A 23rd Sunday after Pentecost Thought to Start the Week Off Right
We're in the midst of the month dedicated to the Holy Souls, a month that began with All Saints Day and All Souls Day. We in the Church Militant, in a sense, stand between the Church Triumphant - the saints in Heaven - and the Church Suffering - the souls in Purgatory. We offer our ardent prayers and sacrifices for the Holy Souls in a special way throughout this month. In doing so, we hope to help these suffering souls - who cannot pray for themselves - to get to Heaven. Admirable as these works of charity may be, we mustn't lose sight of our own striving to become saints while we still breathe the air of this earth.
This week's entry for the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost in The Inner Life of the Soul tries to focus our attention on our becoming saints.
"As...the yellow leaves slip silently to mother earth, and nature speaks of of death and yet promises resurrection, let us ask ourselves in these autumn silences: What makes a saint? Can you or I be one?"
"Saint Paul tells us, with terse words...some characteristic marks of those who are not saints; and one noticeable mark is this, that they mind earthly things. On the other hand, our conversation, the Christian conversation, he says, is in heaven."
Detachment, in a Christian sense, involves our recognizing the world for the temporary waystation it was created to be for us. We're not here forever. We pass through. Our ultimate destination - Heaven -
awaits us.
Everything in this world passes in time. There's nothing permanent about it. All of it was created for us as a means to get to Heaven. To the extent that any part of God's creation helps us get to Heaven, it holds value. If and when it is not serving our eternal salvation, it holds no lasting value of its own.
And yet, we wake up every morning surrounded by this world. It requires our attention. We must engage with the duties of our state of life. In doing so, though, we must retain our "heavenly perspective."
"In one sense we must all mind earthly things; we must all eat and drink and sleep, and live an ordinary human life. The trouble with us is that we make human things, earthly things, come first; while the saints' conversation is in heaven."
Do our thoughts, our words, our actions reflect mind and heart aware that Heaven's Gate awaits?
"This one great thought of God - this one habit - making Him first, thinking of Him first, loving Him first and most, this constant practice of the presence fo God, is a sure means to become spiritual; and a spiritual man is on the high road to sanctity."
Or are we stuck in the minutiae and the busyness of daily existence?
"Nowadays a great stress is laid on active works; yet in active works, too eagerly undertaken and too busily transacted, we may lose interior peace."
Let's step back and consider all this. Now let's see how we can attend to our daily duties and obligations while striving to become saints in a world that hardly knows the meaning of the word. The Inner Life of the Soul gives us a first step, a practical guide, to get things right:
"...what need have we in the world to give ourselves breathing-spaces of time for the "one great thought of God!" Let us try one very practical method of gaining it; and that is, at least ten minutes of thoughtful reading of some spiritual work each day...Reading may develop into aspirations of prayer; aspirations into meditation; meditation into contemplation; and contemplation into that peaceful union of the soul with God which nothing can disturb, when our will is one with His will, and heaven - the saints' heaven - is ours on earth. The steady practice of these methods may at first be hard, but let us persevere; the vigil and fast precede the feast. Our good God will crown His own work at last, and will number his faithful children among the saints."
We continue to pray for the Holy Souls during this month of November. We continue, as well, to strive to become saints.
This week's entry for the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost in The Inner Life of the Soul tries to focus our attention on our becoming saints.
"As...the yellow leaves slip silently to mother earth, and nature speaks of of death and yet promises resurrection, let us ask ourselves in these autumn silences: What makes a saint? Can you or I be one?"
"Saint Paul tells us, with terse words...some characteristic marks of those who are not saints; and one noticeable mark is this, that they mind earthly things. On the other hand, our conversation, the Christian conversation, he says, is in heaven."
Detachment, in a Christian sense, involves our recognizing the world for the temporary waystation it was created to be for us. We're not here forever. We pass through. Our ultimate destination - Heaven -
awaits us.
Everything in this world passes in time. There's nothing permanent about it. All of it was created for us as a means to get to Heaven. To the extent that any part of God's creation helps us get to Heaven, it holds value. If and when it is not serving our eternal salvation, it holds no lasting value of its own.
And yet, we wake up every morning surrounded by this world. It requires our attention. We must engage with the duties of our state of life. In doing so, though, we must retain our "heavenly perspective."
"In one sense we must all mind earthly things; we must all eat and drink and sleep, and live an ordinary human life. The trouble with us is that we make human things, earthly things, come first; while the saints' conversation is in heaven."
Do our thoughts, our words, our actions reflect mind and heart aware that Heaven's Gate awaits?
"This one great thought of God - this one habit - making Him first, thinking of Him first, loving Him first and most, this constant practice of the presence fo God, is a sure means to become spiritual; and a spiritual man is on the high road to sanctity."
Or are we stuck in the minutiae and the busyness of daily existence?
"Nowadays a great stress is laid on active works; yet in active works, too eagerly undertaken and too busily transacted, we may lose interior peace."
Let's step back and consider all this. Now let's see how we can attend to our daily duties and obligations while striving to become saints in a world that hardly knows the meaning of the word. The Inner Life of the Soul gives us a first step, a practical guide, to get things right:
"...what need have we in the world to give ourselves breathing-spaces of time for the "one great thought of God!" Let us try one very practical method of gaining it; and that is, at least ten minutes of thoughtful reading of some spiritual work each day...Reading may develop into aspirations of prayer; aspirations into meditation; meditation into contemplation; and contemplation into that peaceful union of the soul with God which nothing can disturb, when our will is one with His will, and heaven - the saints' heaven - is ours on earth. The steady practice of these methods may at first be hard, but let us persevere; the vigil and fast precede the feast. Our good God will crown His own work at last, and will number his faithful children among the saints."
We continue to pray for the Holy Souls during this month of November. We continue, as well, to strive to become saints.
Happy Sunday!
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