He Leadeth Me: An Extraordinary Testament of Faith

by Walter J. Ciszek

So I learned by trial and error that if I wanted to preserve my interior peace and joy, I had to have constant recourse to prayer, to the eyes of

I had to have constant recourse to prayer, to the eyes of faith, to a humility that could make me aware of how little my own efforts meant and how dependent I was upon God’s grace even for prayer and faith itself.

faith, to a humility that could make me aware of how little my own efforts meant and how dependent I was upon God’s grace...

It is much easier to see the redemptive role of pain and suffering in God’s plan if you are not actually undergoing pain and suffering.

It was only by struggling with such feelings, however, that growth occurred. Each victory over discouragement gave an increase in spiritual courage; every success, however fleeting, in finding the hand of God behind all things, made it easier to recapture the sense of his purpose in a new day of seemingly senseless work and hardship and suffering.

because in them one saw God’s will accomplished in an otherwise frustrating life, the great work of salvation promoted.

You see in it a putting on of Christ in the true sense of the word.

paid little attention to concrete results. The most important thing was to keep the flame of zeal burning. Hence the constant need of daily prayer, the constant efforts to see in the pain and suffering of each day a true work of redemption, a true sharing in the saving acts of Christ.

For the actual conversion of people required much prayer, much persevering trust in God, many trials and sacrifices.

Whatever he inspired or commanded became paramount, not the human effort or the wisdom or the work resulting from personal initiative.

Each day, every day of our lives, God presents to us the people and opportunities upon which he expects us to act. He expects no more of us, but he will accept nothing less of us; and we fail in our promise and commitment if we do not see in the situations of every moment of every day his divine will.

Every moment of every man’s life is precious in God’s sight, and none must be wasted through doubt and discouragement.

The work of the kingdom, the work of laboring and suffering with Christ, is no more spectacular for the most part than the routine of daily living.

Spiritual freedom of this sort, as I knew from bitter experience, is not something that can be attained overnight or ever be possessed in its final form. Every new day, every new hour of every day, every new circumstance and situation, every new act is a new opportunity to exercise and grow in this freedom.

What is required for growth is an attitude of acceptance and openness to the will of God,

God’s grace demands the total transformation of man, for man belongs to God. Only in faith, only by a change of heart, can a man enter the kingdom of God.

That is the source of our ultimate peace and security—God’s providence—

but we must learn to accept him on faith, to seek

his will in all things and follow it, to place our confidence and trust completely in him. Once we have done that, we must live in that spirit daily in all we do, in all we say, in all we think. And living in that manner, whateve...

Our primary responsibility, then, the main object of all our efforts, must be the tra...

of our hearts and o...

Insofar as we succeed at this, we promote the spreading of God’s kingdom, for by doing this, we are at the same time disposing ourselves to help others and contribute even further to the spreading of the kingdom. What this means in the concrete is th...

The circumstances and people that God each day presents to us through his providence offer us the opportunity to perform action after action in...

in whatever we do, we must always seek first the kingdom of God.

That is, all of our actions of every day must be accepted as from God and referred back to him,

We know that we do not always respond to God’s grace, for his grace always demands of us sacrifice, renunciation of self-will, effort, and an untiring spirit of dedication—and the practice of these things does not come easily to the young, or the tired adult, or the old. Yet that is what the kingdom of God is all about.

it up well, for humility is nothing more or less than knowing our place before God.

Can there be anything more consoling than to look at a burden, or a humiliation, not just as it is in itself but as the will of God entrusted to you at that moment?

No matter how badly the humble man fails, he will reckon his accounts with God and start over again, for his humility tells him of his total dependence on God.

That’s what humility means—learning to accept disappointments and even defeat as God-sent, learning to persevere and carry on with peace of heart and confidence in God,