From the Friars: The Only Real Tragedy

We have now reached the Third Sunday of Lent. We’re almost halfway there! How goes the battle? If you’re like me, you may feel as though you have already fallen far short of the mark; haven’t quite kept to the Lenten fast or that particular penance you may have chosen for yourself. Nevertheless, if there’s one thing that Lent teaches me year after year as a religious brother, it’s humility. This morning’s Gospel for Mass as I am writing this entry, ended with: “whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Mt 23:12) Perhaps I’m not as far off the mark as it seems. Yet the question still remains, “What is this all about anyway?” “Why have we fasted, and thou seest it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and thou takest no knowledge of it?” (Is 58:3) “Why do we take up this penitential practice year after year to seemingly no avail?” Has the world ‘improved’? Have I improved because of it?

When GK Chesterton, was asked to write an essay about what’s wrong with the world, he responded by writing only two words: “I am”. He is also quoted as saying: “Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.” So, in answer to my question(s) above, I believe it all comes down to sanctity. If the Church is to grow in holiness and the world is to become less violent, less confused and corrupt, the only thing necessary is that I become a saint. Striving for this is indeed worth doing “badly” because every attempt, as prideful as it may be or seem to be, slowly and gradually leads me to recognize that it is only by the grace of God that this will be accomplished. “For this is the will of God, your sanctification.” (1 Thes 4:3) We must always remember that it is not by our own thoughts and efforts that will bring this about, but God working through us, inspiring us to desire the greatest good that awaits us, union with Him in Heaven. It is the enemy of our soul who tempts us to inordinately cling to the lesser ‘goods’ of the earth and leads us to believe the lie that the sacrifices we make will come to nought.

So let us take advantage of this particular season of God’s grace by joyfully and humbly seeking to follow and imitate His Son in the desert, in order to give Him glory here and hereafter as we stumble through the pearly gates of the kingdom.

For as the French novelist Leon Bloy reminds us: “The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only real tragedy in life, is not to become a saint.”

–Br. Pio