Meditation: The Choice of a State of Life: Conformity to the Holy Will of God in the Choice (3): We Are Slaves of Sin

We Are Slaves of Sin

We are slaves of sin: "Whosoever committeth sin, is the servant of sin" (John 8, 3 4 ) . Wherefore, if God left us to ourselves, sin would tyrannize over us as it does over the damned, so that we could not think, speak or do anything but sin. We should be wholly transformed into sin as saints in heaven are transformed into sanctity. And so, of ourselves, we are nothing but sin, and we deserve to be treated as sin itself by God and His creatures.

This is how we should esteem ourselves; and we should be glad that others have the same low esteem for us and treat us as sinful men. Let us ask this grace of God.

Ejaculatory prayer:

"0 Lord, rebuke me not in thy indignation, nor chastise me in thy wrath." Domine, ne in furore tuo arguas me neque in ira tua corripias me (Ps. 6, 2). 119-

Tenth Meditation

on the Same Words: "We Were Born Children of Wrath."

NOT only are we the source of every sin, not only have we an original inclination to sin, but we are an abyss of every sin for four reasons. The first is that our sins annihilate God, which is the extreme malice of sin and of the sinner. The three reasons which prove this malice will form the three points of this meditation.

The Sinner Usurps What Belongs to God

AND MAKES HIMSELF His OWN GOD

We are an abyss of sin because sin and the sinner, so far as possible, drag God from His throne and annihilate Him, and what is still worse, the sinner elevates himself to the throne of God, usurping the dignity belonging only to God. In order to understand this, we must remember that, when God created man and all things, He created them only for Himself: "The Lord hath made all things for himself" (Prov. 16, 4)

Being the principle, the exemplar and the end of man and of all creatures, God wishes men to return to Him as to their origin, to imitate Him, to model their life and their actions on Him as their exemplar, to follow Him as their rule, to work towards Him with all their strength, by every thought, word and action, as to their last end. To render him capable of doing this, God has given man a mind, a heart and a will to know and love Him, to return to Him, to imitate Him and to tend unceasingly to Him as to his center. And in order that man may do so with joy and facility, God has enlightened his mind with the light of faith, has poured divine grace into his soul and enkindled love in his heart.

But what has ungrateful man done? He has become separated from God and devoted his interests to self. Instead of employing his love for God, he has devoted it to himself and developed self-love. Instead of returning to God as to his principle, he has turned away from Him. Instead of referring to God all the blessings of nature and grace, man appropriate& them to himself by complacency and self-esteem, as if they came from himself, who is only nothingness. Instead of following God as his exemplar and his rule, he follows the rule of his passions. Instead of allowing himself to be led by the spirit of God, he desires no other guidance than that of his own inclination. Instead of tending to God as to his end, taking his repose in Him and doing everything for Him, man wishes to tend wholly to himself, and to do everything for self.

Who is God? God is He whose will, interest, pleasure and honor should be preferred before every other will, interest, pleasure and honor. What does the sinner do? He prefers his own will , interest, pleasure and honor to the will, interest, pleasure and honor of God. Thus he usurps the place of God, makes a god of self, falls into selfadoration and pays self the homage which belongs to God alone. This is the extreme iniquity of sin. This is what we have done every time and as often as we have sinned. Hence we should despise ourselves as a bottomless pit of sin.

The Sinner Makes Himself God of All Creatures

Not only does the sinner make a god of self, but he also makes himself the god of all creatures made by God. Man wants other creatures to offer him what belongs only to God; he desires them to prefer his inclinations, interests, pleasure and honor to those of God. Instead of attributing and referring every good to God alone as to its only source, man desires creatures to esteem him as if he possessed good in himself, and to praise and applaud his actions as if he could do good, independently.

He desires created beings to imitate him instead of God. He desires them to have no other rule than his inclinations, to be directed by his spirit, to love him to the prejudice of God and to do everything for

him instead of doing everything for God. We have frequently been guilty of this and so we have usurped the place which God alone should hold towards creatures. What an abomination! How true it is that I am an abyss of every sin! 0 my God, impress these truths upon my mind; grant that I may regard, treat and hate myself as much, and that I may be glad to be so treated by others.

THE SINNER MAKES Himself THE GOD OF GOD

There is another and a last extremity of sin, the deepest abyss of iniquity, which consists i n making oneself the god of God. The sinner would wish God to prefer his interests, will, pleasure and honor to the interest, will, pleasure and honor of His divine majesty. He would wish that his human will might rule the Providence of God and that God should be guided by the sinner's whims and fancies. He would seek to be the end of God and to have God adore him and make him His idol. 0 abomination of abominations! Behold the bottomless pit of sin! See what we have done every time we have sinned I Here we have an infinite source of infinite humiliation.

