Temperance
THE SUNDAY CALLED SEPTUAGESIMA
In the traditional liturgical Church Year, this Sunday and the two following are known as Gesima Sundays, and this three-week period, which begins today, is known as the pre-Lenten season. From Christmas through today, we have enjoyed and recapitulated the wonderful events of salvation— the birth of Jesus and his circumcision, the first Gentiles who find him in a manger, and his baptism in the Jordan.
But a transition is coming, one that was already present amid the joys of Christmas and Epiphany. Even as we celebrated his birth, we knew he was born to die. The spilling of his blood in circumcision spoke of the blood he would spill on the Cross to redeem sinners. The child found by Gentile Magi was wrapped in swaddling clothes as he would in preparation for his burial.
After his baptism, Jesus is led by the Spirit to endure forty days in the desert before beginning his public ministry, wherein he will face temptations of the flesh, the allure of the world, and the deceits of the Devil. Soon we will follow our Lord into the wilderness to imitate those forty days through the season of Lent, a journey whose way is that of the Cross, and its aim, Easter resurrection.
Transition is coming. The Lenten Journey is but a few weeks away. So the church provides a transitional time between the beginnings of Jesus' earthly life on Christmas day and the journey to his death on the Cross, which begins in the desert, a three-week transition called Gesimatide. Gesimatide accounts for approximately 30 days before the 4o days of Lent. So Septuagesima is simply another word for Seventy Days, that's all. The septum part is a prefix for seven, and the gesima part derives from the Latin for days. Septuagesima Sunday simply signals 70 days before Easter!
But it also signals the time of preparing to follow Jesus into the Lenten wilderness, a purifying exodus on the road to suffering, death, and finally, victory. Lent is a time for the church to realize its true import and set aside all those faults and defects in knowledge and practice that obstruct its proper growth. The Gesimas prepare us for this by calling us to foundational virtues necessary for a fruitful, holy Lent.
In today's Gospel, the householder called his servants to "go into his vineyard," for the time has come to labor in the kingdom. And we are being heralded to prepare ourselves for Lent by reviving the foundational virtues of temperance through mastery of the flesh, fortitude by persevering in hope, and charity compelled by mercy.
St. Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, exhorts them to pursue virtue in writing, "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
In other words, "my fellow Christians, pursue the virtuous life." A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good. The virtuous person tends toward the good with all his sensory and spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions. We don't merely think to do good; we embody it and do it. The goal of a virtuous life is really quite clear: it is to become like God.
The book of Wisdom says that "if a man loves righteousness her labors are virtues: for she teacheth temperance and prudence, justice and fortitude: which are such things, as men can have nothing more profitable in their life" (Wis 8:7). The wise person attains righteousness by laboring in virtue. And this, according to the author of Wisdom, is the most profitable thing we can do. Pursuing virtue is the antidote to habitual sin and falling ever further from participation in the Divine Life.
And what's more, it is the means by which we stay on the narrow road, leading to eternal life. It is the way we are to run the race and obtain the prize, which is the vision of God in the face of Jesus Christ, the beatific vision that we long to see. This is why the moral life is our chief concern for "blessed is the pure in heart, for they shall see God." The pursuit of holiness IS the Divine directive: "if you love me, keep my commandments."
And without virtue, we will never fulfill the call unto holiness. Therefore, good Christians, we strive (to use the Apostles term); we work for holiness. Some may recoil at the idea of "work" having anything to do with the Christian life, but lest we become deceived, with baptism come duties and responsibilities. The Gospel of our salvation calls us to do the works of the kingdom. Unless we attain a holy detachment from the things of this world, we will not attain heaven. "For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?"
Self-denial lies at the heart of detachment. In fact, the selection read from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians falls within his greater exhortation to self-denial. Before this, he renounced his own rights as an apostle, willingly to detach from his rightful apostolic privilege that "some might be saved." He has exhorted the Corinthians to deny themselves by not causing food and drink to cause a brother to stumble because the surrender of an acknowledged right for the sake of furthering the cause of Christ is to be the proper boast of the Christian, and the condition of obtaining an indestructible crown.
And now Paul speaks of mastering the desires of the flesh by employing temperance. Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods. It ensures the will's mastery over instincts and keeps desires within the limits of what is honorable. The temperate person directs the sensitive appetites toward what is good and maintains a healthy discretion. Without temperance, we cannot master concupiscence and the desires of the flesh. By this, we live soberly, upright and godly as sojourners in this world (Titus 2:12).
