The Fullness of Life
Harnessing the monster within (Part 2)
Christ is the solution to our woes. If we experience the damaging effects of the monster within us, and if we want to be free from it-to slay, tame or harness it, we must turn to Christ.
Before His ascension to heaven, He proclaimed to His disciples, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.' (Mt. 28:18).
'All authority...' Even the untamed addiction or phobias or any other form of 'monster' within the human soul is subject to Christ. St. Paul even said, 'God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the Name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.' (Phil. 2:9-11).
If Christ has conquered Death by His Resurrection so that everything is subject to Him, how, in practical way, can He conquer also the negative forces in us and transform them into beneficial forces? How can He help us harness the monster within each one of us?
Although there are many pathways to the peak of a mountain, nevertheless there are some trodden paths that make it easy for others to climb. And if a good guide comes along to show the way, then it makes the ascent even safer and easier.
If the peak of the mountain is the summit of human perfection and self-conquest, what better Guide can we have than Christ Himself? He said, 'Come, follow me.' And elsewhere He also said, 'Learn of Me...'
To follow Christ and to learn from Him are the two most important aspects of formation in life that we could ever undertake. If for some reasons, we would find it very difficult to overcome a vice or certain weaknesses, it would be helpful to examine ourselves along those two divine invitations and ask ourselves, 'Have I followed Christ closely? Did I learn deep enough from Him?'
A priest was giving a sermon and driving the point that one has to love and pray for one's enemy told his audience, 'When I was a young seminarian I had a quarrel with a co-seminarian. Whenever I meet him, I would see a hippopotamus. Then one day the word of Christ struck me: 'Love your enemies. Pray and bless those who persecute you!' Thereupon I started to pray for that enemy of mine. After praying for sometime, he no longer looked like a hippopotamus to me but a gorilla. I continued to pray and now he looked like a dog. I prayed still more ans finally began to see him as a human.' That monstrous spirit of anger and hatred within him was tamed by the Word of Christ and by following Christ's example of forgiving and praying for one's enemy.
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Although this is the concluding part under the above title, in the future reflections we will consider how the rt of Christian Meditation can help us grow towards greater integration and wholeness,a subject which is very much related to this present reflection.