Part one (3): Second Foundation of Christian Life and Sanctity: Hatred of Sin

V. Second Foundation of Christian Life and Sanctity: Hatred of Sin

Since you are under obligation to continue on earth the holy and divine life of Jesus, you must be animated by the sentiments and inclinations of Christ Himself, according to St. Paul the Apostle, who says: Hoc sentite in vobis, quod et in Christo Jesu: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2, 5). Now Jesus

Christ entertained in Himself two widely opposed sentiments: one of infinite love for His Father and for you, the other of extreme hatred for everything opposed to His Father's glory and our salvation, namely, for sin. Since He loves His Father and you with an infinite love, He hates sin with an infinite hatred. He so loved His Father, and so loves you, that He performed great miracles, suffered sorrowful torments, and gave up a precious life for His Father's glory and your love. On the other hand, He holds sin in so great horror that He came down from heaven, taking the form of a servant, and for thirty-three years He lived on earth a life of labor, of humiliation and of suffering; He shed His Blood even to the last drop; He died the most shameful and most cruel of all deaths, all for His hatred of sin, because of His intense desire to destroy all sin in you.

Now you must see to it that these same sentiments of Christ with regard to His Father and to sin continue in yourself. You have to carry on the war He waged against sin while He was on earth. You are obliged to love God perfectly and with all your might, and you are also bound to hate sin infinitely with all your strength.

In order to dispose yourself to do this, you should henceforth look at sin, not as it is seen by men, with their carnal and blinded vision, but as God sees it, with eyes enlightened by His divine light; in other words, you should see it with the eyes of faith.

By this light you will see that sin, in so far as it is in a certain sense infinitely contrary and opposed to God, and is a privation of an infinite good, which is God, contains in itself a malice, madness, ugliness and horror that are just as great, in their own way, as God's infinite goodness, wisdom, beauty and holiness (St. Thomas, Summa, 3 a. Q. i, a. 2, ad 2um). Consequently sin deserves to be hated and fought to the same degree in which God deserves to be sought and loved. You will see that sin is so horrible a thing that it can be obliterated only by the blood of a God, so detestable that it can be destroyed only by the death of a God-Man, so abominable that it can be worthily repaired only by the labors, agonies and death, and infinite merits of a God.

You will see that sin is a cruel murder, a frightful act of deicide, a ghastly annihilation of all things. It is murder because it is the only

cause of death, both of the body and of the soul of man. It is deicide, because sin and the sinner caused Christ to die on the Cross and the sinner continues this crucifixion of Jesus, day by day, within himself. Then it i s an annihilation of nature, of grace, of glory and of all things. Since, as far as it can, it destroys their divine Author, it consequently destroys nature, grace and glory.' Again you will see that sin is so detestable before God that when the first, most noble and dearest of His creatures, namely, the angels, fell into one single sin, a sin of thought only, a sin of no more than a moment, He cast them down from the height of heaven into the depths of hell, without allowing them even a moment to do penance, since they were unworthy and even incapable of this (St. Thomas, Ibid., a, Q. 64, a. 2). When God finds one mortal sin upon a soul, at the hour of death, even though He is all goodness and love for His creature, and has an extreme desire to save all mankind, and even though He has shed His blood and given His life in order to save humanity, He is nevertheless forced by His justice to pass a sentence of eternal damnation upon that wretched soul. Another thing, even more surprising than this, is that when the Eternal Father saw His own Son, His only well-beloved Son, most holy and most innocent, laden with the sins of others, He did not spare Him, as St. Paul says, but delivered Him up for us to the Cross and to death (Rom. 8, 32), so abominable and execrable is sin in His sight.

You will also see that sin is so full of malignity that it transforms the servants of God into slaves of the devil, the members of Jesus Christ into the members of Satan, and even changes men who are by grace and participation gods, into devils by likeness and imitation, according to the words of Christ Himself who, speaking of Judas, called him a devil: Unus ex vobis diabolus est (John 6, 71).

And you will finally come to know that sin is the evil of evils, and the greatest of all misfortunes. I t is the source of all the evils and all the misfortunes that cover the earth and fill hell to overflowing. Indeed, this evil is the only one in the world that really deserves to be called an evil. Of all the frightful and appalling things that exist, sin is the most frightful and the most appalling. It is more to be dreaded than death, more fearsome than the devil, and more terrifying

than hell, because all that is horrible, appalling and terrifying about death, the devil and hell proceeds from sin. 0 Sin, how detestable thou art! Oh, if men only knew thee! Yes, sin, there is something in thee infinitely more horrible than anything that may be spoken or conceived, since the soul that is befouled with thy rottenness can not be cleaned nor purged except by the blood of God Himself, and thou canst not be destroyed and annihilated save only by the death and annihilation of a God-Man!

