Catholic Virtues
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The Duty to Fight - III
Accepting or Rejecting the Call to Fight
How should we consider this war that Our Lord Jesus Christ came to bring from Heaven to earth? How can we apply the meditation of St. Ignatius de Loyola in his Spiritual Exercises to the fight against Progressivism and also the fight against Communism?
As counter-revolutionaries, we are called to fight. The proof is simple. No one, according to the doctrine of the Church, is capable of a good movement of soul founded on the Catholic Faith except by grace, that is, by a created supernatural gift that God puts in our soul. So, if we are given a good movement of soul that leads us to want to defend the Church, Tradition and Catholic Civilization, it was born from grace. This good impulse took place because God called us, because grace is a call. It is as if He appeared and really called us.
The illogic of saying 'no'
The answer "no!" would be so illogical that we should stop, weigh the arguments and consider what madness it would be. For, one who acts illogically is like a crazy man. Man must love logic more than sight, the light of the eyes, for logic is the light of the mind.
What is worse: to go crazy or to go blind? Obviously, it is worse to be crazy because the blind man can still get along in life. For a madman, what is the use of seeing?
Becoming illogical is the saddest thing there is. We are speaking of the culpable form of madness, not the madness of the sick, but the madness of the bad man, the man of bad will. The man of good will is the logical one; the one of bad will is the illogical one, the incoherent one.
Do we want to be among the number of the incoherent and say "no" to Our Lord Jesus Christ?
The consequences of saying 'no'
What awaits us if we die after saying "no" to Our Lord Jesus Christ?
People die all the time: a car accident, a shot fired in the air, a sudden illnesss. It can happen so quickly that one is unaware of what has happened. How many persons die like this, without realizing that they are dying, without time for regret!
He suddenly appears before God, and God says to him: "I called you to this fight and you said 'no.' Now, I want your explanations: Why not?" The individual will say: "No, you did not call me."
God will say: "I called you. Do you remember that time when you met the Counter-Revolution and that you were so enthused with the fight? That enthusiasm was My grace working in your soul. What did you do with that grace? On that occasion I knocked on the door of your soul and asked you: 'Do you want to fight?' What was your response, and why did you not fight for Me?"
What will he say, seeing God face to face? Only then will he understand how illogical it was to refuse that invitation. Only then will he want to say: "Lord, let me return to Earth, now I will fight!"
But Our Lord will say: "No, the time has passed, everything is over. It is time for your Judgment."
And if the poor unfortunate person, in addition to rejecting his counter-revolutionary vocation, capitulates to the pressures of our neo-pagan century to the point of losing the state of grace in a long life of sin and dies unrepentant, then he will hear the cacophony of wailing and weeping from the depths of Hell. He will hear that dreadful cry shouted by a thousand mouths that begins to make itself heard, amid laughter and insults: "Come! Come! Your place is here!" It is the Devil, dragging him to Hell.
What will happen if we say 'yes'
Now imagine the opposite. One of you dies and appears before Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who receives you with an affable, merciful countenance: "I called you, you fought. You had imperfections in your fight, but My Mother prayed for you, because you exposed yourself to mockery and laughter for Her sake. You asked for Her help, and She came to your assistance and obtained forgiveness for you. Come, My son, I dispense you even from Purgatory. Enter into the glory of your Lord!"
What is all earthly glory worth, compared to this?
There are the two paths that open up before each one of us, my dear friends. At all times in life and in every moment, we are choosing one of these two paths.
If we were to have such a thing always before our eyes, if every morning we were to renew for just a moment some points of this meditation, would we not have more ardor in the fight, more courage, more dedication than what we have now? I truly believe so.
And if this exercise has served to help us make any good resolution, we have many reasons to give glory to St. Ignatius of Loyola and, through him, to Our Lady, who inspired him to make these most holy meditations, which I did nothing but develop.
The half-refusal
A final word on the mechanism of half-refusal. A man can become very impressed with the logical argument of why we must enter this fight, but, on the other hand, keenly feel the pain of the renunciation of the world that he must make.
He thinks: "I do not dare say 'no.' However, if I say 'yes,' I will suffer a lot. I will postpone my decision until later. I will resolve this question later.”
But the person already realizes that later he will put aside the topic, and so he escapes the decision. The most basic and common mechanism of refusal is to say: "This is too hard! I will leave it for later."
There is a German saying: "Morgen, morgen, nur nicht heute, sagen alle faulen Leute" - Tomorrow, tomorrow, as long as it is not today, say all the lazy person.
