Charity is the third and final one of the virtues that regard God directly and in Himself. As the natural man cannot know God in the supernatural order, neither can he so love God, except by means of a special infused facility which is the habit of charity. Love is the impulsion and affection of the rational creature towards that which is first in the order of being, viz. Life. The primary cravings of all beings are towards life and the means of sustaining it. For the maintenance of life there are implanted in all organic beings certain automatic impulses, or sense emotions, or instincts, or rational motives, whose object is the life of the individual or of the species. The sum of these forces in the rational creature is Love. It manifests itself as self-love, conjugal love, parental and filial love, patriotism, philanthropy; and in a secondary sense, with reference to the means of life, we speak of the love of food, wealth, action, etc. God is the supreme Life in Himself, and the source of all life, the support of life, the fulfilment of life. He is the first necessity of every being. The tendency of all being is then towards Him, either directly in Himself or indirectly through His creatures. Irrational creatures serve Him, rational creatures love Him, all require Him. "The eyes of all hope in Thee, O Lord, and Thou givest them meat in due season" (Ps. cxliv. 15). Great is the virtue of Charity, which enables you to cleave consciously to the Supreme Life, especially in its unveiled manifestation of Itself on the supernatural plane hereafter.
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
Monday, September 19, 2022
Sins Against Hope
Photo StoryThe two sins against Hope are Despair and Presumption; and each results from the suppression of one, and the excess of the other element of the virtue hope and fear. Despair is an aversion from our final beatitude and ceasing to struggle for it, as if it were unattainable. Its malice consists in that it denies the goodness of God, His care for us, and fidelity to His promises. This was the sin of Cain and Judas. Forgiveness was ready for each, but they said, "My iniquity is greater than that I can deserve pardon" (Gen. iv. 13). There is another and less acute form of despair; it is the state of those who, having no faith, look forward to nothing beyond this life, strive for nothing, and therefore obtain nothing. A long course of sin and resistance to truth and grace leads to a state of practical irreligiousness; then belief in every revealed doctrine gradually ceases, and with it all higher hopes; and then such sinners pass into the ranks of those numerous ones "who, despairing, have given themselves up to the working of all uncleanness unto covetousness" (Eph. iv. 19). Despair is a foretaste of the hopeless misery of the lost. Never admit the fear that holy living is impossible, or temptation too strong, or that the means of salvation will fail you. Do not fear the insufficiency of your works or of your dispositions when you have done your best. Your works are all of necessity imperfect, but the merits of Our Lord compensate, and make them acceptable.
Sunday, September 18, 2022
Hope and Fear
Photo Story"The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear Him, and in them that hope in His mercy" (Ps. cxlvi. 11). Hope and fear might appear to be contradictory terms, yet Scripture in the Old and New Testament enjoins them both together. They are not inconsistent when rightly understood. There is, indeed, a kind of fear which is an offence against God, a cringing slavish fear as of an arbitrary master, which would willingly sin against Him if it were not for the personal consequences. But there is also a reverential and loving fear, as of a son who dreads to offend a tender father, and lose his esteem and affection. God Himself places the two alternatives before us as motives to serve Him, the prospect of possessing Him if we are faithful, and the dread punishment of eternal separation from Him if we persist in sin. The thought of reward is a legitimate motive for the practice of virtue; and the dread of hell makes for righteousness, and is therefore legitimate as restraining us from sin. In the old times it was specially necessary to develop the terrors of divine judgments to a half-civilized and stiff-necked oriental race; but even now our love is by no means so perfect that we can afford to dispense with the inferior motive as a supplement to the higher. Certain systems of religion make the mistake of looking at one aspect of the truth while neglecting the other. Some indulge an excessive confidence without attending to the duty of holy fear; others promote discouragement till it destroys all hope. Cultivate both virtues at once; let each balance the other and maintain a perfect harmony.
