The Supernatural Virtue of Conviction
Summary of Headings
- Introduction
- Archbishop Lefebvre's Stand
- Natural vs. Supernatural Virtue
- The Role of Conviction
- Examples of Saints
- Conclusion
Introduction
First of all, a very happy feast day. Second of all, I'd ask you all to please keep the wife of Jose Jimenez, Margarita Jimenez, in your prayers. I visited her last night and gave her last rites in the Apostolic Blessing. She's quite ill with cancer quite suddenly. The doctors don't know how much longer she'll last. So please keep Jose, his wife, and their family in your prayers. Also, you'll notice we have all the relics that we usually keep under lock and key back here out on display on the altar because it is their feast day. It's also a good idea to come and familiarize yourselves with them. We have a little chart here about who they are. It's important that we have a strong reverence to the relics of the saints. We are blessed with very many and very beautiful ones. So please, after Mass, during Mass, make sure that you are uniting your prayers with theirs because they are present during each Mass. As the gates of Heaven are opened up during the Mass, we have a peek in. But also, it's important after the Mass to come by and at least say hello to them. And thank them for everything, as well as ask them for a specific grace that you may need. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen. In the life of Archbishop Lefebvre, there was a moment where he was called to Rome because he was now going to be chastised for his declaration against the changes in the Church in November of 1974. And, um... He was called to Rome. Paul VI called him out in front of one of the cardinals for... In front of Cardinal Viau, the Secretary of State, who was not a friend of the Archbishop by any stretch, called him out for his rebellious mentality. Archbishop Lefebvre defended himself, begging the Pope to just let him try this experiment of tradition, as he called it. He said, everybody else is experimenting in every other sort of way. Why can't I experiment with keeping tradition? And we can see which experiment is more fruitful. Paul VI wasn't terribly pleased about it, but then at the end of the day he washed his hands and said, you deal with Cardinal Viau, and we'll see how everything goes. And when the Pope left, Cardinal Viau turned to Archbishop Lefebvre and said, I told you years ago, obedience, obedience, obedience. And the fact that you are rebellious like this shows that you didn't learn a thing. That you are just prideful. The reason I bring this up is because obedience, of course, is a very important, very beautiful virtue, and one which must be practiced. As is every virtue. But the problem is the mentality, and this is something that we see in every aspect of how the Church behaves now, not to mention all of society behaves. There is a false sense of virtue. There is a difference between... There is a difference between natural virtue and supernatural virtue. There is a difference between moral virtues and theological virtues. There is a different hierarchy of virtues. There are different ones which demand more of us and ones which demand less of us. There is a structure. But most importantly, we must remember that we are not called to simple, natural virtue. We are not called to simply check the box of obedience and just say, yes, we are obedient in all things to all people no matter what. Whatever the Pope tells us to do, we are going to do. Whatever the President tells us to do, that is what we are going to sign on to. Whatever the situation may be. Whatever my boss tells me, that is what I must do. Period. That is not the case whatsoever. Obedience is a necessary virtue. All virtues are necessary. I am using obedience as an example, nothing else. But what makes the difference between a good person and a saint is the difference between natural and supernatural. Just because we practice virtue on a natural level does not sanctify us. Just because somebody is a good person, it does not make them worthy of heaven. Just because they practice natural virtue or have a natural sense of virtue, it does not change the fact that they are called to a supernatural life. We are called to a supernatural life. That is why it is important that we do not settle for anything. Archbishop Lefebvre, by the grace of God, had a true understanding of what obedience meant. It was not just the material and external form of what obedience is. It was not just the natural virtue of obedience. But it was guided by the supernatural light that God had given him. I mention all of this among other things because today is the 55th anniversary of the founding of the Society of St. Pius X. It is a moment, November 1970, that is extremely important in the history of the Church. It is something we should be very grateful to the Archbishop for. But it was his absolute submission to the providence of God which made all of this possible. Which is why he stood up and fought during the Second Vatican Council. Which is why he formed the Society of St. Pius X. Why he fought against the modernist errors. Why he allowed himself to become the leader of the traditionalist movement. And to try to encourage it and make it an international phenomenon. Something he did. Something he fought valiantly for. Because he was guided by the supernatural spirit in everything that he did. And that is something that is universal to each and every saint. Each saint