 | Father Richard James Cleary was born and reared in Wichita. After graduation from Cathedral High School in 1947, he attended the seminary operated by the Benedictine monks of Conception Abbey in Northwestern Missouri. There he came to appreciate the life of the monks and, having obtained the permission of Bishop Mark Carroll of Wichita, he became a monk of that monastery. After being ordained a priest in 1955, his superiors sent him to get his master’s degree at the University of Ottawa, Canada, then to study in Athens, Greece, and then in Rome, Italy, where he obtained his doctor’s degree in Theology. Finally, he spent a year of study at Harvard University. Later, Fr. Cleary was assigned to teach for many years in Rome. In 1998, he returned to Wichita, where he served in parish ministry at St. Mary’s Cathedral and at Blessed Sacrament parishes. In 2001, his abbot (superior) transferred him to Arkansas, where he served as chaplain of the Benedictine Sisters of Holy Angels Convent in Jonesboro, and helped in the parishes of northeast Arkansas. In March 2010, he was re-assigned to his monastery, Conception Abbey, Conception, in Missouri 64433. He can be contacted there at, 660-944-2877, or by email: rjcleary@juno.com. |
Religion
2003-04-01 10:06:00
Is it important to sacrifice?
Question: If this world is the place to test one's worthiness for what God has made for us in the next world, how much importance should be placed upon our sacrificing of worldly pleasures, foods, drinks, etc.?
ANSWER: The question presupposes that this world is a testing place for humans, and that, after death, God will give to each person that for which they are worthy. Good and just persons are worthy of eternal happiness, while evil and unjust persons are worthy of eternal suffering. In view of that fact comes the point of the question: what value is there in sacrificing pleasures? As created by God, worldly pleasures are good. As directed by the Creator God, those good worldly pleasures are to be used in moderation, and according to their natural purpose. Pleasure is not to be sought as an end in itself, but rather as a gift from God: to be used in ordering one's actions towards God. Food and drink, mentioned in the question, are both good and necessary for sustaining life. They are also pleasant and useful in many ways for individuals as well as for groups in human society, e.g. nourishment, health, parties, conviviality, as gifts and expressions of love or esteem or appreciation. Used as such and in moderation, they are pleasurable for humans and pleasing to God. But when these gifts are abused or wasted, as in gluttony (over-eating and drunkenness) or throwing away what other hungry persons might welcome for sustenance, then God is not pleased and the abuser is sinning. The great religions: Judaism and Christianity and Islam and Buddhism and Hinduism teach that we ought not only to use in moderation such pleasures, but also at times to abstain from using them, abstain from pleasures of the senses: in order to moderate our sensuality and to control our body. Abstinence from the pleasures of food and drink and sex, and vanities and the exercise of power, helps lift up the individual's soul to God, to contemplation of realities, to restrain sensual urges, to make reparation for sin and to exercise virtue. The money and food and drink that is saved, by fasting and abstinence, ought to be given in alms to poor persons and to worthwhile charities. Then God is pleased by such sacrifice. Since the sacrificing of worldly pleasures helps to establish discipline and growth in virtue, it is an important part of this life, on our journey towards God. Over-indulgence of sensual pleasures leads a person away from God, making him/her selfish, self-centered, and deluded into thinking of themselves as the center of the universe. That is the capital sin of pride, the sin which caused the devil and his angels to be kicked out of heaven into hell, and which leads human beings to lose their souls and end in hell. Over-indulgence of some pleasure can lead to addiction, which is also harmful to health. It also diminishes virtue in the soul. If not brought under control, such addiction shortens life and destroys the sense of pleasure in a person. This fact is part of the reason why religion and philosophy, along with right reason, urge moderation and regular times of fasting and abstinence from eating and drinking and sex and the pursuit of vanity and power. Long ago the Church instituted the season of Lent and days of abstinence: to encourage self-discipline and as an opportunity for penance to repair the excesses of sin. This year the season of Lent began on Ash Wednesday, March 5. We ought to pay attention to this period of sacrificing worldly pleasures, and undertake the traditional practices of Lent: fasting and prayer and almsgiving: so that we might become happier and healthier and holier persons, pleasing to God.
