More About the Easter Season at Work - Part 2
The Easter Season continues to call us - and to challenge us - to follow the Risen Christ. Last time Father Bernard Wuellner urged us not to let ourselves be controlled by worldly desires. These stand against Christ's mastery within us. Now we'll see what we can do break out of a purely worldly view to attain the true freedom of the follower of the Jesus Christ.
To win this freedom from choosing these earthly, selfish, and evil things usually takes long spiritual training. That is why the ascetic life must mark those who are risen with Christ. A religious vocation, by demanding daily sacrifices, greatly assists this denial of self; and this death of self leads to detached purity of heart with regard to lower goods. But in or out of the religious state, every Christian who would be close to Christ must labor for his spiritual freedom from all things except God and His will."
So we first note that the necessity to lead an ascetic life of daily sacrifice applies not only to religious, but to all of us.
“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.'"
It's critical that we make the first more here. "Set your mind on things above." Are we doing that every day? Do we even want to do this? Father Wuellner explains that knowing it's importance will help us desire to do it.
"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. … When the wings of the spirit spring upward, we will take the right means to make heavenly goods come true in our lives. Our conduct will become more heavenly in quality. Desire will become hope, and hope will carry us forward to our meeting with Jesus in heaven. …
Where do you stand here? Have you taken the step of applying your knowledge by occupying your mind with God. And doing so, has the desire for heaven begun to take root?
Think about this and know where you stand today. Build on that knowledge. If you see a long road ahead, join the club. But remember that, like every journey, it all starts with that first step.
What if you're stuck on that first step? What if you find it almost impossible to squeeze God, never mind Easter, into your daily life? Don't despair. Just follow the example given to us by God Himself. He was pretty busy for those six days when He created the universe. And what did He do after that Divine flurry of activity? He rested on the seventh day, right? And so you too can look to Sunday, your day of rest, as your starting block. Set aside the time and take that first step. Do it this Sunday. As Father Wuellner explains:
"Each Sunday, we are taught, is a little Easter, a weekly memorial of our Savior’s resurrection. Let me, then, at least on Sunday, put earth aside and climb closer to God by the ladder of heavenly desires.”
It's the very least we can do, this authentic observation of Sunday, that Day of Rest provided for us by the Lord Himself. He knows how busy and distracted our lives can be the cares of this world. But, for the vast majority of us, there's no reason Sunday can't serve as an oasis from all that. Beginning (but not ending) with our attending Holy Mass, the special graces of the Lord's Day will help keep the world, the flesh, and the devil at bay. If for whatever reason we haven't made time for prayer, for spiritual reading, for spending a few quiet moments with Our Lord in our thoughts, Sunday can be the day we begin the habit of doing so.
Just do it. No excuses. Okay?
To win this freedom from choosing these earthly, selfish, and evil things usually takes long spiritual training. That is why the ascetic life must mark those who are risen with Christ. A religious vocation, by demanding daily sacrifices, greatly assists this denial of self; and this death of self leads to detached purity of heart with regard to lower goods. But in or out of the religious state, every Christian who would be close to Christ must labor for his spiritual freedom from all things except God and His will."
So we first note that the necessity to lead an ascetic life of daily sacrifice applies not only to religious, but to all of us.
“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.'"
It's critical that we make the first more here. "Set your mind on things above." Are we doing that every day? Do we even want to do this? Father Wuellner explains that knowing it's importance will help us desire to do it.
"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. … When the wings of the spirit spring upward, we will take the right means to make heavenly goods come true in our lives. Our conduct will become more heavenly in quality. Desire will become hope, and hope will carry us forward to our meeting with Jesus in heaven. …
Where do you stand here? Have you taken the step of applying your knowledge by occupying your mind with God. And doing so, has the desire for heaven begun to take root?
Think about this and know where you stand today. Build on that knowledge. If you see a long road ahead, join the club. But remember that, like every journey, it all starts with that first step.
What if you're stuck on that first step? What if you find it almost impossible to squeeze God, never mind Easter, into your daily life? Don't despair. Just follow the example given to us by God Himself. He was pretty busy for those six days when He created the universe. And what did He do after that Divine flurry of activity? He rested on the seventh day, right? And so you too can look to Sunday, your day of rest, as your starting block. Set aside the time and take that first step. Do it this Sunday. As Father Wuellner explains:
"Each Sunday, we are taught, is a little Easter, a weekly memorial of our Savior’s resurrection. Let me, then, at least on Sunday, put earth aside and climb closer to God by the ladder of heavenly desires.”
It's the very least we can do, this authentic observation of Sunday, that Day of Rest provided for us by the Lord Himself. He knows how busy and distracted our lives can be the cares of this world. But, for the vast majority of us, there's no reason Sunday can't serve as an oasis from all that. Beginning (but not ending) with our attending Holy Mass, the special graces of the Lord's Day will help keep the world, the flesh, and the devil at bay. If for whatever reason we haven't made time for prayer, for spiritual reading, for spending a few quiet moments with Our Lord in our thoughts, Sunday can be the day we begin the habit of doing so.
Just do it. No excuses. Okay?
Happy Easter!
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