The Double Whammy of the World and Our Work - Part 2

Continuing where we left off last time, let's begin by remembering that St Bernard lived and worked just as we do in a world that didn't always put Christ at its center. Indeed, as we noted recently:

Bernard served as Abbot, reformed many other Benedictine monasteries, breathing new life into St Benedict's patrimony. He settled disputes, even one between rival popes, refuted false philosophies, preached the Second Crusade, attended Church Councils - a true man in demand - wrote volumes, eventually being named a Doctor of the Church. The man was busier than the busiest of any of us busy bee workers today. But his love for God stood tall, above it all. 

Yet in the midst of his work in this world, St Bernard's heart was filled not only with an all-encompassing love of Jesus Christ, but a deep and tender love for Mary, His Mother. I think we can find inspiration in these words of St Bernard, words that might inflame our own devotion to Our Blessed Mother. Here he refers to Mary's title "Star of the Sea":

She is therefore that glorious star, which, as the prophet said, arose out of Jacob, whose ray enlightens the whole earth, whose splendor shines out for all to see in heaven and reaches even unto hell. . . She, I say, is that shining and brilliant star, so much needed, set in place above life's great and spacious sea, glittering with merits, all aglow with examples for our imitation.

The temptation to allow our secular world and our mundane work crowd out Our Lord and the fervent practice of our Holy Faith cannot withstand the light shed by this "shining and brilliant star," a light which brings us the Truth in the Person of Jesus Christ today, just as she did when she gave birth to Our Lord in the manger on that first Christmas Day. And just as St Bernard showed us how we can and should turn to Our Lord in the face of any of the temptations of this world and the challenges or our work, so too he urges us to turn as well to Our Lady:

Oh, whosoever thou art that perceiveth thyself during this mortal existence to be rather drifting in treacherous waters, at the mercy of the winds and the waves, than walking on firm ground, turn not away thine eyes from the splendor of this guiding star, unless thou wish to be submerged by the storm! When the storms to temptation burst upon thee, when thou seest thyself driven upon the rocks of tribulation, look at the star, call upon Mary. When buffeted by the billows of pride, or ambition, or hatred, or jealousy, look at the star, call upon Mary. Should anger, or avarice, or fleshly desire violently assail the frail vessel of thy soul, look at the star, call upon Mary. If troubled on account of the heinousness of thy sins, distressed at the filthy state of thy conscience, and terrified at the thought of the awful judgment to come, thou art beginning to sink into the bottomless gulf of sadness and to be swallowed in the abyss of despair, then think of Mary. In dangers, in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let not her name leave thy lips, never suffer it to leave thy heart. And that thou mayest more surely obtain the assistance of her prayer, see that thou dost walk in her footsteps. With her for guide, thou shalt never go astray; whilst invoking her, thou shalt never lose heart; so long as she is in thy mind, thou shalt not be deceived; whilst she holds thy hand, thou canst not fall; under her protection, thou hast nothing to fear; if she walks before thee, thou shalt not grow weary; if she shows thee favor, thou shalt reach the goal.

I don't doubt that the double whammy of the world and our work can distract us, even turn us away, from God. But if we listen to St Bernard, we need not concern ourselves with a world that prefers secular pleasure and power over love of Christ and His Blessed Mother. Rather than leave ourselves to the "mercy of the winds and waves," we can walk on solid ground. In the face of temptations to pride, ambition, even hatred and jealousy, our love of Our Lord and Our Lady, the invoking of the holy names of Jesus and Mary, will assure that we "never lose heart," that we "canst not fall," and that we have "nothing to fear." In the face of all this that double whammy of the world and our work will wither to a mere whimper.