Make further progress (1 Thessalonians 4:1)

There are certain laws of physical life that also apply to spiritual life: a human being is born, grows up, reaches maturity and dies. Our soul does not die, but our spiritual life must first be born. The start of this new year is like a birth. The journey of the Jewish people during the Exodus serves as an example for our life with God.

The Jewish people, who had been enslaved in Egypt for 40 years and were suffering terribly, were to be freed by Moses, God’s messenger. God intervened with His great power, and the people were thus able to cross the sea and begin their journey in freedom towards the Promised Land. This crossing of the sea – this immersion in the water and emergence from it – is a symbol of baptism. To hope for eternal life, one must be baptised. It is baptism that makes us Christians. Baptism is a birth into God. ‘Unless you are born of water and the Spirit, you will not have life’ (John 3:1–8). Pope John Paul II, during one of his speeches whilst visiting a country, said: ‘What have you done with your baptism?’ Yet, whilst baptism makes us children of God, it is unfortunately the case that many, as soon as they are baptised, fall back into the bondage of sin. They are as good as dead, as if they did not exist, for sin has lulled them to sleep. Barely born, they are dead; they exist, but they do not live. In the Book of Exodus, we also see many people who, despite having made the Crossing, grumbled against God; they sinned gravely and many died because of this in the wilderness. There are therefore Christians who do not wish to make the slightest spiritual effort, who do not wish to get involved in anything within the Church because they are Christians who are, as it were, ‘dead’. They always find reasons to lead a wretched life.

It also took the Jewish people a very long time to reach the Promised Land. It took them 40 years to cover just a few kilometres; they were going round in circles. There are Christians like that: they may be very active, always busy doing something; they are so active that they do not even take the time to pray. They are ‘activists’. Their spiritual life isn’t growing enough, and they themselves may sense that something is amiss within them. This is a very dangerous trap because even those who are committed, even those who have consecrated their lives, can easily go round in circles for years without really growing. St Teresa of Ávila said that, for nearly 20 years in the convent, she felt she was going round in circles. Sometimes it is even Christians who, at one point, grew a great deal in their spiritual life, but then began to go round in circles. As they were spiritually more mature than some people, they still believe they are ‘ahead’ of them. They do not realise that others have grown. Their positive experiences are always rooted in the past, as they have no new experiences in their friendship with Jesus. These people no longer find any challenge in their spiritual life; nothing moves them or unsettles them, and they seem jaded.

There is another group who, like the Jewish people, are still making progress in their faith, but very slowly. These are Christians who are weighed down by heaviness and weariness, as if stunned by the burden of life. These people often find spiritual advice difficult to accept; they are often lacking in enthusiasm for working for God; they have set limits for themselves. There are also some who are beginning to grow well; they have taken a few steps forward. Yet they do not hesitate to come to a standstill, to waste time, before another opportunity presents itself for them to pick themselves up and carry on. They, too, are immature, like the Jewish people who refused to move forward (Num 14).

Spiritual life, the life of faith, must not therefore be static; it must grow. The law governing all life is growth and multiplication. For my faith to grow, it must be nourished. The smallness of many people’s faith stems from the fact that it is not nourished. How can one fail to feed a child and expect it to grow well? Life needs to be nourished daily, not just from time to time, otherwise it withers away. ‘Apart from me, you can do nothing’ (John 15:5).  Yet if it is well nourished, it grows well. ‘Like a tree planted by the water, which sends out its roots by the stream … it never ceases to bear fruit’ (Jer 17:8). Many people who were once spiritually committed are now in a crisis of faith, enemies of God, because at some point they stopped nourishing themselves spiritually.

There are also people who nourish their faith, but their growth lacks ‘fine detail’. When one has just had a powerful experience of Jesus, gross sins strike us as particularly offensive, and many struggle against them and abandon them; yet even if we no longer commit sins that cause scandal, there are many small sins, little obstacles that mean we are still far from what God expects of us. Hence the need for spiritual refinement – we must work on our growth to better enhance our spiritual life: those little areas, nooks and crannies, little feelings that need to be properly corrected and smoothed out. Otherwise, we risk harbouring these little sins, flirting with sin—even if we do not fall into major temptation—we are weakened by it and become more vulnerable. ‘Be perfect, just as your Father is perfect’ (Mt 5:48). God wants us to grow every day. He wants us not merely to walk, but to run. ‘I run with joy in your commandments’ (Ps 119:32).

In this new year which the Lord has given us, let us strive to make further progress in the spiritual life. The key is simply to have the desire to do so, for God will help us. St Teresa of Ávila said: ‘We do not grow quickly in our love for God because we do not desire it.’ May the Lord grant us the grace to uncover what has hitherto prevented us from growing in faith, and may his Holy Spirit help us to make fresh progress this year. ‘Lord, help me to grow in my love for you’.

Henri Bayemi