September 26
Our Soul Is A Field To Be Cultivated
Preparation. - Perfection is not only symbolized by an edifice to be built in us, as we have previously seen, but also by a harvest to be gathered. We shall therefore see, first, in what sense St. Paul says to us: “You are God’s husbandry” (1 Cor. 3. 9), and secondly, by what means we shall succeed in cultivating our field. Our spiritual bouquet will consist in frequently calling this truth to mind: “We are God’s property of which He can dispose; we are the field which He has the right to cultivate as He pleases.” “We are God’s co-adjustors; you are God’s husbandry.”
I. Our Soul Is Gods Field
“The kingdom of heaven,” or perfection, says our Saviour, “is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man having found, hid it, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth that field” (Mat. 13. 44). Which is this field, if not our soul? Which is that treasure, if not sanctifying grace, the source of every good? How can we possess this filed, this treasure? By keeping them concealed from the world, that is, far from its dangers; by rejecting all that originates from our fallen nature, all that induces us to sin.
But is it enough to avoid sin? No; for we must also cultivate the field of our soul and cause it to bring forth fruits, as the saints did; they rooted up and planted. They rooted up the defects, evil inclinations and habits, and replaced them with their opposite virtues. In fact, there is no real perfection without self-denial; and this is what people dread the most. We would like to sanctify ourselves, but without giving up or opposing our views, our judgments and our will. We pray as long as we find prayer sweet and easy, but as soon as it becomes disagreeable, we give up our customary pious practices, and soon becomes careless. We would like to be humble, modest and mortified, but we but feebly combat our pride, conceit, presumption and sensuality. We fail to penetrate to the root of the evil, or, as St. Francis de Sales says, to the very refined bottom of self-love, self-esteem, attachment to creatures and the seeking of every thing that is not God. Hence we spend our life with virtues more apparent than real.
If we allow the thorns of light faults and the briars of our defects to grow in our field, they will soon choke the good seed. Hence we shall have that spiritual poverty, not uncommon among persons otherwise pious, but who live tranquilly amid their imperfections without worrying much about their progress.
O my God, remove from me all levity, sloth and negligence, those defects so opposed to the spirit of self-denial, which is inseparable from Thy love. Make me true and sincere in abhorring sin, despising myself and in being willing to die to all my evil propensities, so as to plant in me the maxims and inclinations of Jesus. For this is the object of my existence on earth, to eradicate from my heart whatever is displeasing to Thee, to plant therein, in its stead, sentiments, affections and virtues pleasing in Thy sight. “Lo, I have set thee this day to build to plant” (Jer. 1. 10).
II. The Means Requisite To Succeed In Cultivating Our Soul
We have just seen the labor necessitated by the wretched soil of our heart, a labor of purification and cultivation which we may never interrupt during our earthly career. But by what means shall we hasten and increase the harvest of virtues in our soul? First, in not working alone. As a vast filed requirers many laborers, so to cultivate our soul, which is a little world in itself, besides the spiritual direction, we should also implore the help of the angels and saints, of Mary, Jesus, and the sanctifying Spirit, by continual mental prayer, or as Jesus says, by praying always. For, without the special assistance of heaven, which is the fruit of prayer, we can never wholly clear the rough soil of our heart, and accomplish a task so far above the powers of nature.
Moreover, it behooves us to proceed methodically, and not to pretend to complete in one day a task that requires our whole lifetime. The best method of success is to lay out for ourselves a definite task, by striving to remove one defect at a time. Therefore, let us concentrate our whole attention, all our prayers against our predominant inclination, habit or instinct. We should resolve every morning to watch all day long this particular point, to have recourse to God, when there is a chance of our gaining a victory, and to examine at noon and at night whether we have faithfully followed these tactics.
How many virtues would bloom in the field of our soul, were we carefully to rid it of the cockle of our evil habits. But, alas! we have always the same defects, we are always so sensitive, so impatient of restraint, so irritable, so easily disturbed; we are so inclined to self-praise, to boasting, to defend ourselves bitterly against even well-merited reproaches; we are so eager to get all that pleases us, to seek our ease, our comforts, and all that flatters our effeminacy. O how necessary is it to study our heart, so as to eradicate that fund of self-esteem which prevents us from seeing our imperfections and our lack of virtue!
O my God, I am still very far from possessing solid humility, which cheerfully embraces affronts and contempt; habitual recollection, which is proof against external distractions; and detachment and patience, for which the saints were distinguished. Grant me the will to strive constantly to retrench from my heart what is most opposed to Thy perfect love.
