Renounce all

things and

deny oneself

to savour the joy of

union with God

by Father Mathurin of the Mother of God

Dear brothers, dear sisters, dear friends: the watchword we would like to give you for 2010 may seem at first to be in contradiction with our wish. Naturally speaking, it would seem that renouncement and joy are incompatible, but when renouncement is practiced for the love of God, it is just the opposite. This truth is founded upon many texts in the Holy Gospel, as we will see further on. So then, we give as the watchword: Renounce all things and deny oneself. I know very well that already the mere word renouncement makes everyone go cold. You might say it sends chills up and down your spine, chills even into the heart. But there is nothing more essential in the Gospel; there is nothing more fundamental for a Christian. Jesus says, Every one of you who does not renounce all that he possesses cannot be My disciple, that is, anyone who refuses this renouncement cannot be called a Christian. Elsewhere Jesus says, If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. These are very strong words, fundamental words in Christianity. Basing himself on the sentence I just quoted, Saint Louis Mary de Montfort composed an admirable little book entitled Letter to the Friends of the Cross. He is speaking to the friends of the cross, but as Jesus says, if we wish to be His disciples and claim to follow Him, every Christian must be a Friend of the Cross. Consequently, he must deny himself. God, who created man out of love and to receive love from him, knows what is good, profitable and necessary for man. He asks us for renouncement because He knows what true freedom and joy we will derive from it. He asks us to walk in His footsteps, as He Himself, the Word of God, renounced the perfect happiness of heaven for a certain time, becoming Man to save us and to come and teach us the narrow way that leads to eternal happiness. Jesus accepted to come and suffer on earth to teach us, by His examples, the way that we must follow.

Jesus, our Model

During this season of the Nativity, we contemplate Jesus in the Manger. It is absolute, total renouncement. It is poverty, destitution, cold. It is the absence of all well being, all comforts, all frivolity and not only frivolities, but even the basic essentials. The Manger is His first teaching, His first invitation to renouncement. God even wanted the Blessed Virgin and Saint Joseph to leave their little home to go to the census, their very little home, which was very humble and modest. They had to leave even that and renounce it to enter into the divine plan, which was that Jesus be born in a stable in Bethlehem. Shortly after the birth of Jesus, because of a wicked heart, because of the jealousy and pride of King Herod, our Saviour flees almost like a criminal. He renounces His adoptive land, Judea, to take refuge in Egypt. He is still little, and He is already in exile. Then, when the Holy Family is able to return to Nazareth, we see Jesus, the Word of God, living in humility and poverty, unknown to everyone. With this humble, hidden life, He again wants to teach us renouncement of all the appetites that are so strong in the heart of man: pride, the desire for honor and riches, sensuality. The day Our Lord appears in public for the first time as an adult and begins teaching in the Synagogue at Nazareth, He is rejected. Is this not the carpenter, the son of Joseph the carpenter? Is not His mother called Mary? And the congregation in the synagogue drives Him out of the city and even tries to kill Him. Jesus says, Amen I say to you, no prophet is accepted in His own country; he is not without honor except in his own country, among his own kindred, and among his acquaintances. What lessons! What lessons the Word of God gives us throughout His public life! The foxes have dens, and the birds of the air have nests, He says, but the Son of Man has not a stone on which to lay His head. This is renouncement through voluntary poverty, absolute detachment. And He goes from town to town, traveling on foot in the heat of the day, in the cold of the night, in inclement weather. Everywhere He goes He proclaims, in one manner or another, this basic teaching: If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross each day, and follow Me. Each day, not now and then. In the liturgical cycle, we will soon see Jesus walking towards His sorrowful Passion and His agony. His agony implies a renouncement so universal, so voluntarily accepted, that it will even seem to Him that His heavenly Father has forsaken Him. During my journey to the Holy Land, I saw the stone on which Jesus suffered His agony. There was no more human aid or comfort; even God His Father seemed to turn His eyes away from Him. But at the height of the agony, when He was annihilated by the absolute renouncement He had willingly embraced, when He reached the point of even sweating blood at the sight of what awaited Him, at last there appeared to Him an Angel from heaven to strengthen Him. We need a little joy to survive. My brothers and sisters, this renouncement, this spirit of total sacrifice frightens us; our whole nature shudders over it, but we must count on the all powerful grace of God. Jesus embraced universal detachment to show us the example. What need did He have to live in such universal renouncement? What need did He have to go to such extremes? He was Innocence itself. Because of His Infinite Love, He wanted to come and suffer like us and show us the way to follow. If He had simply said, “My child, I am going to have you live on earth, but you must not get attached to anything earthly; I want you to live on earth like a stranger, a traveler,” it should have sufficed for us: “God has spoken, I obey Him.” But He knew that our hearts are a little slow, a little heavy, a little hard at times, and passing things often attract us and hold us back. He knew that His word alone, which normally should have sufficed, would not suffice. So God became Man and embraced renouncement Himself. He did not lead a life of pleasure but of absolute sacrifice, and He is our Model. I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me does not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life, says Jesus. And elsewhere: I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. In other words: “Follow Me, imitate My examples, practice My teachings,” and you will walk in the light and in the truth. And He adds, No one comes to the Father but through Me. No one comes to the Father, the true God, but through Jesus Christ and by the narrow way that He taught. But reaching the Father also means reaching heaven and joy; not only eternal joy, but already in this world, true joy of heart by union with God.

