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(Veni Sancte Spiritus…)
“Let me say this:
learn to live and move in the spirit, then there is no danger of giving
way to the impulses of corrupt nature.
The impulses of nature and impulses of the spirit are at war with one
another; neither is clean contrary to the other…” (Galatians
5:16,17)
My dear sisters in Christ
–
When we spoke of Faith in
the first conference today, we saw that it involves a leap in the dark. We saw that it inflicts a death to self. We saw that it means getting beyond the
boundaries of human knowledge and prudence.
Faith is the unreserved commitment to a person. Hence, to an uncertain future, or at least
to a future over which we have relinquished complete control. And we also spoke of the Faith of Abraham as
an illustration of all that is involved in an act of living Faith.
What we did not dwell upon
was the psychological struggle that precedes and accompanies an act of
Faith. Genesis doesn’t dwell upon what
went on in the mind of Abraham during his response to the demands of God; it
makes no mention of any mental sufferings or interior struggles taking place
within him. Are we therefore to suppose
that he didn’t experience any; I guess we will never know. But we do know about ourselves, and we do
know that it is not easy to make an act of Faith. Would we say it is easy for a person to commit suicide? I don’t think so. Then neither should we think it is easy for anyone to commit an
act of psychic suicide. For that is what is involved, so to speak,
in an act of Faith, an act of Faith is not without its interior struggles. Because it is a response to an invitation of
God we are subject to the call or influence of grace. Because of our instinct of self-preservation, we are subject to
the influence of nature. The holy man
Job calls the life of man upon earth a warfare. Not the least important of the skirmishes we must engage in, or
rather, not the least of those we are caught up in, is the struggle between
grace and nature.
We are fortunate in having
something in the Bible to which we may relate this struggle in us. You are all familiar with the struggle
recorded in the book of Genesis between Moses and Pharaoh. There are many elements in that struggle
which can be considered parallel to the struggle between Nature and Grace, and
from it we can gain insights that are helpful.
Pharaoh represents Nature, obviously, and Moses represents Grace. The Israelite People, over whom the struggle
develops, would represent the powers and faculties of the human personality.
It is part of our Catholic
doctrine that the human personality is in a state of bondage. The expression ‘slaves of sin’ and ‘corrupt
nature’ are commonplace with us. We
human beings really do feel the weight of our disorderly affections and
tendencies. No one of us would be so
bold as to deny the tyranny of the flesh.
In what does this slavery
consist? We may form an idea of it by
noticing that the children of Israel were aware that they were not completely
at home in Egypt. They were aware of an
identity, which set them apart from the race of Egyptians, among whom they were
living. They knew of this because of
the traditions handed down to them by their ancestors. They were the descendants of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob. God was a familiar friend to
all three of them, notably to Abraham and Jacob. They knew that the Lord God had promised them a home of their
own, a land in which they would taste perfect freedom. They knew that their forefathers, the twelve
sons of Jacob, had come to Egypt for a temporary sojourn, as guests of the
Pharaoh who had made Joseph his viceroy.
But in the course of events, a new Pharaoh arose who didn’t respect the
original arrangement. The people of
Israel found themselves forced to serve the interests of Pharaoh in the
building of cities and national monuments.
Something like this is true within us. We are conscious of a twofold spiritual element in our personality. One is called Psychic, and this is something we have in common with the beasts, because among them, too, there is not only sentient life, but also something akin to ego, for we read of leaders of packs and herds, we read of such things as a ‘pecking-order’ among hens, etc. The other spiritual element in us, and that, which makes us to be persons in the strict sense, is our intellect and free will. We are to be the masters of our destiny – we are capable of determining ourselves from within, we are not determined by external circumstances acting upon our instincts. It is to this spiritual element of a higher order that grace comes, and it usually finds us in a state of soul wherein the lower psychic level of spirituality is in command, a reversal of due order. And when grace comes to a man, it usually finds the two in direct opposition. Or let us say rather that it is grace which sets up a mortal enmity, so to speak, between the two levels. I have heard one rather spiritual layman remark that when the grace of God – that is Christ – comes to a man, it literally tears him apart. The grace of God is revolutionary. It turns a comfortable life topsy-turvy. The struggle that takes place can and does throw a person into a state of doubt and confusion. The struggle can be a very long, drawn out affair, marked by alternate victories by grace and nature, which however, are only partial. Vacillation seems to be the order of the day. Constant, partially resolved tensions keep a person in suspense. Peace comes, finally, only when one side is the total victor. And believe me, it does happen both ways. We have often heard it said that the more deeply into sin a man sinks, the more anguish of soul he experiences. St. Augustine remarked: Thou hast made us for Thyself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.
This is true as long as
grace has not been completely rejected.
This may well have been true of St. Augustine, because his mother, St.
