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Pope Francis Catechesis on Vices and Virtues. 2 The Spiritual Struggle
Paul VI Hall – Wednesday, 3 January 2024
Christians constantly walk on these ridges.
pride defies humility; hatred opposes charity;
sadness hinders the true joy of the Spirit; hardening of the heart rejects mercy.
That is why it is important to reflect on the vices and virtues
Catechesis. Vices and virtues. 2. The Spiritual Struggle
Gospel reflection:
Matthew 3:13-17 Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened[d] and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son,[e] with whom I am well pleased.”
Dear brothers and sisters,
Last week we were introduced to the theme of vices and virtues.
It recalls the spiritual struggle of the Christian.
In fact, the spiritual life of the Christian is not peaceful, linear and challenge-free; on the contrary, the Christian life demands constant fighting: the Christian fight to keep the faith, to enrich the gifts of faith in us.
It is no coincidence that the first anointing that every Christian receives in the sacrament of Baptism – the catechumenal anointing – is unadulterated and symbolically announces that life is a struggle.
In fact, in ancient times, wrestlers were fully anointed before the competition, both to tone their muscles and to make their bodies elusive to their opponent’s grasp.
The anointing of the catechumens immediately makes it clear that the Christian is not spared the struggle, that a Christian must fight: his existence too, like that of all, must descend into the arena, because life is a succession of trials and temptations.
A famous saying attributed to Abba Antony, the first great father of monasticism, goes like this: ‘Remove temptation and no one will be saved’.
The saints are not men who have been spared temptation, but people who are well aware that the seductions of evil repeatedly appear in life, to be unmasked and rejected.
We all have experience of this, all of us: that we get a bad thought, that we get a desire to do this or to speak ill of the other…
We are all, we are all tempted, and we must strive not to fall into these temptations.
If any of you have no temptations, say so, because that would be an extraordinary thing!
We all have temptations, and we all have to learn how to behave in these situations.
There are many people who are self-absorbed, who think they are ‘OK’ – ‘No, I am good, I am good, I don’t have these problems’.
But none of us are OK; if anyone feels OK, they are dreaming; each of us has many things to fix, and we also have to be vigilant.
And sometimes it happens that we go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and say, with sincerity: ‘Father, I don’t remember, I don’t know if I have sins…’.
But that is a lack of knowledge of what is going on in the heart.
We are sinners, all of us.
And a little examination of conscience, a little inner look will do us good.
Otherwise we risk living in darkness, because we have become accustomed to darkness and we can no longer distinguish good from evil.
Isaac of Nineveh said that in the Church he who knows his sins and mourns them is greater than he who raises a dead man.
We must all ask God for the grace to recognise ourselves as poor sinners, in need of conversion, keeping in our hearts the confidence that no sin is too great for the infinite mercy of God the Father.
This is the inaugural lesson that Jesus gives us.
We see this in the first pages of the Gospels, first of all when we are told about the baptism of the Messiah in the waters of the River Jordan.
The episode has in itself something disconcerting: why does Jesus submit to such a rite of purification? He is God, he is perfect! What sin does Jesus ever have to repent of? None!
Even the Baptist is scandalised, to the point that the text says: “John wanted to prevent him, saying: ‘I need to be baptised by you and you come to me?”
But Jesus is a very different Messiah from how John had presented him and people imagined him to be. He does not embody the angry God and does not summon for judgement, but, on the contrary, He queues up with sinners. How so? Yes, Jesus goes with us, all of us sinners.
He is not a sinner, but is among us. And this is a beautiful thing. “Father, I have so many sins!” – “But Jesus is with you: speak of them, He will help you out of them.” Jesus never leaves us alone, never!
Think well of this. “Oh, Father, I have done some big ones!” – “But Jesus understands you and goes with you. He understands your sin and forgives it.”
Never forget this! In the worst of times, in the moments when we slip on sins, Jesus is beside us to help lift us up. This gives consolation. We must not lose this certainty.
Jesus is beside us to help us, to protect us, even to lift us up after sin.
“But, Father, is it true that Jesus forgives everything?” – “Everything.
He came to forgive, to save. Only, Jesus wants your open heart.”
Never does He forget to forgive: it is we, so many times, who lose the ability to ask forgiveness.
Let us regain this capacity to ask for forgiveness. Each one of us has many things to ask forgiveness for: each one of us thinks it within himself, and today you talk to Jesus about it.
Talk to Jesus about this: “Lord, I do not know if this is true or not, but I am certain that You do not turn away from me. I am certain that You forgive me. Lord, I am a sinner, a sinner, but please do not turn away”.
This would be a beautiful prayer to Jesus today: ‘Lord, do not turn away from me’.
And immediately after the the episode of baptism, the Gospels relates that Jesus withdraws into the desert, where he is tempted by Satan. why should the Son of God know temptation?
Here too, Jesus shows solidarity with our fragile human nature and becomes our great exemplum: the temptations he undergoes and overcomes amid the arid rocks of the desert are the first teaching he imparts to our life as disciples. He experienced what we too must always prepare ourselves to face: life is made up of challenges, trials, crossroads, opposing visions, hidden seductions, contradictory voices.
Some voices are even persuasive, so much so that Satan tempts Jesus by resorting to the words of Scripture. It is necessary to guard inner clarity in order to choose the path that truly leads to happiness, and then to strive not to stop on the way.
Let us remember that we are always divided and struggle between opposite extremes: pride challenges humility; hatred opposes charity; sadness prevents the true joy of the Spirit; hardening of the heart rejects mercy.
We Christians constantly walk on these ridges.
That is why it is important to reflect on the vices and virtues: it helps us overcome the nihilistic culture in which the contours between good and evil remain blurred and, at the same time, it reminds us that human beings, unlike any other creature, can always transcend themselves, opening themselves to God and walking towards holiness.
Spiritual combat, then, leads us to look closely at those vices that shackle us and to walk, with God’s grace, towards those virtues that can flourish in us, bringing the springtime of the Spirit into our lives.
