BY THOMAS A KEMPIS Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur, 1941 ------Book 3------ CHAPTER 17: THAT ALL SOLICITUDE MUST BE PLACED IN GOD SON, suffer Me to do with thee what I will; I know what is expedient for thee. Thou thinkest as man; thou judgest in many things as human affection suggesteth. Lord, what Thou sayest is true. Greater is Thy care for me than all the care I can take of myself. For at too great a hazard doth he stand who casteth not his whole care on Thee. Lord, provided that my will remain true and firm towards Thee, do with me whatsoever it shall please Thee. For it cannot but be good, whatever Thou shalt do with me. 2. If thou wilt have me to be in darkness; be Thou blessed; and if Thou wilt have me to be in light, be Thou again blessed; if Thou vouchsafe to comfort me, be Thou blessed; and if it be Thy will I should be afflicted, be Thou still equally blessed.   3. Son, thus must thou stand affected, if thou desire to walk with Me. Thou must be as ready to suffer as to rejoice; thou must be as glad to be  poor and needy, as to be full and rich. 4. Lord,  I will suffer willingly for Thee whatsoever Thou art pleased should befall me.   I am willing, indifferently to receive from Thy hand good and evil, sweet and bitter, joy and sorrow, and to give Thee thanks for all that happeneth to me. Keep me from all sin, and I will fear neither death nor Hell. So that Thou cast me not off forever, nor blot me out of the book of life, what tribulation soever befalleth me shall not hurt me. PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS. To preserve peace in time of trouble, our will must remain firm in God, and be ever directed towards Him-----that is, we should be disposed to receive all things from the hand of God, from His justice, and from His bounty, with humble submission to His blessed will. Good and evil, health and sickness, prosperity and adversity, consolation and dryness, temptation and tranquillity, interior sweetness. trials and chastisements, all should be received by the soul with humility, patience, and resignation, as coming to us by the appointment of God. This is the only means of finding peace in the midst of great troubles and adversities. PRAYER. GRANT, O God, that I may rely entirely on Thy power and goodness. Thou canst and wilt assist me: this shall be my support and confidence in the midst of the most grievous afflictions. Keep me from sin, and I am content to suffer all things else. When assailed by violent temptations, and as it were, in the midst of the shadow of death, I will place my trust in Thee, and fear no evil, because Thou wilt be with me. All I ask, O God, is that my trials may be as pleasing to Thee as they are painful to me, that by patient endurance they may become to me the way of penance, and conduct me to salvation. Amen. Contact Us HOME----------------------------------CATHOLIC CLASSICS www.catholictradition.org/Classics/christ4-17.htm