1 August 2018
Saint Alphonsus Liguouri, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Some people turn to religious devotion in order to find refuge from a hostile environment. After experiencing a sequence of bitter losses and stinging rejections, they discover the personal gain and affirmation that religion has to offer. The prophet Jeremiah was one such person. In the sixteenth chapter of his book, it is recorded that everyone cursed him and that he would not go to parties but would sit alone with continuous pain and indignation. There he found God’s words and devoured them. God’s words became his joy and his happiness of heart. Was this mere escapism? Maybe we should join Jeremiah’s enemies with a taunt of our own: “those who can do; those who can’t become religious!”
No. Such an accusation should not be allowed to have any purchase. Notice that it is the opposite of Satan’s accusation against Job. The only reason Job was devout, according to Satan, was that Job was successful by this world’s standards. That is why Satan wanted to make Job suffer. Likewise, Satan and his minions are the ones to make the accusation that the only reason Jeremiah (and those like him) was devout was because he was a failure by this world’s standards. Perhaps, according to the accusation, if Jeremiah should become rich, popular and successful, he would forget his devotions. We must dismiss these accusations as the work of the evil spirit.
Success and failure, sickness and health, happiness and sadness, all of these things can be means by which we grow in devotion and praise of our Creator and Lord. But let us be cautious, because they can also be means by which we are tempted.