Saturday, September 17, 2022
The Motives of Hope
Photo StoryIt is most important for us to ascertain that the cherished hopes on which we have staked our all are well- grounded. Most sad it is to see a man expending his energies in pursuing an object that exists only in his imagination; and the servants of God would be, as St. Paul says, the most miserable of men if their expectations turned out to be delusions. They would have sacrificed all and gained nothing; greed and sensuality would indeed be the highest wisdom. But the sight of the goodness and power that rule this universe, and our sense of right and equity, utterly forbid such a conclusion. Religion and revelation provide us with assurance stronger still. We know that God exists, infinite, merciful, equitable; we know that He has spoken to us, and that we possess His actual words; all this He has further confirmed to us in Jesus Christ, whose life renews the old promises and bestows still better ones. So we have learnt the fatherly goodness of God towards men, the bounty with which He provides for our salvation, the forgiveness that is ready for every sinner, and the patience which awaits his repentance. Imagine all that you can of omnipotence, of intense love, of tenderness to human weakness and folly, of provision for men's salvation, and then remember that the reality exceeds ten thousand times all the possibilities of imagination. How abundant are the grounds of your hope! The greatest offence against God is to set a limit to your hope and trust. Hope in Him and you will never be confounded.
Friday, September 16, 2022
The Nature of Hope
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The second step in the development of the supernatural life, after the enlightenment of the intelligence, is the movement of the will. The soul first knows and understands the great object of attainment exposed to it, and then aspires towards it, desires it, and is moved to attain it. This movement of the faculties is different from the first one contained in faith, and requires a different impulse from God, a new habit or facility or potentiality in the soul. This habit is the supernatural virtue of Hope. Hope is not a positive assurance of attaining, it is a desire joined with confidence and expectation, encouraging the soul to make the necessary effort; it presupposes that there are difficulties to be surmounted, and it prevents the soul from being cast down by them. Hope is involved with Faith and Charity; they are three methods by which the soul apprehends God, or three views that it takes of the one great object, or a triple form of its one service. So the Apostle speaks of faith as "the substance of things hoped for" (Heb. xi. 1). Hope belongs only to the present life. It does not exist in the blessed, for they are in the state of possession and not of anticipation; they no longer desire God or expect Him, for they enjoy Him and have nothing more to look forward to. Always exercise this virtue as part of the consequence of faith, and as a homage that God requires of you. Take care not to waste your desires on any other object, but seek better things, "forgetting the things that are behind, and stretching forth to those that are before" (Phil. iii. 13).
Thursday, September 15, 2022
Religious Error
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The perfection of the intellect consists in the knowledge of truth, for it is in this form that the image of God is impressed upon it. Knowledge is power and satisfaction; and much more so is that knowledge which regards the highest divine truths. Truth has its opposite, which is forever contending against it for the mastery during the present life; and, in proportion to the dignity and benefits of truth, its opposites, error and falsehood, are injurious and horrible. Even in mundane matters falsehood is an evil and the source of further evils; and still more is this the case in the spiritual sphere, where it contradicts the truth concerning the highest of all objects, God, and the truths that are the root of right living and our future salvation. Error is never a mere matter of speculative opinion. The evil tree must produce evil fruits. Ideas are the basis of action, they live and fructify, they survive all violence, and produce their effects good or bad. The intelligence which rules our lives cannot be misinformed and perverted without producing far-reaching effects. One error will generate others indefinitely; and, although truth is immortal, it is long before it can overtake and extinguish a well established falsehood. Never consider that any falsity is a trivial matter. False belief may indeed at times be involuntary and therefore free from guilt, but it is not the less a product of the father of lies, and the ancestor of a long line of evils. Watch most carefully against its smallest encroachment.
Wednesday, September 14, 2022
Living by Faith
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Faith in the revelation of God is not made complete by simply believing. It has to be the beginning of much else; it does not end with knowledge, it must pass into practice; its first exercise is in the intellect, but it must thence be diffused over our whole life. Just as intelligence and free-will distinguish us in every one of our actions from the brute beasts, so should active faith characterize the life of every servant of God. We should live in an atmosphere of faith, and always act by its guidance. "The just man liveth by faith" (Heb. x. 38). "Faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself" (Jas. ii. 17). We live by faith:
1. When we constantly feel the vivid reality of those things that we believe, and are absolutely certain about them, and value them more highly than all outward possessions or inward attainments.
2. When our action is in full accordance with our belief, and we carry out exactly the line of conduct dictated by the truths of revelation. The motives, and principles, and aims, and many of the actions of him whose life is guided by faith, will be perfectly different from those of the man who is guided by sensual appetites and worldly ideas. Consider your thoughts and words and actions. Are they in any way different from those of unbelievers and pagans? Is your life Christ-like and divine, or is it identical with the lives of those who believe only and desire only the things of this life? In what respect are you deficient?
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