22nd Sunday after Pentecost
As we approach the end of the liturgical year, St Paul turns our attention to the second coming of Our Lord, which he refers to as the “Day of Christ Jesus”, that is to say, the day on which He will return in glory and render to each his due. His wish for the faithful is that the work that the Lord began in each of us on the day of our baptism will be brought to its perfection. Indeed, with the initial grace, a seed was sown in our soul that is destined to grow to full maturity, the full stature of Christ, as the apostle writes elsewhere.
There are times in our lives when we are conscious of the beginnings of a new impetus of the life of grace. We want it to take deep root in our soul, to grow and to produce much grace. Like any living organism, however, this life meets with challenges and obstacles. Times of fervour give way to times of relaxation and uncertainty. We wonder if those initial graces were really true, and if we are not careful we can lose our footing.
What makes the saints special is that they do not stop on the path of perfection, nor do they give up and run away when they encounter obstacles. When the Lord gives us special graces, if we cherish them as we ought, we must store them away in our heart and beg Him each day to irrigate them with His grace, especially on those days on which we do not feel anything in particular, when the Enemy tries to make us think it was all an illusion.
Such an experience might be a good retreat, or an intense spiritual experience after a time of trial. We know with certainty that God has shown us a path. There is no doubt at all. But it must needs be that we be put to the test, so that we may grown and not remain spiritual dwarfs. Part of that test is that we must be brought into a desert, a tunnel, a night. We do not see anymore nor do we feel anything with our senses, and yet deep down in our heart we know that we must remain faithful to the grace given.
Sometimes the Lord shows us a door, and we know that we must open it and walk through. We do not know what lies behind it or where it will lead. We just know that we must go that way, and if we do not, we will disappoint the Lord and lose much grace, perhaps even miss entirely our true calling.
We must not be dismayed when the enemy heaps up upon our head what appear to be obvious problems or obstacles. He is really good at fooling us into thinking that our previous spiritual insights were just a big illusion. He is cunning. It is then that we must stand our ground. We must not be like Eve who gave ear to the serpent and entered into a dialogue of death. No, God alone and His friends are the ones we must speak with and that we do by prayer or by opening our soul to a spiritual Father.
And so in those hours of trial, our reflex must always be to turn to prayer, to invoke the Holy Spirit, to call upon Mary, the Star of the Sea. She will guide us infallibly. St Joseph too is a powerful protector in moments of temptation. Ask him to shelter us under his mighty cloak. St Joseph is a strong man, and he, whom we invoke as the Terror of Demons, will not fail us.
If we are able to do these things, then a wonderful, ineffable path of sanctity lies open before us. That wonderful work begun in our souls will be brought to perfection.
As St Paul says in today’s epistle, charity will more and more abound in knowledge, and in all understanding, and we will await without offending God, the wonderful manifestation of His glory when the full fruits of a holy life will be made known through Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
So let it be. Let it not be said that we wasted the precious days of our short life. The day of the Lord Jesus is at hand.