chose, voluntarily and absolutely, the supernatural above everything else. They chose their supernatural life rather than any other thing. We have great examples, of course, with the martyrs. We have St. Philomena here to give us that witness. We have St. Lawrence. We have any number of other saints proving to us exactly the kind of fervor we must have. So what is it? What is the element that makes these virtues supernatural? In a simple word, conviction. The difference between the natural virtue and the supernatural virtue is one of conviction. That it isn't just about making nice with everybody around the world. It isn't just about being polite. It isn't just about material charity or anything else. It is about serving God in what we do. In everything that we do. That is what supernatural virtue is. Every action that we perform is an act to please God and not anybody or anything else. It's not for our legacy. It's not so that people don't persecute us or cause problems or hurt us. It's not for any other purpose than just simply to serve God. Everything that we do must be subordinated to that purpose. Most people don't have enough conviction to fill a thimble. They're willing to go with the winds in every which way. They're willing to drift along with the passage of time. They're willing to go with the pendulum as it swings to the right or to the left politically. They're willing to go with whatever just makes it comfortable and easy for them to live. They're willing to just go along to get along. This is the curse that the devil has plagued the entire world with. Complacency. Whereas God calls for conviction. He will not drag us kicking and screaming over the finish line into hell. He will not force us to follow him. So he asks us to do something that is completely contrary to our fallen nature. That is to sacrifice ourselves entirely to him. To let him be in charge. To blindly let him guide us to where we need to go. Our faith must be one of conviction. It is not enough to just say, I believe. It's not enough to get on the internet and prove our belief to the rest of the world. It's not enough to know enough to be able to convince logically other people that this is the one true faith. All of that is not enough. It's good, but that's all very natural. Supernatural is the fact that the faith is the guiding principle in everything that we do. Every action that we perform. Every word that we speak. Everything that we do is all of a sudden transformed by the faith. The faith guides us because we see that it is God that we must serve. Nothing and nobody else. Not pleasure. Not desire. Not happiness here on earth. Not friendships. Not power. Not money. Nothing else. It is to serve God. Completely. Nothing else. That is what conviction is. And that is what we are called to. Always. In his whimsical and often chaotic novel called The Ball and the Cross, G.K. Chesterton, the antagonist is a psychiatrist known as Dr. Lucifer. Chesterton wasn't always subtle in his metaphors. And the protagonists are a divine. A devout Scottish Catholic. And a devout, if you want to call him that, passionate, I think would be a better word, British atheist. They're so passionate about their beliefs, they're willing to fight a duel to the death to defend their beliefs. Everybody in the world is fascinated by this story. Everybody in the world is engaged by this story. And they are the greatest threat to Dr. Lucifer. Dr. Lucifer and his reign of psychiatric control. Why? They are the two people on earth that he is most frightened of. Why? To the point that he commits to psychiatric care anybody who has been contaminated by these two through a conversation. The tepid and cynical Catholic woman that they run into. The person who has lost his way. Everybody is trapped in a psychiatric hospital at the end. Because the one thing the devil cannot stand and cannot stomach is somebody who believes enough to be willing to put their life on the line for their faith. So convinced that the faith is true. That they are willing to change their lives to conform to the faith. So absolutely believing to the point that every word they say is guided and directed by God himself. Willing to sacrifice anything that it takes down to their very lives if need be. To live their faith. To sacrifice their lives day in and day out with every action, with every thought, with every word, with every duty they perform. That is the very worst enemy of the devil. And that is why we celebrate the devil. That is why we celebrate the saints. That is why we triumph with the saints. Because they are the ones who have succeeded in this sacrifice. Whether it was through being a father of the church, a patriarch, a doctor, a prophet, a martyr, a virgin, a widow. Whatever their status may be, whatever their title may be in heaven. No matter the grade of holiness they have in heaven. No matter what level of heaven they are in. They have all achieved this great victory of having lived their faith so completely that they transformed their life. They put their life entirely at the service of God. They sacrificed their life day in and day out for God. Whether it is Saint Augustine who genuinely believed he could not separate himself from his sins. But by the grace of God gave up his life and therefore found eternal life. Whether it is Saint Thomas Aquinas who dedicated his entire life, sacrificed his entire life to answer the very simple question, who is God? Whether it is Saint Joseph who