Later still, Quietism led people to despise activity and to condemn ‘works.’ Certain Quietists held that mortification and penances, which aroused the senses rather than calming them, were useless. Miguel de Molinos, the putative founder of the movement, maintained that it was useless to resist temptation, and this raised questions about his own morality; what did it matter if the lower and sensitive parts of the soul were defiled when the upper part was contemplating God and loving him with a pure love? Paul had already discovered this offensive conclusion when he asked the Romans, “Shall we persist in sin that grace may abound?” (Rom. 6, 1) Yet Paul is clear-cut, “We determine therefore that by faith a man is made righteous and not by the works of The Written Law” (Rom 3, 28).
Would the disregarding of works then lead to a moral libertinism or spiritual idleness? Far from that, Paul condemns a whole series of immoral acts and irregularities in Romans 1, 18-32 such as idolatry, impurity, injustice, quarrelling, perversity, depravity etc… These aberrations were equally condemned by Jewish and stoic literature. What mattered with Paul was the motivation or the model according to which one acts and not what one does. The Jews condemned immorality as being irreconcilable with God, the Stoics because it was against reason and destructive of humankind.
What is absolutely new in St. Paul is that he does not condemn these sins in the name of the Law or human reason but in the name of a person: Jesus of Nazareth, Crucified and Risen. It is the person of Christ, who, in the Spirit, is the model for humanising us. It is not a question of rejecting natural and terrestrial life. On the contrary, it is a matter of letting the life of Christ operate in all spheres of human life, because all categories are included in Christ’s pardon. For Paul, the basis of the new morality is a total and unconditional attachment to Jesus Christ and his aim is a revitalisation of the human beings by the realism of the Resurrection.
Let us come back to our question at the beginning, “what to do?” The reply is another question, with whom, in whom and for whom, do we do all that we do? It is an invitation to live Lent as an intense time of union with Christ, a Lent of union. It is a union that will make us free, “I know indeed how to live in humble circumstances; I know also how to live with abundance…I have the strength for everything through Him who empowers me” (Phil. 4, 12-13)
For prayer, here are some cries of the heart from St. Paul gleaned from his letters. May the Holy Spirit come, enlighten, and make them fruitful in the depths of our heart.
- It is not that I have already taken hold of it or have already attained perfect maturity, but I continue my pursuit in the hope that I may possess it, since I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ (Jesus). Phil 3, 12
- More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Phil 3, 8
- What will separate us from the love of Christ? Rom 8, 35
- If we live, we live for the Lord and if we die, we die for the Lord. Rom 14, 8
- Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Rom 13, 14
- Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. 1 Cor 11, 1
- Everything is lawful for me, but not everything is beneficial. 1 Cor 6, 12
- If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. 1 Cor 13,1
- …insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me. Gal 2, 20
- For when I am weak, then I am strong 2 Cor 12, 10
- For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. Phil 1, 21
- … I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh, I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ… Col 1, 24
- For I bear the marks of Jesus on my body. Gal 6, 17
- For no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely Jesus Christ. 1Cor 3,11
- For the love of Christ impels us, once we have come to the conviction that one died for all… 2 Cor 5, 14
- Not only that, but we also boast of God through Our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Rom 5,11
- Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through Our Lord Jesus Christ. Rom 5, 1
- For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption through which we cry, “Abba Father.” Rom 8, 15
- …The Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groaning. Rom 8, 26
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