The First Son and Overcoming Ourselves
- RONDA CHERVIN
Reading the lives of the saints, we are struck by the presence of turning points when these lovers of Christ took up the great challenge.
Their love of the good was so great that they staked their lives to win the battle against the evils which surrounded them. As a result of this same "all or nothing" attachment to the good, they were able to overcome in themselves every fault which would make them lazy, inept, betraying servants of Christ....
If life may be pictured as a battle between the forces of good and evil without and within, what must be the fate of the good side if its soldiers become lazy, sleepy, and so sure of victory that they do not even notice the enemy creeping into their own ranks? So, by analogy, those who imagine that their fervent moments of love for Christ will last forever, and that they will speedily become great apostles of love, mock as fanatical the saints' insistence on watching every thought, word, and deed.
If we wish to love with all the intensity of our being, then we must be ready to sacrifice all things which prevent us from being loving every moment of the day.
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Acknowledgement
Ronda Chervin. "Curing Our Hypocrisy." from Church of Love (Liguori, Missouri: Liguori Publications, 1973).
Reprinted by permission of the author, Ronda Chervin. Church of Love is out of print.
This excerpt appeared in Magnificat.
The Author
Ronda Chervin teaches at Holy Apostles College and Seminary. She converted to the Catholic Faith from a Jewish, though atheistic, background. She is the author of some sixty books including Healing of Rejection with the Help of the Lord: A Survivor's Guide, Avoiding Bitterness in Suffering: How Our Heroes in Faith Found Peace Amid Sorrow, Catholic Realism: A Framework for the Refutation of Atheism and the Evangelization of Atheists, What The Saints Said About Heaven: 101 Holy Insights On Everlasting Life, and Holding Hands with God: Catholic Women Share Their Stories of Courage.
