†
Meditation
1) Place yourself in the presence of God.
2) Ask for the grace of having a great desire to be pleasing in the eyes of the Lord, and to have eternal life as the only goal of my most important choices, without letting myself be seduced by the spirit of the world.
3) Read the text below and then spend a brief period of time reflecting on it.
(From Antonio Royo Marín, Theology of Christian Perfection).
How to Combat the Worldly Environment
Fourth Resolution: Crush human respect. Paying attention to ‘what others will say’ diminishes our dignity as Christians and offends God. In order not to ‘displease’ men, who live in mortal sin, we do not respect God’s law and are ashamed to show ourselves as authentic disciples of Jesus Christ. The divine Master clearly warns us in the Gospel that he will not recognize before the Father who has denied him before men (cf. Mt 10:33). It is necessary to assume a firm and determined attitude before Jesus, because those who are not with him are against him (cf. Mt 12:30). St. Paul affirms that he would not be a disciple of Christ if he sought to please men (see Gal 1:10). The Christian who wants to achieve holiness does not have to take into consideration what the world will say or think. It is better to adopt from the beginning a clear and irreproachable conduct so that no one doubts our true intentions. The world will hate you and persecute you, the Divine Master has told us (Jn 15:18). For determined and immovable people, the demon will end up leaving them alone. He continually returns only to the cowards who he attacks to attract them to join his ranks. The best way to overcome the world is not to yield even one step, to set one’s will with strength, to renounce forever its maxims and its vanities.
We consider a text of St. John Mary Vianney (the holy Cure of Ars): “My children, I say to you with St. Bernard, from any perspective you look at, he who works out of human respect, which is the shame of fulfilling the duties of the religion because of the world, he shows: disdain for God, his graces, and blindness of the soul. First of all, my children, the shame of practicing good, for fear of the scorn and ridicule of ungodly wretches or ignorant people, is a great scorn that we perform in the presence of God, in front of whom we are always. Why, my children, do these bad Christians laugh at you and ridicule your devotion? Oh my children! I will tell you the true cause: it is that, not having the virtue to do what you do, they look at you with antipathy, because your behavior awakens the remorse of their consciences; but be sure that their hearts, far from despising you, hold you in great esteem. If you need good advice or to obtain some grace from God, do not believe that they go to those who carry their same behavior, but to those who they scoffed, at least with their words. Are you ashamed, friend, to serve God, for fear of being despised? See Him who has died on the cross; ask Him if He was ashamed to see Himself despised and to die in the most humiliating way on that infamous scaffold. Oh, how ungrateful we are to God, who always finds his glory in proclaiming, from generation to generation, that he has chosen us to be his children! Oh my God! How blind and worthy of contempt is the man who fears a miserable ‘what will they say about me?’ And is not afraid of offending such a good God!
”
4) Pray the Litany of Humility
Meditation
1) Place yourself in the presence of God.
2) Ask for the grace of having a great desire to be pleasing in the eyes of the Lord, and to have eternal life as the only goal of my most important choices, without letting myself be seduced by the spirit of the world.
3) Read the text below and then spend a brief period of time reflecting on it.
(From Antonio Royo Marín, Theology of Christian Perfection).
How to Combat the Worldly Environment
Fourth Resolution: Crush human respect. Paying attention to ‘what others will say’ diminishes our dignity as Christians and offends God. In order not to ‘displease’ men, who live in mortal sin, we do not respect God’s law and are ashamed to show ourselves as authentic disciples of Jesus Christ. The divine Master clearly warns us in the Gospel that he will not recognize before the Father who has denied him before men (cf. Mt 10:33). It is necessary to assume a firm and determined attitude before Jesus, because those who are not with him are against him (cf. Mt 12:30). St. Paul affirms that he would not be a disciple of Christ if he sought to please men (see Gal 1:10). The Christian who wants to achieve holiness does not have to take into consideration what the world will say or think. It is better to adopt from the beginning a clear and irreproachable conduct so that no one doubts our true intentions. The world will hate you and persecute you, the Divine Master has told us (Jn 15:18). For determined and immovable people, the demon will end up leaving them alone. He continually returns only to the cowards who he attacks to attract them to join his ranks. The best way to overcome the world is not to yield even one step, to set one’s will with strength, to renounce forever its maxims and its vanities.
We consider a text of St. John Mary Vianney (the holy Cure of Ars): “My children, I say to you with St. Bernard, from any perspective you look at, he who works out of human respect, which is the shame of fulfilling the duties of the religion because of the world, he shows: disdain for God, his graces, and blindness of the soul. First of all, my children, the shame of practicing good, for fear of the scorn and ridicule of ungodly wretches or ignorant people, is a great scorn that we perform in the presence of God, in front of whom we are always. Why, my children, do these bad Christians laugh at you and ridicule your devotion? Oh my children! I will tell you the true cause: it is that, not having the virtue to do what you do, they look at you with antipathy, because your behavior awakens the remorse of their consciences; but be sure that their hearts, far from despising you, hold you in great esteem. If you need good advice or to obtain some grace from God, do not believe that they go to those who carry their same behavior, but to those who they scoffed, at least with their words. Are you ashamed, friend, to serve God, for fear of being despised? See Him who has died on the cross; ask Him if He was ashamed to see Himself despised and to die in the most humiliating way on that infamous scaffold. Oh, how ungrateful we are to God, who always finds his glory in proclaiming, from generation to generation, that he has chosen us to be his children! Oh my God! How blind and worthy of contempt is the man who fears a miserable ‘what will they say about me?’ And is not afraid of offending such a good God!
”
4) Pray the Litany of Humility
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