MEMORIAL OF SAINT SCHOLASTICA, VIRGIN, FEBRUARY 10, 2022

MASS READINGS

A Reading from 1 Kgs 11:4-13

When Solomon was old his wives had turned his heart to strange gods,

and his heart was not entirely with the LORD, his God,

as the heart of his father David had been.

By adoring Astarte, the goddess of the Sidonians,

and Milcom, the idol of the Ammonites,

Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD;

he did not follow him unreservedly as his father David had done.

Solomon then built a high place to Chemosh, the idol of Moab,

and to Molech, the idol of the Ammonites,

on the hill opposite Jerusalem.

He did the same for all his foreign wives

who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

The LORD, therefore, became angry with Solomon,

because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel,

who had appeared to him twice

(for though the LORD had forbidden him

this very act of following strange gods,

Solomon had not obeyed him).

So the LORD said to Solomon: “Since this is what you want,

and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes

which I enjoined on you,

I will deprive you of the kingdom and give it to your servant.

I will not do this during your lifetime, however,

for the sake of your father David;

it is your son whom I will deprive.

Nor will I take away the whole kingdom.

I will leave your son one tribe for the sake of my servant David

and of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”

REFLECTION

"When Solomon was old his wives had turned his heart to strange gods,

and his heart was not entirely with the LORD, his God."

King Solomon, the son of King David, was given by God the gift of wisdom. For many years he was faithful to God and his precepts, until, he grew old.

Many of us, as we start getting older, and "run out of steam", might start to compromise the principles and beliefs we upheld very high during our youth, and just try to "live and let live", and "not make waves". Now, this is not necessarily exclusive of old age. Anybody could suffer from this vice.

Are we really "once saved always saved"? If we don't ask God for the gift of perseverance, we, just like King Solomon, might lose the graces He has bestowed unto us during our lifetime.

Spiritual apathy is also called acedia.

"The nature of acedia is the flight from God, the wish to be alone with oneself and one's finiteness, and not to be disturbed by the presence of God.  Acedia causes the subject to turn in on himself — to stop orienting one's whole life toward God.  Obsessed with murmuring and criticizing, the afflicted one is loath to praise God in prayer." ~ Jean-Charles Nault, O.S.B. "The Noonday Devil: Acedia."

Acedia opposes Hope. It makes you think there is no point in praising and in being. Makes nonsense of our moral life. Makes us feel nobody loves us (against charity), and nobody will console us.

To fight this evil we must reflect on where this deficiency started. We must also remember all the goodness and blessings God has given to us. And very importantly, live the present moment remembering each moment is an encounter with God. Reject the small infidelities that separate us from our Lord and thus make us feel despair because we are moving away from Him.

How? remember the PAPA WAWWW Principle:

Where am I?

Am I where I am?

What am I doing?

What am I thinking? (or what am I saying to myself?)

Why am I saying this, of course, to another?

Breathe. Say the Jesus prayer. And let us pray to God to preserve us from the vice of acedia. And for our continuous conversion, perseverance, and eventual salvation.

God bless y'all!