LENTEN THOUGHTS

A quote to think about during these days of Lent, and for always. "We ought to spend each day, as though it were to be our last."

I'm going to try to interject some thoughts this Lenten season, and most will come from St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622). These writings come from his sermons on Lent. I will write what he said, paraphrasing a little. Maybe they can help us reach our goal; that is, to serve God better so that we can be with Him in the next phase of our soul's life. I implore his inspiration when writing my blogs, since he is the 'Patron Saints' of journalists. Not that I am a journalist, but I can write.


Concerning to universality of temptation:

'...If we are led by the Spirit of God to the place of temptation, we should not fear, but should be assured that He will render us victorious. [1 Cor. 10:13] Thus, it is a very necessary practice to prepare our soul for temptation. That is, wherever we may be and however perfect we may be, we must rest assured that temptation will attack us. Hence, we ought to be so disposed and to provide ourselves with the weapons necessary to fight valiantly in order to carry off the victory, since the crown is only for the combatants and conquerors. We ought never to trust in our own strength or in our courage and go out to seek temptation, thinking to confound it; but if in that place where the Spirit of God has led us we encounter it, we must remain firm in the confidence which we ought to have that He will strengthen us against the attacks of our enemy, however furious they may be.

St. Bernard, referring to these words of the Psalm [90], said that the terrors of the night are three kinds. The first fear is that of cowards and slothful souls; the second, that of children; and the third, that of the weak. Fear is the first temptation which the enemy presents to those who have resolved to serve God, for as soon as they are shown what perfection requires of them they think, "Alas, I shall never be able to do it." Do not trouble yourself and do not frame these idle fears that you are not able to accomplish that to which you have bound yourself, since you are armed and encompassed with the Truth of God and with His Word. He will strengthen you and will give you the grace to persevere and to do what is required for His greater glory and for your greater welfare and happiness, provided you walk simply in faithful observance.

The second fear is experienced by children. They cry for 'Mama' when scared, and know nothing can harm them when holding her hand. Let us do the same. If we feel that we lack the courage let us cry out in a loud voice full of confidence, "Lord, save me!" Let us not doubt that God will strengthen us and prevent us from perishing.

The third terror of the night is that of the weak. These fear not only what can bring evil but what can in any way disturb or trouble their peace. They do not want any little noise whatever to come between God and them, since they have convinced themselves that there is a certain quiet and tranquility which maintains those who have it in uninterrupted peace and happiness...Keep this rule in front of us: No one will be so holy in this life as not to be subject to committing some imperfection or other.

We must keep ourselves constant and tranquil in the knowledge of this truth if we will not be troubled with the unrealistic expectation of never committing any imperfection at all. We should have a strong and constant resolution never to be so cowardly as to commit any imperfection voluntarily. But we ought also to be unshaken in this other resolution: not to be astonished or troubled at seeing that we are subject to fall into these imperfections, even often. We must rather confide ourselves to the goodness of God Who, for all that, does not love us less.

St. Bernard assures us that he who has Faith and is armed with Truth will not fear these terrors of the night...the devil deceives souls, transforming himself into an angel of light and causing them to stumble. Yet, whoever will be armed with the shield of Truth and of Faith will overcome these enemies as courageously as all the, as David promises. [Ps. 90, 5-6]

These forty days, as we said just now, symbolize the life of the Christian, of each one of us. Let us then desire these consolations only at the end of our lives, and let us busy ourselves in steadfast resistance to the frontal attacks of our enemies. For whether we desire it or not we shall be tempted. If we do not struggle, we shall not be victorious, nor shall we merit the crown of immortal glory which God has prepared for those of us who are victorious and triumphant.

Let us fear neither the temptation nor the tempter, for if we make use of the shield of Faith and the armor of Truth, they will have not power whatsoever over us. Let us not longer fear the three terrors of the night. And let us not entertain the vain hope of being or wishing to be saints in three months! Let us shun both spiritual avarice and the ambition which occasion so much disorder in our hearts and so greatly impede our perfection. The noonday devil will be powerless in causing us to fail in our firm and steadfast resolution to serve God generously and as perfectly as possible in this life, so that after this life we shall go to enjoy Him forever. May He be blessed! Amen.'



I would like to interject a saying from St. Jerome: 'You are deceived if you think that a Christian can live without persecution. He suffers the greatest who lives under none. Nothing is more to be feared that too long a peace. A storm puts a man upon his guard, and obliges him to exert his utmost efforts to escape shipwreck.'


Ps. I have been asked if it is OK to use this material for furthering the Faith. You can copy and paste whatever is here in these pages. Keep the Faith alive and moving to those who don't know it, even if they call themselves Catholic and don't really have a clue what the Faith is. That's why I am doing this blog, to help the uninformed and unknowing. Good luck in your endeavors. May God bless us all. Amen.