Monthly Archives: September 2013

The Fifty-First Chapter: When We Cannot Attain to the Highest, We Must Practice the Humble Works

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The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSOLATION
The Fifty-First Chapter: When We Cannot Attain to the Highest, We Must Practice the Humble Works

The Voice of Christ

MY CHILD, you cannot always continue in the more fervent desire of virtue, or remain in the higher stage of contemplation, but because of humanity’s sin you must sometimes descend to lower things and bear the burden of this corruptible life, albeit unwillingly and wearily. As long as you wear a mortal body you will suffer weariness and heaviness of heart. You ought, therefore, to bewail in the flesh the burden of the flesh which keeps you from giving yourself unceasingly to spiritual exercises and divine contemplation.

In such condition, it is well for you to apply yourself to humble, outward works and to refresh yourself in good deeds, to await with unshaken confidence My heavenly visitation, patiently to bear your exile and dryness of mind until you are again visited by Me and freed of all anxieties. For I will cause you to forget your labors and to enjoy inward quiet. I will spread before you the open fields of the Scriptures, so that with an open heart you may begin to advance in the way of My commandments. And you will say: the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the future glory which shall be revealed to us. Continue reading →

Week 39 : Imitate Christ, Weekly Study Guide

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Week 39 Discussion Notes:1

  1. Kempis wrote in chapter 50, “You know all things without exception, and nothing in man’s conscience is hidden from You.” Is this a good or a bad thing for you? (Day 268)
  2. Kempis wrote that Jesus is willing to give us more than we ask of Him. Have you found this to be true? (Day 268)
  3. Kempis asks in Chapter 50, “What does Your servant possess that he has not received from You, and that without any merit of his own?” Are you a “self made” person? To what extent are you correct in saying you earned what you possess? Are you claiming credit for what God has done? (Day 268)
  4. Richard Henry Dana notes in Two Years Before the Mast that personal hardships don’t mitigate punishment. Everyone has hardships, so no one would ever be punished, if this was an adequate excuse for bad behavior. Do you agree? How does Dana’s observation on punishment compare to God’s treatment of punishment? (Day 271)

These study notes are for a year long study of The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas à Kempis. The text for this Bible Study is Imitate Christ, by T. Alan Truex. Call Tom Truex, or use the CONTACT tab at K-Line.ORG to get more information.

The discussion for this week will focus on the Chapters listed below, from The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas à Kempis.2

All items listed below are online at ImitateChrist.ORG:

  1. Book 3 , Chapter 50 : How a Desolate Person Ought to Commit Himself Into the Hands of God (September 25, 2013)
  2. Book 3 , Chapter 51 : When We Cannot Attain to the Highest, We Must Practice the Humble Works (September 28, 2013)

Also Posted this Week at ImitateChrist.ORG:

  1. Challoner’s Reflections3 on The Imitation of Christ for each of the above chapters.

Footnotes:

  1. References to days are from the Imitate Christ Study Guide ↩
  2. The dates listed are the dates the chapters were posted online, which also corresponds to the suggested reading plan in the study guide. ↩
  3. Right Rev. R. Challoner, D.D., V.A., Imitation of Christ, Dublin: McGlashan and Gill, 1873 ↩

COMMENTARY ON CHAPTER LT.

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Challoner’s Reflection on The Imitation of Christ1
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSULTATION
CHAPTER LT.: When We Cannot Attain to the Highest, We Must Practice the Humble Works

To contemplate God and to love Him, and still to contemplate and love Him; that is heaven. The soul, here below, sometimes receives a foretaste of it; it feels itself full of ardour and inebriated with joy; it says: It is good for us to be here (Matthew 17:4Open Link in New Window). But soon the time of trial arrives: we must descend from Tabor and walk in the way of the cross. Happy the soul which, in abandonment, dryness, and sufferings, remains in peace, without letting itself be cast down, and without murmuring; which, faithful to Jesus dying, follows Him courageously to Calvary; and, having partaken of the banquet of the bridegroom, ready to share his sacrifice, cries out like one of the Apostles: Let us also go, that we may die with Him (John, 11:16).

