St. Paul, the
chosen vessel of God, a former persecutor of Christ worthy of
conversion, worthy of praise in the Lord and now one of the great
apostles, teaches us in his first letter
to the Corinthians how spouses should live in marriage.
1
Corinthians 7:29-35 “This therefore I say, brethren; the
time is short; it remaineth, that they also who have wives, be as if
they had none; And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they
that rejoice, as if they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though
they possessed not; And they that use this world, as if they used it
not: for the fashion of this world passeth away. But I would have you
to be without solicitude. He that is without a wife, is solicitous
for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God. But he
that is with a wife, is solicitous for the things of the world, how
he may please his wife: and he is divided. And the unmarried woman
and the virgin thinketh on the things of the Lord, that she may be
holy both in body and in spirit. But she that is married thinketh on
the things of the world, how she may please her husband. And this I
speak for your profit: not to cast a snare upon you; but for that
which is decent, and which may give you power to attend upon the
Lord, without impediment.”
What St. Paul is
saying here is that even those who are married should not place the
love of their family or the pleasures or affections they have from
them above God, but consider that all are dust and that One, and One
only is to be loved above all else—Our Lord Jesus Christ.
When St. Paul
mentions “that they also who have
wives, be as if they had none”, he is speaking about how
spouses must not place the carnal love they have for each other above
their love for the Lord. St. Paul’s words are clear: The spouses
must act as though they were not married (within due limits of
course) since the married man “is solicitous for the things of the
world, how he may please his wife: and he is divided.” This
division of the married man makes it a great necessity that even
married people should consider themselves in their own thought
processes as though they are unmarried and chaste, although their
external and physical marital duties hinders them from pursuing this
endeavor to the fullest. As St. Paul says: “it
remaineth, that they also who have wives, be as if they had none”.
One must
obviously love all people as much as one can, but one must also
remember that most people, however dear or near, often reject God and
hinder one’s own spiritual advancement. The only one who will
always remain true to us and that we know with a certainty will never
become evil, is God, and with God, His angels and Saints in Heaven.
But humans, however dear or near, often fall away from the truth and
this rejection of God by our family or friends requires us to exclude
them from our communion. Our Lord explicitly mentions that such acts
are necessary sometimes.
Luke
18:29 “Amen, I say to you, there is no man that hath left house, or
parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s
sake, who shall not receive much more in this present time, and in
the world to come life everlasting.”
Luke 14 gives us
an even clearer example from the gospel which shows us that we must
be able to renounce all association to our family or friends when
necessity requires it.
Luke
14:26 “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and
mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea and
his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not
carry his cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple.”
Douay Rheims
Commentary on Luke 14:26: “Hate not: The law of Christ does
not allow us to hate even our enemies, much less our parents: but the
meaning of the text is, that we must be in that disposition of soul,
as to be willing to renounce, and part with every thing, how near or
dear soever it may be to us, that would keep us from following
Christ.”
Our Lord does not
only teach us to follow this principle, but he also practiced what he
taught himself. His deepest belonging was to the Father, the Father’s
House, the Father’s concerns. This commitment would reverberate at
later times, severing ultimate claims on Him of his closest family.
In the presence of these and to their hearing, He would ask, “Who
is my mother, and who are my brethren? And stretching forth his hand
towards his disciples, he said: Behold my mother and my brethren. For
whosoever shall do the will of my Father, that is in Heaven, he is my
brother, and sister, and mother.” This, in His own life, was the
moral authority to demand the same of all others, “You cannot serve
two masters...”
Most spouses in
this world undoubtedly commit a most grievous act of faithlessness
against Our Lord when they love their spouse or the carnal love they
derive from them more than God. Their treasure is sadly a most vile
corpse that will rot and be eaten by worms in the grave. “For
where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Luke
12:34)
The Christian
servant is one who, “risen with Christ, seeks the things that are
above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God” and one
who “minds the things that are
above, not the things that are upon the earth. For you are dead; and
your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ shall appear, who is
your life, then you also shall appear with him in glory. Mortify
therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication,
uncleanness, lust, evil
concupiscence, and covetousness, which is the service of idols.”
(Colossians 3:1-5)
Luke chapter 18
is another excellent example in the gospels of how Our Lord wants
people to think in their own thought processes.
