‘I have merited hell’ -- first motive. Adam, by his disobedience, drew down upon himself the sentence of eternal condemnation. God, it is true, gave him certain hope of escaping it when he foretold the advent of a Redeemer. On the condition that he should do penance -- “In the sweat of thy face shall you eat bread.” (Gen 3:19)
Adam must have been most grateful for this gracious commutation of his punishment, although long and severe! Nowadays, condemned criminals sometimes receive a similar reprieve. If we had committed a mortal sin, we must say, ‘I have merited hell, as did our first father Adam. If I am to escape, it is also on the condition of leading a life of penance.’
“All the life of a Christian should be a life of penance.” (The Council of Trent) How true! If we go down to hell in spirit and see the eternal punishments the lost endure, suffering in this life will seem light. We will then say, with St Augustine, “Here below, O Lord, burn, cut, and spare me not, so long as you spare me in eternity!”
‘Hell threatens me’ -- second motive. Our Lord’s words are explicit -- ‘Except you do penance, you shall all likewise perish.’ Why so? Because pride and concupiscence, since the Fall, having infected our mind and heart, rule our actions and will certainly lead us into every species of sin and disorder unless we practice constant penance and mortifications.
Humiliation is the penance of the intellect. Many, in rejecting it, have become apostates before God, if not before man. Mortification is the penance of the heart. How many, unwilling to endure it, who have begun in the spirit, later indulge the desires of the flesh? (St Paul)
The Church does well to exhort us tenderly to do penance from the first Sunday in Lent. Let us embrace it willingly during the Holy Week. We should strive, therefore, to do more than before.
‘Beings more perfect than myself are eternally lost’ -- third motive. The angels have fallen in heaven; from heaven they were cast into hell. Faith assures us so. They had no time for penance; immediate punishment followed their offence.
Judas, called and formed by Jesus to the practice of spiritual perfection and apostolic duties, spent three years with him. Secretly fostering an evil inclination, he eventually became capable of conceiving and executing the most detestable of crimes which led him to despair, suicide, and hell.
“Wherefore, he that thinketh himself to stand, let him take heed, lest he fall ... But I chastise my body and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway.” (St Paul)
Let us reason and act as did St Paul; we shall be saved with him.
Ref: cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp173-5
Striving for virtue
God doesn’t ask the impossible. He expects all Christians to live the christian virtues in their entirety, even if they find themselves in environments that seem to be moving farther and farther away from God. He will give the graces necessary for being faithful in such situations.
Furthermore, the good example He expects of all of us will often be the means of making Christ’s doctrine attractive to others, and of evangelizing again the world.
To grow in the human and supernatural virtues, as well as in grace, we must make a personal effort to develop the practice of these virtues in our everyday “lives until we acquire authentic habits, and not only the appearance of virtue. The facade appears full of strength and resilience. But how much softness and lack of will-power there is within! You must hold to your determination not to let your virtues become fancy dress but clothes that define your character.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “Furrow”, 777)
What is important is we should make a definite and loving decision to strive after virtue in our everyday affairs. The more we practise doing these good acts, the easier it will be to do them again. In this way we will identify ourselves more and more with Christ.
Our Lady, “Model and school of all virtues” (St Ambrose, “Treatise on Virginity”, 2) will teach us to achieve our wish if we turn to her for help and advice. She will make it easier for us to reach the goal we have set in our particular examination of conscience wherein we will often decide to aim at the acquisition of a very specific virtue.
Ref: Cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 2:137-8
“Paid in full with one glass of milk” (A touching true story, on the power of one good act. This anecdote is copied from “Word Alive” by Fr Bel R San Luis, SVD, “Manila Bulletin”, 2 September 2001.)
One day a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry. He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door.
Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so she brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?”
“You don’t owe me anything”, she replied. “Mother taught us never to accept pay for a kindness.” “Then, I thank you from my heart.”
As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man became strong also. He had been ready to give up and quit.
Years later, that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease.
Dr Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, strange light filled his eyes. Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room. Dressed in his doctor’s gown, he went in to see her. He recognized her at once.
He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day on, he gave special attention to the case. After a long struggle, the battle was won.
Dr Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge and the bill was sent to her room.
She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally, she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She read these words ...
“Paid in full with one glass of milk.” (Signed) Dr Howard Kelly
• On Palm Sunday, in the year 1098, St Robert, Abbot of Moleme, retired with twenty-one of his monks to the diocese of Chalons-sur-Seine, where he built, in honor of Our Lady, the celebrated monastery of Citeaux, the head house of the order. — Arnold Vionus, lib. L; Ligni vitae c. 47. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• “Notre Dame de Citeaux”. France. 1098. Constructed by St Robert. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady of Citeaux. (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Our Lady of Citeaux, France (1098), built by St Robert. (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• Feast of the Seven Sorrows of Mary. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
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