A 2nd Sunday of Lent Splash of Cold Water in Our Faces
We again splash some spiritual cold water in our faces for this 2nd Sunday of Lent, just as we did last Sunday. The idea here is that it should help us uncork our special spiritual discipline, especially if we haven't quite gotten into the full swing of things yet.
In last Sunday's post, we recalled the three key components of a good Lenten discipline - prayer, fasting, almsgiving - along with simple suggestions for those of us who need a little nudging.
This week our cold water for one of our regulars continues with its theme of "compunction." Compunction is basically a sting of
conscience based upon guilt for our sins. What could be more appropriate
for Lent?
But as is typically true of any special seasonal efforts (in this case Lent) we make in our spiritual lives, our efforts will help us throughout the rest of the year. In the case of compunction, it's not only perfect for Lent, but it's especially important in an age when so many of us do all we can to avoid any pangs or conscience or any sense of guilt for our sins at all.
Our world (along with the flesh and the devil) has deemed such thoughts and feelings "medieval," not up to the standards of mature modern adults. And, sadly, many of our shepherds - bishops and priests - avoid the subject of guilt, never mind compunction. To give them the benefit of the doubt, one suspects they think it would alienate their flock in some way. Many of us haven't heard the word "sin" in any sermon in many a year.
Of course, there may be some of our purported shepherds who no longer believe in sin at all. But of these, it's best to set them aside. We've got serious spiritual business to conduct today.
With that, let's immerse ourselves in this instruction on compunction.
The Spirit of Compunction (Part 2 of 2)
Fr. Joseph Schryvers, C.SS.R. (1876-1945)
“It is very easy to obtain pardon from Jesus. Compunction is a
supernatural regret felt by the soul for having caused pain to her
Divine Friend. It is the habitual cry of a heart towards its God,
begging for pardon. It is the gesture of a child after a fault, running
for refuge into the arms of its father, so as to regain his good graces;
it is the incessant need which the soul experiences of keeping beneath
the cross, to feel the drops of blood flow over her in a healthy,
cleansing stream. Thus the soul gradually arrives at greater interior
purity; she cannot bear to have a stain on her soul, without endeavoring
at once to remove it. Each act of sorrow adds a new ray of innocence to
her being. It was thus the illustrious penitents purified themselves –
St. Peter, St. Augustine, and St. Margaret of Cortona, and a multitude
of others, whose purity in heaven rivals that of the virgins and the
angels. In vain are the lives of these saints scrutinized to discover
whether Jesus testified less affection towards them than towards those
prodigies of innocence – the Agneses, the Gertrudes, the Louis Gonzagas,
or the Gerard Majellas. The poor sinner, bowing his humbled head at the
feet of the his crucifix, and feeling the Divine Savior drawing him to
His heart and embracing him, experience as much beatitude as souls who
were never stained by sin have felt in their ravishing colloquies with
Jesus. Compunction is a mysterious recasting of the soul in innocence
and purity. It is a second creation at which God allows the soul to
assist and to experience ineffable sweetness. But this creation is a
divine work: the spirit of compunction does not come from the soul
itself. It comes from Jesus Who lives in her, and Who is always
purifying her, by putting on her lips acts of repentant sorrow. The soul
who understands this is no longer depressed by her faults. She goes to
Jesus in all simplicity and begs Him to repair all, to purify her, and
to supply for her insufficiency. She humbles herself constantly in His
presence, knowing her weakness. She begs Jesus to root out her bad
inclinations and to destroy the roots of evil hidden in her heart. And
so, my Jesus, when the devil presents himself before Your throne to
accuse me, You will say to him: ‘Withdraw, unclean serpent, who never
knew how to humble yourself; this soul belongs to Me; many sins have
been forgiven her, because has loved much!”
Such words really ought not be a particularly cold splash water in our faces. But given the state of the world and our dear Holy Mother Church, they may well be for some of us.
But even if they're not particularly cold, they can be quite refreshing to us weary souls who know just how sinful we have been. With that, we can perk up and get on with the spiritual discipline that might help us correct our wrongs and launch us back on the road to Heaven.
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee
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