A Sunday Thought About Hope To Spur Us On During This Easter Season
This past week we spoke of hope in the midst of our sometimes irritating, often confusing C-virus World. What has been most irritating and confusing for me is an inability to do anything about our current circumstances. I just feel "stuck" sometimes. And I wonder if I should be "doing more" to unstick myself. So far, such wondering has been more frustrating than productive
So these words from Fr. E.J. Cuskelly, M.S.C. seemed particularly apropos. If you're experiencing similar frustration, you may find them helpful. It seems that even in "normal times" frustration over our inability to shape the world as we might have it can result in not only practical, but also spiritual confusion and disappointment.
“We have a natural desire to be somebody, to get credit for what we are and for what we accomplish. But this natural desire must be superseded by the readiness to be only what God makes us and to give all the credit to Him. We have a natural desire to make our own efforts for security in spiritual matters and to rely on their worth for success. This desire to rely on our own efforts must give way to a trust that is only in God."
We can see this desire to rely on our own efforts not only in our spiritual life but in our work, as well in the practical demands of our personal life as well. And the same paradox that Father notes can be applied across the board,
"...the Christian has to live one of the many paradoxes of his faith. He can spare no effort for his own sanctification nor for the salvation of others. He must ‘work as if everything depended upon himself, and pray as if everything depended upon God.’ He must make every effort, yet after he has done all he can, he must know that he is an ‘unprofitable servant’ (Luke 17:10), and that it is God who gives the increase...For his justification, he hopes in God alone, relies only on His merciful love, trusts in his Father and his Savior..."
And yet those of us who are blessed with this understanding know all too well that knowledge doesn't always translate easily into action.
“This is easy enough to see in theory. It is not easy to live. We can know it only through the experience of our own weakness and failure. When we can accept our weakness and failure without discouragement, starting off again with a glad confidence in God, we have come a long way toward spiritual maturity."
For many of us, acknowledging our limitations and failures can be a painful process - one that we easily dismiss or put off for another day. That may be especially true in our current obsession with self-affirmation and its kissin' cousin, "loving myself." The fact is, fallen human nature has tainted our characters and behaviors. We're far from perfect - to say the least. And recognizing this isn't a matter of "negative thinking." It's a sign of maturity - both personal and spiritual.
"Any maturity demands a facing of reality and the acceptance of our own limitations and failures. Spiritual maturity demands the acceptance of the reality of God and the reality of self. Much of what St. John of the Cross wrote is a description of how a man comes to the realization and acceptance of these two fundamental realities.
For those of you still convinced that we should always and everywhere "accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative" if for no other reason than to keep our "positive attitude," please carefully read Father's words here:
"Acceptance of the reality of self is not a downcast attitude, but, with St. Paul, a glad glorying in our weakness that the power of Christ might dwell in us."
And for those of you who have come to know and appreciate the beautiful and profoundly simple writings of The Little Flower:
"This was, of course, one of the central points in the spirituality of St. Therese of Lisieux, whose doctrine has been summed up as ‘a restatement of the teaching of hope in all its fullness.’
Face it: "Self" is the enemy. Instead of lapsing into ourselves, we must strive for a proper and true appreciation of our weakness such that we can wean ourselves of ourselves to make room for Christ within us.
"But hope in all its fullness means a man’s death to self, his renunciation of wanting to be anything of himself and by himself, ceasing to rely on himself, with his reliance only on God. This comes about in successive stages."
Father Cuskelly wisely points out that our weaning of self takes time - for many if not most of us, our whole lives. That's what "successive stages" means. But that's OK. During our glorious Easter Season, we can receive the graces we need to continue slicing off slivers of self, inspired by the words of St. John the Baptist: "He must increase but I must decrease."
So these words from Fr. E.J. Cuskelly, M.S.C. seemed particularly apropos. If you're experiencing similar frustration, you may find them helpful. It seems that even in "normal times" frustration over our inability to shape the world as we might have it can result in not only practical, but also spiritual confusion and disappointment.
“We have a natural desire to be somebody, to get credit for what we are and for what we accomplish. But this natural desire must be superseded by the readiness to be only what God makes us and to give all the credit to Him. We have a natural desire to make our own efforts for security in spiritual matters and to rely on their worth for success. This desire to rely on our own efforts must give way to a trust that is only in God."
We can see this desire to rely on our own efforts not only in our spiritual life but in our work, as well in the practical demands of our personal life as well. And the same paradox that Father notes can be applied across the board,
"...the Christian has to live one of the many paradoxes of his faith. He can spare no effort for his own sanctification nor for the salvation of others. He must ‘work as if everything depended upon himself, and pray as if everything depended upon God.’ He must make every effort, yet after he has done all he can, he must know that he is an ‘unprofitable servant’ (Luke 17:10), and that it is God who gives the increase...For his justification, he hopes in God alone, relies only on His merciful love, trusts in his Father and his Savior..."
And yet those of us who are blessed with this understanding know all too well that knowledge doesn't always translate easily into action.
“This is easy enough to see in theory. It is not easy to live. We can know it only through the experience of our own weakness and failure. When we can accept our weakness and failure without discouragement, starting off again with a glad confidence in God, we have come a long way toward spiritual maturity."
For many of us, acknowledging our limitations and failures can be a painful process - one that we easily dismiss or put off for another day. That may be especially true in our current obsession with self-affirmation and its kissin' cousin, "loving myself." The fact is, fallen human nature has tainted our characters and behaviors. We're far from perfect - to say the least. And recognizing this isn't a matter of "negative thinking." It's a sign of maturity - both personal and spiritual.
"Any maturity demands a facing of reality and the acceptance of our own limitations and failures. Spiritual maturity demands the acceptance of the reality of God and the reality of self. Much of what St. John of the Cross wrote is a description of how a man comes to the realization and acceptance of these two fundamental realities.
For those of you still convinced that we should always and everywhere "accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative" if for no other reason than to keep our "positive attitude," please carefully read Father's words here:
"Acceptance of the reality of self is not a downcast attitude, but, with St. Paul, a glad glorying in our weakness that the power of Christ might dwell in us."
And for those of you who have come to know and appreciate the beautiful and profoundly simple writings of The Little Flower:
"This was, of course, one of the central points in the spirituality of St. Therese of Lisieux, whose doctrine has been summed up as ‘a restatement of the teaching of hope in all its fullness.’
Face it: "Self" is the enemy. Instead of lapsing into ourselves, we must strive for a proper and true appreciation of our weakness such that we can wean ourselves of ourselves to make room for Christ within us.
"But hope in all its fullness means a man’s death to self, his renunciation of wanting to be anything of himself and by himself, ceasing to rely on himself, with his reliance only on God. This comes about in successive stages."
Father Cuskelly wisely points out that our weaning of self takes time - for many if not most of us, our whole lives. That's what "successive stages" means. But that's OK. During our glorious Easter Season, we can receive the graces we need to continue slicing off slivers of self, inspired by the words of St. John the Baptist: "He must increase but I must decrease."
Happy Easter!
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