 Welcome to The Commentaries, a podcast series from Tan in which you'll learn how to read and understand history's greatest Catholic works from today's greatest Catholic scholars. In every series of The Commentaries, your expert host will be your personal guide to not just read the book, but to live the book, shining the light of its eternal truths into our modern darkness. Tan commentaries.com to get your copy of the book and to subscribe for access to all the great reading plans, new episodes, bonus content and exclusive deals for listeners of The Commentaries. Hello and welcome back. I'm Father Robert Nixon, a monk of the Order of Saint Benedict and director of the Institute for Benedictine Studies at the Abbey of the Most Holy Trinity in New Northeer Western Australia. And this is the commentary series on the imitation of Christ by the great Thomas A. Kempis. Today is day three of our series and we'll be covering today book one, chapters 12 through 19 of the Tan edition of the book work. We're going to begin today as always with a prayer in which we call upon the grace of God. And so we pray in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Enlighten, Lord, our souls and hearts and to our minds thy grace impart, lead us by thy gentle hand, teaching us to understand the wisdom of thine only Son, the humble, patient, holy one. Help us imitate Christ's ways and live His gospel all our days. Amen. So we're continuing now. We're still within the first book of the four books of the imitation of Christ. They're called books but really they're major divisions within what is really a single book. And in these chapters we find some wonderful and very pertinent advice about things which are common to our human condition. Chapter 12 is on the utility of adversity. Utility means here the usefulness of adversity. How good it is, how useful it can be for our spiritual life when we encounter difficulties and challenges. And he begins by saying it is good for us to have sometimes troubles and adversities, for they make a man enter into himself, that he may know that he is in a state of benishment and may not place his hopes in anything of this world. It is good that we sometimes suffer contradictions and that men have an evil or imperfect opinion of us, even when we do and intend well. These things are often helps to humility and defend us from vain glory. And I think this is great wisdom here that he's saying that when we suffer difficulties and adversities and even injustices in this world, it's a powerful reminder that this world is not in fact out through native land, that we're here as pilgrims, even as to use his word that this life is a kind of benishment. That's not to look down upon the value of this earthly life, but rather to say that out through native land is in the kingdom of heaven. So these things, when we encounter these, it can be good reminders that we don't want to put all our hopes on the things of this world, because ultimately they're in constant and deceptive. He tells us that when we suffer from the bad opinion of others, even if it's not fully justified, that it's a useful lesson in humility. And these things make us aware of our own pride. When we hear something being said about us, which might hurt us in some way, that is an alert to the fact that there's at least some pride still living within us, some egos. And of course, we should listen very carefully when people express opinions against us, because for all we know, part of what they're saying might actually be true. It might be teaching us a lesson. God might be speaking to us through that. And in fact, all the adversities of life make us sharers in the redemptive sufferings of Christ in some way or the other. And he concludes this, that when a man of good will is troubled or tempted or afflicted with evil thoughts, then he better understands what need he has of God, without whom he finds he can do no good. Then also he laments, he sighs and prays by reasons of the miseries which he suffers. Then he is weary of living longer, and he wishes death to come that he may be dissolved and be with Christ. Then also will he perceive that perfect security and full peace cannot be found in this world. A very powerful lesson there, one we should keep in mind at all times. It's not something which should make us depressed or discouraged or seem negative or anyway, to keep in the back of our minds that this world is only passing, that it doesn't offer us in the end true happiness. In chapter 13, he goes on to resisting temptations. And of course, this is a very important thing, because every human person is subject to temptations in one way or the other. Even when we can't see them, the temptations are still there. And I mean, for some people, the temptations might be too obvious sins to theft or murder or fornication. But for a lot of people, it's nothing like that. The temptations instead can be things like vain glory and egotism, impatience, lack of humility, and so forth. And Thomas the Kempers begins the chapter by saying this exact same thing. As long as we live in this world, we cannot be without tribulation and temptation. Hence it is written in Job, the life of man upon earth is a warfare. Therefore, ought everyone to be solicitous