Excerpt from Response in Christ by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Chapter 7

    One of the great stresses of contemporary asceticism is to sustain the Christian in his proper involvement with the world according to his particular vocation — we still make allowance of course for the rare vocation of the cloistered contemplative which still calls for withdrawal from the world. Contemporary asceticism is an asceticism which is primarily concerned with a loving service of God through a loving service of this world. It is an asceticism which enables the Christian to imitate Christ as the "Man for others", a phrase popular with some contemporary thinkers. This Christian dimension of "being for others" has been given a great impetus by the theology of Vatican II. This theology constantly opens up the Church to proper involvement with the world. The Church today, perhaps more so than ever, is conscious that one of the most obvious themes of her life is that of prolonging the witness of Christ, the suffering servant, the man for others. . .

    All forms of life demand self-discipline. The athlete has to subject himself to a rigorous training. The scholar has to discipline himself and make many sacrifices if he is to achieve significant academic success. The musician has to endure long hours of practice. The doctor has to be willing to order his life to the rigorous demands of the medical profession.

    The Christian life, too, has its own form of discipline or control. This discipline has for its comprehensive purpose the greater assimilation of the Christian's total being to Christ. Christian self-discipline allows for the proper development of the Christ-life in all its dimensions. Like all forms of authentic discipline, it is at the service of life. When it is properly exercised, Christian self-discipline helps us to grow in our capacity to love God and man. It helps us render in Christ a more meaningful life of service to the Father and men.

    This proper, grace-inspired control over our complete person is necessary because our various sense and spiritual faculties do not automatically follow the lead of grace. Because of original and personal sin, there are various tendencies within us which, if not properly controlled, will lead us away from Christ and the proper development of our grace-life. One of the dangers of an extreme or not completely authentic incarnational spirituality — an aberration of which contemporary Christians must be aware — is that it is falsely optimistic. It does not sufficiently allow for this sinful element in man. The Christian must be willing to exercise a reasonable self-discipline despite the considerable pain which can at times be involved. And this control must extend to all his faculties.

    As regards our intellectual lives, there are various tendencies inimical to our Christ-life which must be disciplined. For instance, there can be a laziness which prevents a proper pursuit of study which is necessary for the Christian life in general and for our own particular role in the Church. There can be an unwholesome curiosity which leads us to know that which is more pleasing, rather than first of all to know that which is necessary. There is an intellectual pride which can manifest itself in various ways. Some people find it extremely difficult to be open to the ideas of others, or to admit their mistakes. The most serious form of intellectual pride, of course, is that which can cause the loss of faith, a pride which prevents the person from any longer submitting to God's revelation.

    The Christian's will, the decisive faculty in man, must receive special attention. It must become both supple and strong. It must be supple in order to be open to the varied movements of the Holy Spirit. The will, under grace, must also have the strength to guide the whole man, including those forces which can so powerfully at times lead away from God. As far as concrete decision-making is concerned, there are two extremes which we must avoid. On the one hand, we must avoid precipitous action which is devoid of reflection. This reflection is rooted in an appropriate openness to the movements of grace. On the other hand, we must not fall prey to the habit of indecision. Some people are prone to spend much too long in making decisions over the simplest matters. Life is short, and we must train ourselves to make decisions after appropriate reflection. In many of our ordinary actions and decisions this reflection is instantaneous. Unhealthy fear and other factors which are responsible for indecision must be curbed despite the even great pain this can cause at times for certain temperaments.

    The Christian's remaining interior faculties, those of memory and imagination must also be subjected to proper discipline. These two faculties can be of great value when properly guided. If they are not properly controlled, they can, in their unruliness, become great obstacles to the proper exercise of the Christian life. An undisciplined memory and imagination can seriously interfere with our prayer life. A memory and imagination which are not properly controlled can also give rise to numerous temptations against purity, charity and the other virtues.

    Man's emotional nature must also be properly regulated under grace. A considerable portion of past spiritual literature has not given due allowance to the role which God intends the emotions to exercise. Therefore, when we speak of control of the emotions, we by no means are suggesting repression or an inhuman rigidity. Rather we speak of a control which permits the emotions to contribute to the richness and overall value of the Christian's actions. St. Thomas teaches that the emotions or passions, when properly integrated with the movements of the intellect and will, add to the goodness of our acts. ⁴

    However, as is obvious, the evil tendencies of the emotions must be properly disciplined if they are to add their positive contribution to the Christian life. The emotions can cause havoc if such a discipline is lacking. They can reduce man to an almost brute existence at times, or they can so constrict a person as to interfere seriously with the proper exercise and development of his Christ-life. In this regard it should be observed that the emotion of fear, if not properly controlled, can cause serious disorders. Psychiatrists and psychologists tell us that an uncontrolled and morbid fear is one of the chief causes of emotional and mental illness.

    At the mention of emotional and mental illness we should digress somewhat and ask ourselves this important question: Do such disturbances interfere with growth in holiness? Not all theologians would agree in their answer. The better opinion seems to be that which would make a distinction between two basic kinds of holiness.⁵ There is a total holiness, one which manifests itself throughout the entire being. Heroic holiness of this type is the kind which the Church presently demands for canonization. There is another kind of holiness which does not manifest itself in every area of a person's being. This is the type of holiness which is compatible with even severe emotional and mental illness. Persons thus burdened must take the reasonable means to cure or control such afflictions, and strive to live the Christian life as well as their condition allows. If this is done, they can be sure they are pleasing to God, that holiness is possible for them, and that they too can make their own contribution to the life of the Church.

    We now return to the topic of Christian self-discipline. We have discussed the control of the intellect, will, memory, imagination and emotions. There remains a final part of one's being, bodily nature. The body is holy, partaking in the holiness of Christ's body. But it is not yet completely redeemed. It can be subject to numerous evil tendencies, which, if not controlled, can weaken the life of sanctifying grace and even destroy it. The great saints did not excuse themselves from a proper vigilance of the body with its various senses. Neither can we. St. Paul says, "All the runners at the stadium are trying to win, but only one of them gets the prize. You must run in the same way, meaning to win. All the fighters at the games go into strict training; they do this just to win a wreath that will wither away, but we do it for a wreath that will never wither. That is how I run, intent on winning; that is how I fight, not beating the air. I treat my body hard and make it obey me, for, having been an announcer myself, I should not want to be disqualified." (1 Co 9:24-27).   end of excerpt

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