“If you feel that you are sinful and weak, you have a special right to Jesus’ arms because He is the Good Shepherd, who looks for lost sheep and those who are weak and helpless and who can’t keep up with the flock. Allow Jesus to take you upon His shoulders. Allow Him to love. Believe in His love.” (Tadeusz Dacjzer)
Category: Dajczer, Fr. Tadeusz
Faith
April 25, 2001
Blue Journal
“Faith is the acknowledgement of one’s own helplessness and the awaiting of everything from God.” (Fr. Tadeusz Dajczer)
Your dirty hands
I have been reading this every time I’m in adoration these days. I find it quite encouraging, and I hope you do, too.
“During prayer while standing before the Lord, show Him not only your empty hands but also your dirty hands filled with your attachments . . . and pray that He will have mercy on you.” (Fr. Tadeusz Dajczer)
He thirsts for our thirst
From the beginning of , Amazing Nearness, by the author of The Gift of Faith, Fr. Tadeusz Dajczer:
In my daily life, I am constantly getting lost. Yet that means He can constantly find me. The more I need Him, the closer He is. I can ceaselessly discover that in weariness He sought me. This means loving until weary. Because of Original Sin He constantly searches for us to the point of weariness and exhaustion, humanly speaking.
In the Eucharistic encounter, Jesus regularly finds me quite lost. Yet, I am normally lost, needing to be found. So no need for regrets. If I am lost I can only be found in Eucharistic love. He can only find me when I am lost and beginning to search for Him. Love needs two. It is a grace always given to me to seek Him through faith, hope, and love.
Fr. Dajczer is here making a reference to the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman in John 4. “Jesus, wearied as he was with his journey, sat down beside the well.” Augustine points out that Jesus is weary because He is on a journey to seek us each out. He is thirsty for our faith. He knows that we are lost and constantly sets out to find us. If you feel lost today, take heart that He is seeking you and looking for you. Let yourself be found by Him.
All He has to love
His love is burning. . . . His love is immeasurably ardent. It is as if I am all He has to love. (Fr. Tadeusz Dajczer)
“At times it seems I am getting worse”
The beginning of the second chapter of Fr. Tadeusz Dajczer’s book, Amazing Nearness:
I get so disheartened. I am frequently in touch with the Lord, yet I am always falling away from Him. I am always falling in the same old way. At times it seems I am getting worse. Furthermore, it is He who is inviting me to follow and unite with Him. I am not starting it. He is. He is the way; He is lighting the way. He is the grace that leads me on. I know so little about this because He doesn’t want me to know His mysterious operations within me.
I ask how I can avoid getting so disheartened. Yet it is success that should really surprise me. I have to remember that the Lord only enters my heart through the failures that cause my spiritual emptiness. That is where faith comes in. He wants me to be inundated with problems so He can stay with me. Then I will want Him more and more.
I need to be patient with myself. He doesn’t get disheartened with me, so why should I get so upset? He loves me just as I am.
Fr. Dajczer, of course, is not condoning complacency here. We need to, of course, be quick to repent and try to change. But he recognizes that even as we try so hard, there are many times when we still fall. These are the times he is speaking about:
It is often hard for me to be forbearing [with myself], as I want everything immediately so that I am better than others. Yet God is not in a hurry. I am the hasty one with an interior hubbub. This impedes my spiritual progress. My impatience may look like zeal or even righteous indignation. I forget that this can be self-love or greed.
The answer, as always, is full surrender to Him, to His time and His plan. To be patient with ourselves and with Him. ” He wants me to be inundated with problems so He can stay with me. Then I will want Him more and more.”
He seeks until He is weary
From the beginning of a newly published book, Amazing Nearness, by the author of The Gift of Faith, Fr. Tadeusz Dajczer:
In my daily life, I am constantly getting lost. Yet that means He can constantly find me. The more I need Him, the closer He is. I can ceaselessly discover that in weariness He sought me. This means loving until weary. Because of Original Sin He constantly searches for us to the point of weariness and exhaustion, humanly speaking.
In the Eucharistic encounter, Jesus regularly finds me quite lost. Yet, I am normally lost, needing to be found. So no need for regrets. If I am lost I can only be found in Eucharistic love. He can only find me when I am lost and beginning to search for Him. Love needs two. It is a grace always given to me to seek Him through faith, hope, and love.
Fr. Dajczer is here making a reference to the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman in John 4. “Jesus, wearied as he was with his journey, sat down beside the well.” Augustine points out that Jesus is weary because He is on a journey to seek us each out. He is thirsty for our faith. He knows that we are lost and constantly sets out to find us. If you feel lost today, take heart that He is seeking you and looking for you. Let yourself be found by Him.
Making helplessness a prayer
Another dip into my journal, regarding prayer:
If prayer is the acknowledgement of one’s own helplessness and the awaiting of everything from God, then prayer is the existential calling of spiritual poverty and inner emptiness of a person so that the Holy Spirit may fill him with His presence and strength. As one’s faith develops, prayer becomes purer and more ardent. (Fr. Tadusz Dajczer, Gift of Faith)
When you face your helplessness today, do your best to stop and make it a prayer, a turning to God in the very midst of your helplessness, and then await everything from God.
Allow Jesus to love you
If you are surprised or discouraged because of falls, that means that you trusted in your own strength instead of allowing yourself to be carried in Jesus’ arms. . . . ‘What does it matter, dear Jesus, if I fall at each moment?’ writes St. Thérèse: ‘I see my weakness through this and this is a great gain for me [. . .] You can see through this what I can do and now You will be more tempted to carry me in your arms.’
If you feel that you are sinful and weak, you have a special right to Jesus’ arms because He is the Good Shepherd, who looks for lost sheep and those who are weak and helpless and who can’t keep up with the flock. Allow Jesus to take you upon His shoulders. Allow Him to love. Believe in His love. (Fr. Tadeuz Dajczer, Gift of Faith)
Fear is a trial of faith
I mentioned Fr. Dajczer’s book, Gift of Faith, Monday night at the Witnesses to Hope talk. I have previously quoted from his book here, but thought I would give you another “teaser”. As I said, I can’t recommend this book highly enough.
When St. Paul asked Jesus to remove some kind of difficulty from his life, Christ answered him that power is made perfect in weakness (cf. 2 Cor 12.8-9). . . . So how great is the role of your fear in God’s economy? It is there to provoke an act of faith within you. Fear is a trial of faith and that is why God allows it, so that you may grow in faith. Trust and faith are made perfect amidst fears.
Fear can contribute to illness in many people. Fear lies at the basis of neuroses and psychoses. But it can be an outlet to total abandonment to God. Everything depends on you. Fear is a challenge issued to you. What will you do with it? Will you allow yourself to be enslaved by its weight? Or, instead will you try to perform acts of abandoning yourself to Him who is infinite power and infinite love . . . . We cannot rid ourselves of fear as an emotional state, at least not always. Fear, however, can become a factor that deepens our faith, just as each temptation can. (pp. 52-53)
Witnesses to Hope 