Continue reading →

  1. Right Rev. R. Challoner, D.D., V.A., Imitation of Christ, Dublin: McGlashan and Gill, 1873 ↩

The Fiftieth Chapter: How a Desolate Person Ought to Commit Himself Into the Hands of God

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The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSOLATION
The Fiftieth Chapter: How a Desolate Person Ought to Commit Himself Into the Hands of God

The Disciple

LORD God, Holy Father, may You be blessed now and in eternity. For as You will, so is it done; and what You do is good. Let Your servant rejoice in You–not in himself or in any other, for You alone are true joy. You are my hope and my crown. You, O Lord, are my joy and my honor.

What does Your servant possess that he has not received from You, and that without any merit of his own? Yours are all the things which You have given, all the things which You have made. Continue reading →

COMMENTARY ON CHAPTER L.

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Challoner’s Reflection on The Imitation of Christ1
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSULTATION
CHAPTER L.: How a Desolate Person Ought to Commit Himself Into the Hands of God

God permits our souls to be sometimes almost abandoned, as it were. No consolation; no light; but on all sides trials, temptations, anguish. We think ourselves near succumbing, because we no longer feel the arm which bears us up. What is then to be done? Is it to say with Jesus, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46Open Link in New Window); and nevertheless remain peacefully in suffering and in darkness, till the day break, and the shadows retire (Song of Solomon 2:17Open Link in New Window). This state is the greatest exercise of faith; it is for the soul an image of death; cold, motionless, apparently insensible, it is, as it were, shut up in a tomb, and attached to God only by a will growing gradually weaker, and in which it even has no confidence. But oh 1 what graces are the fruit of that agony, when borne with humble patience 1 Oh! how many sins does not that passion expiate! It is then that the mystery of salvation is accomplished in us, and that we become really conformable to the will of Jesus Christ.

Continue reading →

  1. Right Rev. R. Challoner, D.D., V.A., Imitation of Christ, Dublin: McGlashan and Gill, 1873 ↩

The Forty-Ninth Chapter: The Desire of Eternal Life; the Great Rewards Promised to Those Who Struggle

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The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSOLATION
The Forty-Ninth Chapter: The Desire of Eternal Life; the Great Rewards Promised to Those Who Struggle

The Voice of Christ

MY CHILD, when you feel the desire for everlasting happiness poured out upon you from above, and when you long to depart out of the tabernacle of the body that you may contemplate My glory without threat of change, open wide your heart and receive this holy inspiration with all eagerness. Give deepest thanks to the heavenly Goodness which deals with you so understandingly, visits you so mercifully, stirs you so fervently, and sustains you so powerfully lest under your own weight you sink down to earthly things. For you obtain this not by your own thought or effort, but simply by the condescension of heavenly grace and divine regard. And the purpose of it is that you may advance in virtue and in greater humility, that you may prepare yourself for future trials, that you may strive to cling to Me with all the affection of your heart, and may serve Me with a fervent will.

My child, often, when the fire is burning the flame does not ascend without smoke. Likewise, the desires of some burn toward heavenly things, and yet they are not free from temptations of carnal affection. Therefore, it is not altogether for the pure honor of God that they act when they petition Him so earnestly. Such, too, is often your desire which you profess to be so strong. For that which is alloyed with self-interest is not pure and perfect. Continue reading →

Week 38 : Imitate Christ, Weekly Study Guide

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Week 38 Discussion Notes:1

  1. It’s “human nature” to want to live a long life. So do we disrespect God when we spend an inordinate amount of time and effort serving this goal, while neglecting the other things God calls us to do? (Day 260)
  2. James Whitcomb Riley, included this line in his poem, WHEN THE FROST IS ON THE PUNKIN: “And the rooster’s hallylooyer as he tiptoes on the fence…” Make your very best effort to demonstrate what hallylooyering sounds like! (Day 263)
  3. It is no sin to look forward to our eternal life with God. But we must remember that this will come according to God’s timing “I am that sovereign Good. Await Me!” (Day 262 and 264)

These study notes are for a year long study of The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas à Kempis. The text for this Bible Study is Imitate Christ, by T. Alan Truex. Call Tom Truex, or use the CONTACT tab at K-Line.ORG to get more information.

