2
Lack of a sincere
hope: many people love to wish themselves
things they can never attain to; things that are either impossible or in
contradiction to the plan of God. Even in the Church, many people are so afraid
of pain that they begin to pray for or “claim” good things that never come. I
have seen a woman who, in running away from the fear of death, built a “refuge”
for herself, by always saying that God will never allow her to die, even when
it is most easily perceived that death is imminent; that it hangs over the head
of all of us, as St Augustine puts it “the possibility of life, introduces the
possibility of death”, we will all die, because we are alive, for the moment we
begin to live, we begin also to die. But some people are too afraid to listen
to such truth. Is this a way out? No! It is unreal and has no foundation in
God. There is a way out of death, a real way. It is by a sincere hope in God’s
mercy, justice and power. In His mercy we hope to receive pardon and
justification, in His justice we hope to receive a reward for all our loses for
Him, and in his power we hope to be kept safe through the “valleys and shadows
of death”. Our hope in God is a lively one; we hope in the God whose hand is
able to reach us even beyond this present life; a God who, not only walks with
us in this life, but will continue with us even in death. This is the solution
to our fear of death, and it is secure for it is built upon God. It is called hope
and any other type of hope will simply be presumptuous and therefore offensive
before God. Sincere hope is the foundation of a healthy Christian life. Without
this hope there would be no reason to live like Christ; no reason for holiness
(which is often demanding); no reason to give our lives. There is only one way
to discover if this hope is in you: if you still build upon this life so much
that you disregard the next one in your concrete decisions, but merely accept
it (the Gospel) in principle, then this hope is not yet in you. Like other
theological virtues, hope is a gift, we are totally incapable of generating it
ourselves; it comes to us from God himself. When we reduce or even stop taking
pleasure in “claiming” this and that, we would be much better. For in prayer,
we are not really supposed to speak like people with authority (while
addressing God Himself, who gives us this authority) but like people in need;
like beggars that we are. Let us hear from the Church:
“Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God
or the requesting of good things from God. But when we pray, do we speak from
the height of our pride and will, or
‘out of the depths’ of a humble and contrite heart? (Ps 130:1).
He who humbles himself will be exalted;
humility is the foundation of prayer. Only when we humble acknowledge that ‘we do not know how to pray as we ought’
are we ready to receive freely the gift
of prayer. ‘Man is a beggar before God’” CCC 2559.
When there is
this awareness then every other thing begins to fall in place. Do you say you
cannot bear it? Well, what is supposed to happen in your heart when you are
promised a high place in your dream country? When you are told that the
President of America awaits you the next year? I suppose that your “remaining
time” in Nigeria will be spent in joyful preparation for your departure. You
will always dream of that time, and will be seriously disturbed by the fact
that it is still distant (for no matter how near it be, you will never be happy
until it finally comes); you would desire the “next year” becomes “tomorrow”. Such
is a worldly hope though, but paints a faint picture of how much our hearts
should rejoice at the mere thought of heaven which God, in his benevolence has
promised us. What then is wealth? What is self gratification? What then is sin? What
are all these if they lead us away from our destination? You would definitely
deem it very foolish to visit a soothsayer for your material needs as you would
deem it foolish to consult with a robber for business when you have been
promised great wealth in America.
There are no
material attachments to the worship of God. The primary aim is not just heaven
as a place or state, nor holiness itself or self development. The aim is God
himself. The possession of God is the primary goal of religion. Whenever we
have any other attachments (especially ones that prevent us from attaining this
ultimate goal) we render our ascent to Him difficult or impossible; we reduce
God to a mere material; a material used to achieve other ends; a material we
use to achieve health, wealth, wisdom, long life etc. This is heights of ignorance
and disorder. We could infer from the analogy drawn above that the fear of death
is born of lack of hope. Hope is sustained by love and is completed by faith. A
true believer sees death as a transition; as the “time” he has always awaited
to unite with the one he loves. Notwithstanding the pains that often come with
this separation, his faith is unflinching in the mercy of the God who is Love;
a God who is All knowing, All loving and All powerful; he knows that this God
knows how to save him, that he wishes to save him and that he has the power to
save him. Such is the disposition of a true Christian. This is difficult to
swallow though, but with continued prayer and study it becomes a bit easier. Do
not reject it just because it is not very fanciful or say that it doesn’t
matter, for as a matter of fact it does. Anything that affects the theological
virtues affects the whole orientation of the Christian’s life. If the Church
were to begin teaching the erroneous doctrine of Martin Luther, the doctrine
known as “Sola Fides” translated “faith alone”. Which teaches that it does not
matter how Christian lives, even if it is sinful that the most important thing
is to have faith. That with faith alone a Christian is justified (without
works). Then see how much the Christian life will be affected, this teaching
will reorient everyone’s lives. So be very sure of the importance of this since
it affects these three major virtues without which no one may see God. Fulton
Sheen tells the story of a young man who have been reading of Cigarette being a
conditioning cause for cancer, he was so disturbed because he was a smoker but
instead of giving up smoking he gave up reading! So will it be if you, dear
reader, give up reading rather than drop your bad habits. Our teachings can be
confirmed from that of the Church if you like, but be mindful that any truth
learned imposes the obligation of living according to it. He is happy to whom
Christ chooses to reveal the narrow way, for in it is contained the true
knowledge of God, man and the world. He quenches his thirst at the fountain of
sound doctrine ever flowing from the breasts of the Mother Church; he feeds his
soul with the very Word of the Father in the Eucharist, he is happy to whom God
has revealed the beauty of truth and the nobility of its pursuit.
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