Monica, never stopped praying and suffering for his conversion. But there are plenty of people who have
allowed nature to win in them, and these people are living in serene
peace. I am convinced that the devil
does not disturb those persons who are totally under the sway of nature, even
in those instances where a kind of natural nobility and magnanimity of soul are
in evidence. For example, I am sure
that Hugh Hefner, the editor of Playboy lives in serene peace of
conscience. (I say this without
presuming to judge). So in a sense, it
is a good sign if we find we are in a state of inner turmoil. Crises of conscience is a good sign in that
it is evidence of the presence of grace.
And when grace is present, hope is present.
Nowadays we can appreciate
the struggle between Nature and Grace because so many Christians are afflicted
with it. Crises of conscience are going
on in all kinds of people, high and low, young and old. Crises of conscience is infectious. We are so deeply influenced by people we
know. We are so profoundly affected by
famous national or world figures. Which
of us has not been shaken to some extent by the knowledge that gifted people
among our priests and Sisters are leaving their vocations and in cases even
leaving the Church? Which one of us
dares to pass judgment on these people?
I am certain that many Religious leave their congregations because
grace, which is revolutionary, has won.
And I am just as certain that in others who leave, nature has won, and
this too is revolutionary, because nature is only reclaiming what it had
previously lost.
The struggle between
nature and grace is well symbolized by the struggle between Pharaoh and Moses
because grace calls for a departure from this world, that is, that the noblest
faculties of our soul should cease to serve the merely psychic aspects of our
being, and go out, above and beyond these purely natural boundaries, so
intimately bound up with the material element of our nature, in order to serve
and worship the living God, who is pure spirit and who is totally ‘other’. And it is of great interest and remarkable
to note that Pharaoh determined to keep the Israelites from departing by laying
more heavy burdens and demands upon them.
This is the ‘idleness if the devil’s workshop’ principle in
reverse. Just as the devil can gain
entrance to the souls of Christians who are not fruitfully occupied, so also,
grace is able to enter into the souls of those who have no need to establish
themselves psychically. Pharaoh was
determined that the Israelites should build the cities and monuments of Egypt,
and to bind them more closely to this task, ordered that they supply the very
bricks for this work. Nowadays nature
finds an ally in Psychology in the task of binding a person to the service of
his psychic well being. After all,
psychology has been so articulate in exposing how defective most of us are as human
beings. Psychology has pointed out how
we use such devious artifices as compensation, rationalization, repression,
inhibition, etc., to establish ourselves as socially acceptable and equal to
the standards set by conventional society.
In other words, nature seems to identify with what we call human
respect. At one time it was sufficient
to conform, to be non-singular, and to fall in with the crowd. This has always been a powerful weapon of
nature against those Christians who were aware that being a devout Christian
set him apart and drew upon him the scorn and contempt of worldly people. It was even worse if it drew down upon him
their pity. And thus it is so ironic that
nowadays human respect has laid an even heavier burden upon those who would be
acceptable to worldly standards. Human
respect nowadays would have us dare to be different, except, of course, where
being different means surrendering totally to grace. And thus, when Christians are so beleaguered into trying to find
a way to be different and distinctive and yet socially acceptable to the
‘in-group’ it is exactly like Pharaoh not only binding the Israelites to work
at the building up of the glory of Egypt, but going further and having them
manufacture their own bricks.
One other fact that merits
our attention is the ability of the magicians of Egypt to counterfeit the
wonders and the signs that Moses was able to work at the Lord’s bidding. We can liken this to the fact that nature
will try to explain on a purely rational basis some of the qualms of conscience
caused by divine grace. Because qualms
of conscience can proceed from the element of self-respect that is alive in us
whether we are trying to serve nature or grace. Even when we are trying to please worldly people there is a self-awareness
that must be reckoned with, although sometimes the weight of human opinion can
obscure it altogether. (This latter
aspect of having to live with our own opinion of ourselves can be a powerful
ally for grace, by the way). In other
words, we can become very uneasy about our own self-image even while we are
trying to please and be acceptable to worldly people, even while we are
receiving their adulation. But nature
stifles this self-criticism by bringing forth arguments that renders
dissatisfaction with self ineffective.
There are after all, noble motives that can come from the psychic aspect
of our life. Our nature is not totally
corrupt. Philosophers of past ages used
to say, “the human soul is naturally Christian.” A purely natural love can lead
to heroic self-sacrifice, for example.
And so our nature is well able to defend itself against certain
disturbances against conscience and satisfy itself that we need not depart from
the sphere of psychic self-establishment, or rather, that we need not put our
psychic welfare in jeopardy for the sake of serving God and His interests.
But perhaps the most
remarkable insight into the nature of the struggle between nature and grace is
provided by the manner in which Pharaoh kept making promises to Moses that he
would allow the Israelites to depart.
