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Going from Cold to Hot

Fourth, there is the factor of fervor. You can
have 20 kids in a math class, and every single
one of them can be working on an exercise.
But not very single one of them will be putting
their whole heart into it. You can have 15 kids
at baseball practice, but not all 15 will be
giving their all for the whole two hours. Just
so, we can all say the words, “Lord, I offer this
up to you,” but we will not all say them with
equal fervor; the more meaning we pour into
them, the more merit we can acquire. When
sufferings come our way, for example, we can
accept them with different degrees of fervor:
reluctance, patience, gratitude, joy. As long as
we accept them out of faith, we will merit – we will help increase the flow of grace in the
Church. But if we accept them with a greater degree of faith (e.g. “Lord, you are giving me a
chance to unite myself more closely to Christ on the cross – OK, Lord, help me to share his
love as I share his pain!…”), there will also be a greater degree of merit. Jesus stressed this
factor when he identified the most important commandment: “You must love the Lord your
God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). He
said all. The implication is that we can love with different degrees of totality.

Sanctifying grace, union with Jesus, purity of intention, and fervor are four factors that help
determine the degree of merit that our prayers, virtuous actions, and sufferings (sacrifices) can
win for ourselves, the Church, and the world around us. So, to answer the original question,
there is much more to uniting our sufferings to Christ than simply saying the words, though
that is the necessary catalyst.

I hope this hasn’t discouraged you by giving the impression that the spiritual life is overly
complicated. It really isn’t. In fact, knowing that one simple action (a prayer, a headache, an
act of service, an honest word, a chore) can either open up a trickle or a torrent of grace is a
jewel of wisdom. It should fill us with optimism and enthusiasm. We don’t have to convert
nations or face lions in the Coliseum to do something glorious for God! Nor do we have to
learn complex yoga techniques in order to develop spiritual maturity – we just have to dig
deep into our soul before, during, and after our normal activities, and activate our faith so as to
plug them into our Christian mission of building Christ’s Kingdom. (By the way, the easiest
way to do that is to grow in the habit of “praying at all times” [1 Thessalonians 5:17]. When
we do that, the four factors kick in and intensify automatically.) This is less glamorous than
becoming a martial arts expert, because it is largely interior and invisible (to everyone except
you and God), and therefore requires more discipline. As St Paul put it, we “walk by faith, not

by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).

But the good news is, as always, that we are not alone. God, Mary, the angels and the saints
are all eager to help us, if we just give them the chance.

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