"Virtue itself is a means, not an end; for virtue is not God, nor union with God. Do not think this admonition strange. It is one that was constantly in the mouth of St. Francis of Sales. We are so bad that we can make even our pursuit of virtue a hindrance to our love of God."
Growth in Holiness
Showing posts with label virtue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label virtue. Show all posts
Wednesday, 23 September 2015
Wednesday, 11 June 2014
“Learn From Me, For I Am Meek and Humble of Heart” - Cardinal Bacci
“Learn From Me, For I Am Meek and Humble of Heart”
1. Jesus is perfection itself. In Him, therefore, every virtue is to be found. He could truly claim that He fulfilled in Himself the precept: “You are to be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt. 5:48) Throughout His life He performed in a perfect manner the will of His heavenly Father. “I do always the things that are pleasing to him.” (John 8:29)
Jesus Christ provided us with an example of every virtue. As the foundation of all the virtues, He insisted on the great precept of loving God above all things and our neighbour as ourselves. In proposing Himself as a model, however, this is what He said: “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your souls.” (Mt. 11:29) The outstanding example which Jesus gave us for our imitation was this meekness and humility of heart. We shall have peace of soul only if we are meek and humble.
In what did the humility of Jesus consist? He was God, and He became man. He Who possessed everything was born poor in a wretched stable and lived as a lowly workman for thirty years. He allowed Himself to be betrayed by one of His Apostles, to be sentenced to death as an evildoer, and finally to be executed on the Cross.
He combined humility with gentleness. He was happy when He could receive back penitent sinners and grant them forgiveness and peace. Let us recall the examples of Mary Magdalen, the adulteress, the lost sheep, the prodigal son, and finally the repentant thief to whom He promised the reward of Heaven. What greater gentleness and mercy could we ever find?
To the present day, moreover, Jesus Christ is hidden in the Blessed Eucharist under the consecrated species and appeals to us to imitate and love Him.
When we are disturbed by pride, ambition, or worldly desires, let us go to Jesus and kneel in silence before the Tabernacle. “Learn from me,” He will say to us once more, “for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your souls.”
2. It is very easy to be gentle and humble when everything is going well for us. It is difficult, however, when we meet humiliation, misunderstanding, or opposition. We need to be well advanced in perfection if we are to have mildness and humility of heart like that of Jesus.
We can only reach this state of perfection by prayer, sacrifice and character formation. Pride, self-love, and the desire to excel are the evil effects of our corrupted nature. St. Francis de Sales jestingly remarked that self-love dies three days after us. It is difficult to remove it completely from our character and to put in its place the love of God and of our neighbour, but this operation is necessary if we are to obtain Christ-like humility and gentleness of heart. God, not our own ego, should be the centre of our lives; He should be the focal point of all our thinking. Let us beseech God for this grace and try and behave in this fashion on all occasions.
When we encounter lack of sympathy, coldness or injustice on the part of our fellowmen, we should try and avoid becoming annoyed or discouraged. The testimony of a sound conscience before God is all that should concern us. We should offer everything else to God, whether it is joy or sorrow, praise or criticism. We shall be rewarded with peace of soul.
3. Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine.
1. Jesus is perfection itself. In Him, therefore, every virtue is to be found. He could truly claim that He fulfilled in Himself the precept: “You are to be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt. 5:48) Throughout His life He performed in a perfect manner the will of His heavenly Father. “I do always the things that are pleasing to him.” (John 8:29)
Jesus Christ provided us with an example of every virtue. As the foundation of all the virtues, He insisted on the great precept of loving God above all things and our neighbour as ourselves. In proposing Himself as a model, however, this is what He said: “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your souls.” (Mt. 11:29) The outstanding example which Jesus gave us for our imitation was this meekness and humility of heart. We shall have peace of soul only if we are meek and humble.
In what did the humility of Jesus consist? He was God, and He became man. He Who possessed everything was born poor in a wretched stable and lived as a lowly workman for thirty years. He allowed Himself to be betrayed by one of His Apostles, to be sentenced to death as an evildoer, and finally to be executed on the Cross.
He combined humility with gentleness. He was happy when He could receive back penitent sinners and grant them forgiveness and peace. Let us recall the examples of Mary Magdalen, the adulteress, the lost sheep, the prodigal son, and finally the repentant thief to whom He promised the reward of Heaven. What greater gentleness and mercy could we ever find?
To the present day, moreover, Jesus Christ is hidden in the Blessed Eucharist under the consecrated species and appeals to us to imitate and love Him.
When we are disturbed by pride, ambition, or worldly desires, let us go to Jesus and kneel in silence before the Tabernacle. “Learn from me,” He will say to us once more, “for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your souls.”
2. It is very easy to be gentle and humble when everything is going well for us. It is difficult, however, when we meet humiliation, misunderstanding, or opposition. We need to be well advanced in perfection if we are to have mildness and humility of heart like that of Jesus.
We can only reach this state of perfection by prayer, sacrifice and character formation. Pride, self-love, and the desire to excel are the evil effects of our corrupted nature. St. Francis de Sales jestingly remarked that self-love dies three days after us. It is difficult to remove it completely from our character and to put in its place the love of God and of our neighbour, but this operation is necessary if we are to obtain Christ-like humility and gentleness of heart. God, not our own ego, should be the centre of our lives; He should be the focal point of all our thinking. Let us beseech God for this grace and try and behave in this fashion on all occasions.
