Be Satisfied with Me

I want to share a prayer that was written by St. Anthony of Padua. It is simply striking. And while applicable to everyone, it is especially pertinent, I believe, for the faithful who are single and who are potentially seeking a loved one, one to whom they can eventually give of themselves.

It’s every little girl’s dream to find her prince charming, her forever mate, her partner for life, even at an age as young as five or six, simultaneously not realizing that God is precisely that partner in all of our lives.

I wish to share this prayer, and encourage you to pray it aloud; you’ll hear how powerful, how beautiful, how sincere this prayer sounds, especially given the time in which it was written (as far back as the 13th century!).

From St. Anthony of Padua:

Be Satisfied with Me

Everyone longs to give themselves completely to someone, To have a deep soul relationship with another, To be loved thoroughly and exclusively.

But to a Christian, God says, “No, not until you are satisfied, Fulfilled and content with being loved by Me alone, With giving yourself totally and unreservedly to Me. With having an intensely personal and unique relationship with Me alone.

Discovering that only in Me is your satisfaction to be found, Will you be capable of the perfect human relationship, That I have planned for you. You will never be united to another Until you are united with Me. Exclusive of anyone or anything else. Exclusive of any other desires or longings. I want you to stop planning, to stop wishing, and allow Me to give you The most thrilling plan existing . . . one you cannot imagine. I want you to have the best. Please allow Me to bring it to you.

You just keep watching Me, expecting the greatest things. Keep experiencing the satisfaction that I am. Keep listening and learning the things that I tell you. Just wait, that’s all. Don’t be anxious, don’t worry Don’t look around at things others have gotten Or that I have given them Don’t look around at the things you think you want, Just keep looking off and away up to Me, Or you’ll miss what I want to show you. And then, when you’re ready, I’ll surprise you with a love Far more wonderful than you could dream of.

You see, until you are ready, and until the one I have for you is ready, I am working even at this moment To have both of you ready at the same time. Until you are both satisfied exclusively with Me And the life I prepared for you, You won’t be able to experience the love that exemplified your relationship with Me. And this is perfect love.

And dear one, I want you to have this most wonderful love, I want you to see in the flesh a picture of your relationship with Me. And to enjoy materially and concretely the everlasting union of beauty, perfection and love that I offer you with Myself. Know that I love you utterly. I AM God. Believe it and be satisfied

AMEN

I get chills every time I encounter this prayer. I am awed by its authenticity. Just like everything that comes from God, it is so loving. It brings our frailties to the surface; we doubt God’s ability to catch us when we fall, we think we’ve lost it all when we lose a relationship or fall short of an expectation set for ourselves or others. But God is the essence of relationship; He is the Founder of relationship, our eternal love. He is ours for eternity, should we choose Him.

Many of us are blind to this beautiful reality. Most of us certainly don't think about this on a daily basis, as we probably should. However, eternity starts now. Eternity for you and your soul began at the moment of your conception. The beginning of the future of your eternity starts today, in this very moment. We are eternal beings.

Yet, we are so short-sighted. We idolize our plans, become lost in the swirl of to-do’s and what-if’s. We worry how our plans will turn out, how we’ll convince others to love us, how big our house will be in five years or how much money we’ll have in the future. We want to control. We want to control many of our relationships, and we want things from other people. We want to feel satisfied from other people in multiple capacities.

But God tells us that satisfaction is only found in Him. When you think about it, that has to be the case. There's no other way. Or else, what would we be working for? What would be the purpose of Heaven? If human satisfaction and the temporal gems of this world were the only thing that satisfied, Heaven would be worth nothing.

Heaven is an eternal state of God's unconditional and love. And what that looks like---no one can exactly know. But that's because our only perception of living and eternity is the temporal world in which we live. This is such a formative time in our journey of eternity, where we experience God's love in tangible ways, which He wishes to bring to us at the end of time when He reunites our bodies and our souls together in Heaven.