0 my God, let me see these truths in the light of faith! 0 my God, enrich their fruitfulness within me! Let me know myself, let me know that I am nothing and that Thou art all! Let me no longer consider myself, let me do nothing for self, but all for Thee. Let no creature think of me, speak to me, nor of me, do anything for me nor give me anything, but all for Thee; and do Thou Thyself give me nothing, do nothing for me, nor consider me any more, but everything for Thyself! For Thou alone shouldst be Thy object! Let nothingness be obliterated with regard to itself, with regard to all Thy creatures and with regard to Thy supreme majesty! Let All be all, in all things and everywhere.

Ejaculatory prayer:

"0 Lord rebuke me not in thy indignation, nor chastise me in thy wrath." Domine, ne in furore tuo arguas me, neque in ira tua corripias me (Ps. 6, 2). 122-

Eleventh Meditation

On the Same Words: "We Were Born Children of Wrath."

WE DESERVE to be the object of the wrath of God and all God's creatures and of our own condemnation, for three reasons.

The Evil Which the Sinner Works Upon Himself

Since by sin the sinner kills his body, so far as he may, and kills his soul, he deserves that God should take away the life and being imparted to him, in punishment for his abuse of existence, i n using it to fight against his Creator. Moreover, the sinner robs himself of the grace and friendship of God, and of eternal happiness, meriting the torments of hell. Thus he injures himself far more than the demons in hell and the creatures in the world could harm him even if they all united for his ruin.

Therefore I, a sinner, should despise, humble and hate myself more than all the abominable and contemptible things in the world. If God were to surrender me to the demons, they would exercise upon me the hatred I have merited by my sins and so would perform an act of justice. And I, instead of humbling and hating myself, exalt, love, praise and revere myself.

0 my God, what a contradiction! Let it exist no morel Let me hate and fear myself more than death, more than the devil, more than hell. Permit me to hate nothing but myself, who am nothing but sin, and let me vent all my wrath, hatred and vengeance upon myself, out of zeal for Thy divine justice towards sin and the sinner!

The Sinner Destroys All the Works of God

Insofar as is Possible

We have merited God's wrath because the sinner, so far as possible, destroys all the works of God in nature, grace and glory. In nature, since he commits sin, for which God might justly annihilate the whole world. The damnation of a single soul is a greater evil than the destruction of the entire world of nature. Now God may justly damn a soul for a single mortal sin. Therefore He might justly annihilate the world of nature in punishment for a mortal sin. I say, furthermore, that, according to all theologians, the extinction of every natural being is not so great an evil as a venial sin. So he who commits a venial sin works an evil greater than the destruction of the whole world; consequently God might justly destroy the whole world in punishment for a venial sin.

He who sins mortally annihilates also the world of grace and glory. For, if all God's graces were in his soul, by committing mortal sin, he would destroy them all and consequently all the glory destined for him in heaven. Hence, the sinner merits the anger"of every creature of nature, grace and glory and they will vent their just wrath upon him in the day of judgment. Even now they would do so if the mercy of God and the Blood of Jesus Christ did not restrain them: "The mercies of the Lord that we are not consumed" (Lam. 3, 2 2 )

0 my God, let me behold this devastating truth in Thy divine light, so that I may know that no creature, rational or irrational, owes me anything; no one should consider, nor love, nor give me anything, nor render me any service or assistance, nor even think of me. Rather do I deserve that every creature should employ all his strength in destroying and annihilating me.

THE SINNER EVEN ATTEMPTS To DESTROY GOD

We have merited God's wrath because the sinner annihilates not only all the works of the Creator, but also all the works of the Redeemer. The sinner renders void and useless to himself all the meritorious labors, sufferings, the Precious Blood, the life and death of the Divine Son of God, together with all the Sacraments and means of salvation established in Holy Church.

Moreover, the sinner even "annihilates God as far as lies in his power," says St. Bernard. I n the first place, the sinful man obliterates the will of God replacing it with his own; secondly, he destroys within himself the Spirit of God Who is God; thirdly, he destroys the life of God in his soul by grace; fourthly, he crucifies Jesus Christ in himself after having already crucified Him with the Jews: "Crucifying again to themselves the Son of God" (Heb. 6, 6). Therefore, we may say that the sinner annihilates all things, since he annihilates, as far as he may, God the author of all things. The sinner deserves to be an object of wrath and malediction to created and uncreated things, and all creatures should unite to crush him. So he may say with the prophet: "Correct me, 0 Lord, but yet with judgment: and not in thy fury, lest thou bring me to nothing" (Jer. 10, 24)

If I carefully consider these truths, 0 my God, how is it possible that I can still be proud? 0 Lord, crush this serpent of pride in my soul at any cost.

Ejaculatory prayer:

"Correct me, 0 Lord, but yet with judgment and not in Thy fury, lest thou bring me to nothing." Corripe me, Domine, verumtamen non in furore tuo, ne forte ad nihilum redigas me (Jer. 1 0 , 24).

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Twelfth Meditation

On the Same Words: "We Were Born Children of Wrath."

WE ARE unworthy of every good, and deserving of every evil; therefore we should humble and hate ourselves.

