Monday, May 27, 2019

Always seek conversion


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THIS is something the sense for which we really need to
develop consciously and deliberately. Given the temper of the times
that would desensitize us strongly of this need, we really have to
remind ourselves constantly that we need conversion all the time in
our life, and then come out with a practical, doable plan to respond
to that need.

            This is simply due to our very precarious condition in
life. No matter how good, pious and saintly we think we are, we cannot
deny that in this life we will always be assailed by the enemies of
God and of our soul.

            We have our weakened flesh to contend with, in the first
place. Then the world around us is full of temptations. And the devil
will always be scheming for our downfall, setting up traps everywhere
for us.

            As the Book of Job would put it, “The life of man upon
earth is a warfare.” (7,1) We have to get over the myth that in this
life we can achieve a stable state of sanctity and that therefore we
do not need to struggle anymore.

            The opposite is quite true. The closer we get to God and
the more determined we are in seeking holiness, the more vicious and
deceptive would also be the temptations to block us in our way.

            At best, whatever state of holiness we can achieve in this
life will always be tenuous. From morning till night, in all our
waking hours, we need to be guarded always even as we busy ourselves
doing our responsibilities. Even in our sleep, we need to entrust it
to the protection of our guardian angels, the saints and God himself.

            This is no paranoia, but rather an objective recognition
of out earthly condition that will always be hounded by our
weaknesses, the many temptations and sins around. We have to be
realistic in all this.

            We cannot deny that we always have the tendency to simply
be on our own, to be guided only by our own lights, and to make
ourselves in the end to be our own god. Even if we know that we are
nothing without God, our Creator and everything, we still manage to
detach ourselves from him at least from time to time.

            And given the galloping pace of the worldly development
that can give us the sensation that we are powerful enough to be on
our own, we really need to be injected with a strong dose of humility
to put ourselves in our proper place before God. We often do not
realize that we are acting out again the unfortunate story of the
tower of Babel. (cfr. Gen 11,1-9)

            It would be good if from time to time, we pause and
consider again our earthly condition. We have to realize that we
always need God, and that the more blessed we are and the more
accomplished we get in this life, etc., the more we need to be with
God.

            To arrive at that realization, we certainly need constant
conversion. And that’s simply because, even if at the beginning there
is no malice involved in ignoring God because we would be easily
fascinated by our own achievements, sooner or later we end up
forgetting and going against God.

            We cannot deny that we can be very good in rationalizing
our errant actuations. And before we know it we can already build our
own make-believe world, made all the worse when we happen to count on
a growing number of like-minded people. We may even reach a point of
invincible conviction that we can be on our own, totally without need
for God.

            Yes, we may need some extraordinary effort to cure us of
such almost-incurable blindness. But a daily practice of making
examination of conscience, and regular recourse to the sacrament of
confession may just do the trick for us without going through heavy
dramas.

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