Servant of God Father Isaac Thomas Hecker, C.S.P.
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HECKER REFLECTION: PERFECTION IN LIFE

2/24/2014

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The following are unpublished thoughts of Servant of God Isaac Hecker on the spiritual life.  Written in July 1860, just before the election of Abraham Lincoln and the coming of the Civil War, these reflections are drawn from his  personal notes and contain a great deal of practical advice on developing the spiritual dimension of your state in life.  This text is drawn from Hecker’s personal papers under the title, Notes on the Spiritual Life.
 
How many of us have an erroneous view of the object of our present life? When there are trials, afflictions and sorrows; we seek to escape from them or get rid of them.  The life of a Christian upon the earth should be free of all that gives pain and trouble and accompanied instead with health, joy and uninterrupted flow of delights.  This is a most false view of the Christian life.  It is more like that of a non-believer whose does not look for happiness beyond this world. 

The essence of the Christian life in this world is one of probation, merit and trial.  By our being exercised by these virtues that we are made fit for heaven.   Christian perfection is obtained through faithful performance of the common duties of everyday life.  These duties are imposed upon us by God himself.  Our minds and bodies with all of their instincts, powers and organs are designed expressly for their performance and fulfillment.  Society (that is the church and state) depend upon their right and faithful performance for their welfare and prosperity.  God has written these duties in so plain and large characters in our mental, moral and physical constitution, so that no one can ignore them.  God has so constituted human nature that man’s moral nature finds one of the sources of the greatest satisfaction and delight in the fulfillment of these duties of everyday life.
RESPONSE: REV. PAUL ROBICHAUD, CSP

Christian perfection comes about for each of us not through great heroic actions that are performed by both the martyrs and saints, but rather through the small common duties of everyday life.  Servant of God, Father Hecker firmly believed in God’s Providence – God’s will for our lives.The place that each of us found ourselves at any moment of our lives was the place that God had brought us to, in fact. If we remain attentive to God’s voice, God will arm, strengthen and protect us and keep us from harm.  In turn, if we are where God wants us to be at a specific time and place, so no matter what comes about to challenge our faithfulness, God will give us the strength to endure. 

Father Hecker takes this a step further. The growth of a Christian toward perfection involves not running away from the challenge or difficulty but going through the experience. “The essence of the Christian life,” says Father Hecker is one of probation, merit and trial.”  We have to suffer through the most difficult moments of our lives but we don’t do it alone for God goes through that experience with us. Hecker quotes Saint Philip Neri, another great Paulist patron. Neri says, “Paradise is not for corwards.”  “A Christian is a raw recruit for heaven. We drill – prepare for battle on earth  If we take on challenges or attempt to battle evil outside of God’s will for our lives, we will fail.  With God we can do almost anything but without God’s plan and spirit we can do very little. 

Paulist Father Paul Robichaud CSP is Historian of the Paulist Fathers and Postulator of the Cause of Father Hecker. His office is located at the Hecker Center in Washington D.C.
 
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HECKER REFLECTION: CELESTIAL RICHES

2/17/2014

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The following are unpublished thoughts of Servant of God Isaac Hecker.   This text is drawn from Hecker’s personal papers under the title, Notes on the Spiritual Life.  It was written in July 1860, just before the election of Abraham Lincoln and the coming of the Civil War.  These reflections are drawn from his personal notes and contain a great deal of practical advice on developing the spiritual dimension of your life.

Celestial Riches:

The sun might rise and set, the balmy breeze might float across our brow, the birds might sing their sweetest song, and the mountains, the trees, the flowers might all be lit up with the glory that recalls the days of paradise. The materials are all around us to make life holy, beautiful, most worthy of our time and energies and yet how few there are who appear to have the least appreciation of this. 

How many of us have an erroneous view of our present life? We desire to be free of trials, afflictions and sorrows or to escape them. We speak in a language that suggests that the life of a Christian on earth ought to be free from all that can give pain and trouble; that we should live with health, joy and an uninterrupted flow of delights. 

This is a most false view of the life of a Christian, it is more like might all be lit up with the glory that recalls the days of paradise. The materials are all around us to make life holy, beautiful, most worthy of our time and energies the aim of the non-believer who does not look for happiness beyond this world; it is the very essence of a Christian life in this world that it be one of probation, merit and trial. It is through these things that we are exercised in those virtues that fit us for heaven; it is by these that we acquire celestial riches, it is by these that we prepare ourselves to hear from Our Lord the consoling words “Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord.”


RESPONSE: REV. PAUL ROBICHAUD, CSP 

God provides us the things that we need in this world to triumph over sin and evil.   As Servant of God Father Isaac Hecker says in today’s reflection, “ The materials are all around us to make life holy, beautiful, most worthy of our time and energies.”  The work of our lives should be the realization of the both the joys and the resources that God makes available to us; and to trust that we can lean on these during the trials and hardship that also come with living as a Christian.   Father Hecker notes that many people are blind to God’s presence in their lives.  Missing God, they miss the resources and blessings God provides them and they see only the difficulties in life from which they seek to escape
Life for a Christian is filled with both joy and suffering.  In the trials that a Christian faces God who has triumphed over all things in the death and resurrection of Jesus accompanies us on our journey.  This perspective is something that people without faith do not experience or understand.   People who neither see nor believe that God is at work in their lives often seek to escape the world.   For Hecker it is in living through these trials of life that we grow in virtue and gain what he calls, “celestial riches.” 
  
