How the Easter Season Can Help Us Achieve Real Balance - Part 2
We continue with our discussion of how the Easter Season can help us achieve real balance by returning to the wise words of Fr. Bernard Weaver. But first, a few words of my own about something that happened to me during the second week after Easter at work having to do with those ebbs and flows that occur in our work lives.
The third week after Easter brought what amounted to a gush of urgent and important deadlines to my little business. My typically organized, steady work flow gave way to an atypical series of fire drills. These were necessary and not a big deal except for a few days of "imbalance": exhaustion, a smidge of irritation and anxiety, a moment or two of impatience with loved ones. I could have done a better job keeping my cool, but I didn't. Not the end of the world, but it caused me to think about this whole idea of balance. That's why when I came across Fr. Weavers words, I thought I'd share them with you, knowing that you might have moments - sometimes brief, sometimes extended - like this.
We continue now with Father's thoughts about the importance of balance in our spiritual lives. As we consider his thoughts, note the contrast with the idea of not slipping into "laxity" after Lent ends. Here we're not simply trying to avoid a slackening in the intensity of our efforts in our spiritual lives. We're doing that for sure; but Father widens our perspective. We continue as we did in Lent, but we shift our gaze from the Cross to the empty tomb. We don't forget or neglect the lessons of the Cross; rather, we recognize that those lessons only makes sense when seen in the light of the Resurrection.
“If we do not keep our Lord’s Resurrection in view, we are not going to keep the whole mystery of Christ in focus. St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that they would be saved if they held fast the gospel, ‘as I preached it to you.’ He then went on to summarize it, as he had preached it to them: ‘For I delivered to you first of all, what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, and after that to the Eleven. Then He was seen by more than five hundred brethren at one time. . . . And last of all … He was seen by me.’ The Apostle could not have made it clearer that those to whom he had preached could not be saved unless they understood and accepted Christ as crucified, and as risen from the dead. The Passion of Christ, without His Resurrection, would have availed us nothing. St. Paul makes this evident when he says: ‘and if Christ is not risen, vain is your faith, for you are still in your sins.’ Nothing could show better than these words how important for our understanding of the Faith, and our spiritual progress, is the association in our thinking of our Lord’s Death and Resurrection.”
In another place, Father helps us achieve the balance we need by making an effort to shape and direct our thinking thusly:
“Besides her suggestions on prayer and combating worldly desires, the Church also tells us to think. ‘Set your minds on things above,’ she repeats from St. Paul when he was advising Christians risen from sin. Turn the mind to the divine and the good; let these heavenly blessings seize your imaginations, thoughts, and affections. Cardinal Newman echoed St. Paul in this bit of advice: ‘Let me put my mind on things above, and in God’s good time He will set my heart on things above.’ Desire follows knowledge. One of the ways to holiness is to long for it. One of the paths to heaven is to desire heaven. If I but occupy my mind with God, it will not be long before He will shower on me an interest in and love for these heavenly goods. Love will soar heavenward where our thoughts have already risen. The Church further suggests that we cultivate holy desires by giving some of our time to spiritual reading. From it we can gain higher esteem for spiritual realities, a sense of true values, a closer mental affinity with the judgment of Christ, and a centering of our thoughts and sentiments on the treasures of the soul."
Do we long for holiness? Do we desire heaven? More to the point, can we bring this longing and desire to our work today? Father suggests we can especially if we give some time to spiritual reading. Doing so will help to inculcate that esteem for spiritual realities and a sense of true values. And, of course, these we can - and should - take to work with us each day. No matter how busy we might be today, those spiritual realities nevertheless surround us; and our sense of true values guides us as we grapple with the challenges of the work day. Such recollection helps us achieve real balance, whether the day brings "business as usual" or a great gush of urgent and important deadlines.
One more point: Our understanding of spiritual realities tells us that the Easter Season brings with it great graces. We can, and should, ask for the grace to raise our gaze to the glory of the Resurrection as we plow through the work day. Through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother, Our Risen Savior will surely grant our request.
The third week after Easter brought what amounted to a gush of urgent and important deadlines to my little business. My typically organized, steady work flow gave way to an atypical series of fire drills. These were necessary and not a big deal except for a few days of "imbalance": exhaustion, a smidge of irritation and anxiety, a moment or two of impatience with loved ones. I could have done a better job keeping my cool, but I didn't. Not the end of the world, but it caused me to think about this whole idea of balance. That's why when I came across Fr. Weavers words, I thought I'd share them with you, knowing that you might have moments - sometimes brief, sometimes extended - like this.
We continue now with Father's thoughts about the importance of balance in our spiritual lives. As we consider his thoughts, note the contrast with the idea of not slipping into "laxity" after Lent ends. Here we're not simply trying to avoid a slackening in the intensity of our efforts in our spiritual lives. We're doing that for sure; but Father widens our perspective. We continue as we did in Lent, but we shift our gaze from the Cross to the empty tomb. We don't forget or neglect the lessons of the Cross; rather, we recognize that those lessons only makes sense when seen in the light of the Resurrection.
“If we do not keep our Lord’s Resurrection in view, we are not going to keep the whole mystery of Christ in focus. St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that they would be saved if they held fast the gospel, ‘as I preached it to you.’ He then went on to summarize it, as he had preached it to them: ‘For I delivered to you first of all, what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, and after that to the Eleven. Then He was seen by more than five hundred brethren at one time. . . . And last of all … He was seen by me.’ The Apostle could not have made it clearer that those to whom he had preached could not be saved unless they understood and accepted Christ as crucified, and as risen from the dead. The Passion of Christ, without His Resurrection, would have availed us nothing. St. Paul makes this evident when he says: ‘and if Christ is not risen, vain is your faith, for you are still in your sins.’ Nothing could show better than these words how important for our understanding of the Faith, and our spiritual progress, is the association in our thinking of our Lord’s Death and Resurrection.”
In another place, Father helps us achieve the balance we need by making an effort to shape and direct our thinking thusly:
“Besides her suggestions on prayer and combating worldly desires, the Church also tells us to think. ‘Set your minds on things above,’ she repeats from St. Paul when he was advising Christians risen from sin. Turn the mind to the divine and the good; let these heavenly blessings seize your imaginations, thoughts, and affections. Cardinal Newman echoed St. Paul in this bit of advice: ‘Let me put my mind on things above, and in God’s good time He will set my heart on things above.’ Desire follows knowledge. One of the ways to holiness is to long for it. One of the paths to heaven is to desire heaven. If I but occupy my mind with God, it will not be long before He will shower on me an interest in and love for these heavenly goods. Love will soar heavenward where our thoughts have already risen. The Church further suggests that we cultivate holy desires by giving some of our time to spiritual reading. From it we can gain higher esteem for spiritual realities, a sense of true values, a closer mental affinity with the judgment of Christ, and a centering of our thoughts and sentiments on the treasures of the soul."
Do we long for holiness? Do we desire heaven? More to the point, can we bring this longing and desire to our work today? Father suggests we can especially if we give some time to spiritual reading. Doing so will help to inculcate that esteem for spiritual realities and a sense of true values. And, of course, these we can - and should - take to work with us each day. No matter how busy we might be today, those spiritual realities nevertheless surround us; and our sense of true values guides us as we grapple with the challenges of the work day. Such recollection helps us achieve real balance, whether the day brings "business as usual" or a great gush of urgent and important deadlines.
One more point: Our understanding of spiritual realities tells us that the Easter Season brings with it great graces. We can, and should, ask for the grace to raise our gaze to the glory of the Resurrection as we plow through the work day. Through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother, Our Risen Savior will surely grant our request.
Happy Easter!
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