Luke
18:15-17 “And they brought unto him also infants, that he might
touch them. Which when the disciples saw, they rebuked them. But
Jesus, calling them together, said: Suffer children to come to me,
and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Amen, I say
to you: Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a child,
shall not enter into it.”
Notice that Our
Lord states that those who shall not receive the kingdom of God as a
child, shall not be saved: “Amen, I say to you: Whosoever shall not
receive the kingdom of God as a child, shall not enter into it.”
What are the good virtues or characteristics of children that Our
Lord refers to in this verse that men must have in order to be saved?
There are obviously many virtues that children have but two of the
most notable ones are purity, and humility, among many other virtues
such as strong faith and trust. The first virtue that children are
naturally endowed with is purity, and just like children, men must
also be pure and chaste in their own thought processes in accordance
with Our Lord’s words, even though some must fulfill their marital
duties. All children are also humble in a way since they know that
they know nothing compared to grown ups, and that they need to learn
more in order to understand different things. Men and women should
also think in the same way. They should humbly think that they know
nothing, and that they need to learn more in order to understand
different things. Until the moment of death, all men can learn more
about God, goodness or other things conducive to spiritual growth.
Every day is a new day with new opportunities to practice virtues of
different kinds, like patience, kindness, purity, love of neighbor
and God etc. However, whoever states the contrary, that is, that he
already knows all, is a proud liar who attributes to himself God’s
perfect knowledge.
Children also
love their parents in many ways and desire their presence at all
times. Children also frequently tend to express their love for their
parents in different ways. For instance, it is not uncommon for
children to simply walk up to their parents for no other purpose than
to express their love for them, and say they love them. Children also
have total childlike faith and confidence in their parents, firmly
believing that they know what’s best for them. It is indeed by
children that God wishes to teach us how we should act towards Him,
and love Him. Even though we are grown ups and not as children, we
should still act in our mind towards God as do small, defenseless
children towards their own parents; that is, we should have the same
desire, love, longing and confidence for Our God and Father in Heaven
as do children for their parents. And just like children, we should
admit our own utter dependance on Him, seeking His protection and
Fatherly care, having childlike trust in Him, firmly believing that
He will do what’s best for us and our salvation; and just like
children, we are to feel a deep desire and longing for God as do
small children for their parents, who simply cannot stop crying until
they are embraced by them; and finally, just like children, we are by
our prayers, meditations and thoughts to confidently walk up to God
and tell Him how much we love Him.
Every one has two
lives. The first life (which is the most important life) is the inner
life of the soul, consisting for the most part of desires, thoughts
and affections. The second life is the outer or external life made up
of the daily actions of the visible life. The pitiful state of
today’s humanity however, is that most people completely lack the
inner life and because of this, they lose their immortal souls. How
trivial indeed must not those small trifles and things seem for those
lost souls who loved and desired earthly and perishable goods and
pleasures more than they loved God when after a billion years in Hell
have gone by in the smoke that smothers and suffocates their whole
being, while the painful and tormenting fire that will never be
quenched however much they plead with Our Lord to alleviate their
torment, continues to torment them mercilessly!
Romans
6:3-6; 6:12-23 “Know you not that all we, who are baptized in
Christ Jesus, are baptized in his death? For we are buried together
with him by baptism into death; that as Christ is risen from the dead
by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life.
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we
shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing
this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body
of sin may be destroyed, to the end that we may serve sin no
longer.
“…
Let no sin therefore reign in your mortal body, so as to obey
the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of
iniquity unto sin; but present yourselves to God, as those
that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of
justice unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you; for you
are not under the law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin,
because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know
you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his
servants you are whom you obey, whether it be of sin unto death, or
of obedience unto justice.
“But
thanks be to God, that you were the servants of sin, but have obeyed
from the heart, unto that form of doctrine, into which you have been
delivered. Being then freed from sin, we have been made servants of
justice. I speak an human thing, because of the infirmity of your
flesh. For as you have yielded your members to serve uncleanness and
iniquity, unto iniquity; so now yield your members to serve justice,
unto sanctification. For when you were the servants of sin, you were
free men to justice. What fruit therefore had you then in those
things, of which you are now ashamed? For the end of them is death.
But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you
have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end life everlasting.
For the wages of sin is death. But the grace of God, life
everlasting, in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
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