The capital vice of laziness is not so much the laziness to walk, study, etc. It is the laziness to make the effort that the spiritual life requires. This is the capital vice of laziness in its most radical and worst aspect.
Other forms of laziness manifest themselves like this: "When the time comes to fight, then I will choose." And then, when the time comes, another excuse: "I will make a small effort because I recall that talk I heard about what awaits me if I do not do something." And so he resolves to make some small effort. It is a shameful solution, but not so rare...
To be continued
As counter-revolutionaries, we are called to fight. The proof is simple. No one, according to the doctrine of the Church, is capable of a good movement of soul founded on the Catholic Faith except by grace, that is, by a created supernatural gift that God puts in our soul. So, if we are given a good movement of soul that leads us to want to defend the Church, Tradition and Catholic Civilization, it was born from grace. This good impulse took place because God called us, because grace is a call. It is as if He appeared and really called us.
The illogic of saying 'no'
Each one is called to the fight
What is worse: to go crazy or to go blind? Obviously, it is worse to be crazy because the blind man can still get along in life. For a madman, what is the use of seeing?
Becoming illogical is the saddest thing there is. We are speaking of the culpable form of madness, not the madness of the sick, but the madness of the bad man, the man of bad will. The man of good will is the logical one; the one of bad will is the illogical one, the incoherent one.
Do we want to be among the number of the incoherent and say "no" to Our Lord Jesus Christ?
The consequences of saying 'no'
What awaits us if we die after saying "no" to Our Lord Jesus Christ?
People die all the time: a car accident, a shot fired in the air, a sudden illnesss. It can happen so quickly that one is unaware of what has happened. How many persons die like this, without realizing that they are dying, without time for regret!
He suddenly appears before God, and God says to him: "I called you to this fight and you said 'no.' Now, I want your explanations: Why not?" The individual will say: "No, you did not call me."
We will be judged by our response to this call to fight
What will he say, seeing God face to face? Only then will he understand how illogical it was to refuse that invitation. Only then will he want to say: "Lord, let me return to Earth, now I will fight!"
But Our Lord will say: "No, the time has passed, everything is over. It is time for your Judgment."
And if the poor unfortunate person, in addition to rejecting his counter-revolutionary vocation, capitulates to the pressures of our neo-pagan century to the point of losing the state of grace in a long life of sin and dies unrepentant, then he will hear the cacophony of wailing and weeping from the depths of Hell. He will hear that dreadful cry shouted by a thousand mouths that begins to make itself heard, amid laughter and insults: "Come! Come! Your place is here!" It is the Devil, dragging him to Hell.
What will happen if we say 'yes'
Now imagine the opposite. One of you dies and appears before Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who receives you with an affable, merciful countenance: "I called you, you fought. You had imperfections in your fight, but My Mother prayed for you, because you exposed yourself to mockery and laughter for Her sake. You asked for Her help, and She came to your assistance and obtained forgiveness for you. Come, My son, I dispense you even from Purgatory. Enter into the glory of your Lord!"
What is all earthly glory worth, compared to this?
There are the two paths that open up before each one of us, my dear friends. At all times in life and in every moment, we are choosing one of these two paths.
If we were to have such a thing always before our eyes, if every morning we were to renew for just a moment some points of this meditation, would we not have more ardor in the fight, more courage, more dedication than what we have now? I truly believe so.
And if this exercise has served to help us make any good resolution, we have many reasons to give glory to St. Ignatius of Loyola and, through him, to Our Lady, who inspired him to make these most holy meditations, which I did nothing but develop.
The half-refusal
A final word on the mechanism of half-refusal. A man can become very impressed with the logical argument of why we must enter this fight, but, on the other hand, keenly feel the pain of the renunciation of the world that he must make.
"Morgen, morgen, nur nicht heute,
sagen alle faulen Leute '
There is a German saying: "Morgen, morgen, nur nicht heute, sagen alle faulen Leute" - Tomorrow, tomorrow, as long as it is not today, say all the lazy person.
The capital vice of laziness is not so much the laziness to walk, study, etc. It is the laziness to make the effort that the spiritual life requires. This is the capital vice of laziness in its most radical and worst aspect.
Other forms of laziness manifest themselves like this: "When the time comes to fight, then I will choose." And then, when the time comes, another excuse: "I will make a small effort because I recall that talk I heard about what awaits me if I do not do something." And so he resolves to make some small effort. It is a shameful solution, but not so rare...
To be continued
Posted May 18, 2022
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