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Dear Friends and Benefactors,
During this Advent, as we prepare to celebrate the feast of Christmas, let us
take extra care to ensure that a spiritual preparation for the Savior’s coming
be foremost in our intentions. For this, Christ’s instructive words in the
gospel of St. Matthew should be taken to heart: “Unless you be converted and
become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven (Mt.
18:3).” In this passage
Christ presents to His followers the ideal to be pursued. A child’s natural
guilelessness and innocence symbolizes in a sensible fashion the supernatural
and spiritual perfection Christ seeks for and loves in His true followers. He
wants them to become by grace what children are by nature. In His children of
grace He wants to find supernatural simplicity of soul.
Simplicity, as applied to a person’s character,
implies an absence of duplicity or complexity, which results when someone’s
behavior becomes prey to varying moods and passions. If a person habitually
yields to the suggestions of his passions or feelings, his thoughts and
judgments will be colored by them and they will produce this complexity in his
life. Whether it concerns dealing with the daily situations that arise or the
many different people one meets, if someone acts upon his constantly changing
likes or dislikes there will be an almost complete absence of unity and harmony
in his life. Likewise if one’s affections are set on created objects which are
not all-satisfying and variable they too will constantly change.
Thus, in order to simplify our lives, we must
control the tendencies of our passions by simplifying our affections and setting
them upon the only object which does not change and is able to satisfy all our
desires. God alone can fill this need and so if we love and prize Him above all
things then our feelings and emotions will no longer be affected by the various
objects which come before us. We will still experience emotions but because they
are centered on Him they will not dissipate the energy of our soul by drawing us
away from Him. Our behavior will be unified as we seek God’s good pleasure and
His glory in all things while setting aside the undisciplined play of our
passions. St. Gregory says: “Whoever has by the discipline of a virtuous
life, reduced his passions to order, becomes as it were a child with regard to
them, being insensible to their stirrings.”
Simplicity becomes more perfect as this love takes
the form of filial piety where the love for God becomes more like that of a
child’s love for his parents. Those who become children of God in heart and
soul, cultivating their joyous dependence on His Heavenly Paternal care,
spiritually clinging to His Hand, have become what God wants them to be. Their
lives conform to the ideal in His mind as revealed to us by the life of His
divine Son. In those who
have attained this childlike simplicity there is an exterior charm that
captivates all who have contact with them. One notices a certain candor and
limpidity of soul that radiates from their countenance, apparent especially in
their eyes. The soul, as it were, mirrors the light of divine simplicity from
its Heavenly Father. “The light of thy body is thy eye. If thy eye be single,
thy whole body shall be lightsome (Mt. 6:22).”
Simplicity grows from the virtue of humility. But
whereas the humble soul gains knowledge by making a certain act of reflection
upon oneself, the simple character has developed to the point of being so
outwardly fixed on God that it is no longer conscious of self. The soul looks to
and pursues only God and thus everything is weighed in His balances and
evaluated according to His standards. It has no ulterior motive in life besides
this. All its acts are animated with this same spirit, which has become the
unifying principle, giving harmony, unity and consistency to its life.
Such souls however, although devoid of
self-ambition, are not without magnanimity. Nothing is seen as too arduous when
demanded by the Will of God and the childlike soul gives prompt and ready
obedience to His orders whether given directly by Him or through His appointed
authority. Nor does the nature of the work matter to them as they are quite
detached and able, without difficulty, to leave one occupation for another as
requested by their superior.
As with a child, the simple soul does not assume
airs of superiority and is not affected by distinctions among persons. It
accepts superiority, not as a personal prerogative but as a fact due to
circumstances and so, while not inattentive to distinctions, their manners
towards individuals are free from either subservience or haughtiness. Thus they
are respectful and courteous to those placed over them and considerate to those
beneath them. Another trait
by which simplicity is compared to children is that it is free of
susceptibility. A child will usually forget the punishment he is given and move
on to other things very quickly. Similarly, the simple soul will not be
disturbed by harshness from others. Because they are wholly concerned about God
and not themselves, it is only what tends of its nature to hurt His interests
that hurts them. All their dealings with others are conditioned by this attitude
which also prevents such things as jealousy, sentimentality and partiality. They
shape their life with all its enterprises according to the maxim of the Gospel:
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His justice: and all these things will
be added unto you (Mt. 6:33).”
Fr. Faber sums up simplicity in one of his
conferences on the Blessed Sacrament.
Simplicity aims at one end, seeks
only one object, is occupied with one work, and loves with singleness of heart.
Its strength lies in its unity of purpose and in its concentration of effort. It
clothes its possessor from head to foot in Christ-like gracefulness. It gives an
unworldly air to all they do, an astonishing persuasiveness to all they say and
their very silence and inaction have something so celestial about them that that
very silence and inaction exorcise evil and convert souls.
With the end of 2007 rapidly
approaching, I wish to thank you for the spiritual and material support you have
given to the U.S. District of the Society of St. Pius X. May God repay you a
hundredfold and bless you especially during this anniversary of his birth with
simplicity. Sincerely in
Christ our Savior,
Fr. John D. Fullerton |
