Remove All Obstacles

When we remove all obstacles to his presence he will come, at any hour and moment, to dwell spiritually in our hearts.
                                                –St. Charles Borromeo

Elizabeth Scalia, aka The Anchoress, posted the following advent meditation on the above quote.

All obstacles; what can they be?

Ask the question and people’s first answers will always be: “my sinfulness, my stubbornness…”

But the obstacles we place before His Majesty don’t always have to be what we would consider our negatives. Other obstacles to his presence might be the pride we take in our housekeeping, or our work; our beloved “principles” and our studied “opinions.” Other obstacles might even be our families, or our love of country – any love that is so passionate that it supersedes all else, and perhaps comes before Him.

Obstacles are the things we cling to so much, out of love, that they take up the room He requires to bring the fullness of His divine, pure and unfathomable Presence into us.

We must love. Love is a good thing. But there must be just enough detachment in our love as to let God move within us, freely and unimpeded, forward to our very core. He will use every inch of our hearts, every inch of our minds, every inch of our souls; His Majesty will expand them and enlarge them as He wills–and always to our benefit–if only we will first give Him some room.

And then, when our beings are enlarged, and permeated with Him, our love for all things, including those which we hold most dear, will be all the sweeter to us–and that much deeper–but never in a manner the least idolatrous.

 The Anchoress blog is wonderful - everyone should read it!