Upgrading our vigilance skills

WE should not take this need for granted. We have to

continually update and upgrade our vigilance skills. Remember Christ

telling his disciples: “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy

from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life…Be

vigilant at all times.” (Lk 21,34.36)

  

            Times are constantly changing. Although we are told that

nothing is new under the sun, still we cannot deny that there will

always be new developments that will require us to upgrade our skills

in handling them, knowing how to take advantage of the benefits they

give and to avoid the dangers they also pose.

  

            Truth is the many developments today, while giving us a

lot of advantages and conveniences, can also easily lead us to bad

things. They can foster complacency, self-indulgence, vanity, pride,

greed, envy, discord, etc. They can turn us into materialistic

monsters, totally insensitive to the spiritual and supernatural

realities of our life and to God himself.

  

            We should never underestimate the tricks and snares of the

devil, the false allurements of the world, and the dynamic of our

weakened and wounded flesh. These enemies of our soul will constantly

make new guises to mislead and tempt us. To upgrade our vigilance

skills is not a matter of paranoia. It is to be realistic. It is to be

effectively prudent.

  

            We should not be naïve to think that with our current

skills at spiritual and moral vigilance, we are already okay. We have

to sharpen our sense of purpose in life, seeing to it that its general

goal is being consistently lived and reinforced in the many subsidiary

purposes we have during the year, month, week, day, and even hour.

  

            With how things are now, we cannot simply rely on a

generic sense of purpose. We have to learn how to be vigilant in all

circumstances and situations in life, especially when we are tired,

troubled, or when thrilled and excited.

  

            This should be done without getting nervous or unduly

tense. Yes, there should be alertness always, as is proper to any

watchful person, but it should be an alertness that is compatible with

naturalness, one that goes together with peace and joy, knowing that

in the end, God is always in control of everything.

  

            We cannot deny the fact that cases of good people turned

bad and corrupted by the new things are growing. Just look at those

allegations of clerical sexual abuses, for example. We should not

allow this trend to go on.

  

            We need to hone our skills at smelling possible dangers in

things that we cannot avoid in life. We are always exposed to these

dangers and we should know how to nip these dangers in the bud. We

have to know what means we can use to protect ourselves from them.

            It would surely help us a lot if we know how to have

presence of God all the time, if we are always inspired by love for

God and for others in whatever we do. We should avoid self-seeking in

our activities, not allowing ourselves to be seduced by the false and

instant pleasures this self-seeking attitude gives us. This

self-seeking attitude has no sufficient defenses when an indecent

image suddenly pops up on the screen, for example.

  

            We have to learn how to discipline ourselves—our thoughts,

desires, imagination, memory, our feelings, emotions and passions.

This should be a normal practice. The habit of self-denial should be

mastered properly. We have to know how to say no immediately when some

unexpected temptation passes our mind. We have to learn how to

distance ourselves from these temptations.

  

            What can also help us in this is the recourse to regular

spiritual direction and confession that is preceded by a good and

thorough examination of conscience. In this, we should be very

transparent and sincere, so that we can truly identify our weak spots

and receive the appropriate help.