The season of Lent is now in full swing, and the disciplines of prayer, fasting, and
almsgiving in more intentional and sacrificial ways beckons us to go out into the desert
to meet our Lord Jesus. As I respond to this invitation of purification and simplification
to give space for an increased intimacy with Our Lord, I have become aware of the
jungle of my mind and heart where various hopes and desires, both ordered and disordered,
war within. I recognize that the wars that currently rage between the peoples of the Ukraine and Russia, the terrorists in Afghanistan, civil groups in Ethiopia and Myanmar, and drug cartels in Mexico are but a spill-over of what is sometimes brewing within my own heart, decisions, thoughts, and actions.
A few weeks ago the Lord gave me an image of a suspension bridge. The etymology of this
word comes from the Latin word 'sub' which means under and 'pend' which means to hang or to balance. It is a means of absorbing shock or balancing something or someone. This symbol was given to me associated with virtue which is the center point between extremes of excess and deficit in the passions.
I have been reviewing the meaning of this concept and found that according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, virtue is connected with "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." [Phil 4:8]. It goes on to explain human virtues as 'firm attitudes, stable dispositions, habitual perfections of the intellect and will that govern our actions, order our passions, and guide our conduct according to reason and faith' [CCC #1804]. Human or moral virtues are habits that are acquired by human effort undertaken in a spirit of perseverance and elevated by God's grace. They are developed over time by freely practicing the good with repeated effort.
The four cardinal virtues upon which all the other moral virtues are grounded consist of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. The three theological virtues are faith, hope, and love. As St. Paul tells us, charity is the greatest of these as it imbues all the other virtues towards harmony with the Divine Will. I would add that many of the greatest saints and doctors of the Church including St. Augustine and St. Teresa of Jesus speak of humility as being the greatest virtue upon which all the others are founded, since we are wholly dependent upon the Lord to do anything.
In our humanity, we experience feelings or passions as movements of the sensitive appetites that influence us in our decisions 'to act or not to act' in response to a perceived good or evil [CCC # 1763]. These are gateways between the life of the senses and the life of the mind, with our hearts as its source and center point. The suspension bridge is a connecting point between our hearts and our minds. Our feelings and our thoughts. Passions are neither good nor evil, but instead neutral until acted upon. This is where the war within begins. Every situation provides an opportunity and a choice to respond in a place of love that magnifies the Lord, or in a place of ego-driven self-interest. I can operate in a posture of deficit and withhold love, in an extremity of a passionate storm that is destructive, or I can offer a gift of myself and the Lord will multiply that love.
If I respond with balance in what is being called for in a given situation in cooperation with the Holy Spirit and the graces of the Lord, I am able to avoid deficiency or excess and instead maintain harmony within my own heart and mind regardless of the other person's actions, words or response. The suspension bridge maintains equilibrium and I do not lose my balance or footing and fall off over the handrails. If the winds of my passions push me too far towards the extremes of either complete depletion or exaggeration, I fall overboard. At that moment, I am temporarily unable to continue on the journey towards increased intimacy with Jesus, but am instead bushwhacking through the jungle between my mind and heart, off the path, and under the bridge.
Of course, the Lord is always there to meet us in the wilderness within and will assist us in helping to get back up and onto the narrow bridge that we traverse during Lent from the old man within ourselves to the new one. These are the moments when we are face to face with our weaknesses and invited to exercise the great virtue of humility in recognizing our own limitations and dependence upon God. In a sense, even such falls are opportunities to develop virtue. We recognize the truth of what St. Philip Neri imparted so many centuries ago, 'Do not grieve over the temptations you suffer. When the Lord intends to bestow a particular virtue on us, He often permits us first to be tempted by the opposite vice. Therefore, look upon every temptation as an invitation to grow in a particular virtue and a promise by God that you will be successful, if only you stand fast.'
Through our littleness, Jesus can teach us to recognize the voice of the enemy in our hearts and minds - the patterns that trigger such moments that precipitate falling off our inner suspension bridge, and the subtle suggestions that encourage us to respond to our passions in ways that invite the seven deadly sins to rule us. He will re-clothe us with the armor of God and impart the power of the Holy Spirit to us. He will bring us back to the center of His Sacred Heart and teachings which operate out of Divine Love and Mercy, the Beatitudes and the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit which include wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. With His Divine assistance, along with the Sacraments, study, and prayer we will be able to cooperate more fully with Divine grace and strengthen the muscles of the virtues and their practice in our everyday lives. Over time, the fruits of the Holy Spirit will begin to abound in our lives and these vices will be replaced, and more fully perfected and completed within our souls and lived out.
The suspension bridge that unites our heart with our mind can appear intimidating and downright dangerous. And in many ways, it is. However, when traveling with Our Lord Jesus we learn how to traverse the middle path of virtue between the deficit and excess of our passions and appetites. He assists us to stay safely within the guardrails by avoiding extremes, but also knows that 'the righteous man falls seven times a day'. The good news is that we can count on Jesus to bring the first aid kit to bandage up our wounds, and the words of eternal life to encourage our souls to keep going and forge ahead. This great adventure will be worth it. The new man and your new life and mine awaits.
