God speaks to us in various ways. While the beauty of nature and the cosmos speak to us of the existence of the Creator Himself, the voice of God can also be heard in things like sermons and instructions, in the lives of the saints, in the advice from those whose task it is to guide us, and hopefully even in the newsletter! But we must also understand the importance of good inspirations and that they come from the Holy Spirit. These inspirations can be a thought or desire or even an impulse which leads us towards God and away from sin.

You might, for example, feel a sudden urge to say the Rosary, to read a little from the Bible or a spiritual book. You may suddenly feel prompted to go to Confession, or you might be moved to do an act of kindness for someone, or to resist a temptation you normally give in to. All of these can be inspirations from God, and they are one of the ordinary means God uses to help us grow in holiness, because every time we follow them, we grow in grace. If we ignore them, they are missed opportunities for spiritual growth and the chance to merit a higher degree of glory in Heaven.

The saints tell us we should act promptly when we receive a good inspiration. It is dangerous to delay. How many times have you thought, “I’ll pray later” and then not done it? Grace is for the present moment, and if God gives you the inspiration now, He wants you to act on it now. If you put it off you risk losing the grace altogether. How many prayers have not been said because we put it off and then we’re too tired to pray at all? Delay is the enemy of fidelity!

There is a story about St Philip Neri (1515-1595), the 16^th century “Apostle of Rome.” One day a young man came to him and admitted that he had ignored a prompting he had received earlier in the week to go to the church and pray, and he had thought it was “just an idea.” St Philip looked at him and said, “My son, that was the Holy Spirit whispering in your heart. You turned Him away. Next time He calls, you must not delay.” So God doesn’t usually speak to us in thunder, lightning or visions. He speaks to us gently through quiet movements of the heart or in thoughts that come into our mind.

We must also understand that not all impulses come from God, but how can we tell the difference? A good inspiration will never contradict the teaching of the Church. Neither will it lead us into sin or cause us to neglect our duties. So the thought to go to Mass in the week, or to be nice to someone who annoys us is clearly an impulse from God, whereas an impulse to break one of the commandments, such as missing Sunday Mass because “it won’t matter this once” is clearly not from God. That would be a temptation. God never inspires us to sin or to abandon our duties.

The above story of St Philip Neri reminds us that God knocks gently at the door of our hearts and will never force His way in. But if you open that door promptly, Christ will enter and bless you. If you dilly dally or ignore Him, the moment will be lost. Our constant and prompt response to these graces will ensure our safe arrival in Heaven.

Fr Paul Gillham, IC