The path to true joy

My brothers and sisters, that is why the wish for this year is joy, the joy of union with God that comes from renouncement. Those who renounce everything experience this joy, this peace of heart, as the lives of the Saints illustrate so well. This doctrine of renouncement is the exact opposite of the maxims of the World, which offers us an abundance of frivolities and seductions, each one more charming than the next, and promises us so much pleasure and false happiness in return. Pleasure and true joy are two very different things. The world, the things of the earth, give pleasure but not true joy. Those who accept to follow the narrow way, those who follow the Way, the Truth and the Life who is Jesus Christ, and deny themselves following Him, they are the ones who have true joy as their portion and the hundredfold in this world. Jesus says in the Gospel, There is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, or lands, for My sake and for the Gospel’s sake, who shall not receive in the present time a hundredfold as much, along with persecutions, and in the age to come life everlasting. This means he already has the joy that all these things, legitimate goods, represent: house, brothers, sisters, father, mother, wife, children, lands... Jesus wants to make us understand that those who sacrifice very legitimate earthly joys for His love will receive not only an eternal reward but already a hundredfold in this world. But He specifies: along with persecutions. This means some will accuse you, torment you because you do this. That has certainly been borne out! Of course, not everyone is called to the religious life, to celibacy and voluntary poverty; therefore, not everyone is called to actually leave house, wife and children. But every Christian must be in the sincere disposition to renounce these earthly joys if God asked him to, one way or another. The Gospel is intended for everyone, not only priests and religious. The joy I wish for you, my brothers and sisters, is found in conformity to the Will of God, in renouncement of your self will to adhere to God’s Will. From one page of the Gospel to another, we can see that when Jesus mentions renouncement, each time, at least implicitly, He adds a promise of happiness. This is very clear in the preceding quote, but in many others as well. For example, He says, He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and I will love him, and manifest Myself to him. Is there any joy that could be compared to that of being loved by God and entering into His intimacy? He adds that if someone does His Will, My Father and I will come to him and make Our abode with him. When we say “an abode,” we mean a place where we “abide” permanently. In his book, De la connaissance et de l’amour de Notre Seigneur Jésus Christ (On the Knowledge and Love of Our Lord Jesus Christ), Father Jean Baptiste Saint Jure of the Society of Jesus relates a beautiful story reported by Caesarius, the illustrious monk and historian of Cîteaux. He writes as follows: “This narrative, whose authenticity cannot be doubted, illustrates how greatly conformity to the Will of God lifts a soul to the highest degree of grace in this life, and how it is the foundation of the highest perfection accessible to man. “Whoever practices submission to the Will of God lays up inestimable treasures at every moment, and he lays up more riches in a few days than others are able to do in many years with great labor. The well known story of a holy monk, narrated by Caesarius, offers a remarkable example of this. That religious in no way differed outwardly from the others who lived in that monastery, yet he had attained such a high degree of perfection and sanctity that the sick were healed just by touching his garments. “One day his superior told him that he was very surprised to see him making so many miracles, since he did not fast or watch and pray any more than the other brothers, and he asked him why this was so. The good brother replied that he was even more surprised himself, and that he did not know the reason. But then he added that if he might guess at the reason, it would be that he had always taken great care to want all that God wanted, and that he had obtained the grace from Heaven of losing and melding his will so totally with God’s that he did nothing except by His impulse, in great and little things alike. “And he added, ‘Prosperity does not exalt me, and adversity does not discourage me either; for I accept everything indiscriminately from the hand of God without examining anything. I do not ask that things happen as I might naturally desire, but that they come about absolutely as God wills them; and the sole intention of all my prayers is that the divine Will be accomplished perfectly in me and in all creatures.’ “The superior asked him, ‘Brother, weren’t you affected the other day when an enemy burned down our barn, with the wheat and livestock that were stored there for the needs of the community?’ The holy man replied, ‘No, Father. On the contrary, in these kinds of occurrence I am in the habit of giving thanks to God, convinced as I am that He permits them for His glory and for our greater good. And I do not worry whether we have little or much for our needs, for I know well that if we have full confidence in God, He will be able to feed us just as easily with a little piece of bread as with an entire loaf. In this frame of mind, I am always content and joyful no matter what happens.’ “The Superior was no longer surprised to see that brother working miracles. For it is written, The Lord fulfills the desire of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them. The Lord keeps all those who love Him. And elsewhere: We know that for those who love God, all things work together unto good.” How beautiful that is! May those who will be preaching this year develop this theme and show how renouncement, “denying yourself,” is the path of joy and peace. That was the secret of the Saints, who were not uncommunicative, gloomy people. Yet God knows how much they denied themselves and led lives of sacrifice. “A sad saint is a sorry saint,” said Saint Francis de Sales. Saint John Bosco, who was overburdened with work and caught up in a host of problems, was known as the Joyful Saint. Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus was sick all her short life and steeped in great interior trials, but she loved to sing, “O truly I am all too happy, I always do my will,” because her will was entirely melded with the Will of God. She says, “Whatever God has given me has always pleased me, even the things that appeared less good and less beautiful than those given to others.” There have been multitudes of Saints, men and women, who denied themselves and spread joy all around because they were filled with God.

