Fortitude

SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY

In her wisdom, the church provides three pre-Lenten Gesima Sundays to guide the transition between Epiphany and rigorous Lenten spirituality. St. Paul tells us that the Christian battle is one fought on spiritual grounds, against the allure of the world, the lusts of the flesh, and the deceits of the Devil. It is a life-long battle whose objective is mastery over sin and vice by never conceding the high ground of holiness and virtue.

St. Paul describes this battle in athletic terms, likening the pursuit of holiness to a race. An incorruptible crown of eternal life is awarded to all who compete well and finish the race. Running to win demands the cultivation of virtue. In particular, the virtue of temperance must be the steady diet of any serious and qualified competitor: the lust of the flesh must be brought into subjection through self-denial and moderation.

Today, we are being called to cultivate yet another foundational virtue, one vital to the work of holiness, a necessary companion for the coming Lenten journey. If we desire to labor in the vineyard well, then we must have fortitude if we desire to bring forth a bountiful yield (for who wants to labor in vain?) And what fruit does the Master of the field desire? Well, is it not ultimately charity? Is not love the fruit of the kingdom? 

Love of God and love of neighbor… is this not the final goal of all spiritual striving and self-mastery? "For the fruit of the spirit is love…" Says St. Paul. There is no greater calling, no surpassing vocation than to love as Christ loves. For the fruit of perfection is love, and love, is always the chief aim and end of all Christian piety. It is the good soil that brings forth fruit. 

This Jesus teaches once again, through a parable, perhaps one of his most well-known: the Parable of the Sower. One might be tempted to rename it 'the parable of the soils', for our Lord's great concern is for the good seed of the Gospel land on the good ground, fertile soil where it can take root and bring fruit to perfection, yielding some thirty, some sixty, and some hundred-fold!

Jesus is "the Sower who has come from afar," generously casting seed throughout the field of the world. Without regard or scrutiny, He throws Gospel-seeds upon every type of soil, for he desires "all to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim 2:4).

By a parable, Jesus illustrates how the Gospel affects those who receive it. And, without pulling any punches, He explicitly points out how often the Gospel has little or no lasting effect. Just think of it, three of the soils are bad, and only one is good. And yet, the Sower goes on sowing, providing an opportunity for any to accept Him and follow His commandments. It's important to understand that Jesus isn't speaking of good and bad in an absolutely ethical sense, for the purity of heart cannot precede faith but must follow it. Think of it in terms of productive versus non-productive soil and the various challenges to persevering unto fruitfulness. 

Some seed falls on the wayside. It is never received and is crushed under the busyness of the world. Some seed falls on rocky ground, in shallow soil. Its roots never take hold. It withers and dies from shallowness and lack of care. Some seed actually takes root and begins to produce fruit, but overcome by the thorns and thistles, it is choked out and dies.

The good soil is that which, having received the seed, does what it is meant to do: it yields an abundance of fruit. Productive soil is of an honest and good heart. It is of a quality and integrity that consciously chooses the way of Christ. Good ground is tilled and carefully cultivated, clods of dirt, when found, are broken up, it's finely sifted, watered, and fenced in to keep pests and varmints away so nothing can steal its fruits. Great effort and much care is involved. Fruit doesn't just happen on its own. Fruitful seed growing takes attention, care, and concern.

It also takes demands fortitude. Jesus says that the good soil "brings forth fruit with patience." Here St. Luke uses the Greek word, ὑπομονή, patience, which is more fully understood as, fortitude, fortitude, steadfastness, perseverance, or patient endurance. So the good soil is graciously fertilized with the virtue of fortitude and patiently bears fruit. 

Fortitude is the capacity to hold out or bear up in the face of difficulty and challenge. It is one of the Holy Spirit's seven gifts, given by God to bear fruit in his vineyard. Unlike that which fell on rocky soil, fortitude perseveres. Sure, it experiences unproductive seasons, but it never wholly abandons the necessary caretaking: it works the ground and pulls the weeds. Neither does fortitude given in and fall away from the concerns of the world and the enticements of the Devil. No. Fortitude keeps its hand to the plow.

