11. Second Wednesday of Advent
Meditations no. 11 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
Getting rid of our old self, so that Christâs life may develop fully in us.
I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. Our Lord is coming to bring us supernatural Life, which is a spring of water welling up to eternal life. This living water is sanctifying grace; it enables us to share in the intimate Life of the Blessed Trinity even here on earth.
In opposition to this divine Life, the wretched life of the worldly man rears up. His eyes are full of material projects, his heart is set on things of dust; he tends to act for mean and despicable ends. This is hardly life; rather it is the beginning of death. For, as St Augustine says, in this world, although all seem alive, some are alive and others are dead. A life of attachment to earthly things is a great hindrance, stunting our supernatural growth. We are flesh: That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and ends in death and corruption.
We must rid ourselves of all that, if we want to be united to Christ. Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life, says St Paul. And our Founder reminds us that being with Jesus means we shall most certainly come upon his Cross. When we abandon ourselves in Godâs hands, he frequently permits us to taste sorrow, loneliness, opposition, slander, defamation, ridicule, coming both from within and from outside. This is because he wants to mould us into his own image and likeness.
As Jesus said clearly to Nicodemus, and as he repeats to each of us: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God. It is not a question of acquiring certain natural virtues, or of keeping up certain pious practices. God asks us for a complete and radical transformation. He asks us to purify all our faculties so that Christâs life may grow to maturity within us. Then we will be able to say with the Apostle: It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
We must decide to nourish in our souls the one noble ambition that matters, the only one that is truly worthwhile: to get close to Jesus, as his Blessed Mother and the Holy Patriarch St Joseph did, with longing hearts and self-denial, without neglect of any kind. We will share in the joy of being Godâs friends ⌠and we will thank him for teaching us so clearly and tenderly how to fulfil the will of Our Father who dwells in heaven.
Interior purification is needed in order to achieve this.
There are only two possible ways of living on this earth: either we live a supernatural life, or else an animal life. And a child of God in the Work can only live the life of God, a supernatural life. Such supernatural or divine life requires us to mortify the other life that divorces itself from God in order to tend towards creatures. If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.
Holiness is forged by earnest and constant interior mortification. We cannot forget that the roots of the other life which is opposed to God will accompany us as long as we are on earth, and will be forever seeking to cause us trouble. They derive from the triple concupiscence, which is a relic of original sin, an inclination which is not eradicated by Baptism. To these weaknesses is added the harm caused to the faculties of the soul by our own personal sins.
Mortification in small, specific things should be something as natural as our heartbeat. I donât notice my heart beating just now, but it is working, it is beating, and woe to me, the day it stops! I say the same to you. In spiritual terms the life of the heart, the pulse, is the effort we make to mortify ourselves all the time.
We should realize, however, that it isnât always easy to accept what goes against the old self. And so, to overcome the wrongful tendencies we still have within us, we must never stop purifying our inner selves.
We need especially to mortify our imagination and memory. Thereby we succeed in ridding our mind of whatever could lessen our dedication, whatever is unrelated to or opposed to our path. During these days of Advent, therefore, let us try to achieve greater interior purity. That will enable us to receive Christ with a clean mind, in which there is nothing that is not his.
That witty remark, the joke held on the tip of your tongue; the cheerful smile for those who annoy you; that silence when youâre unjustly accused; your friendly conversation with people you find boring and tactless; the daily effort to overlook one irritating detail or another in the people who live with you⌠all this, with perseverance, is indeed solid interior mortification.
Love should move us to purify our minds of everything not belonging to God, thus preparing ourselves for contemplation.
The interior mortification that purifies the soul is not a merely negative undertaking. Nor should it be aimed at things on the borderline of sin. On the contrary, its proper territory is the love of God, because it consists in depriving ourselves of things which it would be quite licit for us to have. The purpose of interior mortification is not merely to avoid offending God, but rather to love him always.
Love for God, therefore, is the driving force of interior mortification, which purifies our minds of anything not leading to him. Such mortification should be aimed, first of all, at freeing our minds of memories opposed to our way, which can attack us while we are working or even while we pray. We should reject them promptly, but without getting anxious, focusing once more on the divine tasks we are engaged in.
Like our memory, our imagination can also disturb us, weaving fantastic tales and all sorts of stories, which are at best a waste of time. Here as well we must react quickly and calmly get back to our work.
However, interior purification is not limited to emptying our minds of useless thoughts. Mortifying our faculties opens the way to the full contemplative life that is part and parcel of our vocation. When we have silenced the base and worldly demands of the old self, we are ready to begin an intimate, uninterrupted conversation with Jesus Christ. Here the imagination can help contemplation, and the memory can remind us of the good things God has done for us. I will remember thy wonders of old, the Psalm says. These memories of Godâs wonders will fire our hearts with gratitude and make our love burn more ardently.
As a reward for our efforts to unite ourselves to him through mortification and interior purification, God grants rich apostolic results. If we are identified with Christ through our sharing in the Cross, we will obtain abundant Life, for ourselves and for a great many souls.
Like the grain of wheat, my children, we need to die to be fruitful. You and I donât want to remain alone. We want to multiply our family and leave a furrow that is bright and deep. Therefore, we must leave that poor animal man behind and launch out into the fields of the spirit, giving a supernatural purpose to all human affairs and, at the same time, to the people engaged in them.
Through the intercession of Mary most pure, let us ask God, in the words of the liturgy, that we may not become discouraged by our weaknesses, as we await the healing power of Christ your Son.