Time and time again, we read that Pharaoh’s heart would become hardened,
and the promise he made to Moses during the course of a plague would be
promptly broken as soon as the plague was terminated. This is certainly a thing with which we are all familiar. It very often happens that our consciences
are quite disturbed under the influence of grace. This can happen when we are doing spiritual reading or when we
are in the chapel meditating, or while listening to a sermon, etc. We know that at such times we are capable of
making the most fervent resolutions and our will can be so strong; and it is
only these protestations of our determination to break with all that stifles
grace that we are able to enjoy some small measure of peace.
Or, if you are not
familiar with that experience, surely you are familiar with the strength of our
resolution to stop eating so much while we’re feeling bloated after a
particularly heavy meal. At such times
we hate the thought of food. It makes
us nauseous. But then as soon as we are
slightly hungry again, and especially if we have managed to cut down on food
for a few days, why it seems to us that our promise to be more abstentious
seems so unnecessary, or even unreasonable.
Then we are right back again at making hogs of ourselves at table. It is really remarkable the way we are able
to continue for long periods of time putting off a final conversion by
assuaging our consciences with promises.
Even as I speak, I am aware that this may well be happening to me in
these crucial times of religious ferment and upheaval. At times I feel so guilty for not being in
the midst of the poor, the oppressed, the alienated and deprived segment of
humanity, bringing them the comfort and solace of the Christian message, and
primarily an authentic Christ-like presence, helping them to achieve the
self-esteem and dignity that is theirs by right. At such times I will promise myself that some day very soon I am
going to put the wheels in motion and really look for a place to which I might
go and do this work. But having made
the promise and dispelled the guilty feeling, I am right back in a comfortable,
unconcerned, uninvolved rut. It is so
difficult to bring about the overturning of a set pattern of life. Revolution is just too painful. Too much uncertainty about the future makes
it unsettling.
But even if the qualms of
conscience cannot be dispelled by a promise, nature is devious enough to try a
compromise. When the plagues sent to Egypt
by God began to cause a deeper fear and concern in Pharaoh for the welfare of
his country, he was ready to sit down at the bargaining table. He was not willing to send out, or rather,
to allow all the Israelites to go out with all their possessions, but only some
part of them. At first he was willing
to allow the men to go, but not the women and children. Then he said, “O.K., the women and children
can go, too, but not the flocks and herds”.
And then finally, of course, he let them all go. You see, that is what nature is like. It will not suffer us to go all out to serve
God, but will allow us to only partially serve Him, and manages to maintain a
strong tie to some psychic good or to some creature comfort, one that prevents
the whole-hearted departure from self to serve God. As an example: a young
woman may find that grace is calling her to a complete gift of self to God in
Religious life, but nature, not being able to countenance so thorough a
self-immolation, will say: “No, that is
unreasonable. Join the Legion of
Mary. You can serve the Lord well
enough in that kind of work.” Or again,
we know that if we are prompted by grace to avoid altogether an unnecessary
occasion of sin, we decide it is unreasonable.
People will notice; someone may be offended. We will just cut down a bit. And in this way, the struggle is
prolonged. Nature is so shifty and
devious. It is so cagey in protecting
against our going completely beyond self to serve God.
And so finally, it is only
the threat of annihilation that can conquer nature. What a strange thing it is how tragedy is perhaps the most
effective ally that grace can find.
When divine grace has been at the heart of a person disturbing his or
her conscience, that person is quick to interpret any and all reversals as
punishments for failure to surrender to grace.
Nothing could have been so threatening to the future of Egypt than the
loss of all the first-born sons. But it
was this alone that was drastic enough to finally convince Pharaoh that he must
let the Israelites depart. This worked
so well that he and the Egyptian people even hurried them out. And in the same way, nature does not
capitulate to grace and release our faculties for the service of God until a
danger to what is utterly basic in us comes along and forces us to be attentive
to the demands of grace. I do not
intend to impugn them or speak contemptuously of them but the number of men who
undergo conversion or who make vows to enter Religious life or the priesthood
while cowering in foxholes, fearing for their lives, is considerable. The self wants to survive, and if survival
is possible only in God’s service, then nature will choose that method of
survival. This is obviously not the
best of motives for surrendering completely to God, just as fear of hell is not
the best motive for seeking the forgiveness of one’s sins. But it is a start, and even this much must
be considered a great grace. Besides
God Himself is able to bring about a purification of motives.
And so, my dear sisters,
let us be aware that the very center of our being, the depths of our heart is a
battleground. This battle does vary in
intensity and in length of time, but it is especially bitter when our Faith is
being subjected to a great trial. We
should not be afraid of this struggle between nature and grace. We should not allow ourselves to be
intimidated by qualms of conscience.
All these crises are occasions for spiritual growth.
Our spiritual life, at
least up to the time a person reaches transforming union (and such persons are
extremely rare) is marked by continual or rather successively more complete
departures from self in order to devote one’s being more completely to the
service and worship of God. Forewarned
is forearmed, as the old saying goes. Now we know when the thief is coming (or at
least we have some nearly accurate knowledge) and we do know something of his
methods. Let us be on our guard and not
allow him to break into our house.
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