186. Second Saturday of Ordinary Time
Meditations no. 69 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
Mortification: a way of overcoming the disorder of sin and drawing closer to God.
To redeem us from original sin and our personal sins, God chose the path of suffering. When Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come ⌠he entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
Christâs death has made superabundant satisfaction to God for all our sins. But every day we experience in ourselves the disorder brought about by sin. As St Paul expresses it, there is in my members another law at war with the law of my mind. As long as we are on earth, this disorder calls for a vigilant and determined daily struggle on our part, if we want to live a supernatural life and fill our hearts with the love of God. Only if we are serious about keeping up our spirit of mortification can we attain this new life, for if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.
Mortification is our weapon for remedying the havoc which is wrought in our nature by sin. By keeping the body subject to the soul, we allow grace, which is what unites the soul to God, to restore the harmony which sin is always attempting to destroy. Moreover, mortification ensures that there are the right conditions for us to raise our eyes to God. Without a generous spirit of mortification, it is difficult to relate to Christ in a vital, intimate way, or to have a calm and joyful awareness of Godâs presence. Unless you mortify yourself, you will never be a prayerful soul.
The divine dialogue which God invites us to take part in requires a spirit of habitual mortification. One day this conversation will flow effortlessly in the vision of the Blessed Trinity, but here on earth we must guard our hearts and our senses in order to keep alive our hunger for divine things. St John Cassian says that if we want our prayer to reach beyond the skies, we should free our minds of all earthly attachments and all burden of sin, so that they can rise straight to God.
We cannot let our conversation with God falter through love of comfort or through distractions. We must fight to keep our dialogue with Christ alive, and this means trying to ensure that our self-giving is more and more generous and complete. St Irenaeus writes: There were offerings under the old law and there are offerings now: offerings made then by the people, offerings made now by the Church. It is only the particular character of the offerings that has been changed; formerly they were made by slaves, now they are made by free men ⌠Thus, under the old law they consecrated a tithe of their possessions, whereas those who have received their liberty, set aside all they have for the Lordâs use, and it is because they hope to receive greater blessings that they cheerfully and freely surrender more than a minimum.
Habitual mortifications.
Be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Every rebirth in our life, every renewal in God, is necessarily conditional on our dying to ourselves. St Ignatius of Antioch writes that unless it is our choice to die, through Christ, unto his Passion, his life is not in us. But if we do renounce all the âoldâ things that remain in us, Christâs life and love will be able to fill our soul. As our Father recommends, let us resolve to use the necessary means in order to empty ourselves, to deny ourselves, to forget about ourselves, in novitate sensus (with a renewal of our mind), taking on a new life, exchanging our wretchedness for all the hidden greatness of God.
The small customary mortifications are the best way of forgetting about ourselves and denying ourselves. Each one of us can find these mortifications in our work, in the way we do the Norms, and in our relationships with others. Mortifications lead and encourage us to do what God asks of us: to love him through deeds, small deeds.
For God, the most pleasing mortification is that which makes life more agreeable for the others, and which is never a source of mortification for them. We should tell ourselves: âIâm going to put myself out a bit to make the divine path of the others more lovable.â This spirit should show itself in countless small aspects of daily life. We should take a sincere interest in those who share our life, quietly helping them - preferably without their noticing it - through our example, our conversation, and our affection.
We must also be generous in looking after the material needs of the house, which is an excellent way of helping to make life pleasant for others. When these tasks are done lovingly, they cease to be material, for they are also a means of sanctification, and of praising God and doing apostolate.
And this shows itself in countless small ways, our Founder says, such as putting furniture back in its place; or closing the windows when common sense requires it. Thinking of the climate in certain countries, our Father goes on to mention: in winter, when dusk comes, closing the shutters so as not to waste the heat from the radiators; in summer when the sun is strong, closing them so that the upholstery wonât fade. Or checking to make sure the heating is working, and if it isnât, letting the right person know. In a word, it means caring for the details that make a house a home, and doing so in a natural way. This is not an obsession, or something that stunts our spirit. Rather, it requires strength of will so that we persevere in these little things, and continually take care of small details out of love for Jesus Christ and affection for others. All these little things that we do to ensure that everything is ordered, clean, agreeable and comfortable, require constant mortification, a mortification that doesnât kill or exhaust anyone, but that flows from charity and affection; a mortification that helps the others to be saints.
A spirit of mortification, and customary mortifications.
Mortification must take root in our soul, and become a firm, stable habit. A person who makes great sacrifices one day but fails to mortify himself the next does not have a spirit of penance. A person who has a true spirit of penance overcomes himself every day, without fuss, offering God thousands of small things.
A list of small mortifications is often a very good way of helping us fulfil this Norm for always and stay alert in our dedication. Commenting on one of the points of the examination of conscience in the Brief Circle, our Father said: Practise habitual mortifications, but donât let them become an obsession. They neednât always be the same ones. What should be constant and habitual is your spirit of mortification. If this inner disposition were absent, there would be little value in merely doing the same things again and again. They would be lacking that true self-denial and love, which are what give meaning to our actions. Such deeds would then be empty and useless, and indeed quite compatible with the absence of any real spirit of mortification. For that reason it is sometimes useful to leave out one of the mortifications we usually do, so as not to deform our conscience. That way, we wonât allow any scruples in matters that fall outside the sphere of strict obligation; and we wonât become trapped in the mere letter of the law while forgetting the need to die to ourselves.
A true spirit of penance will prevent our interior life from becoming stereotyped and rigid. At the same time it will make us very sensitive to opportunities for mortification and renunciation.
The problem, or rather the solution to the problem, lies in loving. At the beginning of our spiritual way, our Father says, we have to do things more methodically. But later on it is different. What resolutions did my mother make to love me? None. She just loved me. Love is instinctive, though in loving you do have to use both head and heart. Holiness has the flexibility of relaxed muscles. While doing one thing that is a mortification, we stop doing something else that is also a mortification, so long as this involves no offence to God, thanking him for that particular comfort. Otherwise we would become stiff and lifeless, like a wooden doll. Holiness is not stiff and wooden. It is flexible; it can smile, it can give way, it can wait. It is life, supernatural life.
Now is the moment to ask ourselves how we practise small mortifications, and to see whether any routine or carelessness might have crept in. Let us ask our Lady to help us to be more generous in our small mortifications.