Our Dominant Passion
1. Among the passions which disturb us, there is one predominant
tendency which is our particular weakness. Perhaps we are not aware what
it is, but those who have to live with us know it well. It is essential
for us to know it also in order to make it a special objective in our
spiritual combat.
This information may be obtained by praying earnestly to the Holy Spirit
to enlighten us to know ourselves, by making a daily examination of
conscience, and by seeking the advice of our confessor, of our spiritual
director, and of any sincere friend. It is our predominant passion
which most often leads us into sin. It recurs in all our confessions and
we have great difficulty in overcoming it. The predominant passion of
Cain was envy, which he failed to combat in time, so that eventually it
caused him to commit fratricide. Lust was the predominant passion of
Mary Magdalen and of St. Augustine and until they managed to control it,
it led them into many grave errors. It was because the Apostle Judas
neglected to struggle against his own avarice that he became a traitor.
There are others who are inordinately proud and ambitious, and still
others who are governed by a craving for pleasure.
What is your
predominant passion? You must know what it is in order to combat it
determinedly, for otherwise it will lead you into one sin after another
until you are eternally ruined.
2. Holy and God-fearing people
know their own particular weakness. They accept it as a cross and will
not rest until they have conquered it with God's help. The battle cannot
be won in a day, but in most cases takes a great many years. Often the
ultimate victory is not gained until the hour of death.
It has
been said that self-love dies three days after ourselves. We are
enormously attached to our own ego, and humility is a very difficult
virtue to acquire. Sometimes we have struggled for years to gain it and,
quite suddenly, we meet with another disastrous fall. It would be easy
to be overcome by discouragement at this stage, but this should not be
allowed to happen. When we fall we should say to God in our repentance:
“It is good for me to be humbled.” To ourselves we should say
immediately: “Let us begin all over again!”
St. Francis de
Sales was endowed by nature with a sharp and hasty temperament, against
which he fought for many years with great determination and reliance on
God's help. Finally, he conquered and came to be regarded as an angel of
peace. Nevertheless, even in the later years of his life, he still
experienced inward tendencies towards anger, so that his exterior
gentleness was really a supreme act of virtue.
3. We can conquer our predominant passion by the following means:
(a) Fervent prayer.
(b) A daily examination of conscience, in the course of which we shall
discover whether we have made any progress in the way of perfection, and
shall renew our good resolutions.
(c) Weekly or at least fortnightly confession.
(d) Daily or at least frequent communion.
(e) Avoidance of the occasions of sin and employment of the necessary means to overcome sin.
(f) The performance of good actions which are opposed to our predominant passion.
(g) Determination to fight and to conquer, because we are convinced that it is absolutely necessary to do so.
There can be no half-measures, for the only alternative to victory is
defeat. If we are conquered, we shall be slaves of passion in this life
and shall be everlastingly unhappy in the next.
Showing posts with label passions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label passions. Show all posts
Sunday, 20 July 2014
Friday, 18 July 2014
Our Passions - Cardinal Bacci
Our Passions
1. Our passions are not essentially sinful. They can open the way to evil, but they can also lead us towards perfection. Everything depends on how we control and direct them. They are impulses which are at the same time valuable and dangerous.
Human nature was wounded as a result of original sin. The soul was disobedient to God, and the lower faculties rebelled against right reason. Hence the disturbance of our passions. What should our attitude be in regard to this problem? Should we suppress or obliterate our passions, as some of the Stoics would have done? It is, in fact, impossible to do this, for our passions are innate natural forces which cannot be destroyed. What we should do is guide and control them. If the dykes are burst, a strongly flowing river can cause havoc, but if its course is wisely directed it irrigates the soil and makes it fertile. It is the same with our natural inclinations, which “can be used to form a saint, but can also make a brigand.” (Cordovani, Breviario Spirituale, p. 66)
A man with a fiery and aggressive temperament can use his natural impulses under God's guidance to combat vice in himself and in others. One who is haughty and ambitious by nature can convert his ambition into a quest for the true and lasting glory of Heaven. Finally, a passionate man who feels the need to love and to be loved can find a partial remedy in Christian friendship. Most of all, however, he can find repose in the love of God.
2. It is a hard thing to control and to direct our natural inclinations. It requires perseverance, sacrifice, and the grace of God, for which we should always pray.
Often this struggle will last a lifetime, and we can still fall even after many years of combat. It is important, however, never to give up. If a man accepts defeat and quietly submits to the tyranny of sinful passion, he is lost forever. It is a poor outlook also for a Christian who ends up by being satisfied with a life of worthless mediocrity. We must fight hard, pray fervently, and value nothing higher than the love of Christ. When we are finally victorious, our joy will be greater than any happiness which the world can give.
3. Let us be vigilant in the control of our passions. As soon as they tempt us to do anything contrary to right reason and the divine law, let us renew our resolutions and implore the help of God. “O God,” let us pray, “I wish to love You above all things. I wish neither to contemplate nor intend nor do anything which could offend You in any way.” This is the only way in which we shall find peace and an easy conscience for, as “The Imitation of Christ” says, “whenever a man desireth any thing inordinately, straightaway he is disquieted within himself.” (Imit. of Christ, Bk. 1, c. 6) “It is by resisting the passions,” it continues, “and not by serving them, that true peace of heart is to be found.” (Ibid.)
1. Our passions are not essentially sinful. They can open the way to evil, but they can also lead us towards perfection. Everything depends on how we control and direct them. They are impulses which are at the same time valuable and dangerous.
Human nature was wounded as a result of original sin. The soul was disobedient to God, and the lower faculties rebelled against right reason. Hence the disturbance of our passions. What should our attitude be in regard to this problem? Should we suppress or obliterate our passions, as some of the Stoics would have done? It is, in fact, impossible to do this, for our passions are innate natural forces which cannot be destroyed. What we should do is guide and control them. If the dykes are burst, a strongly flowing river can cause havoc, but if its course is wisely directed it irrigates the soil and makes it fertile. It is the same with our natural inclinations, which “can be used to form a saint, but can also make a brigand.” (Cordovani, Breviario Spirituale, p. 66)
A man with a fiery and aggressive temperament can use his natural impulses under God's guidance to combat vice in himself and in others. One who is haughty and ambitious by nature can convert his ambition into a quest for the true and lasting glory of Heaven. Finally, a passionate man who feels the need to love and to be loved can find a partial remedy in Christian friendship. Most of all, however, he can find repose in the love of God.
2. It is a hard thing to control and to direct our natural inclinations. It requires perseverance, sacrifice, and the grace of God, for which we should always pray.
Often this struggle will last a lifetime, and we can still fall even after many years of combat. It is important, however, never to give up. If a man accepts defeat and quietly submits to the tyranny of sinful passion, he is lost forever. It is a poor outlook also for a Christian who ends up by being satisfied with a life of worthless mediocrity. We must fight hard, pray fervently, and value nothing higher than the love of Christ. When we are finally victorious, our joy will be greater than any happiness which the world can give.
3. Let us be vigilant in the control of our passions. As soon as they tempt us to do anything contrary to right reason and the divine law, let us renew our resolutions and implore the help of God. “O God,” let us pray, “I wish to love You above all things. I wish neither to contemplate nor intend nor do anything which could offend You in any way.” This is the only way in which we shall find peace and an easy conscience for, as “The Imitation of Christ” says, “whenever a man desireth any thing inordinately, straightaway he is disquieted within himself.” (Imit. of Christ, Bk. 1, c. 6) “It is by resisting the passions,” it continues, “and not by serving them, that true peace of heart is to be found.” (Ibid.)
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