XVII — PRUDENCE

Presence of God. — Teach me, O Lord, the way of true prudence.

Meditation

1 — To arrive at union with God, our whole life must be oriented to Him; and since our life consists of a great many actions, it is necessary that these be such as to bring us ever nearer to God, continuous steps forward on the path that leads to Him. Supernatural prudence is precisely the virtue that suggests what we must do and what we must avoid in order to reach the appointed goal. If you wish to arrive at union with God, prudence tells you, you must conform yourself in everything to his will; you must renounce anything, however small, that is contrary to the divine will. If you want to become holy, you must make these acts of charity and generosity; you must not draw back before sacrifice. If you want to become a soul of prayer, you must cultivate recollection; you must flee useless chatter; you must mortify curiosity; you must apply yourself diligently to prayer. Thus prudence, both with regard to the ultimate end — union with God, holiness — and with regard to immediate ends, always ordered to the supreme end — such as acquisition of particular virtues — prescribes what we must do and what we must flee.

The parable of the prudent virgins and the foolish virgins shows very well the necessity of this virtue. All fall asleep while awaiting the bridegroom, but whereas the first five are admitted to the wedding, the others are rejected only because they did not have the prudence to bring with them sufficient oil to feed their lamps. And the parable concludes: “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour” (Mt. 25:13). Supernatural prudence counsels us first of all to make diligent use of the time the Lord gives us and of the occasions He offers for exercising virtue, because “night comes, when no one can work” (Jn. 9:4). When, through our laziness or negligence, we let slip the occasion to do a good work, that occasion is lost forever. It is true others may present themselves later, but that one will never return.

2 — The future is in God’s hands; we have at our disposal only the present instant with its circumstances. Therefore true supernatural prudence consists in valuing to the utmost, in view of our eternal end, the fleeting instant. Human prudence values time in order to accumulate earthly goods; supernatural prudence to accumulate eternal goods: “Do not store up treasures on earth... but store up treasures in heaven, where neither rust nor moth consumes them.... Seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all the rest shall be given you besides” (Mt. 6, 19-23). Here are the great rules of prudence dictated to us by Jesus.

To a religious who confessed her repugnance for performing an act of charity that required particular spirit of sacrifice, St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus replied: “I instead would have been happy to perform it, for we are on earth to suffer, and the more one suffers, the happier one is. Oh, how badly you know how to arrange your affairs!” (Unpublished memories). Supernatural prudence teaches us precisely to arrange our affairs well, not in view of earthly happiness, but of eternal beatitude; not in view of our selfish interests, but of our progress on the way of perfection, and above all in view of God’s glory and the good of souls.

Supernatural prudence does not judge things according to their human value, according to the pleasure or displeasure they procure for us, but judges them in the light of faith, in the light of eternity: “Quod Deus non est, nihil est” (Imitation II, 31, 2), and “Quid hoc ad aeternitatem?” (St. Bernard). What is not God is nothing. What does this avail for eternity?

Christian prudence therefore has nothing to do with prudence of the flesh, which resolves everything in view of earthly happiness, with no regard for God’s law: “the flesh is enemy to God, for it is not subject to divine law” (Rom. 8:7). And it far surpasses human prudence, which, though not evil, is not capable of orienting our actions to the supreme end, since it aims only at earthly ends.

Colloquy

“My God, the soul enamored of You no longer takes account of the suggestions of human prudence. In her only love and faith operate, and therefore she values the things of the world for the little they are worth. She desires no earthly good, convinced that all is vanity; and when she knows that something is of greater service to You, she listens no longer to anything and immediately performs it, convinced that in this consists all her advantage” (cf. St. Teresa of Jesus, P. 3, 1-2).

“O Lord, if I want to become holy, I must live fully on the supernatural plane, remembering that, as the Imitation says: ‘Quod Deus non est, nihil est,’ and therefore I must leave it, or I must use it to come to You.

“If I do not keep watch over myself, I could materialize even the spirit, stop at the surface, see everything from the human side. Unfortunately, O Lord, I recognize that at times I have acted just so.

“Oh no! A life spent for You is so great, so beautiful! But it is not great by extraordinary actions; rather by the love and fidelity with which I must consider even the smallest duties, by the love that must transform even the smallest actions and all daily encounters, by the apostolic intentions that must animate my prayer and sacrifices. Teach me, O Lord, to give at every instant the maximum love, to render eternal the fleeing instant, giving it the value of charity” (cf. Sr. Carmela d. Spirito S.).