Besides our regular time alone with the Lord, what else is necessary for a deep life of prayer?

Living humbly before Him. In this reading, Thomas a Kempis stresses the need to live in the right way. We pray as we live and we live as we pray. We cannot expect the Lord to give Himself to us and to speak words of consolation in prayer if we fail to honour Him during the day.

We read about the importance of asking Christ for things. Even in his lifetime, Our Lord heard and answered prayers made to him. Our Lord spent much time listening and talking to people. Book III teaches us, in the way it is written, that living in conversation, dialogue, with the Lord is absolutely necessary.

Is the human heart content only to hear the prophets speak?

No. Our hearts long to hear God speak to us. Our hearts long to hear the Word of the Lord in the flesh. Thomas a Kempis distinguishes the effects of the words of Moses and the other prophets from the effects of Christ Himself. He alone gives the strength to follow the path of God. Our hearts are restless until they rest in Him.

We begin book III of the Imitation of Christ. We read about the way Christ speaks inwardly in the heart. As we grow in his friendship, we learn to discern the still small voice of the Lord as he speaks through the conscience, the peaceful ideas in our minds, and the gentle movements of our hearts. We begin to know the signs of his peace and joy. All of our self-denial, all of our efforts to deny ourselves, and all our willingness to pick up the Cross have a goal: closer union with Christ. We say No to ourselves in order to say Yes to Christ. His friendship is the great Attraction.

Why is the Cross a Royal road?

Christ walked this road. In this reading, Thomas a Kempis explains why our carrying our own cross is a royal road. A road is royal that a King walks. To walk a royal road is to follow the steps of the king. Christ has shown us the path that leads to his Father in heaven. We must not be afraid to carry our Cross. There is no other road that Christ walked. There is no other road that leads to heaven.

What is the true path to heaven and holiness?

Carrying our Cross. In this final chapter of book II, Thomas a Kempis places before us all the advantages that come from carrying our crosses. He wants us to understand the true glory of sharing in Christ's cross. He wants us to understand that the power of Christ's own Cross enters our lives through the crosses we have to carry.

We read about the fewness of those who actually want to carry the Cross. In particular, Thomas a Kempis points us to the main reason we try to avoid the Cross: our bad self-love. We tend to love ourselves, not with true self-love, not as God loves us, that is, in relation to Christ. But we tend to love ourselves as isolated from Christ.

We read about the importance of gratitude, thanksgiving. The more grateful we are, the more disposed we are to receive more graces from God. Being ungrateful renders us unable to receive graces from God. God wants us to recognize what he has done for us. He wants us to make a response of love for his gifts of love. How? By joining ourselves to the human models of gratitude, Jesus and Mary.

Why does Christ "mix things up," sometimes consoling us and sometimes seemingly withdrawing consolation from us?

To encourage us and to humble us. In this chapter, Thomas a Kempis explains why Christ allows us to go through periods of spiritual dryness, lacking all consolation. He explains why God also gives us comforts, consolations. Thomas a Kempis explains how we are to act in both times. His advice in this chapter is incredibly useful and has been of great influence on later saints, like St Philip and St Ignatius of Loyola. May we profit from this golden chapter!

What does Christ especially offer us?

His friendship. In this reading, Thomas a Kempis describes the advantages that Christ's friendship offers us. He describes the comfort, strength, and peace that we experience from his presence and his voice within us. Thomas a Kempis helps us understand our own experience of turning to outward things apart from the will of God. We seem to lose contact with the Lord. We pull away from being close friends with him. Our love for Christ must lead us to do the will of this greatest of friends. We love nothing with the absolute love we show to Christ. We love Christ in everything by following His will in all we do.