A 19th Sunday after Pentecost Thought to Start the Week Off Right
Last week we looked at how suffering - which comes to us all - can help us grow closer to God. This week for the 19 Sunday after Pentecost, The Inner Life of the Soul connects suffering with detachment. At some point in our lives we all need to consider how to practice detachment from all things except God. The sooner the better.
"The attachments of human nature are very strong. We become attached to certain places, friends, plans, methods of action, even to certain tastes and fancies, till without them life seems dull and miserable. And a man's attachment to his life and his own will is deeply rooted and intense."
That's our current state if we have not at least begun to embrace the spirit of detachment.
How to begin this practice of detachment? We go right to God. We do that by abandoning ourselves to His will.
"Oh! to learn the secret of this sweet, complete abandonment to the sovereign will of the all-wise, all-loving Lord!"
If you're not familiar with either the concept or the practice of "complete abandonment," consider reading Abandonment to Divine Providence by Father Jean-Pierre de Caussade. You can easily find a pdf of this on the internet. Father de Caussade wrote this pastoral yet profound work in the 18th century. If that seems somehow "out of date," you need to change your thinking. Bring yourself to understand and appreciate the value of the great treasury of spiritual works of our Catholic tradition and you'll have no such prejudice.
Abandonment to God's will requires, among other things, detachment. And it isn't something that comes naturally or easily for most of us. But I've come to understand that it's likely critical to growing closer to God in this life, and therefore closer to Heaven when our time comes.
(While we may not fully or enthusiastically embrace the fact that we're going to die, we Catholics don't run away from death. Indeed, our Holy Religion traditionally urges us to meditate on the "Four Last Things": Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell. Notice which comes first.)
And if we need further motivation to learn and practice abandonment, consider the fact that, if we pursue this essential spiritual practice...
"...our trials will become less heavy as surely as day follows night."
Unfortunately, despite the urging of our best spiritual writers and the example of our great saints, we have the tendency to give in to our fallen human nature:
"...we stand moaning and wringing our hands in our blindness, crying out to Him Who knows us far better than we know ourselves, to Him Who will never lay upon us any burden beyond our strength to carry, to Him Who one dread day bore all men's burdens along a dolorous way, uncomplaining, deserted, and alone. And the cry from our poor ignorant hearts is too often this: "Any other cross, dear Lord! any other than the one Thou sendest me."
The author could have been reading my mind when he wrote these words. Good spiritual reading has helped me to understand abandonment better over the years, but the actual practice has always been a struggle. However, since our son died suddenly this past year, both my understanding and, by God's grace, my practice of abandonment has advanced a bit - certainly more than it ever had before. It's an example of how suffering, if we don't - or in this case can't - run from it or resent it, can help us grow closer to God.
The suffering that comes with the loss of child is not something I would recommend as a way to grow closer to God. But, then again, we don't usually get to choose our suffering. If, when it comes, we could learn abandonment to God's will, there's a reward that awaits us, not only in Heaven, but in this life as well.
On the other hand, instead of relying on the impetus of suffering, why not begin right now by cultivating that spirit of detachment from the world and its lures that should mark any good Christian?
"There is a joy which the world knows, born of self-gratification and the craving for this world's goods; a sting lurks in it, and whatever else it brings, it never brings the gift of peace. There is a joy which the saints know; and those who strive after sanctity will also will also taste that calm delight...the more we detach ourselves from all but God, and especially from our own wills and wishes, the more God will attach Himself to us, and fill us with perfect peace."
"The attachments of human nature are very strong. We become attached to certain places, friends, plans, methods of action, even to certain tastes and fancies, till without them life seems dull and miserable. And a man's attachment to his life and his own will is deeply rooted and intense."
That's our current state if we have not at least begun to embrace the spirit of detachment.
How to begin this practice of detachment? We go right to God. We do that by abandoning ourselves to His will.
"Oh! to learn the secret of this sweet, complete abandonment to the sovereign will of the all-wise, all-loving Lord!"
If you're not familiar with either the concept or the practice of "complete abandonment," consider reading Abandonment to Divine Providence by Father Jean-Pierre de Caussade. You can easily find a pdf of this on the internet. Father de Caussade wrote this pastoral yet profound work in the 18th century. If that seems somehow "out of date," you need to change your thinking. Bring yourself to understand and appreciate the value of the great treasury of spiritual works of our Catholic tradition and you'll have no such prejudice.
Abandonment to God's will requires, among other things, detachment. And it isn't something that comes naturally or easily for most of us. But I've come to understand that it's likely critical to growing closer to God in this life, and therefore closer to Heaven when our time comes.
(While we may not fully or enthusiastically embrace the fact that we're going to die, we Catholics don't run away from death. Indeed, our Holy Religion traditionally urges us to meditate on the "Four Last Things": Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell. Notice which comes first.)
And if we need further motivation to learn and practice abandonment, consider the fact that, if we pursue this essential spiritual practice...
"...our trials will become less heavy as surely as day follows night."
Unfortunately, despite the urging of our best spiritual writers and the example of our great saints, we have the tendency to give in to our fallen human nature:
"...we stand moaning and wringing our hands in our blindness, crying out to Him Who knows us far better than we know ourselves, to Him Who will never lay upon us any burden beyond our strength to carry, to Him Who one dread day bore all men's burdens along a dolorous way, uncomplaining, deserted, and alone. And the cry from our poor ignorant hearts is too often this: "Any other cross, dear Lord! any other than the one Thou sendest me."
The author could have been reading my mind when he wrote these words. Good spiritual reading has helped me to understand abandonment better over the years, but the actual practice has always been a struggle. However, since our son died suddenly this past year, both my understanding and, by God's grace, my practice of abandonment has advanced a bit - certainly more than it ever had before. It's an example of how suffering, if we don't - or in this case can't - run from it or resent it, can help us grow closer to God.
The suffering that comes with the loss of child is not something I would recommend as a way to grow closer to God. But, then again, we don't usually get to choose our suffering. If, when it comes, we could learn abandonment to God's will, there's a reward that awaits us, not only in Heaven, but in this life as well.
On the other hand, instead of relying on the impetus of suffering, why not begin right now by cultivating that spirit of detachment from the world and its lures that should mark any good Christian?
"There is a joy which the world knows, born of self-gratification and the craving for this world's goods; a sting lurks in it, and whatever else it brings, it never brings the gift of peace. There is a joy which the saints know; and those who strive after sanctity will also will also taste that calm delight...the more we detach ourselves from all but God, and especially from our own wills and wishes, the more God will attach Himself to us, and fill us with perfect peace."
Happy Sunday!
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