Deacon Mike and I share a love of etymology—an interest in taking a word apart and looking at it up close. A couple Sundays ago when he talked about enthusiasm he immediately had my attention. Right from the start he broke the word down into its Greek roots en (in) and theos (god). To be enthusiastic, he told us, is to be in God. The early Christians were so filled with joy for Jesus and the Gospel they were said to be enthusiastic, in God.
Deacon Mike’s homily flowed naturally from his own great enthusiasm and love he has for God, and his equally great enthusiasm to share this with others. During his homily he encouraged us to be on fire with enthusiasm for sharing our faith and growing in greater knowledge and love of our Saviour Jesus Christ as were our first century brothers and sisters.
I left Mass with a strong desire to humbly try following in his footsteps and I, too, encourage you to an ever greater enthusiasm, or as I will say, zeal, for putting into practice a faith-filled life that is at the service of others.
To start I will first point out a beautiful thing about zeal—that it is a virtue, something that is worthy to be nurtured and kept joyfully alive in us. In knowing this we will derive the most profit from our zeal, not allowing it to become vain, impulsive, or self-seeking, but helping us grow in wisdom and bear fruit.
In discussing the zeal we, as Christians, should possess on the path of charity Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. starts first with the motives of zeal. “For every Christian,” he says, “the first motive of zeal is that God deserves to be loved above all things.” He then continues with the other motives that, though taking a secondary seat, are still most necessary. These are; imitation of Christ, a desire for the salvation of souls, and the relief of souls in purgatory. Driven by these motives, he has learned, we will be filled with love of God and neighbor which will advance us forward even amidst difficulties and aridness. “Zeal,” he says, citing Saint Thomas Aquinas, “is the ardor of love, but of a spiritual love of the will, which is at times proportionately more generous and meritorious as it is less felt.”
Garrigou-Lagrange moves next to the qualities of zeal, tempering anything in our endeavors which might not be virtuous. “Zeal,” in his estimation should, “first of all be illumined by the light of faith, by that of obedience and Christian prudence, also by gifts of wisdom and counsel.” The light of natural reason,” he continues, “does not suffice, for it is a question of performing not only a human work, but a divine work.” In other words, in our zeal to evangelize and bring the joy of the Gospel to others we must not check patience, meekness, and common sense at the door. Our zeal will be of no good, and will also quickly wane, if it’s not tempered and nourished rightly, as Pope Francis said in Joy of the Gospel. In our world, with so many false notions, our tempered zeal will keep us from being taken up by these erroneous teachings, as it draws us to Truth and Beauty Itself.
To not become “like birds that get used to walking and become heavier and heavier, as if in a free fall...like roses, raised speciously in the blue hothouse where the air deceived,” to use some prodding lines from a Rainer Rilke poem, Garrigou-Lagrange gives us the means by which to keep the fire of our zeal burning with a useful, practical ardor. His answer is so simple we might be inclined to overlook it—profound prayer.
Though I am going to abruptly stop at that point, it is not my intent to leave us dangling, so the link below will take you to The Three Ages of the Interior Life by Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange where you can read in full his article on zeal. These talks come from 20 years of his courses at the Angelicum in Rome. If you click on “Part 2” you will then be able to access his thoughts on prayer as well, and you can pick up where I have so suddenly left off. I would, however, like to offer a couple comments of my own on prayer, which Garrigous-Lagrange stresses also, that will help nourish and increase our zeal. That is to attend Mass and be fed the most nourishing of spiritual food in receiving Communion. The Mass is the ultimate prayer you can attend to each week (or daily if your schedule permits), with all other forms of prayer flowing more easily from this if we commit to it with a passionate and regular attention.
Developing and maintaining a prayer life will have its struggles (I have been experiencing dryness in prayer for many years now, but persevere nonetheless out of love for God, as well as by the grace of God), but by lifting your heart to our Lord, and building a relationship with Him, there ultimately will be an abundance of rewards, zeal being but one of them, that will more than make up for any seeming difficulties along the way.
Zeal is that pure and heavenly flame,
The fire of love supplies;
While that which often bears the name,
Is self in a disguise.
True zeal is merciful and mild,
Can pity and forbear;
The false is headstrong, fierce and wild,
And breathes revenge and war.
- John Newton -
Lord, in my zeal for the love of truth, let me not forget the truth about love - Saint Thomas Aquinas
11 Aug 2015