Jesus warns us that the Devil, like a bird of the air, will come to pluck the seed in an attempt to snatch the seed of the good news of Jesus Christ from the heart. Craftily does he work, often disguising himself as an angel of light, through attractive and shiny things, but always with lies, "for he is the father of lies," and in him resides not life, but death. His sole purpose "to kill, steal, and destroy." But St. Peter tells us that humility, sobriety, and vigilance are the weapons by which we ward off that roaring lion. We must remain steadfast by the grace of fortitude, that we may always be on defense, prepared to resist the schemes of the Devil.

The persecution and trials of this world can wither the vine of faith and kill its fruits. The rocky soil received the word with joy, says Jesus, but these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. Friends, the shallow soil is vulnerable to trial and hardship. Those times when various persecutions come upon the Rocky soil simply cannot endure, neither does it hold fast because the roots of faith are not deep, as a house built on sand, it crumbles in the face of the storm. 

Now, St. Paul was a man familiar with persecution. He suffered at the hand of his fellow countrymen, bore the sting of the Roman cane, was robbed as he traveled, and stoned by violent mobs. He suffered at the cruel hand of nature, shipwrecked, spending days lost at sea, overcome by floods and all sorts of natural calamities. 

He was not only tormented by men and nature but within his very soul, suffering daily for the church, writing "besides those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches." Just imagine the incredible burden of concerns and worries he carried for every single church, for every single believer,

"Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I burn not?" Listen to this Bishop's anguish over his churches, burning for every weak believer who is or has been led astray, empathetically sharing in their stumbling as their faithful shepherd and fellow sojourner. He even speaks as the fools speak, boasting to the Corinthians of his many trials. And why? Is he boasting to show how brave and wonderful he is? No! And this is the key to patient endurance, Paul is not boasting in himself (as the false Apostles were doing in Corinth), but of how great and wonderful the grace of God is that sustains him in his weakness! Patience, fortitude, humility, every virtue is a work of grace. In Christ, we are strong. In clinging to him, we (like Paul) shall endure. 

"If I must need glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities." Fellow laborers, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." When by the grace of God you overcome and endure the trials of this earthly life give thanks to God: "Of such a one will I boast," says the Apostle, "yet of myself I will not boast, but in my weaknesses."

Finally, we must resist the temptations of the flesh. "And that which fell among thorns are they which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares, and riches, and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection." If we are going to bring forth the fruit of perfection, we must not give in to the worldly temptations of busyness and material possession, nor be overcome by their concerns: for these things choked the seed to death: ease, comfort, gain, possession, accomplishment, entertainment… all good things in moderation and in the context of their temporal value. 

But when the desire to attain these things eclipses our desire for Christ, who is the very vine that feeds and nourishes, then the branch is choked. With patient fortitude, we must endure under the never-ending attraction and allure of this world and what it offers. We must keep created things in their rightful place of importance and value, always subordinated under Christ from whom all good things come. 

Friends let us never confuse the gifts with the Giver. Heed the words of the Beloved Apostle who writes, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever" (1 Jn 2:16-18)

The Good ground is of an honest and good heart because Christ, the seed, is in the good soil, and the good soil is in Christ. Christ is the seed embedded in the earthly soil of the heart where, when cultivated, guarded, and nourished, produces the perfect fruit of righteousness: a yield which comes by patient fortitude, enduring every trial, persecution, and adversary. St. James says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces fortitude. And let patience (ὑπομονή/fortitude) have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:4). 

Our growth in holiness is nothing more (or less) than exercising fortitude through adversity for the love of God. Our virtue will always be tested by people and by the circumstances of life. But when we face these challenges and adversities with patience and meekness for the love of God, we grow in holiness. The motivation of the good soil, that which is the desire of the honest and good heart, is to love God and neighbor. 

This "purity of intention" is the evidence of the supernatural grace of God, Gospel grace, which has been infused into the soil of the heart. For grace takes the cursed ground of our disobedience and restores it to Eden, the place of our participation in the life of God through Jesus Christ.

May we without ceasing, hold fast by our hope and by the earnest of our righteousness, which is Jesus Christ who took up our sins in His own body upon the tree, who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth, but for our sakes, endured all things, that we might live in Him. 

Let us, therefore, become imitators of Christ's fortitude, and if it should we ever be called to suffer for His name's sake, may we glorify Him in the hour of tribulation. For He gave this example to us by his passion, suffering, and death. And this we believe: that Christ is our strength. Therefore, let us boast in him. Amen+