Man is a slave to himself and his possessions. The slavery consists in idolatry or self-worship. His problem consists of getting rid of the me-god and replacing him with the true God.
There is only one problem: to empty ourselves of selfishness, to extinguish the flame of the ego, the I, and to patiently let go of the thousand and one things to which we cling.
Live aware of yourself. Remain intuitively on the lookout for your intentions, lighting your way with the lamp of self-criticism in order to examine the motives which beget your reactions and generate your actions. Be observant and convince yourself of the fallacy of that illusory image of yourself.
Be stern with yourself. Be aware that your ego will now ask you for a bit of self-compassion. After that it will demand a moment of self-satisfaction, and later, it will cry and ask you to defend it. It will beg you not to leave it in ridicule.
It will speak to you in the name of reason and objectivity. It will present elevated concepts like self-realization to you. It will warn you about the dangers of masochism and self-destruction. It will tell you not to confuse humility with humiliation. There will never be a shortage of explanations, excuses, justifications within you. Be careful!
Do not allow yourself to be fooled. Remain cool, implacable: do not satisfy that hungry beast. The more you feed it, the more tyranny it will exercise over you.
If others speak unfavorably of you, do not let it bother you. Remain silent. Do not defend yourself Let your love of self bleed to death. Do not justify your actions by giving explanations to make yourself look good if your projects do not turn out the way you wanted. It is preferable to have a bit more humility (liberty) than a bit more prestige.
Look neither openly nor slyly for approval and praise for your behavior. If you believe that the group will congratulate you if you appear before them, don’t go.
There are camouflaged ways to beg for or to reject praise. Avoid them. Avoid speaking about yourself or your affairs. Don’t indirectly search for applause or congratulations. It is, above all, within yourself where the principal liberating battle takes place. Constantly rectify your intentions. Only God should be the moving force behind your work.
Do not savor the flattering memories, the happy events by dwelling on them. Instead, offer to God the glory of your actions. However, do not transform this liberating battle into an ascetic sport, but rather follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Imagine the Poor Man from Nazareth rejecting all popularity, remaining silent time and time again before His accusers when the judges invited Him to defend Himself. He never took advantage of His divinity in order to save Himself from death and other bitter suffering. He lived as one of the many poor and common people of Nazareth by jealously hiding the splendor of His divinity in that anonymity.
Jesus obsessively and urgently directed the disciples not to tell anyone about His ability to cure the blind, the deaf, and the possessed. When they descended from the mount of the Transfiguration, he said, “Do not tell anyone.” It seems that he felt like a thief usurping the glory that belonged only to the Father.
If the Christian wants to approach the ultimate depths of the living mystery of Jesus, if he wants to reduce all that Jesus was, felt, thought, and dreamed to a masterly synthesis, this is the way: “Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Herein lies the fundamental task for the Christian: to live looking at the infinite depths of Jesus, composed of silence , emptiness, humility, and prostration, and to beg ardently and ask for His inner disposition: give me your poor and humble heart.
If you remove the oil little by little, the flame will die and you will have won the battle of liberty.
Extracted from the book “Transfiguration” by F. Ignacio Larranaga. OFM
