Word of God: Mark 10:45
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Insight from the Founders
Libermann was imbued with a deep conviction: God acts in life and in events through his Spirit. This discreet yet real presence gives sacred value to even the smallest details of existence. In every situation, he recognized the Holy Spirit as the One who animates, strengthens, directs, and guides, inviting each person to walk with confidence in the path God desires.
His way of life reflected this faith. Libermann advanced from one event to the next without seeking to anticipate the future or control the unfolding of circumstances. He allowed himself to be led with total trust, welcoming God day by day in the most concrete realities of his life. His inner rule was simple: never go faster than the Holy Spirit leads. He found God in the present moment, in the specific event he was living, and to which he surrendered himself fully.
Libermann passed on this inner attitude to Fr. Tisserant, who was too eager to act. He urged him to slow down and let God open the way:
“I wish you to wait and take no action for the moment; I would like to consider this for a while before the Good Lord… By rushing too much, one runs the risk of spoiling something, whereas by consulting God for a time, one can only gain. I fully realize that taking steps can be useful and move things forward, but in a work as great and as holy as this one, everything must rest on God” (ND I, 667–669).
What he recommends to Tisserant, Libermann first applies to himself. His way of conducting affairs is marked by a demanding inner discipline: “I have made it a rule to wait, in all things, for the moments of Providence” (LS III, 371).
It is therefore not surprising that many of his letters echo this same call to trusting patience, to surrender without agitation or self‑will. He writes: “Do not torment yourself because you cannot do what you desire; do not force things, but wait for the divine will” (LS I, 126).
Reflection
Libermann views events, people, and things through the lens of faith. For him, God acts in life and reveals himself through the most ordinary circumstances. Libermann’s God is a God who gives signs within concrete history; in this, he remains deeply the son of a rabbi, familiar with the ways in which God guided his people. Rooted in this biblical mindset, he knows that God is the God of History. Since the Incarnation, our history has become God’s history: it is within human lives that his plan of love unfolds.
It was at the heart of his trials that Libermann’s unique way of interpreting life took shape. The difficulties he faced—illness, humiliations, apparent failures, long periods of waiting—became for him privileged moments in which he experienced God’s action. The way he lived through the decisive moments of his life reveals a journey deeply marked by welcoming the Spirit in events. He discovered that God cannot be scheduled or confined: one must wait for his Hour, in peace and patience, remaining attentive to his “moments.” Moving too quickly, becoming agitated, or trying to force things amounts, in his view, to cutting oneself off from the action of the Spirit. He therefore invites us to set aside haste and anxiety and let God lead.
Libermann does not seek God in the extraordinary, but in the ordinary fabric of life. His conviction is simple and radical: God speaks through events. Thus, his whole life is marked by a confident waiting: he forces nothing, rushes nothing, does not rely on his own strength, but waits for God’s Hour, convinced that Providence always opens a way. This way of standing in God’s present nourishes within him a peaceful trust—the fruit of his total docility to the Spirit who reveals himself in the concrete realities of life.
Questions for reflection
- In which concrete moments of my life — joyful, ordinary, or difficult — can I recognise today the discreet yet unmistakable presence of the Spirit who guides me?
- What forms of haste, anxiety, or desire for control am I being invited to release, so that I may learn, like Libermann, to wait for God’s Hour with peace and trust?
Prayer
Lord God, we give you thanks for your active and working presence at the heart of our lives.
Teach us to recognise your ‘moments’ in the events that shape us,
Deliver us from restlessness, impatience and the need to control everything.
Grant us the inner peace that enables us to wait for your Hour, and trust in your Providence.
May we, like Libermann, know how to live in the present with a willing heart, docile to your Spirit, open to your work, and ready to walk humbly in the rhythm you mark out for us.
Amen.
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