Lectio et Oratio

In chapter 27, Thomas a Kempis warns us about the danger of bad self-love. Bad self-love tries to create a private set of concerns for which God is not involved. We tend to thing of ourselves as isolated individuals rather than as members of a vast Body, the Body of Christ. We have been inserted into a share of God"s own life. We must seek above all to be filled with God's wisdom.

In chapter 26, Thomas a Kempis speaks of the need to ask God to make certain things "sour" to our hearts. If there are things we really do not need or things that hurt us or things that take us away from true peace, let us ask the Lord to make them distasteful to us. Let us ask for the Lord to change our preferences of heart. What used taste so sweet can now taste sour! This kind of change will help us avoid those unnecessary and even sinful matters. Thomas a Kempis is so balanced in this chapter.

What is the solid foundation for peace of mind?

Patience, humility, gentleness. There are practices, deliberate actions, that lead to peace, great peace. But these practices lead to peace of mind by building up virtues, stable dispositions of soul for good actions. The more we seek the lowest place the more we grow in humility. The more we seek to do the will of others the more we grow in gentleness. The more we hold ourselves back from the anger and revenge we desire the more we grow in patience. In this reading we think more about how true peace of mind involves growth in these virtues.

What is the sin of excessively seeking to know things about others?

Curiosity. There is a good desire to know that is at the root of all wisdom. There is also a harmless curiosity about why things are as they are. But then there is the disordered, harmful, excessive desire to know things, especially about others. In this reading, Thomas a Kempis explains why such sinful curiosity actually harms us and why its roots are often in vain glory.

Last episode we read about the causes of great peace in the soul. Notice how the four pieces of advice relate us to the following: other people, ourselves, the things of this world, and God. 1) By seeking to do the will of others, we have peace with them. 2) In not seeking more but rather less of this world's goods, we have harmony with the other creatures as being in the right relation to them. 3) In not seeking higher places, we are at peace with ourselves. We live within ourselves, our own limits. 4) In always praying and desires God"s will to be accomplished in ourselves, we are at peace with God.

Is there anything we can do to help our hearts be full of great peace?

We read about four basic tips for growing in peace. These tips all have to do with the desires of our heart. Peace arises from desires being ordered, directed to what is truly good. When we want what we should want, great peace follows. Among these tips, there is one that is most important: praying to do God's will.

We read about God's manifold blessings. If we want to grow in God's love, we must ponder his blessings. St Philip used to tell people that when we fail to consider all that God does for us, we chill His love in our hearts. At the same time, considering God's blessings helps us to avoid speaking about ourselves in a boastful way. St Philip learned the lessons of this chapter. Very rarely did he ever say, I said or I did. St Philip and Thomas a Kempis want us to speak about ourselves in ways that are necessary for our salvation, the salvation of others, and the glory of God.

Will our hearts fully rest in the gifts of God?

No. Our hearts will only rest fully in the Giver of all these great spiritual gifts. In this reading, Thomas a Kempis presents a dialogue between Christ and his disciple regarding the true object of all our longing. Our hearts are made for Christ, the eternal Wisdom of the Father. He alone can set us free from our selfishness and loneliness.

We read about the need to acknowledge our own weaknesses. We are so apt to sin. The Church speaks of this tendency to sin as concupiscence. We want to do what is right. We know what is right. And yet we keep putting ourselves in situations where our ability to resist temptation is so small. How frail we are. But how powerful the Lord is!

We read about the need to bear injuries well. Patience develops in our souls as we face trials and difficulties. The person who truly wants to become patient like Christ must face many such trials. Patience is a crown that is won at a great price. The secret is to remember that others have even more trials and that God's Providence guides all things. Let us not focus so much on secondary causes of our sufferings. Let us think of the Primary Cause of all things who works all things for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28).

We read the need we have to keep Christ's example before our eyes if we wish to be patient. The patience we long to possess is not some kind of abstract excellence. Our patience will look like Christ's. Our patience is in fact a share in his own patience. Patience emerges in the midst of sorrows. Christ is the man of sorrows. We must think about Him as sorrows happen to us.