just blindly followed what providence gave to him. No matter what it was. Who lived as the most amazing example of masculine virtue. Silent virtue. Whether it is Archbishop Lefebvre standing up for the rights of the faith. Whether it is Saint Athanasius suffering in exile five times under two different emperors to protect and defend the doctrine of the Trinity. Whether it is Saint Philomena denying herself the wealth and power of the world. And sacrificing her very life in brutal forms. Multiple times by the by. Not just a one and done. She had to suffer many times over. No matter how it is that we are called. No matter what it is we are called to do. Every aspect of our life must be sacrificed to God. How are we going to learn that kind of conviction? The same place that all these saints learned it. From Christ. From Christ on the cross. Christ on the altar. Christ in Holy Communion. Christ in the sacraments. He was so, he had such conviction in what he was doing that he sacrificed himself out of obedience to the Father. He sacrificed himself out of obedience to the Father. He took upon himself all of our sins. All of our imperfections. All of our frailties. He was bruised for our iniquities. As Isaiah says. That is what we must learn from him. To give our lives for him. Each and every day. Each and every way that is given to us to do so. Conviction is the necessary ingredient to every part of sanctity. It is the one thing that is necessary. Years ago my niece did an experiment. A science experiment for a science fair at her school. She baked a cake multiple times. But each time she left out one ingredient. To find out exactly what was in it. What was the ingredient that made the cake actually congeal and form into a cake. It turned out it was the egg. I bring that up. Not just because I am very proud of her. But because of the fact. By the way she said none now. But because of the fact that it is the same thing with us. We can have all these virtues. We can have all these qualities. We can have all these gifts. We can have all these capabilities. But without that one essential ingredient of goodness. Conviction. Conviction enough to give our lives for our faith. It is not going to come together. The cake is not going to be a cake. We can have everything put together. But at the end of the day. If we don't have that conviction. To give our lives for Christ. In the same way Christ gave his life for us. It is not going to work. And that is what this modern world. This modern church. This modern so called virtue. Does not understand. It is worth about as much as the paper it is written on. That is it. It has no value in the supernatural. And that is something that we. That is a trap we cannot fall into. As Chesterton pointed out. Dr. Lucifer is just waiting to get us in that trap. He is looking for a way. And he will appeal to our laziness. To our comfort. To our desire to please people. To whatever may call us and attract us. Toward that type of lifestyle. Of just natural virtue. Just not being a bad guy. Because that is the trap that is set before our feet. Each and every day. Going through the motions. Doing our little bit. And that is it. That is not how the saints live their lives. And that is not how we are supposed to live our lives. We are supposed to have such conviction. That we are willing to suffer and die. To sacrifice and to give every particle of our being. To the practice of virtue. To the practice of giving ourselves to God. Living our faith. Not just having faith. But the rewards are worth every little tiny sacrifice we have to give. It is possible we will never have to give anything too big. In this conviction. But it is necessary that we must be willing to give everything all the time. That is true conviction. But through that conviction. Our virtue transforms into the supernatural. Our actions. No matter how tiny. Suddenly become infinite acts of charity. As St. Therese talks about. All of a sudden. Everything that we do. Has tremendous infinite worth. Because it is united to the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. And it becomes a tool for our own sanctification. So that like these saints. We may be able to one day hear those magnificent words. Well done good and faithful servant. And be eternally happy with them. In heaven. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Summary
First of all, a very happy feast day. Second of all, I'd ask you all to please keep the wife of Jose Jimenez, Margarita Jimenez, in your prayers. I visited her last night and gave her last rites in the Apostolic Blessing. She's quite ill with cancer quite suddenly. The doctors don't know how much longer she'll last. So please keep Jose, his wife, and their family in your prayers. In the life of Archbishop Lefebvre, there was a moment where he was called to Rome because he was now going to be chastised for his declaration against the changes in the Church in November of 1974. And, um... He was called to Rome. Paul VI called him out in front of one of the cardinals for... In front of Cardinal Viau, the Secretary of State, who was not a friend of the Archbishop by any stretch, called him out for his rebellious mentality. Archbishop Lefebvre defended himself, begging the Pope to just let him try this experiment of tradition, as he called it. He said, everybody else is experimenting in every other sort of way. Why can't I experiment with keeping tradition? And we can see which experiment is more fruitful.