A
friend of mine recently shared that someone dear to her has allowed fear and
insecurity to reign supreme, thereby turning this person into a manipulative
and selfish being, quite unlike her usual self.
Why is it so unsettling when we hear that someone who strives hard to model Christian values and is generally a kind and giving person has suddenly morphed into a crazed witch and has fallen away from God's truth?
Three things come to my mind. One, pride is to blame; two, it could very easily have been me; and three, it does not take much to discourage others with behaviour that smacks of counter-witnessing. My friend has found this surreal situation difficult to deal with on so many levels.
Yes, we all have our imperfections, but for those who are in positions of moral authority or leadership, the bar is, unfortunately, set much higher. As Jesus said, those who have been given much, much will be demanded of them. That's the reason why we expect our priests and religious to be exemplars of Christian virtue and model citizens.
Faithfulness in small things is required, consistently. For this is what witnessing is all about. In all circumstances, in every waking moment, we do not stop striving to be like Jesus. The only way we can achieve this impossible aspiration is to submit to God's will each nano second. Constant prayer is key to allow transforming grace to course through our arteries, pulsing through our bodies with life-giving, Spirit-filled oxygen.
Saint Paul said to the Corinthians:
I shall be very happy to make my weaknesses my special boast so that the power of Christ may stay over me, and that is why I am quite content with my weaknesses, and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and the agonies I go through for Christ’s sake. For it is when I am weak that I am strong.
The thorns in our flesh are strong enough to lance the boils of our pride, to drain away the pus inside. However, if we do not see the hidden purpose of the thorns that afflict us, we will just whinge, wallow and do nothing.
Pride is truly the queen of all deadly sins for it does not take much for pride to colour our perspective and insidiously blind us to our own faults. Even our strengths are not exempt. I find I have to constantly catch myself from pinning a good deed onto my breast like a badge of honour for all to see and admire. Saint Thérèse of Lisieux urges for the glory of anonymity when it comes to doing good; the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing and all that.
Thus, good people with noble intentions, beware. Always submit your intentions, your acts of love and your good deeds to an examen of consciousness*. Allow your strengths and virtues, not only your weaknesses and faults, to be purified constantly. Do not commit base murder flowing from honourable and lofty ideals just as Brutus in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar did.
In The Way of Perfection, Saint Teresa of Avila talks about the three essentials of a prayer-filled life, humility, charity and detachment, in order for us to become spiritually mature Christians.
To be humble is to walk in the truth of who we are and to be content with whatever it is the Lord wants us to do**. She called humility the queen of virtues. To be charitable is to give of one's self with a self-donating love that puts others first and self after. And detachment is all about self-relinquishing liberation from created things, including our preferences and prejudices.
Humility, charity and detachment are the trinity of virtues and, Saint Teresa assures, the way to a happy and fulfilling life. These virtues are fully embodied in Jesus, whose example we can emulate closely. So don't let pride get the better of you. Stay humble, loving and hold all things loosely in your hands.
** From Susan Muto's Late Have I Loved Thee
Why is it so unsettling when we hear that someone who strives hard to model Christian values and is generally a kind and giving person has suddenly morphed into a crazed witch and has fallen away from God's truth?
Three things come to my mind. One, pride is to blame; two, it could very easily have been me; and three, it does not take much to discourage others with behaviour that smacks of counter-witnessing. My friend has found this surreal situation difficult to deal with on so many levels.
Yes, we all have our imperfections, but for those who are in positions of moral authority or leadership, the bar is, unfortunately, set much higher. As Jesus said, those who have been given much, much will be demanded of them. That's the reason why we expect our priests and religious to be exemplars of Christian virtue and model citizens.
Faithfulness in small things is required, consistently. For this is what witnessing is all about. In all circumstances, in every waking moment, we do not stop striving to be like Jesus. The only way we can achieve this impossible aspiration is to submit to God's will each nano second. Constant prayer is key to allow transforming grace to course through our arteries, pulsing through our bodies with life-giving, Spirit-filled oxygen.
Saint Paul said to the Corinthians:
I shall be very happy to make my weaknesses my special boast so that the power of Christ may stay over me, and that is why I am quite content with my weaknesses, and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and the agonies I go through for Christ’s sake. For it is when I am weak that I am strong.
The thorns in our flesh are strong enough to lance the boils of our pride, to drain away the pus inside. However, if we do not see the hidden purpose of the thorns that afflict us, we will just whinge, wallow and do nothing.
Pride is truly the queen of all deadly sins for it does not take much for pride to colour our perspective and insidiously blind us to our own faults. Even our strengths are not exempt. I find I have to constantly catch myself from pinning a good deed onto my breast like a badge of honour for all to see and admire. Saint Thérèse of Lisieux urges for the glory of anonymity when it comes to doing good; the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing and all that.
Thus, good people with noble intentions, beware. Always submit your intentions, your acts of love and your good deeds to an examen of consciousness*. Allow your strengths and virtues, not only your weaknesses and faults, to be purified constantly. Do not commit base murder flowing from honourable and lofty ideals just as Brutus in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar did.
In The Way of Perfection, Saint Teresa of Avila talks about the three essentials of a prayer-filled life, humility, charity and detachment, in order for us to become spiritually mature Christians.
To be humble is to walk in the truth of who we are and to be content with whatever it is the Lord wants us to do**. She called humility the queen of virtues. To be charitable is to give of one's self with a self-donating love that puts others first and self after. And detachment is all about self-relinquishing liberation from created things, including our preferences and prejudices.
Humility, charity and detachment are the trinity of virtues and, Saint Teresa assures, the way to a happy and fulfilling life. These virtues are fully embodied in Jesus, whose example we can emulate closely. So don't let pride get the better of you. Stay humble, loving and hold all things loosely in your hands.
* A great article on how to do the examen: http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-examen/consciousness-examen/
** From Susan Muto's Late Have I Loved Thee
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