When we encounter lack of sympathy, coldness or injustice on the part of our fellowmen, we should try and avoid becoming annoyed or discouraged. The testimony of a sound conscience before God is all that should concern us. We should offer everything else to God, whether it is joy or sorrow, praise or criticism. We shall be rewarded with peace of soul.
3. Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine.
Thursday, 6 March 2014
Our Martyrdom - Cardinal Bacci
Our Martyrdom
1. St. Ambrose describes virtue as a slow martyrdom. In this sense we must all be martyrs. There is only one difference. The Martyrs of the Church shed their blood and gave up their lives for Jesus within one hour or one day and gained their reward immediately. Our martyrdom, on the other hand, will be prolonged. It will last all our lives and will end only when we accept death with resignation from the hands of God. Ours is the martyrdom of virtue. Let us clearly understand that solid Christian virtue is a slow and continual martyrdom which will end with death. It is not a flower which springs up spontaneously in the garden of the soul. It is like a seed which is thrown on the damp earth and must die there slowly so that it can generate young shoots which will produce the ears of corn. “Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it brings forth much fruit.” (John 12:24-25) It is necessary, then to descend into the mire of humility and to remain there until we die. Only after we have died to ourselves shall we rise again in God. (Cf. ibid) After the death of our lower instincts and vices we shall find a new life.
2. Perhaps we complain at times about the humiliations which we have to endure and the temptations which we have to overcome. But this is the prolonged martyrdom of a virtuous life. “The kingdom of heaven,” Jesus tells us, “has been enduring violent assault and the violent have been seizing it by force.” (Mt. 11:12) We must struggle against ourselves and our evil inclinations in order to gain the kingdom of Heaven. Only those who fight can conquer. St. Paul says that nobody can win the crown of victory unless he has fought valiantly. “One who enters a contest is not crowned unless he has competed according to the rules.” (2 Tim. 2:5) So let us resign ourselves willingly to the lengthy martyrdom of a good life. If we do, our martyrdom will prove easy and acceptable. We shall trust in God and shall be comforted by the thought of the crown which awaits us.
3. Those who go the way of worldly vanity and vice endure a martyrdom in any case. There is no doubt that their martyrdom is even more painful. Worldly pleasure is like a gilded cup which has a little honey on the rim but when it is drained leaves behind a bitter taste. St. Augustine says that God has ruled from all eternity that a disordered soul will be its own punishment. Sacrifice which demands heroic virtue leaves God's peace in the soul. Those sacrifices, on the other hand, which are demanded by a worldly life and excessive pleasures are a martyrdom which brings no reward and no happiness. Since either way we must undergo a martyrdom in this life, let us choose the sweet martyrdom of virtue. Our reward will be in Heaven.
1. St. Ambrose describes virtue as a slow martyrdom. In this sense we must all be martyrs. There is only one difference. The Martyrs of the Church shed their blood and gave up their lives for Jesus within one hour or one day and gained their reward immediately. Our martyrdom, on the other hand, will be prolonged. It will last all our lives and will end only when we accept death with resignation from the hands of God. Ours is the martyrdom of virtue. Let us clearly understand that solid Christian virtue is a slow and continual martyrdom which will end with death. It is not a flower which springs up spontaneously in the garden of the soul. It is like a seed which is thrown on the damp earth and must die there slowly so that it can generate young shoots which will produce the ears of corn. “Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it brings forth much fruit.” (John 12:24-25) It is necessary, then to descend into the mire of humility and to remain there until we die. Only after we have died to ourselves shall we rise again in God. (Cf. ibid) After the death of our lower instincts and vices we shall find a new life.
2. Perhaps we complain at times about the humiliations which we have to endure and the temptations which we have to overcome. But this is the prolonged martyrdom of a virtuous life. “The kingdom of heaven,” Jesus tells us, “has been enduring violent assault and the violent have been seizing it by force.” (Mt. 11:12) We must struggle against ourselves and our evil inclinations in order to gain the kingdom of Heaven. Only those who fight can conquer. St. Paul says that nobody can win the crown of victory unless he has fought valiantly. “One who enters a contest is not crowned unless he has competed according to the rules.” (2 Tim. 2:5) So let us resign ourselves willingly to the lengthy martyrdom of a good life. If we do, our martyrdom will prove easy and acceptable. We shall trust in God and shall be comforted by the thought of the crown which awaits us.
3. Those who go the way of worldly vanity and vice endure a martyrdom in any case. There is no doubt that their martyrdom is even more painful. Worldly pleasure is like a gilded cup which has a little honey on the rim but when it is drained leaves behind a bitter taste. St. Augustine says that God has ruled from all eternity that a disordered soul will be its own punishment. Sacrifice which demands heroic virtue leaves God's peace in the soul. Those sacrifices, on the other hand, which are demanded by a worldly life and excessive pleasures are a martyrdom which brings no reward and no happiness. Since either way we must undergo a martyrdom in this life, let us choose the sweet martyrdom of virtue. Our reward will be in Heaven.
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