about his temptations and to watch in prayer, lest the devil, who never sleeps, but goes about seeking whom he may devour, find room to deceive him. No man is so perfect and holy as not to be tempted sometimes, and we cannot be holy without them. So we can never be completely free of temptations. And he tells us that although they can be troublesome, they're also useful because they teach us humility. They remind us of our own fragility and dependence upon the grace of God. He tells us that many seek to fly temptations and fall more grievously into them. By flight alone we cannot overcome, but by patience and true humility we are made stronger than our enemies. But he who only declines them outwardly and does not pluck out the root will profit little. Nay, temptations will sooner return to him and he will find himself in a worse condition. So he's telling us that we can't just walk away from temptations, that we need to take them on and to root them out. And we read that the person who hasn't entered into battle can't win the victor's crown, and there's a lot of truth in that. Having said that, of course, this doesn't mean that we should not avoid the occasions of sin or situations which we know are likely to tempt us. Of course we should avoid those, but this avoidance is an expression of crudence. It's not just a matter of, you know, turning our back on the fact that we're subject to temptations, because the temptations don't go away. They generally just manifest themselves in a hidden and sometimes more dangerous form. Had he tells us how this will happen, for first a bare thought comes to the mind, then a strong imagination, afterwards delight and evil motion and consent. And thus, by little and little, the wicked enemy gets full entrance when he is not resistant from the beginning. So telling us here that we don't want to give temptation even the smallest step in our hearts and minds, that when it emerges, we need to fight against it straight away. Just shut the door. Not think I can just invite this temptation in for a while and, you know, spend some time with it and pass the time and then send it out again as if it's not going to have affected me. In fact, by opening the door and letting it in, you're giving it a foothold which it will take advantage of. Though we need to remember that the devil is very cunning. Christ, of course, is infinitely stronger than the devil, but the devil is more cunning than any human being. So we don't want to match our wits with him. Rather, we want to say a fair no to all of his temptations straight away. And we have a beautiful prayer here at the end. I am aware, O Jesus, that in the time of temptation of myself, I cannot but offend thee and that carried along by my natural inclination for evil. I am in danger of ruining myself. But I know also that you can and your apostle assures me that you will defend me against the most violent assaults of my passions. Therefore, mistrusting myself and replying upon thee, I will explain, Lord, save me or I perish. I will stretch out my hand to thee as Saint Peter did and confidently hope that thou wilt not let me perish. Amen. And I'm going to go now on to chapter 16 of bearing the defects of others. And this is something which is so important in community life, in monastic life, for example, the rule of St. Benedict tells us to bear patiently with the defects, both physical and moral of each other. And of course, it's a reality of family life as well. I mean, of course, no one is sure of defects and we can all quickly spot them in others. But we need to be patient about them, to treat them with the patience which Christ himself exhibited during his earthly life. And he begins this chapter by saying what a man cannot amend in himself or others, he must bear with patience till God ordains it otherwise. Think that perhaps it is better so for thy trial and patience without which our merits are little worth. So whatever we can't change or amend, whether it's in our self or in others. And I mean, there are things which we can't change in ourselves. I mean, we can't root out all of our, all of our faults. We can try, but we'll never succeed. Even more so with others, we can't change others. I mean, that's not really our job to change others. Each person is ultimately responsible for themselves. We can help them as much as we can in whatever ways we can, but we can't actually change them. And for this reason, we're told that we need just to bear with it, to put up with it. And also to keep in mind that this is here by the will of God, ultimately, that it's leading us, teaching us some kind of lesson. So this is how we grow. We need to be large-hearted towards the defects of others. Not to be too critical, but rather to be tolerant. Remember that, you know, we've got our own faults and that this other person is a son or daughter of God, that we need to try to love them with the same love with which God loves us. And we're told also, but now God has so disposed things that we may learn to bear another's burdens, for there is no man without defect. That includes, of course, no woman without defect as well. No man without his burdens. No man sufficient for himself. No man wise enough for himself. But we must support one another, comfort one