0 God, no wonder Thou dost hate this hellish monster so, and that Thou dost pursue it with so hard a punishment! Let those be astonished by this who know Thee not, and who know not what an insult is offered to Thee by sin. Indeed, 0 my God, Thou wouldst not be God, if Thou didst not hate iniquity with an infinite hatred. As it is Thy joy to be bound by necessity to love Thyself infinitely, since Thou art infinite goodness, so also art Thou bound by a holy obligation, to hold in infinite abhorrence that which is, in some sense, infinitely contrary to Thee. 0 you, Christians who read these words, all of which are based upon the utterance of eternal Truth, if there remain in you some little spark of love and zeal for the God whom you adore, learn to have horror for what He so abhors, and for what is so contrary to Him. Fear sin, and fly from it more than from pestilence, or from death, or from all the other evils that can be imagined. Keep always alive within you the unshakable resolution to suffer a thousand deaths, together with every kind of torture, rather than ever to become separated from God by a mortal sin.

And that God may preserve you from this misfortune, be careful also to avoid venial sin, as far as possible. For you must keep in mind that the shedding of Our Lord's blood and the sacrifice of His life were just as necessary to wipe out venial sin as to deliver you from mortal sin. Remember that anyone who attaches little importance to venial sin will soon fall into mortal sin. If you do not find these resolutions i n your own soul, pray to Our Lord to put them there, and do not rest until you possess these dispositions. For you ought to know that as long as you do not have the will to die or suffer every kind of disgrace and torture rather than commit any sin, you are not a true Christian. But if by some misfortune you should

happen to fall into sin, be sure to rise up again at once by means of contrition and confession, and return to your previous dispositions.

Vi. Third Foundation of Christian Life and Sanctity: Detachment from the

World and from Worldly Things

It is not enough for a Christian to be free from vice and to abhor every kind of sin. Beyond that, it i s necessary to work with diligence and resolution at the task of becoming perfectly detached from the world and from the things of the world. When I say "the world," I mean the corrupt and disordered life led in the world, the damnable spirit that reigns over the world, the perverse sentiments and inclinations which men of the world follow, and the pernicious laws and maxims by which they govern their behavior. By the things of the world I mean everything that the world so highly values and loves and strives after, namely, the honors and praises of men, vain pleasures and satisfactions, wealth and temporal comforts, friendships and affections based on flesh and blood, on self-Iove and selfish interests.

Consider the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, and you will see that He lived on earth in most perfect detachment, stripped of all things. Read His holy Gospel, listen to His words, and you will learn that "everyone of you that doth not renounce all that he possesseth, cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14, 33). So, i f you really desire to be a Christian and a disciple of Jesus Christ, and if you wish to continue and express i n yourself His holy life of detachment from everything. you must strive to achieve an absolute and universal detachment from the world and from worldly things.

To do this, you should frequently reflect how the world always has been and always will be opposed to Christ, whom it has persecuted and crucified, and will persecute and crucify, even to the end of time. Consider that the sentiments and inclinations. the rules and maxims, the life and spirit of the world are so opposed to the sentiments and inclinations, the rules and maxims, the life and spirit of Jesus that it i s impossible for them to subsist together. Christ's sentiments and inclinations lead entirely to the glory of His Father and our sanctification, while those of the world lead only to sin and perdition.

The laws and maxims of Jesus are very mild and holy and reasonable. The standards of the world are laws and maxims of hell, and are diabolical, tyrannical and finally unbearable.

The life of Jesus is a holy life made beautiful by all kinds of virtues; the life of the world is a depraved life, full of disorder and of all sorts of vice.

The spirit of Jesus is a spirit of light, of truth, of piety, of love, confidence, zeal and reverence for God and for all that belongs to God; the spirit of the world is a spirit of error, of unbelief, of darkness, of suspicion, of dissatisfaction, of impiety, of irreverence and hardness of heart towards God and all the things of God.

The spirit of Jesus is a spirit of humility, of modesty, of self-distrust, of mortification and abnegation, of constancy and of firmness. But the spirit of the world is, by contrast, a spirit of pride, presumption, disordered self-love, fickleness and inconstancy.

The spirit of Jesus is a spirit of mercy, charity, patience, gentleness and of unity with others. But the spirit of the world is a spirit of vengeance, envy, impatience, anger, slander and disunion.

Finally, the spirit of Jesus is the spirit of God, a holy and divine spirit, filled with every grace, virtue, and blessing. It is a spirit of peace and tranquillity, which seeks nothing but the interests of God and of His greater glory. The spirit of the world, on the contrary, is the spirit of Satan, for it necessarily follows that, since Satan is the prince of this world, the world is animated and governed by his spirit - a n earthly, carnal and animal Spirit; a spirit motivating all kinds of sin and accursedness; a spirit of unrest and anxiety, of storms and tempests-spiritus procellarum (Ps. 10, 7), a spirit seeking only its own convenience, satisfaction and interests. Judge then, if it be possible for the life and spirit of the world to be reconciled with the life and spirit of Christianity, which is none other than the life and spirit of Christ.

