he will live and work in us and through us producing much fruit for the Kingdom of God.       

    Another aspect, besides being collected and quiet, is the desire and intention to be one with God at all times. St. Catherine of Siena asked God the Father how she can grow in purity and perfection. The Father tells her: "Unite yourself to me with loving affection..."  God the Father goes on to explain that since he is the source of all holiness and purity, we can become holy and perfect only to the extent that we are united  to him. This intention of uniting ourselves to God is to be done with "loving affection," that is with the tenderness of a child who loves his Father and does not ever want to part or disappoint him.  

In other words, this desire to unite ourselves to God is called prayer. In prayer, we lift up our minds and our hearts to God.  We take time out to be with the Lord, to spend time with him, to speak to him and to hear him speak to us. This is how we get to  know anyone and to grow in our relationship with them, is to be with them and converse with them.

It follows then that this union includes seeking and doing God's will, that is whatever is pleasing to the Father. As we unite ourselves to the Lord, we also conform our will to his will, and seek to please God in all that we do. It is this oneness that God desires, and the more we join with this desire and work at it, the more graces he will shower upon us to assist us in our endeavor.

Not only Mary, but Jesus is also our model when it comes to doing God's will. We are also called to imitate Christ, who came not to do his own will but the will of the Father who sent him. Christ also tells us, "Whoever does the will of the Father is a brother and mother to me." And, "Blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it."  When we conform ourselves to God's will, we will be blessed with more graces so as to unite even closer to him.

Mary, like Jesus, represents perfect union with God. The Annunciation shows that Mary must have been recollected in order to hear and converse with the angel Gabriel. The Bible tells us that Mary frequently meditated on the actions of God in her life, that she "pondered all these things in her heart." It is safe to say that Mary was a contemplative, that is, she was quiet and collected and was in constant communion with the Lord. Mary had the disposition necessary to be in union with God. She also had the desire to be one with the Lord and to do his will. In fact, we can say that Mary always performed God's will perfectly.

As children of Mary, we need to imitate our mother and cultivate this oneness with God. An essential aspect to this oneness is to live in the present moment. Often we are reliving the past or speculating about the future, so much so that we fail to live in the present moment. At each moment God is giving us the grace only for that moment. If we are not present and receptive, then we miss out on the grace of the present moment, and can never get it back. Often God is present to us and giving us his gifts, but we are not present to receive them.  

Mindfulness is currently very popular in the secular world, and has its roots in Buddhism. The goal is to cultivate being aware of the present moment. Mindfulness exercises involve focusing one's attention on one's surroundings through the senses and on one's breath and the sensation in the body. These exercises help one to be fully aware of the present moment and be able to identify thoughts and feelings that come, and to let them pass without getting caught up in them.

But mindfulness, in general, does not go further to focus on God. For Catholics, and all Christians, we know that the Holy Spirit is our breath and our life, and that the three Persons of the Holy Trinity dwells within us. So we can practice meditation or mindfulness with the focus on being present to the Lord and uniting ourselves to him and conforming ourselves to his will.

The more we strive to be one with God, the more he will lavish us with graces to unite ourselves to him more and more.