The discussion for this week will focus on the Chapters listed below, from The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas à Kempis.2

All items listed below are online at ImitateChrist.ORG:

  1. Book 3 , Chapter 48 : The Day of Eternity and the Distresses of This Life (September 18, 2013)
  2. Book 3 , Chapter 49 : The Desire of Eternal Life; the Great Rewards Promised to Those Who Struggle (September 21, 2013)

Also Posted this Week at ImitateChrist.ORG:

  1. Challoner’s Reflections3 on The Imitation of Christ for each of the above chapters.

Footnotes:

  1. References to days are from the Imitate Christ Study Guide ↩
  2. The dates listed are the dates the chapters were posted online, which also corresponds to the suggested reading plan in the study guide. ↩
  3. Right Rev. R. Challoner, D.D., V.A., Imitation of Christ, Dublin: McGlashan and Gill, 1873 ↩

COMMENTARY ON CHAPTER XLIX.

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Challoner’s Reflection on The Imitation of Christ1
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSULTATION
CHAPTER XLIX.: The Desire of Eternal Life; the Great Rewards Promised to Those Who Struggle

It cannot too often be repeated that the first and the last precept, that which comprises all, is the entire renunciation of ourselves, and the perfect conformity of our wills to that of God. Thus, although we are permitted and even commanded to aspire to heavenly blessedness, and to lament over the length of our exile we must nevertheless bear it with great patience, and be content with the trials which Providence sends us, because on the whole, they are necessary for our salvation, and one of the means which God has chosen to satisfy his justice, and to manifest in us his mercy and his glory. Let us await the moment which He has appointed, and let us pursue our pilgrimage in peace. All that is finite is short, and nothing is difficult to him who hopes. Let this thought strengthen our weakness when we feel ourselves disheartened by the woes and temptations of this world.

Continue reading →

  1. Right Rev. R. Challoner, D.D., V.A., Imitation of Christ, Dublin: McGlashan and Gill, 1873 ↩

The Forty-Eighth Chapter: The Day of Eternity and the Distresses of This Life

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The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSOLATION
The Forty-Eighth Chapter: The Day of Eternity and the Distresses of This Life

The Disciple

O MOST happy mansion of the city above! O most bright day of eternity, which night does not darken, but which the highest truth ever enlightens! O day, ever joyful and ever secure, which never changes its state to the opposite! Oh, that this day shine forth, that all these temporal things come to an end! It envelops the saints all resplendent with heavenly brightness, but it appears far off as through a glass to us wanderers on the earth. The citizens of heaven know how joyful that day is, but the exiled sons of Eve mourn that this one is bitter and tedious.

The days of this life are short and evil, full of grief and distress. Here man is defiled by many sins, ensnared in many passions, enslaved by many fears, and burdened with many cares. He is distracted by many curiosities and entangled in many vanities, surrounded by many errors and worn by many labors, oppressed by temptations, weakened by pleasures, and tortured by want. Continue reading →

COMMENTARY ON CHAPTER XLVIII.

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Challoner’s Reflection on The Imitation of Christ1
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSULTATION
CHAPTER XLVIII.: The Day of Eternity and the Distresses of This Life

The maladies, the pains, the sufferings, the temptations, the invincible desire of a happiness which nothing offers to us here below–all recall to us unceasingly that great eternity in which Faith promises to us, in the possession of God Himself, repose, peace, and the perfect and infinite good, for which we long with all the powers of our souls. This is why the saints groan so bitterly under the weight of the fetters which still bind them to earth; this is why the Apostle cried out: I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ (Philippians i. 23). Then there shall no longer be fears or struggles, but an eternal triumph and an eternal joy. If a dull reflection of the Sovereign Truth already ravishes our intelligence, what will it be when we contemplate it in its full brilliancy? And if, even at present, it is so sweet to love, what will it be when we become intoxicated at the very source of love?

Continue reading →

  1. Right Rev. R. Challoner, D.D., V.A., Imitation of Christ, Dublin: McGlashan and Gill, 1873 ↩