More Sustenance To Keep Us Faithful to Our Lenten Discpline During Our Daily Work

Here's more stuff to sustain us in our Lenten resolve.

This time we focus on an important aspect of Lenten discipline: battle. We arm ourselves everyday as we head out to work with both the spiritual and practical weapons we need to be certain that our daily work gives glory to God. Father Jacques Michel, S.J. (1712- ?) explains that we cannot conquer without fighting, and that there is no fighting without suffering.

“Indolence or aversion to everything that gives trouble is common to all men. When we have devoted ourselves to God’s service, we would like to enjoy the happiness of our condition without its costing us much...Let us remember that Christ did not enter into His glory until after He had suffered, and that He has admitted His saints to share it only after crosses and combats and sacrifices; the renouncing of their passions and their self-will. Heaven is a reward; and we can earn it only by preferring God and His holy will before all other things, and being ready to sacrifice whatever is dearest to us whenever He requires it...To aspire to the crown of justice without fighting is a contradiction to the truths of the faith - to expect to fight and yet not suffer is contrary to common sense...It costs us nothing to follow our natural inclinations; it costs us much to repress them, and the enemy of our souls never loses sight of that, to make us prefer the former. Therefore does he set before our eyes a lively representation of the difficulties we shall undergo in the service of God, and that our life will be a constant torture and a constant battle...he carefully conceals the peace of heart which we shall find in obeying God, the solid consolations we shall receive in our trials, the hope of our eternal reward...the mercy of God, and the support of that all-powerful arm which so often upheld us, he will try to make us forget.”

Notice how Father Michel hones in on our natural tendency to avoid difficulties or unpleasantness. Those special practices to which we commit, especially those additional sacrifices we make, during Lent will help to bolster our fortitude, something I know I need in big doses during the course of my busy days, where the tendency is to minimize difficulty and pain. It's not that we want to look for trouble or cause ourselves to suffer needlessly. It's that when difficulties or suffering come our way - and they do in varying degrees to each and every one of us - we do well to think of our suffering Savior, rather than seek the nearest form of relief.

But enough of my comments. These brief comments from Father Michel are so rich and powerful, they deserve your close reading, even some time meditating on them.

We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee, 

because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.