Father Maassen's Message - 07/14//24

From the Pen of Fr. Tim:
    In the biography of St. Bernadette Soubirous, the author explained that there was nothing unusual about St. Bernadette’s piety.   By this I mean that she was not like a St. Padre Pio or a Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres whose piety included extraordinary acts that most ordinary people can not or are unable do.  Rather St. Bernadette did the little things well.   It is said that her Sign of the Cross was beautiful work of art to behold.
    In my poor attempt to become Holy, I have been reading a very old Eastern Catholic/Eastern Orthodox text.  I have not said what it is because (1) way over a thousand pages long, and (2) there are a number of Eastern Catholic/Eastern Orthodox words that might throw you off.  And though acquainted Eastern Catholic/Eastern Orthodox theology, I – not an expert by any means – bought a Eastern Catholic/Eastern Orthodox dictionary of terms to help my understanding.
    The point to take away is not to be found in ‘High Eastern Spiritual and Mystical Theology’; rather Holiness comes from doing little acts of love as art works to behold.  This work – the culmination of the writings many monks and spiritual sisters – is absurdly simple.  Some of the Holiest men and women to ever walk the face of the earth did not become Holy by extraordinary acts.  Like St. Bernadette Soubirous, they became Holy by doing the simplest actions very well.   For example: in their prayer, they did the very best they could to make sure their minds were clear: clear of music, clear of distractions, clear of conversations with people so they could focus on being in God’s Presence.  None of you [certainly not myself] are monks or contemplative nuns, but doing the work of being free from distractions at prayer is something we can all improve upon.   Can we set all the communications devices aside?  Can we close the door and say to our families, ‘unless it is burning, bleeding, or broken, please give me some time with my God.’  As a lay man, I would turn off the radio for a period of time before Mass to better be rid of anything that would compete with the Divine Supper.
    Temperance was another big item on the list: not overindulging in food or drink.  Overindulging in sports, leisure, sleep, or activities of all sorts – much less vices.   Detachment from possessions and wealth.   It was not that the Spiritual Masters were against these things, but rather, they simply learned when these otherwise good gifts became snares, they hindered their journey to closeness to God.   We can also add to this category idle talking: idle chitchat, idle gossip hurts the peace and calm in your life and mine.  Even Pope St. Gregory the Great – who began his ministry as a monk – commented how the idle chitchat and gossip which he hated as a monk, and necessary as pope – had to led to sin and a lessening closeness to God.  Now again, you are not monks or contemplatives, but would the good of our journey to God and the peace of family life be enhanced by self-restraint in some of these areas?
    One of the other points discussed by a large number of writers is to put a check on unnecessary incendiary thoughts that lead us to sin.  They would ask: why would we let such thoughts disturb our calm, peace, and/or relationships with God and others?
    And in all things, these men and women stressed moderation and flexibility.  As was read earlier, Pope St. Gregory the Great knew he had to change his habits in order to fulfill his responsibilities as pope.  Other examples: when one is sick, fasting from food and drink should be relaxed.  When celebrating an important event, fasting from food and drink should be relaxed.   When someone needs you to listen, give them your attention.  The maxim runs: charity before piety, so flexibility was/is a key to charity.
    No, you and I are not monks or contemplatives, but the advice of these men and women – taken in moderation for your life’s circumstance – can be applied by all of us from one degree to another.  There were a lot of little things I had not the space to include – but you know them already.  The basic piety and spirituality of these men and women in the contemplative ministries is just common sense, so it is not beyond you and I.  They simply put themselves into an environment that gave them the freedom to grow, develop, perform these tiny, little acts of love very well.  Our path to God is not in the extreme things; our path to God is in the tiny but normal details done with charity.  Our path to God is found by making the simplest charity a near art-form.  Let us be careful out there!