Through a metaphor, Paul likens the Christian life to that of a race, with a beginning and end; a race that will have victors and losers; some will finish, and some will not, either from lack of endurance or by disqualification. And what we see is his holy intention to win an 'incorruptible crown.' Now this incorruptible crown spoken of by the blessed Apostle is none other than eternal life, the great prize awarded to faithfulness, fidelity, and perseverance.
St. Paul writes, "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize?" We are to 'run' as though only one will obtain the prize. In other words, we are to compete at the highest possible level, give it our all, to run to win. For the crown of everlasting life is obtainable by all who would run. And yet, running the race does not in itself ensure the prize, simply being in the company of those striving for the crown does not ensure its attainment.
This is why Paul says to "Run, that we may obtain": to run with purpose and intention. Friends, if we are to compete well for the prize, then we must cultivate the virtue of temperance, heeding St. Paul who writes, "[that] every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things": for temperance is the much-needed governor of vice. Temperance brings ease to self-mastery and joy in leading a morally good life. It enables the virtuous man to freely practice the good. The mastery over sin, concupiscence, and vice will not occur without temperance.
"So fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection." Whoever would run the race towards the beatific vision must practice self-control and continence in all things, beating the lusts of the flesh into submission; far from sensual indulgences; eating and drinking in a manner conducive to the prize in view; mindful to not become so engulfed by the business and pursuits of this life but rather, exercising himself, at all times, for the one end to which he is devoted by the exercise of spiritual disciplines.
The discipline of fasting enables temperance to master the flesh's appetites as a precursor to mastering sins that come from our thoughts, words, and deeds. Virtue and discipline are the works of holiness. And "the good works that we are to walk in" can be summed up in living a virtuous and holy life. For the virtuous man loves God, loves his neighbor, and seeks the good.
Beloved, do not be fooled by those who make much of the free grace of the Gospel and deny the works enjoined to it by the Lord Jesus Christ and the Scriptures! Yes, we must have grace BEFORE work to work! But as surely as grace is conferred on us, so surely is a work enjoined by our Lord. I refer you to the beautiful sermon he preached on the Mount of Beatitude by first blessing/gracing his hearers before giving them commands: "blessed are those, blessed are you…"
Only after blessing does he then command them to go and reconcile with your brother before going to worship; do not commit adultery, in fact, don't even lust after another in your heart… when you fast do this, and when you pray, pray in this way, etc. Grace always precedes any kind of Kingdom work.
These peddlers of falsity teach that works were only required under the Law, and grace comes instead under the Gospel: but the true account of the matter is this, that yes, the Law enjoined works, but the grace of the Gospel fulfills them; the Law commanded but gave no power; the Gospel bestows the power. Thus, the Gospel is the counterpart of the Law. Christ says, "I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill."
The Gospel does not revoke works but provides for them. "Man, goeth forth unto his work and to his labor" from the morning of the world to its evening. From Adam in paradise, Noah in the morning, Abraham at the third hour, chosen Israel at the sixth and ninth, and us Christians at the eleventh—all, so far as the duty of work, we share in one common religion.
Do we earn salvation by works? Earning merit and favor with God? No! The grace of God appeared in Jesus Christ, and by grace, we are saved through faith; in Him, we rejoice! But a view of grace received without any response, demands, or duty on our part is incomplete and unscriptural. Faith is evidenced by its works, manifested through the pursuit of holiness, goodness, and faithfulness, the necessary and preparatory work for all who will receive the risen Lord of Easter.
Well, perhaps all of this 'work' sounds unbearable or even unattainable. It is unbearable apart from love and removed from grace. But when we contemplate the great love with which Christ has loved us, our Christian duty not only becomes bearable but joyful, a work we happily face at the rising of the sun and rejoice over at the setting of the same. Consider the implications of being called into the vineyard! Would you rather be standing idle in the hopelessness of your sins?
Such grace and love we have received from the householder who has called us out of the darkness and into his marvelous light- praise be to God! And what does he demand? To live a life fitting to the calling we have received, to walk in holiness and righteousness all our days, so that at last, we might obtain that incorruptible crown, that sure and promised hope. For we do not "run our race with uncertainty." Our labor is not in vain but promises to be rewarded with a heavenly prize.
So let us run to win and when we win the beatific prize, may our words be those of the blessed Apostle, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing" (2 Timothy 4:7-8). Amen+
