… Now, out of obedience, I want to say a few words on the difference between living resigned to the Divine Will, and living in the Divine Will.
First: living resigned. According to my poor opinion, this means to be resigned to the Divine Will in everything, both in prosperous and in adverse circumstances, seeing in everything the Divine Will, the order of the Divine dispositions which the Divine Will has over all creatures, such that not even one hair can fall from our head if the Lord does not want it so.
It seems to me like a good son, who goes wherever his Father wants, and suffers whatever his Father wants. Poor or rich, it is indifferent to him; he is happy just being what his Father wants. If he receives or asks for an order to go somewhere to carry out some business, he goes only because his Father wanted it so. But in the meantime, he has to take some refreshment, stop to rest, have some food, deal with people; therefore he has to put much from his own will, even though he goes because his Father wanted it. However, in many things he finds himself in the circumstance of doing them by himself; so it may happen that he is far away from his Father for days, for months, without receiving specification of the Will of his Father in all things.
Therefore, for one who lives resigned to the Divine Will, it is almost impossible not to mix his own will with It. He will be a good son; however, he will not have the thoughts, the words and the life of his Father fully portrayed within himself, in everything. In fact, since he has to go, return, follow and deal with people, love is already broken — because only a continuous union makes love grow, and it never breaks — and the current of the Will of the Father is not in continuous communication with the current of the will of the son. During those intervals the son may get used to doing his own will. However, I believe that this is the first step toward sanctity.
Second: Living in the Divine Will. I would like the hand of my Jesus to write this. Ah, He alone could say all the Beauty, the Goodness and the Sanctity of Living in the Divine Will! I am not capable; I have many concepts in my mind, but I lack the words. My Jesus, pour Yourself into my word, and I will say what I can.
Living in the Divine Will means being inseparable, doing nothing by oneself, because in the face of the Divine Will one feels incapable of anything. He does not ask for orders, nor does he receive them, because he feels incapable of going by himself. So he says: “If You want me to do this, let us do it together, and if You want me to go, let us go together.” Therefore, he does all that his Father does. If the Father thinks, he makes the thoughts of the Father his own, and does not add one thought to those of his Father. If the Father looks, if He speaks, if He works, if He walks, if He suffers, if He loves, he too looks at what the Father is looking at; he repeats the words of the Father; he works with the hands of the Father; he walks with the feet of the Father; he suffers the same pains of the Father, and he loves with the Love of the Father. He lives inside his Father, not outside of Him; therefore, he is the reflection and the perfect portrait of his Father — which is not, for the one who lives only resigned. It is impossible to find this son without his Father, nor the Father without him; and not only externally, but all his interior is as though interwoven with the interior of the Father — transformed, dissolved completely, completely, in God.
Oh, the rapid and sublime flights of this child in the Divine Will! This Divine Will is immense; in every instant It circulates within everyone; It gives life and order to everything. And the soul, wandering within this Immensity, flies to all, helps all, loves all, but as Jesus Himself helps and loves — which cannot be done by one who lives only resigned.
Therefore, one who lives in the Divine Will finds it impossible to do things by himself; even more, he feels nausea for his human works, though holy, because in the Divine Will all things, even the smallest ones, take on a different look. They acquire Nobility, Splendor, Divine Sanctity, Divine Power and Beauty; they multiply to infinity, and in one instant one does everything. And after he has done everything, he says: “I have done nothing — Jesus did. And this is all my contentment: that, miserable as I am, Jesus gave me the honor to keep me in the Divine Will, to let me do what He Himself has done.’ Therefore, the enemy cannot bother this child — whether he has done well or badly, little or much — because Jesus Himself did everything, and he together with Jesus. He is the most peaceful one; he is not subject to anxiety; he loves no one and loves everyone — but divinely. One can say that he is the repeater of the Life of Jesus, the organ of His Voice, the heartbeat of His Heart, the sea of His Graces. …