IN the Book of Daniel, we are told of
a statue whose head
was made of fine gold, its breast and arms of silver, its belly and
thighs of brass, its legs of iron. All impressive! But its feet were,
sadly, part iron and part clay. (cfr 2,32-33)
It took only one small stone to hit its feet to bring the
whole statue crumbling down. It’s an image of how we are—we can be
majestic in many aspects, but we’ll always have these feet of clay,
our Achilles’ heel.
Precisely, our very own strengths and assets, if not
inspired properly by the spirit of humility which acknowledges those
endowments as God-given gifts to be taken care of and not just ours to
be used in any way we want, can be the very source of our perdition.
“Fame can take interesting men and thrust mediocrity upon
them.” These were words of the late rock superstar Davie Bowie who
must have experienced in an intense way the tension between his
outstanding talents and his weaknesses. They are a proof of the
biblical truth about that impressive statue with feet of clay.
We should always be on guard, distancing ourselves from
temptations and occasions of sins, purifying our intentions always so
as to ward off unwelcome thoughts and desires, ever developing an
authentic spirit of penance to cleanse and strengthen ourselves as we
go through the adventure of life.
In this we can never overdo the effort to be most careful
and prudent in our thoughts, words and deeds. Every day we need to
renew and update our resolutions and strategies to live by this norm,
considering that these days especially, we are practically bombarded
with all sorts of things that can spoil, depress or desensitize us.
We need to be humble and transparent, especially in our
spiritual direction and confession, to have constant recourse to the
sacraments, and also to develop a deep devotion to our Lady whose
utter simplicity and humility can help us to remain simple and
resistant to the allures of the world and the devil.
Let’s make use of this wonderful Marian month of May to
grow in that devotion and in becoming more and more like our Lady who
was given to us by Christ to be our mother. She will truly take care
of us, who will understand us always and prod us to continue moving on
in spite of our weaknesses and falls.
We have to be good in waging spiritual combats. We are
ranged against powerful opponents. As St. Paul said: “For our struggle
is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the
spiritual forces wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Eph 6,12)
Above all, let’s fill ourselves with a continually
renewing and cross-driven love for God and neighbor. This is the
ultimate way to escape the ever grasping and treacherous clutches of
our weaknesses. We have to be more aggressive than defensive in our
spiritual combats.
This is, of course, not an exercise in negativism, in
being a wet blanket to human interests. Rather, this is prudence and
wisdom, the cunning of serpents while having the simplicity of doves
that our Lord wants us to have always.
In the use of the modern technologies, for example, let’s
see to it that our motivation should always be to love, to serve, to
help others more than just satisfying our curiosities and whetting our
worldly if not carnal appetites.
We need to abide by some concrete norms of prudence, like
seeing to it that during our rest in the evening, we fill ourselves
with prayers and thoughts of how to help others, rather than still
playing with our gadgets, surfing in cyberspace or playing games.
No matter how strong one feels he is, the feet of clay
will somehow catch up with him if he does not submit himself to some
norms of self-discipline. We can never overemphasize what Christ
himself said about the need to deny ourselves and carry the cross if
we want to follow Christ.
Otherwise, sooner or later, we will just follow the
impulses of our wounded and sinful flesh and the worldly allures. We
do not need further proofs to substantiate the inevitability of this
possibility.
We should never forget that we are fragile creatures. The
more and better endowed we are naturally and spiritually, the more
fragile we become, much like those beautiful and fine porcelain set.
Yes, we have to be tough also, but with the toughness that comes from
God, one bathed in humility and holy fear.
was made of fine gold, its breast and arms of silver, its belly and
thighs of brass, its legs of iron. All impressive! But its feet were,
sadly, part iron and part clay. (cfr 2,32-33)
It took only one small stone to hit its feet to bring the
whole statue crumbling down. It’s an image of how we are—we can be
majestic in many aspects, but we’ll always have these feet of clay,
our Achilles’ heel.
Precisely, our very own strengths and assets, if not
inspired properly by the spirit of humility which acknowledges those
endowments as God-given gifts to be taken care of and not just ours to
be used in any way we want, can be the very source of our perdition.
“Fame can take interesting men and thrust mediocrity upon
them.” These were words of the late rock superstar Davie Bowie who
must have experienced in an intense way the tension between his
outstanding talents and his weaknesses. They are a proof of the
biblical truth about that impressive statue with feet of clay.
We should always be on guard, distancing ourselves from
temptations and occasions of sins, purifying our intentions always so
as to ward off unwelcome thoughts and desires, ever developing an
authentic spirit of penance to cleanse and strengthen ourselves as we
go through the adventure of life.
In this we can never overdo the effort to be most careful
and prudent in our thoughts, words and deeds. Every day we need to
renew and update our resolutions and strategies to live by this norm,
considering that these days especially, we are practically bombarded
with all sorts of things that can spoil, depress or desensitize us.
We need to be humble and transparent, especially in our
spiritual direction and confession, to have constant recourse to the
sacraments, and also to develop a deep devotion to our Lady whose
utter simplicity and humility can help us to remain simple and
resistant to the allures of the world and the devil.
Let’s make use of this wonderful Marian month of May to
grow in that devotion and in becoming more and more like our Lady who
was given to us by Christ to be our mother. She will truly take care
of us, who will understand us always and prod us to continue moving on
in spite of our weaknesses and falls.
We have to be good in waging spiritual combats. We are
ranged against powerful opponents. As St. Paul said: “For our struggle
is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the
spiritual forces wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Eph 6,12)
Above all, let’s fill ourselves with a continually
renewing and cross-driven love for God and neighbor. This is the
ultimate way to escape the ever grasping and treacherous clutches of
our weaknesses. We have to be more aggressive than defensive in our
spiritual combats.
This is, of course, not an exercise in negativism, in
being a wet blanket to human interests. Rather, this is prudence and
wisdom, the cunning of serpents while having the simplicity of doves
that our Lord wants us to have always.
In the use of the modern technologies, for example, let’s
see to it that our motivation should always be to love, to serve, to
help others more than just satisfying our curiosities and whetting our
worldly if not carnal appetites.
We need to abide by some concrete norms of prudence, like
seeing to it that during our rest in the evening, we fill ourselves
with prayers and thoughts of how to help others, rather than still
playing with our gadgets, surfing in cyberspace or playing games.
No matter how strong one feels he is, the feet of clay
will somehow catch up with him if he does not submit himself to some
norms of self-discipline. We can never overemphasize what Christ
himself said about the need to deny ourselves and carry the cross if
we want to follow Christ.
Otherwise, sooner or later, we will just follow the
impulses of our wounded and sinful flesh and the worldly allures. We
do not need further proofs to substantiate the inevitability of this
possibility.
We should never forget that we are fragile creatures. The
more and better endowed we are naturally and spiritually, the more
fragile we become, much like those beautiful and fine porcelain set.
Yes, we have to be tough also, but with the toughness that comes from
God, one bathed in humility and holy fear.
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