March 18, 2005

For those of us who may be stumbling into the beginning of Holy Week, I offer this Lenten reading that is so appropriate for people like us.

"We think the spiritual life is one of ever-growing fervor, in which we feel ourselves more enthusiastic, more closely united to our Lord each day. We imagine the spiritual life to be a way of light, without eclipses, not one bit different from what occurs in nature: first there is the softness of the aurora, then the dawn filled with its hopes; next comes the sun filling the earth little by little with its heat and its light until the fullness of noonday is at hand. This is how we picture the spiritual life. Temptations? Assuredly they will come, but they will be as spiritual diversions to break the monotony of life, and naturally they will be temptations that will be overcome.

But the ways of God are not our ways. I almost dare to say that the spiritual life is almost to the contrary of what we fancy it. It is true that it goes upward, but by lowering ourselves. It is true that it purifies the soul, but in the midst of temptations and falls. It is true that its light increases, yet the light is one that is overshadowed with darkness. Therefore, in order that the light may increase, the darkness must envelop us; in order that the purification may continue, the most painful temptations must besiege us; and in order that the true fervor may take root in our soul, sensible fervor must frequently forsake us. Thus, in the midst of darkness, of helplessness, of struggles, of temptations, and of falls, we continue going upward; yet we do not notice that we are ascending until we arrive at the goal of our aspirations."
-Archbishop Martinez from Secrets of the Interior life

If we are really honest with ourselves we can see the truth in this. When we know and see tribulations and deserts for what they are, they can become beautiful.

Br. Agostino Miguel Torres, CFR
St. Leopold Friary, Yonkers, New York

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