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Brookline Carmel Bulletin
January 29, 1961
Cogitatio Sancta
(Holy
Meditation)
Three obstacles bar the
way to union with God: mortal sin,
deliberate venial sin, and deliberate imperfections. Though a world of difference exists between them, each is
incompatible with complete conformity to the Will of God. According to the celebrated figure of St.
John of the Cross, a bird may be held to earth by a light cord as well as by a stout
one. It cannot soar aloft until the
cord, regardless of its ‘gauge’, has been severed. The only difference between them, in so far as they both hold the
bird captive, is that the lighter one can be broken more easily.
Mortal sin is clearly an
obstacle. It is the deliberate turning
away from God in order to adhere to a creature. It subverts the order of things and places a created good higher
in the hierarchy of values than God Himself, the Uncreated, and Subsistent
Good. It amounts to saying: I’d possess this thing for all eternity rather
than possess God.
The consequences of mortal
sin are truly frightful. Divine life of
grace is forfeited; the bereft soul ceases to be a child and friend of
God. The Holy Trinity no longer dwells
within it. It becomes the slave of the
devil.
All of this is known to us
only through faith. Few are the
privileged souls who have been allowed to see a representation of what a soul
in the state of mortal sin is like. On
the surface, no change has taken place.
All the natural talents and perfections remain. It is even said by some that sinners are
more attractive than saints, possessed of warmer, more human, more charming
personalities. Which is utterly false,
highly irreverent, and bordering upon blasphemy. At any rate, since the departure of an incomprehensible God
cannot be perceived by the senses, there isn’t any reason why a man who has
committed a mortal sin should feel any different after than before. We must count it an inestimable grace, a
pure gift of God, therefore to feel compunction and remorse after committing
sin. Sometimes, too, God allows a
person to be aware of an immense void within him. This is a proof of His loving solicitude for us. He never stops pursuing the souls that have
strayed far from Him.
Sins that are by nature
venial are as different from mortal sin as the moon is from the sun. Venial sins do not destroy the life of
Grace; they do not expel the Divine Guest from the soul. Their only immediate effect is to diminish
the fervor of Charity. Were we to
compare Charity to a flame, fervor would be its temperature. Lessening of fervor would mean that the
flame would lose some of its warmth, though it would not necessarily decrease
in size and brightness. Deliberate
venial sins, then, cool the ardor of Charity.
If a burning substance falls below its kindling temperature, it would
cease to burn. If a man deliberately
attached his heart to venial sin he would eventually become so cool toward God
that in time of unexpected adversity and violent temptations his love would be
completely extinguished. Were his ardor
to remain intense, those same chill winds would serve to fan the flame of
Divine Love.
We have yet to explain how
such a thing as venial sin can exist, that is, an action that offends a God of
infinite majesty without destroying the friendship that exists between Him and
the culprit. We are indebted to St.
Thomas for a beautiful formulation of the reason. Unlike mortal sin, venial sin does not subvert due order; it does
not place a creature before its Creator.
Rather, venial sin distorts due order.
It leaves God in His rightful place as Supreme Good, our final goal and
eternal destiny, but makes inordinate use of the means given us to draw close
to Him. Thus, deliberately overeating
(intemperance) is by nature a venial sin because it is an inordinate use of a
necessary thing: food. Such acts do not cause us to turn from God,
but neither do they bring us any nearer to Him. They simply cannot be referred to His greater honor and
glory. Undue attachments of the heart
to creatures, provided they are not valued more highly than God, are venial
sins. Clearly this excludes perfection,
which seeks the greater honor and glory of God in all things.
Concerning imperfections,
there is no widespread agreement among theologians. Without giving an essential notion of what they are, some would
apply the label of imperfection to the omission of a counsel that is enjoined
by say, one’s confessor, or the Holy Spirit.
This sounds reasonable because a counsel does not bind in conscience; it
is not a sin not to do it. Others would
include also the breaking of a penal law:
one that does not bind in conscience, but under penalty of a prescribed
punishment if caught. In general, we
can explain imperfections best by saying they are acts, which are good and
capable of being referred to God’s glory, though not as perfect as they could
be. For example: attending Mass with less devotion than one
is ordinarily capable of. Obviously, to
be an obstacle, an imperfection must be deliberate. God, who is consummate perfection, cannot be united to him who
lacks a perfection he could and should enjoy.
Indeliberate venial sins
and imperfections do not constitute obstacles to holiness. They are purged away by the suffering God in
His loving Providence that He sends to His children. Those that are deliberate are fixed in the will and resist those
purgations just as ‘fast’ colors resist the action of ordinary household bleach.
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