Who is my master? God or the world?

It is well worth denying yourself for a few years on earth. Saint John writes in his Epistle, Do not love the world, or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. To have this joy of the love of God in us and radiate it, we must renounce the world. If we do not renounce the world, we do not experience this joy. In His prayer at the Last Supper, Jesus said some words that fall like an icy blade of steel: Not for the world do I pray, that is, not for those who love the spirit of the world and want to remain attached to it. If Jesus does not pray for me, what chance do I have to manage, poor weak sinner that I am? Of course, these words of Jesus do not mean that He prays only for those who are perfect, those who do not have the slightest fault, the slightest attachment. But we must strive with all our might to scorn the spirit of the World which is so contrary to the Spirit of Jesus Christ, strive to renounce the World and its pleasures, its mentality. This is the combat of the spirit against the flesh. Saint Paul says, Those who belong to Christ have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. To crucify means to sacrifice, to immolate. We must renounce the pleasures of the senses, sensualities of all kinds. We must renounce our prideful flesh, which makes us want to win out over others, makes us want to be better looking, smarter, stronger, have a finer appearance, be more highly regarded than others. We must crucify our spirit of independence that makes us want to do everything our way, in accordance with our little concept, our little human discernment. We want to come and go in accordance with our whims. We must be able to renounce our human prudence, our worldly wisdom, our way of seeing things C unless, of course, what is presented to us displeases God. I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to little ones, says Jesus. To those who practice this total renouncement, who make themselves very little, God will reveal Himself; they will experience the joy of union with God. We must even renounce our heart, that is, be able to sacrifice our human affections, even perfectly legitimate ones, for a greater good. God wants to have first place in our heart; He does not want our heart to let itself be monopolized by anyone but Him. This does not mean that we do not love anyone; quite the contrary, the more we love God, the bigger our heart gets and the more universal our affection for our neighbor becomes. As for illegitimate affections, we will not even mention them. The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, says Jesus, and only the violent bear it away. These words presuppose an energetic fight; we must really have willpower. Perhaps you will say, “This is horrendous; it’s like being buried alive.” But Jesus says, He who loses his life will save it. This means that the one who renounces his tastes and whims, who sacrifices his life day after day, will find his life and true happiness. Elsewhere Jesus says, Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it brings forth much fruit. Then it enters into possession of the kingdom of heaven. The one who forgets himself finds joy and communicates it. Our spiritual mistress, Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, said: “I understood that to become a saint, I would have to suffer much, always seek out what is most perfect and forget myself. I understood, too, that there were many degrees of sanctity, and each soul was free to respond to the advances of Our Lord, to do little or much for His love; in a word, to choose among the sacrifices He was asking. Then, as in the days of my childhood, I cried out, ‘My God, I choose all!’ I don’t want to be a halfway saint; I’m not afraid to suffer for You, I fear only one thing: to keep my own will. So take it, for I choose all that You will!” And I would also like to remind you of these words of the Blessed Virgin to Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified: “The ME is what ruins people. Those who have the me carry sorrow, anguish with them... Everything succeeds for the one who does not have the me; everything satisfies him.” Even so, when anyone speaks about renouncement and self denial, we are tempted to say, “What a sorry business! Lord, what a gloomy subject!” Yet it is just the opposite. We find this paradox throughout the Gospel: in the Sermon on the Mount, for example, particularly in the Beatitudes: Blessed are they who have the spirit of poverty, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. In their heart they are detached from everything; in their heart they have renounced everything: blessed are they, for heaven and the joy of heaven are theirs. Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth. To be meek you must be humble, and if you are, blessed are you, says Jesus, for you shall possess the earth, that is, you will have the key to hearts and souls, and you will be able to do good to them. Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted. If you suffer and willingly accept it for the love of God, He Himself will be your comfort and joy, in this world and in the next. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied. Here, “hunger and thirst for justice” means those who hunger and thirst for sanctity, those who hunger and thirst to be in conformity with God. God will fill and satisfy this desire, this constant effort to please Him. And if we do not feel this hunger and thirst strongly enough, let us ask for it: “I want to conform to Your will, Lord, I want to cultivate the desire of denying myself in everything out of love for You. It goes directly against my nature, but with Your grace I want to do it!” This desire is already very pleasing to God. I know very well it is Christian perfection that I am presenting to you with this watchword. But we must never lose sight of the fact that it is the secret of joy. You see it everywhere in the Gospel, and that is why I make it my wish for all of you this year. Take the means, and you will relish the joy of union with God, the joy of being in the intimacy of God, the joy of being in conformity with His Will. That is what I wish for you with all my heart. No one will deny the fact that this ideal surpasses our human strength. Let us pray and entreat God, and He will let Himself be touched. Let us entreat Him to make us understand His teaching and draw us in His wake. Saint Ignatius Loyola said, “In the spiritual life, we must act as if all success depended on us, but have the conviction that everything depends on God.” It is God who sanctifies, but He requires our persevering effort. This morning we sang the New Year’s hymn. In one of the verses we read, “Predestined man did not receive life to attach his heart to earthly things; but as an exile, to strive for the homeland without halting his step, without halting his step...” We must act like exiles who are only passing on earth. Above all, we must not try to establish ourselves, make ourselves comfortable. That is the big problem with almost all humans: they establish themselves on earth as if they were going to live here throughout eternity. They make a lot of money, they manage things so as to have as much pleasure as possible, they make their home on earth instead of thinking primarily about preparing for their eternity. Let us entreat God, my brothers and sisters: “Dear Jesus, convince my heart. I ask You to put the ax to the root of the tree, prune whatever is contrary to You. You want to communicate Yourself to me, but there are so many things in me that I have not renounced.” As Saint Augustine says, “Lord, I abandon myself to You, take the necessary measures: cut, carve, tear out of my soul everything that sets an obstacle to the action of the Holy Spirit. I give You full authorization.” That is not the exact text, but it is the essence of a vehement prayer he often repeated. I believe Saint Louis Mary de Montfort made a similar prayer. The Saints did not pull their punches, they were perfectly sincere. They made a kind of pact with God. “Do Your work in me, Lord. I agree to all Your workings in advance, but sustain me! I want to enter into Your plan. Detach me from myself. You do the work, I am too cowardly. I do not have the heart to detach myself from even the slightest things. Lord, do it for me, I beg of You! Do not leave me to myself, take the means so that I may become as You want me to be.” May the blessing of Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, descend upon you all, through Mary, Mother of God!