It is not easy to give a definition of the Presence of God. Nor is it easy to give a definition of one’s presence before God. But we can manage to clarify these two states: God in my presence and I in the presence of God.

God is always present to me as Creator, Providence and Father. Everything is present to God, nothing escapes him, neither in my being, nor in my thoughts, nor in my activities, nor in my imaginations, nor in my dreams, nor in my feelings. All my volitions are known to Him; He detects everything, He knows everything, He sees everything. His eye is constantly on me. Nothing surprises Him, nothing repels Him. He is slow to anger and faithful to his alliances.

The presence of God is to center ourselves, to listen to the Lord who dwells in us. It is to listen to the Lord who speaks in us through our conscience.

To have the presence of God in oneself is to refer to Him constantly, at all times, in joy as well as in sorrow. God’s presence within us keeps us in the beautiful, the good and the true.

Let us remember that God is as present to me as the word is to my mouth. If we were convinced of this, our thoughts would be more serene, less anxious, our hearts would be peaceful.

Let us allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by his love, his goodness, his mercy and his trust. We are the temple of his presence and we must be worthy of it since God is in each one of us. Let him show through our attitudes, through the quality of our spiritual life, through our welcome, our listening so that the people we meet can detect Him in us.

Jonquière, the Volunteer Team