Speaking of religious who do not practice their Rule, but who follow from afar their ideal of life, St. Francis de Sales makes this comment: "Cloistered persons without doubt, but no religious at all."
Father Lallemant, speaking to some young priests of the Society of Jesus, used a similar comparison, exhorting them not to be mere shadows of religious, that is, men in soutanes, whose souls are not wholly given to God, who are more like walking ghosts than true saints endeavoring to translate into their life the ideal of their vocation.
Let me examine myself seriously: I am someone in the monastery; my name is on a door, or my number on a lingerie shelf; I walk through the halls as a figure in regulation dress. But these are merely appearances.
In reality what am I? If at this minute, I should appear before the Tribunal of God, what judgment would be passed upon me? In the community I can still keep up appearances, although more than one soul of keen insight must have seen through my life for some time. In any case, before God I am exactly what I am; and again, what am I?
What are the most glaring defects of my life? What observations are emphasized for my benefit in retreats? What faults am I asked to correct? What predominating cowardice does my examen reveal to me?
I must reflect, I must change, and to have the courage for this, I must pray much.
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Adapted from Meditations for Religious
by Father Raoul Plus, S.J. (© 1939, Frederick Pustet Co.)
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