Remember to Get Up and Start Again on This 4th Sunday after Easter

Get up and start again. It's the advice of many a saint. Indeed it may be why saints are saints. And knowing this should encourage all of us to, well, become saints.

Our weekday discussions recently focused on the importance of striving to be saints, even in the midst of our busy days at work. But for us sinners, such discussions can sometimes sound good, but then we get punched in the gut. We strive, then we slip and fall. Even if we've made some progress in our spiritual life, some habitual sin or just some bad habit causes us to get discouraged when we realize we're pretty far from being "perfect" - even after all that striving. 

Many of us may think that saints didn't sin or fail to fulfill their duties, or fall short of perfection in every thought, word, and deed. Far from it. These were human beings, just like us. 

Yes, some were given the grace of pure and simple hearts that surprise those of us whom fallen human nature has molded into what the Psalms call "a worm and no man." But these were more the exception. The quick and dirty example might be St. Peter. He denied Our Lord, as we all know, not once but three times, even as he witnessed his arrest and trial. He loved Our Lord and he knew that Our Lord loved him. And still, he...well, you know the story.

St. Philip Neri, beloved in Rome and one who wrote words of wisdom and encouragement to those who sought holiness, fought a bad temper, as did St. Francis de Sales, known for his gentleness and understanding of his spiritual children, indeed of everyone. He worked at overcoming his tendency to impatience and anger, with God's grace.

And surely we know that the key here is just that: God's Grace. On our own, things can look and feel pretty hopeless. The thing is, they are - on our own. So we must develop the habit of continually appealing to Our Father, Our Lord, the Holy Spirit. God will provide the grace we need.

Even more to the point, He will provide the grace we need when we need it: Just enough for every circumstance. No more, no less. This last part may seem a bit daunting to some of us. We'd love to have a kind of Grace Savings Account at our disposal that we can tap into when we think we need it. But it doesn't work that way apparently.

In fact, if you think about it, wouldn't that build up our love of self at the expense of our love of God?

It's the very nature of our status as fallen creatures who need God's grace that calls up on us to call upon Him, rather than to rely on ourselves.

In any case, here's something written by our dear friend Father Willie Doyle to one of this spiritual children. His writings contain many letters to those for whom he provided spiritual direction, many of whom were nuns - just the types we might think don't need such help. But, of course, they, like us, do, and need it badly.

In just a few words, we'll see how we sinners share the same fate of falling and falling again. And we'll see how simple response of getting up and starting again will be our way of setting things aright - with God's grace. 

“Surely, my child, you are not surprised to find that you have broken your resolution, or rather, that the devil has gained a victory over you. I am convinced from a pretty big experience that perfection, that is sanctity, is only to be won by repeated failures. If you rise again after a fall, sorry for the pain given our Lord, humbled by it, since you see better your real weakness, and determined to make another start, far more is gained than if you had gone on without a stumble. Besides, to expect to keep any resolution, till repeated acts have made it solid in the soul, is like one expecting to learn skating, for example, without ever falling. The more falls, the better (that is if you do not mind bumps), for every fall means that we have begun again, have made another effort and so have made progress. I mention this because I know that you – like myself – are given to discouragement and tempted to give up all when failure comes.” (Fr. William Doyle, S.J., 1873-1917)
 

For a holy 4th Sunday after Easter and for the grace of God we pray.

 

Happy Easter!