another, assist, instruct, and admonish one another. And, you know, a perfect lesson there. And this leads then very naturally into chapter 17, which is on the monastic life. And as I mentioned before, he was writing largely for people in religious or monastic life. But I think what he says here applies also to people in secular life, because most people, you know, they're living in a community of some kind, whether it's a family, or even if they're living on their own, they can cultivate some of the disciplines of monastic life. And this includes regularity in prayer, in work, in finding the right balance between rest and work and prayer, and in cultivating discipline, in setting aside certain times of the day for silence and solitude and sacred reading. And he tells us that it is no small matter to live in a monastery or in a congregation, and to converse therein without reproof, and to persevere faithful to death. Blessed is he who has lived their well and made a happy end. The habit and the tonsure contribute little, he says, but a change of manners and an entire mortification of the passions makes a truly religious man. So it's not about the externals of religious life, I mean, these things are important and have their place, but ultimately conversion of heart. And he says, No one can stand unless he be willing with all his heart to humble himself for the love of God. Here then men are tried as gold in the furnace. I think this is a great thing to reflect on, whether we're in monastic life or whether we're in secular life, you know, we have these trials caused by the fact that we're in a community. And these things are in fact purifying us from our vices and giving us opportunities to cultivate the virtues to be more and more like Christ. In chapter 18, we read about the examples of the holy fathers. And then in chapter 19 of the exercises of good religious, when he talks about the holy fathers, what he's talking about here is what are sometimes called the desert fathers or the very early monks who often lived as hermits, lived lives of great austerity. He's telling us not that we need to imitate what they do, but we can learn something from their heroic example. And he tells us that they spent all their time profitably, every hour seen short, which they spent with God, and through the great sweetness of divine contemplation, they forgot even the necessities of their bodily refreshment. They renounced all riches, dignities, honors, friends and kindred. They desired to have nothing of this world. They scarcely allowed themselves the necessities of life, and serving the body even in necessity was irksome to them. They were poor therefore as to earthly things, but very rich in grace and virtue. They were strangers to the world, but near and familiar friends of God. This last point I think is the key to it. Now, of course, we can't all follow the example of poverty and penance and self-denial quite as literally as these early monks. Nevertheless, we can take on board something of their example in our own way. And he tells us that by making ourselves strangers to the world, they became near and familiar friends to God. And this is a paraphrase of something we find in the letter of James where he says that anyone who wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. And, you know, this doesn't mean that we have nothing to do with the world, but it means that, you know, our love, our friendship ultimately is with what lies beyond this world, which is so much greater, so much more powerful than anything in this world, which in the end is only passing. And our last chapter today of the exercises of a good religious, and he tells us to reflect upon the life of the religious who are following strict things and to derive from that some kind of inspiration. And, you know, in some cases we might imitate that it might be an awakening to a religious vocation within certain people, but even if it's not, you know, the cultivation of this regularity of prayer, moderation in life, spiritual obedience are so important. He tells us that all cannot have the self-same religious exercise, but this is more proper for one and that for another. We stand in need of one kind in temptation and of another in time of peace and trial. Some we willingly think on when we are sad, others when we are joyful in the Lord. So, this combination of temptation and consolation, of joy and sorrow are part of God's great plan for us, because they reflect our needs at the time. And he says, devotions, the external exercises vary from person to person and also from the same person from one time to another. And this is how it should be, you know, because God continues to speak to us in a living way through His Holy Spirit, certainly speaks to us through this wonderful and timeless classic, the imitation of Christ. And that brings us to the end of day three, you know, study of the imitation of Christ. Thank you so much once again for listening and for joining me on this very exciting journey more deeply into the spiritual life. And next time we're going to be continuing with Book One and we'll be talking about Book One Chapters 20 through to 25. Until then may God bless you very much. Amen. 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