For the last three weeks, I have been sharing a summary of the retreat I gave at Rosary Parish during the first week of Lent.

The reason for my decision to share these summaries is to offer pastoral assistance to the readers of my column as they prepare to renew their baptismal promises from their hearts at the Easter celebration.

The method I used during the retreat was to take various themes from the Prefaces of Lent and offer a thorough reflection on the theme.

Theme 3

The theme I chose for the fourth day of the retreat was from the second preface of Lent. It states in part: “Father, you teach us how to live in this passing world with a heart set on the world that will never end.”

What does this Preface ask of us as we prepare for the renewal of our Baptismal promises at the Easter celebration? It asks us to maintain proper spiritual perspective as we live our lives and journey to the world that never ends. Why does the Lenten Preface stress the importance of spiritual perspective?

 The answer is to provide an annual reminder that we are temporary, the planet on which we live is temporary and all things we have in life are temporary. The reminder is intended to give balance to the lives of many people who become so engrossed in life that they forget God and they forget eternity.

During this retreat we discussed the call to holiness and to perfect charity in our lives. There was no resistance to these calls from the participants on the retreat. In fact, most people making the retreat found it a very attractive invitation in the context of Lenten conversion.

However, when we break down the process that leads to holiness and the perfection of charity in our lives into its component parts, then the challenge of the process becomes quite evident. The process raises some very fundamental issues which require some demanding answers. Our response to the issues must be ongoing.

The fundamental issues

What are the fundamental issues in the process leading to holiness and the perfection of charity in our lives? While there are many important issues in the process such as prayer, the sacraments, vocation and mission, I want to concentrate on just three issues.

Each of the issues has a context of self-knowledge and internal freedom. The issues are: 1) Spiritual perspective; 2) Simplicity of life; and 3) Detachment. Let us look at the context of self-knowledge and internal freedom first and then consider each question separately.

The context: Self-knowledge and internal freedom

Self-knowledge and internal freedom must be applied to each of the three areas of spirituality we shall consider. Self-knowledge means that we know and understand ourselves and our strengths and weaknesses.

Frequently, there are assumptions in this area e.g. Peter thought he knew himself and stated confidently that he would be faithful to the Lord. As a matter of fact, he was in error. He did not know himself as well as he thought.

Internal freedom means we are able to rise above improper attachment to created things: people, places and things. We must appreciate that the feelings involved in attachments to people, places and things, even when there is nothing immoral involved, can be incredibly strong and incapacitating.

People who lack internal freedom are controlled by their senses, attractions and attachments. The Church understands the challenges to internal freedom and so do the saints who had to face the same challenges. The spiritual issue is not so much the challenge itself as it is what we do with the challenge.

Another complicating issue in the spiritual life is self-love – the attitude of “what is in it for me”. A skilled spiritual director can help people appreciate the power of self-love and how subtly it can influence our lives.

To go against self, even in good things, is important for the life of internal freedom. It is sometimes called habitual self-denial. When we spoke of discipline yesterday, I mentioned there are no soft saints. The saints understood the role of self-denial in their lives so they could be free to love the Lord.

Spiritual perspective

The second Lenten Preface relates the temporary to the eternal and asks us to live without confusing the two. Obviously the temporary and the eternal are interrelated. How one lives what is temporary will certainly have implications about how one will live in eternity.

Everyone, both conservatives and liberals, have to accept the certainty of death and the implication of death that we cannot take assets with us when we die. We must let go. The scientists of the world are telling us that even the planet we live on is wearing down and so they argue for space exploration to resettle the human population eventually.

Do not worry about the short-term future. They tell us there are probably a few million years left. The point is everything is temporary except God, eternity and the human soul. We should live in that perspective.

Simplicity of life

Believers whose primary love is love of God are disposed to divine goodness before all else. Poverty in spirit and simplicity of life are related to the first beatitude. Poverty of spirit and simplicity of life mean humility of heart and will, which helps us recognise our need for God and for God’s gifts. They teach us to be grateful for what has been received.

A practical question that flows from poverty of spirit and simplicity of life is, “What do I need to be happy?” The answer will vary depending on where we are on the scale of spirituality. Some people need many things. Other people need very little.

For those in the latter group, they have organised their lives around the pursuit of holiness. Things are not so important to them because of their relationship to God. Even though they have the means to live well and comfortably, they choose to live simply because of God.

Detachment

Similar to simplicity of life, detachment is rooted in the love of God being primary in our lives. By definition, detachment means being indifferent to everything that is not necessary or useful for one’s vocation in life.

It is the surrender of any interest, desire or objective which would keep one from using all one’s time, energy and resources to love God and neighbour. It is a form of self-liberation for service.

There is nothing wrong with a comfortable life that is honestly earned as long as the things of comfort do not control us. St Augustine offers an interesting perspective on detachment.

He says, “Until there comes about in people a love for what is eternal, they feel the sting of a number of things; but once they turn to God they no longer need the things that previously pleased them.”

Detachment is not just about things, it includes people and places. It refers to anyone or anything that interferes with total dedication to God. The Holy Spirit through the gift of knowledge helps us to understand what belongs to faith and to judge everything in the light of faith.

Next week, I shall offer the final summary on the retreat.