Loving Virtue
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“When the elder are themselves followers of pleasure, then we may be sure the reins of license are let loose for the younger” (Morals, Book 2, 27). Let us be careful not to over do it this Christmas season.
I have been reading the Morals on the Book of Job by Pope St. Gregory the Great, and he had an interesting interpretation of this verse, "He shall crush your head and you shall lie in wait for his heel" (Gen. 3:15). He figured that the beginning of the body is the head, and the end of the body is the heel. The head is the beginning of an action, and the heel is the end of an action. The head puts forth the intention to begin the action. The heel is the consequences of the action, which are very often overlooked (Morals, Book 1, 53).
As Christ teaches us, “Take heed not to do your good before men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise, you shall have no reward with your Father in heaven” (Mtw 6:1). When we come to Christ, He will purify our intention. He will destroy the intentions that Satan plants in us. He will crush his head.
However, although our intentions may be pure when putting forth the action, Satan lies in wait for the heel. If Satan can’t defile your intention, he will busy himself with laying snares within the memories of your good works. This is to say that the consequence of doing great deeds can lead a man to look back upon them and become puffed up in arrogance.
In doing good, the dust of sin is easily contracted (Morals, Book 1, 31). Let us not fear. Christ is very diligent in washing His sheep. With His magnificent humility, He washed the feet of His disciples, and He invited them to enter this humility. Pope St. Gregory the Great recommends that “we pound our good deeds as it were in the mortar of the heart, by an inward sifting, and go over them minutely, to see if they be really and truly good” (Morals, Book 1, 54). He goes on to relate that frankincense has a most pleasing odor when it is ground to a fine powder. “Let my prayer come like incense” (Psalms 140:2), which is to say, let it be made with humility.
Let us humbly consider the future snares that may be laid for us and join Christ’s earnest and diligent prayer and sacrifice.
I am a scientifically minded Catholic. I grew up in a world of darkness and vice, and my baptism (in my late 20s) gave me a clear distinction between good and evil. Incorporating that goodness and rejecting that evil has been a battle, but also a learning process that I'd like to share with others. The Lord told me to go and share His Light so that is what I aim to do. However, I need you to pray, so that the Gospel can be received in the fullness of the Catholic sense and with immense joy and peace.
