June 25--St. Prosper of Aquitaine, Holy Man and Theologian

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aquit%C3%A1niai_Szent_Prosper.jpg

Can we do good without the grace of God? Or is God’s grace required for us to do any good? This was the heart of the question behind semi-Pelagianism in the fifth century. St. Augustine taught that we can only do good if God gives us grace. St. John Cassian and St. Vincent of Lerins taught that we have free will which allows us to choose good without God’s grace. Augustine’s position led to the problem of double predestination, which taught that God’s grace is irresistible! Cassian’s and Vincent’s position led to the problem of doing good without God! Both issues have significant problems and neither was completely accepted by the Church.

Here is where our saint comes in. Prosper of Aquitaine was a layman from Aquitaine in southwestern France. He was familiar with the arguments of Cassian and Vincent and was able to summarize them to Augustine. This allowed Augustine to respond. After Augustine’s death Prosper interpreted Augustine’s work so that the extremes in his teaching could be avoided, keeping BOTH the necessity of God’s grace in doing good works AND the necessity of humans in freely using the gift of God’s grace to do the good God gives us the grace to do.

The Catholic Church often responds to controversial issues not with an “either/or” response, but with a “BOTH/AND” response. The “BOTH/AND” is nuanced and complete. We are for BOTH the mother AND the unborn child. We are BOTH pro-life AND pro-justice and peace. We are for BOTH the freedom of choice AND the truth of the good. We are BOTH body AND soul. Jesus is BOTH God AND man. We are BOTH saved AND praying for final perseverance. We are BOTH citizens of Heaven AND residents of Earth. St. Prosper, pray for us!

February 15--St. Claude la Colombière, S.J., Priest and Religious

Saint Claude La Colombière priant le Sacré-Cœur de Jésus by Octave 444 licensed under CC by-SA4.0

"Death by a thousand paper cuts!"  Today's saint was familiar with how we can be cut to ribbons by the little things.  St. Claude la Colombière was a Jesuit priest from France in the 17th century.  At the time, the Catholic Church was fighting Jansenism, which taught that we did not have free will.  This is patently false because God gives us free will as a part of our human nature.  We can freely choose what God wants:  "God's free initiative demands man's free response" (CCC, 2002).  So therefore, we can freely overcome the cuts and little things that annoy us by responding to God's grace.

He wrote:  "All our life is sown with tiny thorns that produce in our hearts a thousand involuntary movements of hatred, envy, fear, impatience, a thousand little fleeting disappointments, a thousand slight worries, a thousand disturbances that momentarily alter our peace of soul.  For example, a word escapes that should not have been spoken.  Or someone utters another that offends us.  A child inconveniences you.  A bore stops you.  You don't like the weather.  Our work is not going according to plan.  A piece of furniture is broken.  A dress is torn.  I know that these are not occasions for practicing very heroic virtue.  But they would definitely be enough to acquire it if we really wished to."

How often do we lose our temper over little things?  St. Claude teaches that these little things are great opportunities.  It takes time to develop the virtues of patience and humility.  God provides us with time.  He allows us to endure the little cuts to bring us closer to him.  "Far from allowing us to be depressed at the sight of our faults, it strengthens us in the idea of the infinite goodness of our Creator."