Day 2: The Way of Love

Catholic Classics

Ascension

Spiritual Writings, Father Jacob Bertrand, Faith, Father Gregory Pine, Intro To The Devout Life, Catholic Spirituality, Fr. Bertrand, Meditation, Catholic Faith, Education, Christianity, Dominicans, Catholic, Spiritual Life, Religion & Spirituality, Fr Gregory, Francis Desales, Catholic Classics, Self-improvement, Devout Life, Classic Text, Introduction To The Devout Life, Catholic Church, Intro To Devout Life, Fr Gregory Pine, Classic Texts, Fr Jacob Bertrand, Mystics, St Francis De Sales, Fr Jacob, Spirituality, Prayer, Ascension, Saints, Fr. Pine, Spiritual Reading, Catholicism, Catholic Spiritual Reading

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🗓️ 9 June 2026

⏱️ 21 minutes

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Summary

Holiness is not about completing a checklist—it’s about love. Fr. Gregory and Rebecca explain what it means to act “purely for the love of God" and how we can foster the interior confidence that God is always present to us, loving us in and through all the moments of our lives. Today, we are reading Part 1: Second Conversation.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm Rebecca Docherty. And I'm Father Gregory Pine. And you're listening to The Catholic
0:04.3	Classics podcast, where we seek to grow our interior lives by learning from the church's
0:08.6	greatest saints and teachers. Each season will read through a great work, explain its spiritual
0:13.4	principles, and help you apply its timeless wisdom to your life. The Catholic Classics podcast
0:17.9	is brought to you by Ascension. This season, we are reading Ascension's exclusive translation of practice of the presence of God by Brother Lawrence.
0:26.0	This is Day 2. Today we will be reading Part 1, Second Conversation.
0:30.7	A few reminders before we get started.
0:33.1	To get your own copy of Ascension's edition of Practice of the Presence of God, go to ascensionpress.com slash presence. Before we get into the reading, a quick look at what we're
0:43.0	covering today. Today we'll read the second conversation, the beginning of part one, where
0:48.5	Brother Lawrence talks about acting out of pure love of God. He says all that we must do is to love and take joy in God.
0:57.5	Let's get started. Second conversation, September 28th, 1666. My only rule of life has been love.
1:08.6	This has been my only interest without concern as to whether I would be
1:12.5	damned or saved. And I found great benefit in doing all that I do for the love of God.
1:18.9	If I can lift a straw from the ground because I loved God, seeking none but him, nothing else,
1:24.6	not even his gifts, then I am content. Such conduct obliges God to grant the soul
1:31.2	infinite graces. However, when we receive the fruit of such graces, that is the love that springs from
1:38.2	them, one must reject their sweetness, reminding ourselves, all this is not God. For by faith, we know that he is
1:46.2	infinitely greater and wholly other than what we feel. When we do this, our souls engage in a kind
1:52.7	of marvelous combat with God. God gives, and the soul denies that what it receives is God.
1:59.6	In such combat, the soul is by faith as strong and even
2:03.4	stronger than God. For no matter how much he gives, the soul can continually deny that he is what he
2:10.2	gives. Existy and rapture are nothing more than the mark of a soul that lingers over the gift instead of
	...

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