If, therefore, you desire to be a true Christian, that is, if you desire to belong perfectly to Jesus Christ, to live His life, to be animated by His spirit and conduct yourself according to His maxims, it i s absolutely necessary for you to make up your mind to renounce the world entirely and bid it farewell forever. I do not mean that it is

necessary for you to leave the world and shut yourself up between four walls, unless God calls you to do so. But I do say that you must try to live in the world as though you were not of the world, that is, you must make a public, generous and unwavering profession of living otherwise than as the world lives, and of rejecting its laws and maxims. And I tell you not to be ashamed but to enjoy holy pride in being a Christian, in belonging to Jesus Christ, in preferring the saintly maxims and truths that He left you in His holy Gospel, to the pernicious maxims and falsehoods by which the world deceives its disciples.

I urge you at least to have enough courage and resolution to make a clean break with the standards, sentiments and inclinations of the world, and to despise all its empty speeches and deceptive opinions, just as the world makes a show of impious temerity in despising the laws and maxims of Christianity. It is i n this alone that true courage and perfect generosity consist: for what the world calls courage and power of character are nothing but cowardice and pusillanimity. This, then, is what I mean by detachment from the world: renouncing the world, and living in the world as though not of it.

Vii. Continuation of the Same Subject

If you would more firmly establish this detachment from the world in your soul, it is not only necessary for you to strive to break away from the world, but you should even develop a horror for it, like the repugnance in which Christ held it. Now Christ had such a horror of the world that He not only exhorted you through His beloved Disciple: "Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world" (I John 2 , 15), but He also tells us, through His Apostle St. James, "that the friendship of this world is the enemy of God" (James 4, 4), that is, He considers as His enemies all those who love the world. He assures you that His Kingdom is not of this world (John 18, 36) any more than He is of this world, and that those whom His Father has given Him are not of this world, just as He is not of it (John 17, 12-16). And another thing~more terrifying still-is that He solemnly protested, on the very day when He wrought the greatest miracle of His goodness, namely, the eve of

His death, when He was about to pour forth His Precious Blood and give up His life for the salvation of men, I pray not for the world" (John 17, 9). And in these words He thundered a most frightful anathema, a curse and an excommunication upon the world, declaring it to be unworthy of any share in His prayers o r in His mercy.

Finally, He assures us that "now is the judgment of the world" and "now shall the prince of this world be cast out (John 12, 31). And, in fact, the very moment the world fell into the corruption of sin, i t was judged by divine justice and condemned to be burnt and consumed by fire. And although the effect of the sentence was deferred, it will none the less be carried out at the end of time. Consequently, Christ looks upon the world as the object of His hatred and His curse, and as something He plans and desires to burn i n the day of His wrath.

Enter, then, into the feelings of Christ towards the world, and towards all things that are in the world. From now on, view the world as Jesus Christ does, that is, as the object of His hatred and malediction. Look upon it as something He forbids you to love, under pain of incurring His enmity. See it as a thing He has excommunicated and cursed with His own lips, with which you may not, consequently, communicate without participating in the same malediction. See the world as something He desires to burn and reduce to ashes. Look at all those things which the world most values and loves, like pleasures, honors, riches, worldly friendship and affections, and all other things of this kind, as things which simply pass away, according to this divine utterance: Mundus transit, et concupiscentia ejus (1 John 2, 17). See all these things as nothing but smoke, deceit and illusion, as vanity and affliction of spirit. Read these truths and reflect upon them often, and each day pray Our Lord to impress them upon your mind.

To arrive at these dispositions, take a little time each day to adore Jesus in His perfect detachment from the world, begging Him to detach you from it entirely and to impress upon your heart hatred, horror and abomination for the things of the world. For your own part, see that you do not indulge in the useless visits and conversation that are customary in the world. If you are taken up with these idle

occupations, in the name of God leave them at all costs and fly as you would from a plague, from all the places and persons and from any company where the talk is only of the world and worldly things. Since such things are discussed with esteem and affection, it is very difficult to avoid carrying away some harmful impression from these conversations. Besides, you will gain nothing from them but a dangerous loss of time; you will find in them nothing but unhappy dissipation of mind and affliction of spirit, and all you will bring away will be bitterness of heart, coldness in piety, separation from God, and a thousand faults that you may have committed.

As long as you seek out and love the company of men of the world, Jesus Christ whose delight it is to be with the children of men will not take His delight in you and will not give you any taste of the consolations with which He refreshes those who find all their joy in conversing with Him. Fly then, from the world, I say to you again, fly from it, abhor its life, its spirit and its maxims. Do not make friends with any persons except those whom you can help, or those who can help you and animate you, by word and example, to love Jesus and live in His spirit.