Vol.5 No.26 DoM E Message
Spiritual Gift of the Week
We ask for the grace of mercy and diligence knowing we take God’s gifts for granted.
We appeal to Mary who said to Juan Diego in Guadalupe:
“I am the Queen of Heaven and the Mother of Mercy;
I am the joy of the just, and the door through which sinners are brought to God.”
Spiritual Instruction of the Week,
To combat sloth, act against resistance to prayer.
Pray unceasingly.
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Dear Beautiful Daughters of Mary,
Lenten Logic
There is no logic in sin. There is no explanation for it. In the Catechism it says: Sin is an act contrary to reason. It wounds man’s nature and injures human solidarity. (1872) If we are serious about a relationship with God and with others, we cannot ignore the illogical character of sin. We would be remiss, even absurd—not to consider spiritual logic. So we again consider the story of Adam and Eve, and their sin. Last week we focused on Eve and the sin of pride. Adam’s illogical participation in The Fall is also important to consider.
What if Adam had refused Eve’s tempting offer?—What if he had not taken a bite out of the fruit that the serpent gave to Eve. Did he care about Eve and her status in the Garden? What about his own soul? Could Adam have stopped the fall? Reflect upon the story from Genesis (3: 6-7):
“When Eve saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. ———‘Then’ is the key word here. It was not until Adam ate the fruit, that their eyes were opened and they knew that they were naked. If he had not taken a bite—he would have avoided sin. If he had not been apathetic in the face of Eve’s pride, he might have avoided The Fall entirely. If only he had remembered that God’s intent in denying the fruit and expecting obedience was salvific, Adam might have been the instrument of God’s salvation for Eve. God’s logic is salvation.
Adam was guilty of sloth. He was lazy. He was lukewarm. He allowed Eve to draw him into a sinful situation, injuring human solidarity, human community. In “Back to Virtue” Peter Kreeft wrote: Sloth is a cold sin, not a hot one. But that makes it even deadlier. For rebellion against God is closer to him than indifference….God can more easily cool our wrath than fire our frozenness, though he can do both. Sloth is a sin of omission not commission. That too makes it deadlier, for a similar reason. To commit evil is at least to be playing the game… Sloth simply does not play God’s game, either with him or against him….It sits on the sidelines bored….Better to be hot or cold than lukewarm (15).”
The Greek word we translate as sloth is acedia meaning the absence of care, indifference or negligence, boredom and lack of passion. St Thomas said to commit sloth was to “shun spiritual good as toilsome.” Sloth refers to sadness that comes from oppressiveness and depression. “Sloth is dangerous for it dismisses grace.” said Msgr. Charles Pope, “Diligence in prayer is necessary to counteract the great sin of sloth.”
Diligence in prayer is the logic that embraces God’s grace and salvation. Think about when are tucked you into bed at night, feeling secure and safe—this the way God consoles the soul,—“the sleep of the just,” someone once told me. Now, think about when you hide under the covers, in isolation and dread, feeling oppressed and apathetic about the world—this is the temptation to sloth. Diligence in prayer the best response to both feelings.
If Adam had been diligent in his care of Eve’s soul and his own, he may have responded differently. He might have said, “Eve my dear beautiful woman, I am my sister’s keeper! You know that God in his goodness said we couldn’t eat this fruit! Let’s put it down, excuse ourselves from this pesky, crafty deceptive serpent. Let us rest and regroup. Let us resist the serpent’s counsel —and—let us act to the contrary. Let us return to Our Lord, that we may never take his gifts for granted. Let us let God embrace and save us, for tomorrow is another day in paradise!” Adam however said nothing. He did nothing. He did nothing to counteract Eve’ s serpent. He apathetically (and pathetically) went along with her. Adam was slothful and sloth is deadly to salvation.
Adam and Eve together sinned. The Fall happened after they both ate from the forbidden tree. Both were proud and both were slothful. Both missed the meaning of human community. Both missed what was necessary to authentic love—that is—a desire and willingness to actively participate in God’s saving love. Together they missed the embrace of God’s saving grace. They wanted to be gods, but instead they became idols…as I once read, “An idol is a god who does nothing.” Pride at the beginning and sloth at the end—bookends that “cage in” the deadliness of all the other capital sins.
The Good News—-Jesus is the New Adam (Rom. 5: 12-18). In his diligent life, Jesus embraced grace and human community. He taught, He forgave. He exorcised demons. He strengthened those who were weak. He calmed the storms. He prayed diligently—and Jesus loved passionately. In his passionate love on the Cross—and in the embrace of his Resurrection—-Jesus saves us. He offers to us the grace to diligently pray and passionately embrace God and our community. Jesus’ Cross and Resurrection are bookends which ‘tuck all of us into’ God’s saving love. God’s logic is the salvation which comes through Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:8).
Let us diligently pray, as St. Faustina prayed: “I will be more careful to overcome my passions and to follow Your inspirations; and never through slothfulness will I omit my duties, but I will strive to fulfill them with greater diligence and fidelity…Amen.”
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In “ The Name of God is Mercy” Pope Francis states: “Jesus said he came not for those who were good but for the sinners. He did not come for the healthy, who do not need the doctor, but for the sick. For this reason, we can say that mercy is God’s identity card. God of Mercy, merciful God. For me, this really is the Lord’s identity.”
Veni, Spirito Santo, la misericordia di Dio ci salva—
Come Holy Spirit, it is by God’s mercy that we are saved,
Deb
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