We Are Infinitely Unworthy of Every Good

Our existence as children of wrath, death and iniquity makes us unworthy of every good, corporal, spiritual, temporal and eternal, of nature, grace or glory either emanating from the Creator or derived from creatures, unworthy to receive any assistance, gifts or favors from our Creator or from creatures, nay, infinitely unworthy even that they should think of us or speak of us or on our behalf. I say infinitely unworthy, because no human mind is capable of realizing our unworthiness except the mind of God alone. The following are the reasons:

First, by our sins we have robbed ourselves of blessings, that come from infinity, namely, the grace and friendship of God, the tide of children and heirs of God and the enjoyment of God and all the treasures He possesses in Himself.

Secondly, we have deprived God of a good, that in a way is infinite in depriving Him of the service, honor, love and obedience we owe Him, a good that is eternal in its duration, for anything we do for God renders Him an honor that will last for all eternity. We deprive God of a good, infinite in a way because it is due to God on account of His infinite perfections and our obligations towards Him; infinite because God purchased it at an infinite price, the Precious Blood of His Divine Son.

Thirdly, by sin we have willed to deprive God of Jesus Christ, the God-Man, by crucifying Him anew, and consequently we have also

willed to deprive Him of the mystical body of Jesus Christ and of all the honor, praise, glory and adoration that Jesus Christ will render to His Father for all eternity, either in Himself or by His mystical body, the Church.

Fourthly, we have willed, as a result of this, to deprive all creatures of their Redeemer.

For these reasons, we have rendered ourselves so to speak infinitely unworthy of every good. Therefore, let us not complain when we are forgotten or when we do not receive the recognition we expect, but let us humble ourselves.

We Are Deserving of All Evil

We are infinitely deserving of every evil, of contempt, punishment and suffering. I say infinitely because we are so despicable that only God Himself can understand the measure of our guilt, I say that we infinitely deserve every evil, corporal and spiritual, temporal and eternal, from God and from creatures, because by sin we have done an injury to the infinite God, to ourselves and to all creatures, and sin is an evil which may be said to be infinite in its nature, its object, its end and its effects.

The sinner inflicts an injury which we call infinite on God Himself, for as St. Bernard says, "he annihilates God so far as it lies in his power." Man does an injury to himself for he kills his body, and murders his soul, as completely as possible.

He perpetrates an injury against all creatures in the order of nature, grace and glory since he destroys them to the extent of his ability. Should we not call it an infinite injury?

This being so, let us not be surprised when other creatures injure us by word or act, nor when God chastises us. Let us only be surprised that our Divine Creator and all His faithful creatures suffer us to exist anywhere but in hell and in nothingness.

We Shall Never Humble Ourselves Sufficiently

From these two truths follow other realities:

1. We shall never completely fathom the abyss of our unworthiness and misery. Even after we are well advanced in this knowledge, we must believe that there is infinitely more left to be known i n the unfathomed depths of our nothingness.

2. We can never humble ourselves sufficiently, and even if we were to accomplish our very utmost in this respect, we would still be removed from the humiliation due to our baseness, and from the final degree of humility. Our Lord alone attained this final degree for He alone humbled Himself infinitely.

3. If all the creatures of heaven, earth and hell were to employ all their strength in vilifying us, it would be but a trifle of the shame we deserve.

4. God alone can humble us suitably

Let us beg Him to engrave these truths upon our mind and make them fruitful in us. 0 great God, if we believe these truths, how can we still be proud? How can we seek to avoid suffering, o r find it so hard to humble ourselves? How can we love honor and dread contempt so much? Lord Jesus, have mercy on us.

Ejaculatory prayer:

"To us sinners therefore be confusion and shame and to Thee be honor and glory forever and ever.

Amen." Nobis peccatoribus confusio et ignominia, tibi autem honor et gloria in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

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Thirteenth Meditation

On the Same Words: '"We Were Born Children of Wrath."

WE Have merited the wrath of God and of all His creatures, and deserve eternal torments.

We Have Merited the Wrath of God

The greatest torment of the damned is the wrath of God: "They shall be called ... the people with whom the Lord is angry for ever" (Mal. 1, 4). "They would prefer being burned in a fire ten times more intense," says St. Chrysostom, "than see the face of God enkindled with wrath against them." Therefore, they will cry out on the day of judgment, "Fall upon us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of their wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?" (Apoc. 6, 16-17) and St. Paul tells us: "Who shall suffer eternal punishment in destruction, from the face of the Lord" (2 Thess. 1, 9).

We have merited like condemnation and would infallibly and eternally have become the object of the wrath of God, of the wrath of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, if Our Lord Jesus Christ had not delivered us by bearing the wrath of His Almighty Father for our sake according to His own words: "Thy wrath hath come upon me" (Ps. 87, 17). Let us love and bless our merciful Saviour and humble ourselves at the thought that, since we have incurred the wrath of God, we have, i n consequence, merited to be deprived of all His graces and all the effects of His bounty; and much more have we merited all the sufferings of this life and even the torments of hell; yet even these arc much less than the wrath of God.