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Brookline Carmel Bulletin J M J T
January 10, 1960
Cogitatio Sancta
(Holy
Meditation)
The Struggle for
Perfection
(continued)
In our last bulletin we demonstrated (using quotations from Scripture
and the saints) that the path of perfection is not an easy one. This will come as no surprise to those who
have had any considerable experience with life itself. Things really worth having must, almost
without exception, be acquired by means of serious and sustained effort. So God does not grant us the privilege of
being intimately united with Himself unless we show ourselves willing to deny
ourselves and take up our cross – to deny ourselves those comforts and
pleasures which stand in the way of our serving God perfectly – to take up our
cross of suffering as God sees fit to lay it upon our shoulders. When we prove our willingness to do these
things by entering upon a sincere program of self-denial and self-discipline,
always combined with earnest prayer, God helps us to make progress until we
ultimately achieve the goal.
The purpose of this program of self-denial and self-discipline is to
bring our nature under the control of our intellect and will, which, in turn,
must be made perfectly subject to the will of God. Our nature is essentially good (as are all things created by
God). Yet, as a result of original sin,
it has certain defects, which incline it to seek its own comfort, and pleasure,
even, at times, to the extent of going contrary to sound reason and God’s
will. It is these extravagant tendencies,
which must be curbed and re-channeled, so as to conform to reason and divine
revelation. As Saint John of the Cross
puts it, in his classic text, “whatever pleasure offers itself to the
senses, if it is not purely for the honor and glory of God, must be renounced
and sacrificed for love of Jesus Christ, Who in their life neither had nor
willed to have any other pleasure than to do the will of His Father” (Ascent,
Bk I, chap. 13). As our nature’s
inordinate desire for pleasure is brought under control, we will act in a more
reasonable way, and thus more conformably to God’s will. Our nature, though essentially good, is
nevertheless (as a result of original sin) somewhat “out of joint.” Our task is, then, not to destroy or
suppress it completely (which would be an impossibility), but to restore it, in
a sense, to the state of beautiful order and harmony, which existed in our
first parents before the fall. In order
to do this, we must keep a constant watch over it. We must keep it on the right path, which means that as soon as we
see it deviating in the slightest from a reasonable and holy line of conduct,
we must take whatever measures are necessary to set it right again. Our practice of self-denial or mortification
is thus motivated not by a morbid love of suffering (as some believe), but by a
desire to produce order and harmony within ourselves. This order and harmony will make it possible for us to serve God
more perfectly, and our serving God more perfectly will afford us a happiness
far superior to the pleasures of sense that we deny ourselves.
It must always be understood that we do not seek to deny ourselves all
pleasures of sense. Some of these
pleasures, far from hindering us, may help us to advance in the spiritual
life. Since they are indifferent in
themselves, they are good or bad for us according to the circumstances. Here the virtue of prudence must frequently
come into play, studying the circumstances and judging whether, here and now.
This particular pleasure should be enjoyed or rejected. If the pleasure will enable us to serve God
better, it may be accepted and enjoyed (with a spirit of gratitude to God for
His goodness); if the pleasure will prove a hindrance to our serving God, then
it should be renounced. This is the
decision that prudence must make, after carefully studying the
circumstances. And one of the important
circumstances to be considered is the needs of our own nature. Our nature needs a reasonable amount of
nourishment, rest, and recreation in order to function well. Prudence will always see to it that these
needs are cared for, while at the same time avoiding any pampering of appetites
which are ever ready to seek their own pleasure to excess.
The struggle to control and guide our own nature is a major part of the
struggle for perfection. As Saint John
of the Cross notes, {the evils which the soul meets come from… the world, the
devil and the flesh (i.e., our nature).
The world is the last difficult enemy.
The devil is the hardest to understand.
The flesh is the most tenacious of all and its assaults continue for so
long as the old man exists” (Cautions, par. 3).
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