The Sacrament of the Present Moment

Is God really “in” all things?

And would it matter if the answer was “yes” or “no”? How?

Jean-Pierre de Caussade was an 18th century French Jesuit preacher, theologian, and spiritual director who thought those questions were quite simply the questions of the spiritual life.

For Caussade, the Presence of God pervades all things. Which means that the will of God pervades all things. And the will of God seeks our good in all situations.

We Can Always Say "Yes"

Which means there is a never a moment of our lives, never a situation, in which we are not presented with the opportunity—like Mary, the Mother of God—to say “yes” to God with our whole being; to assent to the will which leads us by the hand to glory.

Caussade became justly famous for this point of view—which has come to be called “the sacrament of the present moment.”

I’ve been reading his work lately (Abandonment to Divine Providence is where, I think, he most clearly states it) and find it indescribably helpful and hopeful.

Sometimes we think that God is somewhere else for us. And that if we could just change X, Y, and Z about our lives, or—worse—vacate our lives, we’d find happiness.

God Is in the Gritty Details

Such thinking brings us deep sadness. And Caussade knows this. Which is why he tells us: God is not somewhere else. He is right here. In all the gritty details of your life. Inviting you to receive the present moment as a place of communion with him, and with others.

“Here and now” is where God is for you, and I—and nowhere else.

A little excerpt that I hope will encourage you this week:

All creatures that exist are in the hands of God. The action of the creature can only be perceived by the senses, but faith sees in all things the action of the Creator. It believes that in Jesus Christ all things live, and that His divine operation continues to the end of time, embracing the passing moment and the smallest created atom in its hidden life and mysterious action.... There is not a moment in which God does not present Himself to us under the cover of some pain to be endured, of some consolation to be enjoyed, of some duty to be performed. All that takes place within us, around us, or through us, contains and conceals His divine action. (Caussade 1.2.1)

I hope you’ll trust that.

Note: Originally posted on Andrew Arndt's substack on 10/09/2023.