Traditional Catholic Teaching - TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Jesus saith to him: 'Go thy way, thy son liveth.' St. John 4: 50.

In to-day's Gospel Christ is again brought before us as comforting and helping mankind. Just as He restored bodily health to the ruler's son when lying at the point of death, so does He restore the life of grace to souls dead in sin. We owe it to Him that we possess spiritual life, and are pleasing to God, and therefore we ought to dedicate ourselves wholly to His service. As we saw on the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, solitude tends greatly to the preservation of the supernatural life; but it is not solitude in itself that is beneficial; solitude devoid of any intention of pleasing God is actually injurious. We must never forget that, whether we are alone or with others, we always have our own hearts with us; if they are resolute and filled with love of God, we are protected against evil even in the midst of a crowd. If on the other hand our hearts are badly disposed, we shall not avoid sin even in solitude.

Jesus was alone in the wilderness, and even there the tempter dared to assail Him, but sin had no power over Him, because He was always most holy both in solitude and in society. We must not therefore rely upon solitude as a sufficient protection against temptation and sin, for it, like social intercourse, has its own peculiar temptations. We ought to notice this fact, and not plead that we have to live with certain people as an excuse for our sins. He who is not steadfast out in the world, will not be so in solitude. Both in solitude and in the company of others we should give our hearts to God and allow Him to deal with them as He will, and thus alone we shall be safe.

Solitude has, as I have said, its own temptations, and woe to him who is not armed with holy fear of the Lord even when alone. Some of the worst temptations that assail us in solitude are due to our own imagination. A soul dwelling apart from men attends less to realities and keeps its own desires in view without noticing the inevitable limitations set by actual life to these desires. Ordinary companionship with men reminds us incessantly of these limitations, but when we are alone our imagination is apt to break loose from the fetters imposed upon it by real life, and it gives way to dreams that are always foolish and often sinful and fraught with disastrous consequences to solitary souls. By yielding to this temptation we allow our mind to be bewildered with plans incapable of execution; our conscience is, as it were, stifled beneath the luxuriant growth of our imagination, and our will, instead of resolutely seeking what is good and noble, is lulled to rest and inactivity, so that it grows weak and aims no longer at what is holy but at what is pleasant.

What will become of a man who goes forth into the world, after allowing himself to be a prey in solitude to his imagination and its foolish dreams? He goes forth perhaps with hopes and aspirations destined never to be fulfilled, for a deep chasm separates his dreams from reality. Believing himself to be misunderstood, he retires into himself and does not try to benefit his neighbor, so that the world, which seems to him so cold, can make no use of him. Let us therefore avoid solitude if we find that it unfits us to withstand the temptations arising from our imagination. Fanciful dreams are far more dangerous than reading or associating with others. Spiritually pious solitude is a source of strength to the soul, but solitude spent in day dreams causes its ruin.

David, a great king and the sweetest singer of God's glory, once went alone up to the roof of his house; one glance was enough to allow sin to find admission to his heart. The poison might have been cast out at once, if only he had gone down and rejoined his courtiers. Listening to the requests of supplicants, punishing criminals, deliberations for the welfare of his people or even innocent amusements might have dispelled the fleeting fancy, and banished the temptation very quickly. But he chose to remain alone, consenting in private to the evil thoughts; he had recourse to no distraction, and so first he became a slave to the sinful suggestion and then, just king though he was, he murdered his most loyal servant.

Let us never forget instances such as this and avoid solitude as much as possible whenever a foul thought takes possession of us, or when being alone gives encouragement to our passions. Many are the sins due to solitude. Out in the world, in the company of other people, false suspicions, envy and hatred often die a natural death, but they assume vast proportions when fostered by fancy and vain-glory in solitary retirement. Our habits of obstinacy and disobedience are often corrected by the circumstances of ordinary life, but he who sits brooding alone is apt to persuade himself that he is in the right.

Let us then learn this practical lesson: Solitude is most beneficial when we withdraw into it in a Christian spirit and for love of God, and spend our time in prayer and meditation; it is, however, harmful if no call of piety, but our own foolish dreams and fancies make us seek it. When the latter is the case, we should avoid being alone, and make it a duty to find distraction in the company of others, for speedy flight, without a moment's delay, is the only means of escape from the dangers of this kind of solitude. Amen.

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