Spiritual Travel

In the spiritual life, by the very fact of not going forward, we slide backwards. "We don't go back so far as we make efforts to go forward," writes St. Augustine, "once we begin to stop, back we roll." Yet, Augustine warns us that as we make efforts to go forward, "forget entirely everything that you have done up to this point, and make account that everyday you are starting anew."

St. Jerome agrees: "Whoever wishes to be a saint, let him forget all the past good that he has done, and rouse him(her)self to secure what is still undone."

Jesus speaks of someone who kept account of the good did:

"The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, 'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity--greedy, dishonest, adulterous--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.' But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, 'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.'

I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted." (Lk 18, 11-14)

We can learn from this parable to be careful about the good we have done. We can very easily become proud and self-righteous, and despise others. Another danger of keeping track of the good we have done is becoming lukewarm, which leads us to thinking that we have done enough.

As travelers to the heavenly country, we should not set our eyes on how far we have gone, but rather on how far we need to go.

Taken from Practice of Perfection and Christian Virtues, Ch. 1 by Alphonsus Rodriguez, SJ

Posted by Carlos J. Medina