I do not fly so often that I completely ignore the little safety talk the flight attendants give as the plane is taxiing before takeoff. One point in particular I find interesting. The instructions always remind passengers that in the event the oxygen masks are deployed and you are traveling with a small child or other person who needs assistance, you should put on your own mask first before assisting the other person. The instinct to be polite must be avoided. In order to properly assist another, one must first attend to oneself.

In a different context our Lord recommends a similar procedure. With regard to the judging of others He teaches us in the Sermon on the Mount, “first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” Attending to oneself first in this instance is not only humble it also has a very practical purpose. The thought of a sight impaired Mr. MaGoo attempting to perform a delicate operation on another makes one wonder if our Lord did not intend an element of humor here.

We do not perhaps need to hear more of the urgings so frequent in popular psychology to “love yourself first” or “be good to yourself.” Yet in the two examples above it is clear that the attention given to oneself is directed equally toward the welfare of another. In the proper context attending to ones own health, physical and spiritual, is an important part of loving ones neighbor.

Love of one’s neighbor, in turn, is what authenticates and completes the individual person. In his impressive biography of Pope John Paul II, Witness to Hope, George Weigel tells how as a professor of ethics Fr. Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope, formulated the “Law of the Gift.” We reach our highest potential as human beings through responsible self-giving. Human existence by its very nature is always a coexistence, a relationship with others. Genuine self-love not only supports love of the other, it is also fulfilled by it. The “Law of the Gift” would eventually be recognized by the Second Vatican Council and be expressed this way: “Man can fully discover his true self only in a sincere giving of himself.”

During Lent we as individual Christians and as the Church retreat somewhat from the activities of the world to concentrate more on the state of our Christian discipleship. St. Benedict in his Rule describes the traditional observance of Lent in this way: “let each one deny himself some food, drink, sleep, needless talking and idle jesting, and look forward to holy Easter with joy and spiritual longing.” It is a time for self-examination and repentance, a time to notice the logs that may have gotten into our own eyes and are blinding our vision and impairing our practice of charity toward all. It is equally a time to adjust our own oxygen masks, that is, to be renewed in our Christian dignity as the holy, baptized people of God who have been raised up with Christ to “walk in newness of life.” We need not be embarrassed by or shrink from this self-attention. The state of our life in Christ is intimately related to our mission in the world and to the gift we can be to those around us.

Consider again the pre-flight safety instructions. The reason you should put your own oxygen mask on first is so that you do not lose consciousness before you can assist others. Similarly the first and most important thing we as Christians can do for our world is not to lose consciousness of who we are. “If salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored?” The grace and insight that is uniquely Christian must be awakened and sharpened. The more consciously we embrace “the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” the more we will want to be in mission to the world and the more effective we will be.

St. Paul’s rhetorical questions are blunt: “What partnership have righteousness and iniquity? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?” His advice is radical: “Therefore come out from them, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean.” It is unrealistic to think that these warnings have no part to play in the Church’s life today. A Christianity that has no capacity to make clear distinctions and to live as a people apart or that has lost its courage to stand in opposition to the culture about it will not have much new light to shed on the human condition and will not survive long itself.

In a more positive vein St. Paul can exhort, “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” A transformed mind will aim toward moral purity and integrity; it will be filled with a humble reverence for God, other people, and all created things; it will possess an unconquerable hope and joy that is able at all times to affirm life as a good gift. The season of Lent with its climax in the solemn commemoration of the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord is a time to attend to just such a transformation and renewal of our own minds first so that we can more confidently and effectively engage the world about us.

Sincerely,

The Spiritual life

The meditation below is excerpted from the little book Rule for a New Brother by H. van der Looy. Although intended as an introduction to monastic life, it has broad application for all Christians.

Spiritual life is life drawn from the Holy Spirit, who raised Jesus from the dead and turns the whole world into a new creation.

The Spirit within you will bear fruit of simplicity and goodness, modesty and joy, sobriety and gentleness. He will give you interior freedom and bring your love to perfection. He will make you into a new person.

So don’t carry on a futile battle against yourself, don’t divide yourself into good and evil. Resist the temptation to analyse yourself—turn your attention to the Lord instead, and be deeply receptive. Accept yourself in His light and concentrate on the mission you have to accomplish.

God’s Spirit will bring you to simplicity in an undivided dedication to Him and to your neighbors. He gives you no programme but the chance of turning yourself towards love hour by hour. And so spiritual life is not a burden but a liberating vocation. It is much more a matter of simplifying than of complicated methods and extraordinary performances.

In special cases it can be good to impose some specific discipline on yourself. Your daily life among you companions and others in service, openness and fidelity is the usual form of ascesis, which is both effective and enough.