"As soon as you are tempted to impurity, endeavor to think of the Passion of the Savior of the world and make the following act: 'My God is nailed to a cross, and shall I consent to these unlawful pleasures?'"
St. Bernard
For Reflection:
To what extent do I meditate on the passion of Christ? How did His passion obtain for me the grace to resist temptation? Why, then, is meditation on His passion a good safeguard to all temptation including the temptation to impurity?
(See tomorrow's Grace Line to see what specific aspect of Christ's passion St. Augustine found effective in his fight against temptations of the flesh.)
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"Vigilance and prayer are the safeguards of chastity. 'Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation (Mark 14:38).' You should pray often and fervently to be preserved from temptations against purity, and for the grace to overcome them."
St. John Baptist de la Salle
For Reflection:
To prayer and fasting, St. John Baptist de la Salle adds one more safeguard for chastity. What is it? How can I apply it?
(Tomorrow's Grace Line adds yet another way to protect our chastity.)
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"Take to hear the warning of our Lord: 'But this kind of sin (impurity) is not overcome but by prayer and fasting.'"
St. John Bosco
For Reflection:
To prayer, what other suggestion does St. John Bosco recommend? How can I comply with this suggestion?
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"Chastity is a virtue which we do not have strength to practice unless God gives it to us, and God does not give this strength except to someone who asks for it. But whoever prays for it will certainly obtain it."
St. Alphonsus Liguori
For Reflection:
Do I really want to acquire the virtue of chastity? Why or why not? If not, what sin is hidden in this? If so, am I willing to pray for it?
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"He who has resolved to contend with his flesh and conquer it himself struggles in vain. For unless the Lord destroys the house of flesh and builds the house of the soul, the man who desires to destroy it has watched and fasted in vain."
St. John Climacus
For Reflection:
How can I build "the house" of my soul so that I may overcome any temptation to sin against chastity? What are three specific ways I can employ beginning now?
(See tomorrow's Grace Line for one saint's suggestion.)
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"Lust served became a custom, and a custom not resisted became necessity."
St. Augustine
For Reflection:
In this quote, St. Augustine gives us keen insight into the bondage of lust. How does it place us in chains? How can I specifically stop serving lust and start serving chastity?
(See tomorrow's Grace Line for one suggestion.)
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"Do not say that you have chaste minds if you have unchaste eyes, because an unchaste eye is the messenger of an unchaste heart."
St. Augustine
For Reflection:
What is the connection between what we look at and what we do? How is it that the eye is the messenger of the heart? What fills my eyes? How can religious artwork in my home and in my office, in my car and in my area of recreation help me to remain chaste?
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Earlier in the Spring, I was in Methuen, Massachusetts at St. Monica Catholic Church giving a day's retreat for women. In my talk, I spoke of the loss of my son, Simon, and my husband Anthony in 2004 and 2007 respectively. I shared about the consolation I received from the prayers of so many, and the maternal beatitude our Blessed Mother continues to show me.
Following the talk, a sweet woman approached me with a knowing smile. She lost her son, too, she said. And then, quietly and simply, she told me her story. Her son was on Flight 11 out of Boston on September 11, 2001, which crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade
Center at 8:46 AM. A young man full of promise and hope. A young man who, she later discovered, was well-known for his concern and care for the less fortunate and the poor.
For her, like for me, Our Blessed Mother had been and remains a consolation and a conduit of hope. This dear mother had a particular devotion to Our Lady of Beauraing and found in her and through her a "cause for joy" in the midst of her sufferings. Indeed, this graced woman had found a way to suffer well.
I have been reading a little book published by Sophia Institute Press by Marguerite Duportal called "How to Make Sense of Suffering." This mother came to mind when I read this passage from this little gem of a book:
"Suffering willingly borne before God, in His presence, under His eyes, while the soul is in union with Him 'who is,' in union with all the good emanating from His power, becomes supremely sweet and consoling. This enduring of affliction for religious motives is opposed to that consuming sorrow of rebels against God and of unbelievers. The benefits deriving from this kind of suffering become inestimable, if only we are able to say these words from the bottom of our heart, in every sad or merely painful circumstance of life, 'My God, I believe, I hope, and I love You. I accept."
Such a reading causes us to ask some questions of ourselves:
"To what extent have I suffered well in the major tragedies entrusted to me? Can I do better? Is there something now that is a present plight? What can I do today to help make this a means of union with God?
I will be forever grateful for the witness of this dear woman. May God bless her as she continues to see her tragedy with supernatural vision and for her courage which unites all of it to the Cross of Jesus, Our Lord. May each of us do the same.
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"Purity? They ask. And they smile. They are the very people who approach marriage with worn-out bodies and disillusioned minds. How I wish your bearing and conversation were such that, on seeing or hearing you, people would say: this man reads the life of Jesus Christ."
St. Josemaria Escriva
For Reflection:
Why does an unchaste life lead to "worn-out bodies" and "disillusioned minds?" Does my bearing and conversation speak of my relationship with Jesus Christ?
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"Guard your eyes that they may not look upon anything contrary to purity; your ears, that they may not listen to evil conversation; your mind, by banishing from it all suggestive thoughts; your heart, by stifling impure desires at their very birth."
St. John Baptist de la Salle
For Reflection:
How may I apply this sound advice to my life?
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