302. Fifteenth Friday of Ordinary Time
Meditations no. 282 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
As a result of original sin we all have a disordered desire for earthly possessions.
Our life on earth is a journey towards love: love of God, and love for all souls, whom we desire to bring to God. But, as a result of original sin, the human will has a disordered tendency towards self-love and towards seeking personal satisfaction in earthly possessions, even in opposition to Godâs most lovable Will.
When this attraction to material things is duly ordered and kept under the control of reason, it is something good in itself, and serves to satisfy the legitimate needs of human nature. Todayâs Gospel shows us this. St Matthew tells us that Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck ears of grain and to eat. But it is commonly the case that, under the guise of such needs, we begin to desire what is not suitable. Therefore we have to be forever on our guard against the tendencies that might separate us from God. This is especially so nowadays, when many people measure happiness in terms of the use and enjoyment of earthly possessions.
Our struggle has a battlefront within us, our Founder wrote: the battlefront of our passions. The vigilant soul wages constant interior war against the occasions of sin, or against anything that weakens faith, corrodes hope, or debases love. Every human being is under severe pressure, ably fostered by the devil, to avoid thinking about eternal destiny. Donât forget that sin - which according to the old theological masters is a turning away from God and a turning towards creatures - begins to creep into the soul precisely through disordered attachments and a tendency to enjoy the good things of this earth, to feed its earthly ambitions to the point of forgetting about God and the end for which it was created. Nowadays there is a universal tendency to centre everything on man. We are living in a materialistic atmosphere which pays no heed to manâs transcendental vocation, and cruelly stifles the freedom of the human person, or at least confuses freedom with permissiveness, while commercializing human passions. It is depressing to see droves of people allowing themselves to be dictated to by a small number of individuals who impose their own dogmas, myths and indeed a whole desacralized ritual.
We need to combat this tendency, with the resources of Christian doctrine, in a persevering and worldwide catechesis âŚ
Bear in mind, my daughters and sons, that the interior struggle cannot be reduced to mere human asceticism. It is the logical consequence of the truths God has revealed about himself, about our human condition and our mission in the world. Without that interior battle, without sharing in our Lordâs Passion, no one can follow the Master. Perhaps that is why we are witnessing this disgraceful stampede. Many people seem to think they can combine a purely worldly lifestyle with following Christ - without the Cross and without suffering. That is not possible without substantially altering our Redeemerâs message, for the disciple is not above his Master; Christâs disciple must be ready to deny himself and lose his life for the salvation of others.
Identifying the symptoms of materialism in our brothers and sisters.
We live in a society that lives for pleasure, and we are surrounded on all sides by materialism. As Pope John Paul the Second has put it: Pervasive materialism imposes its dominion on man today in many different forms and with an aggressiveness that spares no one. The most sacred principles, which were the sure guides for the behaviour of individuals and society, are being hollowed out by false pretences concerning freedom, the sacredness of life, the indissolubility of marriage, the true meaning of human sexuality, and the right attitude towards the material advances that progress has to offer. Many people are now tempted to self-indulgence and consumerism, and human identity is often defined by what one owns.
If we are not careful we too could succumb to this terrible disease, which is incompatible with true Christian living. The unrestrained seeking after enjoyment, and a corresponding flight from anything that entails pain or suffering, is an essential feature of hedonism, and is openly opposed to Christâs teachings. Our Saviour frequently invited his followers to take up the cross daily, and he pronounced blessings upon the poor, the afflicted, the clean of heart and those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.
To resist this pressure, our Father taught us, to continue in sound teaching, in piety and in the apostolate, we need to help one another.
I shall never tire of repeating that in the Work our first apostolate consists in not allowing any vocations to be lost: not letting anyone become lukewarm, comfort-loving or bourgeois. We must help one another with prayer, mortification, work, fraternal correction, and fraternal affection. Alas for any daughter or son of mine who does not realize that someone else is in need of help or is in danger!
I entreat the older ones among you to have a watchful love for one another and for your younger brothers and sisters. My children, help one another to be loyal, because the devil and our passions wonât admit defeat until weâre dead. Look after one another, in all kindness. As you grow older, the devil gets more subtle and pertinacious, determined to destroy your proven fidelity. He wages war against your simple sincerity; he courts your vanity and pride by appealing to your spirit of self-sufficiency; he stirs up your sensuality. For my sake, my children, always be like that âchildlike manâ I wrote and spoke to you about so many years ago. God will reward this blessed watchful charity with the joys of spiritual fruitfulness. Do not forget, my children, that you are the continuity; I place my trust in you. Donât be a disappointment to God, or to the affection your Father has for you.
Support one another, love one another, strengthen one another. Each feels responsible for the vocation of all the others.
Temperance in accordance with our vocation.
To imbue society with the good human and Christian savour it needs, we children of God need to be salt and light of Christ, not allowing any concessions to permissiveness. In other words, we need a refined self-giving, and a joyful, willing renunciation of unnecessary comfort. There must be no room for mean-spirited stinginess. We should offer the Lord the sacrifice of Abel. A sacrifice of young unblemished flesh, the best of the flock; of healthy and holy flesh; a sacrifice of hearts that have one love alone - you, my God. A sacrifice of minds, which have been shaped through deep study and will surrender to your Wisdom; of childlike souls who will think only of pleasing you.
Lord, receive even now this sweet and fragrant sacrifice.
The goal we aim at is a high one: contemplation of the divine essence, a loving dialogue with God himself. St Paul encourages us: Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Notice how many people there are, our Father remarked, who make great sacrifices for merely human, even if quite noble, ends. Their sense of responsibility gives them the strength to abstain from whatever is not suitable and to practise self-denial joyfully.
Our sobriety is not something sad or resentful. We cannot give grudgingly, as if we didnât really want to. As St Augustine puts it: temperance is love which preserves itself whole and incorruptible for God. It is for the sake of love, therefore, that we foster temperance in all its forms. If our heart is still attached to some memory, if our senses wander out of control, if we give in to self-indulgence once in a while, we should ask for Godâs help, and struggle to be more generous. It is only in this way that we will be able, with the help of grace, to bring our tendencies under the control of our will, so that nothing will satisfy us except what is demanded by love - and one of those demands is the need to remain vigilant at all times. Our mind and our affections, freed now from useless attachments, will cling tightly to our Lord and to his Blessed Mother. Our heart, constant in love, will experience the growing joy of those who seek the Lord.
The cardinal virtue of temperance is absolutely vital in the apostolate. It helps us to be prudent and to reach right judgements. It strengthens the will and frees it from earthly ties. It enables us pass on to others the spirit of souls who have fallen in love, souls who are journeying towards their true end, without becoming spellbound by the things along the way. We will give wonderful witness to union with God, to the contemplative life in the middle of the world. Our cell is the street, our Father repeated endlessly. And so in the street (that is, the office, the studio, the university, the laboratory, the factory, or on the land) we must live in constant union with God. That is the only way to bring our environment, the bonus odor Christi, the aroma of Christ, to all walks of life. That is the only way to be temperate in the use of earthly possessions - to practise a smiling asceticism. That is the only way to make our way loved.
With the help of our Lady, the joyful austerity of our life will be an effective stimulus to many others to find and follow our Lord.