Silence - Ridding Pride

Silence is the best way to deal with pride.  We must learn not to react to our prideful thoughts.  This leads to true humility, allowing grace to rule our lives.


St. Pope John XXIII realized this:


 "I appreciate their excellent qualities; I am very fond of them and they deserve every good.

"But I suffer much in relation to them," he wrote. "On some days and in some circumstances I am tempted to react strongly.

"But I prefer silence, believing it to be a more eloquent and effective instruction."

How much has worldliness -- and the pride of worldliness -- infiltrated various dioceses? Are bishops humble? Are priests?

Are we?

While the deep spiritual life of this Pontiff has been obscured by the controversies (and aftereffects) of Vatican II (some of which we do indeed contemplate), the depth of John XXIII's spirituality is in no doubt after reading this valuable little book. In particular, the new saint put special emphasis precisely on littleness. The littleness that sees others as big. Seeing the best in others, he said, gives one peace.

"My character is inclined toward compliance and to readily seeing the good side of people and things rather than criticizing and judging harshly," wrote the late Pope, in notations recorded through the years, including before his elevation to the Throne of Peter. "Any type of ill treatment or distrust shown toward anyone, but especially toward the humble, the poor, the lowly; every harsh and thoughtless judgment causes me pain and great suffering."

When we rid pride, indicated John XXIII, there is room for grace. With grace comes hope. When we have hope, we are strong. When we lose hope, we lose strength.

Pride enervates. It saps our energy. It is often the root of negativity. Pride separates us. It is false strength. Humility is true power.

Ridding pride frees us. So does doing God's Will -- and caring about little but that. When we rid pride we gain in charity.

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Why Hell is Eternal

Repentance can be born only of grace. If God does not send grace to a spirit, making it understand the perpetrated evil, then there can be no supernatural repentance. Without grace, a demon can understand that it was a foolish decision to have rebelled, a decision that has caused it suffering. But true repentance is qualitatively different from just mere awareness. It is not simply an act of the understanding; rather, it is a gift from God so that we might bend our knees before Him and humbly ask for His forgiveness. Without this grace, one may feel pain for making a wrong decision, but true repentance is beyond him. Demons can admit that their choice led to suffering, but this does not stop them from hating God.
The eternity of hell, then, is not due to some arbitrary divine decision. Rather, its eternal duration is a necessary consequence of rebellion against God. It is they who have drifted far away from Him and do not want to return. Many Christians think that God is excessively severe in imposing an eternal condemnation on sinners, but He is just giving those who hate Him what they want – eternal separation from Him (see Catechism of the Catholic Church 1033-1037).
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Freedom

The Holy Father recently stated, "Christ frees us from fear, internal emptiness, isolation, regret and complaints…Christ frees us from this existential grayness.”


That is only in God can we find the solace needed to endure. 


There is a saying in prison ministry, Christ does not necessarily free inmates from their cells but within them.


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Screwtape Letters

The Screwtape Letters presents many of the smaller battles in daily life that ultimately may matter more for our salvation than great campaigns against global evils.

Screwtape suggests that turning Christians against each other on moral issues is a great way to stir up pride -- a cardinal sin. It’s possible for Christians to be “correct” in their moral stance but “sinners in pride” because they are being sanctimonious, hypocritical, or prideful. And Satan knows what comes before a Fall, doesn’t he? 


Maybe it’s better to meditate on one’s failure to be a truly supportive spouse rather than constantly carping about the gay agenda? Or better to quell one’s own anger when it’s about to erupt than to lament the evils of terrorism? This list of priorities can, of course, be individualized about six billion ways. I’m sure that, with a little thought, you can create your own list.

Great saints and martyrs are people who became very skilled at fighting Satan. The place of combat isn’t a battlefield or a coliseum; it’s wherever you are in your daily life.

First, remember that your eternal salvation is priority number one. Everything else follows from this.


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Christian Unity

The Holy Father wants to unite Christians to more effectively address human suffering.

“The world is suffering,” said Robison. “We as Christians have too much love to share without fighting one another.”

Mr. Robison said he and other “respected Evangelical leaders and Spirit-filled Catholics began meeting together to pray for God’s will to be done and to bring true believers together in supernatural unity….We have been commanded to love God with all of our heart and our neighbors as ourselves. The enemy has kept many Christians from loving one another as Christ loves us and have failed to recognize the importance of supernatural unity even with all of the unique diversity.”

Mr. Robison, whose ministry digs water wells and supplies food for impoverished people in third-world nations, recounted that he was christened as a fatherless boy in an Episcopal Church.  As an adult, he joined the Southern Baptist Church.  In the 1980s, he became one of the first prominent Southern Baptist ministers to openly proclaim he had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

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