But the goodness of God is so rich and so loving, that He gives us a glimpse of that here. St. Anthony’s prayer says:

“I want you to see in the flesh a picture of your relationship with Me. And to enjoy materially and concretely the everlasting union of beauty, perfection and love that I offer you with Myself.”

And what’s incredible: this perfect union of our souls in Heaven united to God is reflected in the sacrament of marriage here on Earth. This sacramental bond, fortified by God, is one of the most raw, authentic, and comparable insights as to what Heaven is: perfect union with another. Heaven is perfect union with God for eternity. God’s love is so abundant, that He gives us such a beautiful reflection of that here in the temporal world, in this temporary and physical space, where we can express love in so many different ways, preparing us for our eternal destiny. We are able to express that with our own physical beings even in this lowly world: in the ways we speak to each other, in the words we say, in the ways we look at each other and the ways we serve one another with our hands and our feet. It is an absolutely perfect image. And to think that God designed this and to think that He is the Founder of this love, the Founder of this unity and its many beautiful intricacies, is simply marvelous.

It can only make sense that He would pick the perfect partner for each and every one of us. It can only make sense that He would craft us so perfectly. It can only make sense that He would create two people to be joined together to mimic His love and His unity with all creation. It is a direct reflection of His love.

We must not forget: this perfect union with Him is offered to us each and every moment, but we can only receive Him if we give Him access to our hearts. We constantly forget that we can receive the satisfaction that comes from Him every single moment. Yet, we live as if enclosed in a hardened sphere created by us, blocking out God's love, blocking out the unconditional satisfaction offered to us each and every moment. We need to invite the Spirit to melt away the barriers we have built, to permeate any kind of wall erected from fear. Then, we can be freed.

We build these walls because of our fears and uncertainties, namely the fear of joining ourselves completely to God. But it is only through surrender and vulnerability with Him that we find fulfillment. When we try to carry everything that is in the deepest depths of our hearts by ourselves, without any help from God or others, we realize the impossibility of such a task. Until we let God in and give God access, we will be burdened.

God simply wants our hearts. Sometimes, we imagine God as a dictator, but He gives us free will to do even those things that harm us. He lets us build those barriers, fortifying the walls against Him, even though it breaks His heart, because He knows He is being pushed away. All He wants is access; He wants to gently draw out those painful daggers from within, but only to soothe us and relieve us.

Many of us are afraid to sit in silence for more than about three minutes. We feel a need to fill the void with music or podcasts or TV or other noise. We are afraid of all that which we know God could uncover in the silence. Yet, ironically, silence is the Spirit’s friend; God speaks in whispers, not in thunder. He hungers for those silent moments, just to reach us, His dear children. He is waiting for us every single moment. While we choose to ignore Him, He loves us still, unconditionally and perfectly.

Imagine if you ignored your spouse, significant other or even one of your best friends for a long period of time. There’s a good chance those relationships would fizzle. Likewise, our relationship with God could follow a similar path, but only from our end. Regardless of our actions, He is still so deeply, madly in love with us. He still wants to access the deepest parts of our hearts. He allows us to mimic that kind of intimacy between two people in His sacrament of marriage.

This prayer by St. Anthony of Padua reminds us of our primary relationship with the Founder of love. And who more perfect to trust than the Creator of such love. He knows all of the intricacies of this design, He knows how to fortify the structures of relationship. He designed us and all those we love. All He wants is to hold us through it all.

If we give Him access, there is nothing we can lose. He will not steal our hearts from us. He will not steal our desires or dreams. He Himself he placed them on our hearts!

There is no way we can go about this life suppressing these deep desires and aches without His healing. This prayer is an incredible reminder for us in that effort. This prayer is a practical tool, written so simply and so authentically, perfect for even our modern times.

I know that I will be praying these words, especially in times of strife or in times of impatience and struggle. But I pray that all can benefit from this prayer, because it is so strikingly relevant and beautiful. I pray that God bless us all in our in our journeys, ultimately towards Him, abiding in His love.

Amen.