Sanity and Sanctity
Rev. Fr. David Sherry, District Superior
‘About sex especially men are born unbalanced; we might almost say that men are born mad. They scarcely reach sanity till they reach sanctity.’ — GK Chesterton.
Noverim Te, noverim me, prayed St. Augustine — ‘That I may know Thee and that I may know me.’ God is pure Spirit, immortal and invisible; we are body and soul. In our body, we are like the animals; in our soul, we are like God. And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them. In the soul, the light of intellect and sanctifying grace make us in the image and likeness of God. In our body, we are like the animals and we have the very same strong instincts which are the motor of the animal kingdom. The strongest of these are the instincts of preservation of self and preservation of the species, which seem sometimes to be stronger than us. How can we control them?
Sanctifying grace is what made our first parents the beloved children of God. Now, God did not think it fitting that his children should be without easy control of their animal instincts, so he gave them, with sanctifying grace, the gift of integrity. But God warned Adam and Eve, the day in which you sin, you will die the death. Some people consider this to be a sign of despotism on God's part. A despot is a ruler who insists that his unreasonable whims be obeyed at the cost of terrible punishments. Contrary to the opinion of the false prophet Mohammed, God is not a despot. When God says, the day in which you sin, you will die the death, He means what a parent might mean when he says to a child, ‘The day in which you run in front of a double-decker bus, you will die the death’; or what a sergeant might say to a class of trainee paratroopers, ‘the day in which you jump out of the aeroplane without a parachute, you will die the death’. None of these are threats, they are statements of the obvious. God is saying, ‘You were made for Me, I am the Life of your soul; the day you reject me, you cannot but die because the source of your life will be gone.’
The ensuing tragedy, we know by revelation; we know it better by everyday experience. When we lost original justice and the preternatural gifts that went with it, our passions went haywire, and the animal instincts for pleasure got seriously out of control. For the flesh lusteth against the spirit: and the spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary one to another: so that you do not the things that you would. In fact, so much can our passions be out of control that no man can keep all of his passions under control for long without help. This help comes with sanctifying grace, which is also known as healing grace.
This is why, to paraphrase Chesterton, the animal passions are very near madness in us, and we will only master them with sanctifying grace. The way to sanity is sanctity. The soul will only control the body if inhabited by the divine life.
Now, here’s a strange thing: if the soul does not dominate the body, the body will dominate the soul and force it to do its bidding at a whole other level the body does not even understand. A similar thing happens in the home where an infant is in charge. The child is dominated by unruly desires he doesn’t understand, he needs a parent to lay down the law. If the parent does enforce obedience, there will be peace, with occasional turbulence, as the child slowly learns virtue. But if the parent does not require obedience, the child’s whims will become the rule of the home, and the parent will make excuses for him. The same phenomenon is in us all: either our soul controls the body, requiring that the body conform to reason, or else the body will control the soul and require that the intellect make up fables to justify the whims of the body. The soul, cowed by the passions, then turns malicious and becomes far worse than a purely bodily sin could ever be: it sins against the light — perhaps even against the Holy Ghost — by calling good evil and evil good. Why shouldn’t I love whomever I want? God would not want me to be unhappy! Repression is bad for you. Love is love!
This is where the bishop, the shepherd of souls intervenes: carrying on his back the Cross of Christ, carrying in his left hand a staff to bring back sheep.
Preach the word: be instant in season, out of season: reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine. For there shall be a time, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but, according to their own desires, they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears: And will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables.
This is the duty of the faithful shepherd: to warn the faithful against fables invented to justify the unruly desires of the body, and to feed the lambs with the doctrine of truth and the practical means to practise the virtue of chastity.
May God bless you,
Fr. David Sherry
The Seven Guardians of Holy Purity according to St. John Bosco
1. Place yourself with confidence under Mary.
2. When you realise you're being tempted, make yourself busy immediately. Idleness and modesty cannot coexist (do not be on the internet without a good and solid reason).
3. Kiss a medal or crucifix, saying, ‘Jesus, Mary and Joseph, help me to save my soul.’ These are the names most terrible to the devil.
4. If the temptation continues, say ‘Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners.’
5. Do not pamper the body. Avoid bad literature (bad internet, bad videos and bad music; turn them off immediately).
6. Flee bad companions, choose good ones and imitate their virtues.
7. Go to Confession and Communion often. Visit the Blessed Sacrament often.
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