Saint Gregory the Great (c. 540-604) said:
"Whatever you possess must not possess you; whatever you own must be under the power of your soul; for if your soul is overpowered by the love of this world's goods, it will be totally at the mercy of its possessions."
"In other words, we make use of temporal things, but our hearts are set on what is eternal. Temporal goods help us on our way, but our desire must be for those eternal realities which are our goal. We should give no more than a side glance at all that happens in the world, but the eyes of our soul are to be focused right ahead."
"Whatever is vicious must be utterly eradicated, wrenched away not merely from being put
into act but even from being so much as thought of. No carnal pleasure, no worldly curiosity, no surge of ambition must keep us from the Lord's supper. But further, our minds should merely skirt even the good deeds we perform in this life; in this way, the physical things which give us pleasure will serve our bodily needs without hindering the soul's progress. You see, my brothers, I dare not say to you, give up everything. Yet, if you will, you can give everything up while keeping it, providing you handle temporal things in a way that your whole mind is directed toward what is eternal. A man can use the world as if he were not using it, if he makes all external things minister to the support of his life without allowing it to dominate his soul. They remain external to him and under his control, serving him without halting the soul's drive to higher things. For such men, everything in this world is there for their use, not to be desired. Nothing should interfere with your soul's longing; no created pleasure in this world should ensnare you."
"If the object of love is what is good, then the soul should take its delight in the higher good, the things of heaven. If the object of fear is what is evil, then we should keep before ourselves the things that are eternally evil. In this way, if the soul sees that we should have a greater love and a greater fear about what concerns the next life, it will never cling to life."
"To help us to achieve all this we have the help of the mediator between God and man. Through him we shall obtain all this the more quickly, the more we burn with a great love for him, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen."
"Whatever you possess must not possess you; whatever you own must be under the power of your soul; for if your soul is overpowered by the love of this world's goods, it will be totally at the mercy of its possessions."
"In other words, we make use of temporal things, but our hearts are set on what is eternal. Temporal goods help us on our way, but our desire must be for those eternal realities which are our goal. We should give no more than a side glance at all that happens in the world, but the eyes of our soul are to be focused right ahead."
"Whatever is vicious must be utterly eradicated, wrenched away not merely from being put
into act but even from being so much as thought of. No carnal pleasure, no worldly curiosity, no surge of ambition must keep us from the Lord's supper. But further, our minds should merely skirt even the good deeds we perform in this life; in this way, the physical things which give us pleasure will serve our bodily needs without hindering the soul's progress. You see, my brothers, I dare not say to you, give up everything. Yet, if you will, you can give everything up while keeping it, providing you handle temporal things in a way that your whole mind is directed toward what is eternal. A man can use the world as if he were not using it, if he makes all external things minister to the support of his life without allowing it to dominate his soul. They remain external to him and under his control, serving him without halting the soul's drive to higher things. For such men, everything in this world is there for their use, not to be desired. Nothing should interfere with your soul's longing; no created pleasure in this world should ensnare you.""If the object of love is what is good, then the soul should take its delight in the higher good, the things of heaven. If the object of fear is what is evil, then we should keep before ourselves the things that are eternally evil. In this way, if the soul sees that we should have a greater love and a greater fear about what concerns the next life, it will never cling to life."
"To help us to achieve all this we have the help of the mediator between God and man. Through him we shall obtain all this the more quickly, the more we burn with a great love for him, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen."
WE HAVE AN ADVOCATE
These words by Saint Gregory the Great help put the things of this world into perspective with the greater things of heaven. He reminds sinful men like me that I do not strive alone toward heaven. We have an advocate in Jesus Christ. We have forgiveness from sin through confession, repentence and faith that Christ bore our penalty on the cross. In Christ, we are reconciled with God.
The Apostle John wrote: "My little children, I am telling you this so that you will stay away from sin, there is someone to plead for us before the Father. His name is Jesus Christ, the one who is all that is good and who pleases God completely. He is the one who took God's wrath against our sins upon himself, and brought us into fellowship with God." (1John 2.1-2)
Knowing this, we who are children of God (John 1.12) should be about His business (see 1 Corinthians 7.29). Do not grow weary. Our time here is short , the world is fading away, eternity awaits.
MP
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