Paulist Father Paul Robichaud CSP is Historian of the Paulist Fathers and Postulator osf the Cause of Father Hecker. His office is located at the Hecker Center in Washington D.C.
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HECKER REFLECTION: IMPERFECTIONS

2/16/2014

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The following are unpublished thoughts of Servant of God Isaac Hecker. This text is drawn from Hecker’s personal papers under the title, Notes on the Spiritual Life. It was written in July 1860, just before the election of Abraham Lincoln and the coming of the Civil War. These reflections are drawn from his  personal notes and contain a great deal of practical advice on developing the spiritual dimension of your life.

Living with our Imperfections


For beginners in the spiritual life the greatest obstacle can be a false standard of perfection. It raises a standard of perfection that is beyond our power to reach and causes us to give up and fail. We do not accomplish what is possible. Others suppose that the standard of Christian perfection is something that it is not.. For example, to suppose that it is possible for a person to avoid all kinds of venial sins.  When they have resolved to strive after this perfection and find that they cannot do this, they become discouraged and give up, and possibly fall into mortal sin. 


No one can avoid venial sin during one’s lifetime. It is contrary to the Catholic faith to believe that anyone can. Many venial sins we can avoid and our striving will not be in vain. But venial sins that are not deliberate and spring mostly from our natural defects or from lack of attention, these are imperfections which no human being can ever completely avoid; except the Blessed Mother of Our Lord.  She was enabled to do so through a special favor of God. To some, the idea of being a Christian is to be without any fault and without any imperfections.  As Saint Francis de Sales says, what we need to rid ourselves of - is egoism, self love and at the hour of our death we shall be glad.
RESPONSE: FR. PAUL ROBICHAUD, CSP

To beginners who seek to develop a spiritual life Servant of God Father Isaac Hecker warns us to go easy on ourselves.  Learning to love God and place God first in our lives is the work we seek to do. Father Hecker is concerned that we have don’t develop a false sense of Christian perfection. He uses the example of venial sin. The Church defines sin in two cagegories, mortal and venial. Most practicing Christians oftentimes commit venial sin and to work at ridding ourselves of this is a good thing. Where Hecker cautions us is to be aware that venial sin is often not deliberate but happens because of bad habits or lack of attention. These can be difficult to overcome. In attempting to lead a better life, start with what is not difficult to change. If we attempt too much we may become discouraged and rather than commit less sin, we end up committing more.
 
Paulist Father Paul Robichaud CSP is Historian of the Paulist Fathers and Postulator of the Cause of Father Hecker. His office is located at the Hecker Center in Washington D.C.
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HECKER REFLECTION: VOCATION IN LIFE

2/1/2014

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The following are unpublished thoughts of Servant of God Isaac Hecker.   This text is drawn from Hecker’s personal papers under the title, Notes on the Spiritual Life.  It was written in July 1860, just before the election of Abraham Lincoln and the coming of the Civil War.  These reflections are drawn from his  personal notes and contain a great deal of practical advice on developing the spiritual dimension of your life.
 

God has given everyone who comes into this world a vocation and called them to a certain state of life; given them faculties, dispositions and graces to fulfill the special duties of their station and of securing salvation in this station with the greatest security and the least amount of difficulty.  Although all stations in life may be good in themselves, not all are equally as good irrespective of the person.  One station in life may have greater difficulties and be more dangerous than another, yet is one is called by God to this station, it will be to us the least dangerous and the most secure.  The safest way of salvation for each of us is the way in which God calls us.
 
When will we learn that the place of our sanctification and the means of our sanctification are found in our station in life; in the fulfilling of those duties which God has attached to it.  It is a common error to imagine that one could serve God better and sanctify one’s soul with less difficulty in some other station in life different from the one in which God has placed us.  It is not by imitating the action of others but by faithfulness to God’s grace and the inspirations of His Spirit in the circumstances of where God places us that one can attain sanctity.
 
Our means of sanctification is to be found in the faithful performance of all those duties immediately around us and this is true of all the states of life, whether we are monks or nuns, popes, priests or laymen, lawyers or statesmen, mechanics or laborers, kings or beggars.  If we cannot make our sanctity out of them and in this moment, we might as well give up on the idea of becoming a true and faithful Christians.


RESPONSE: FR. PAUL ROBICHAUD, CSP
 
There is an old saying that says, “grow where you are planted.”  This is the message of Servant of God Father Isaac Hecker this week.  God has given each of us a vocation and together with this work, God has provided the resources, talent and ability for us to be able to do this work.  The inverse is also true.  If we don’t have the talent or ability, perhaps we are in the wrong vocation.  Hecker describes a vocation as being dangerous and filled with difficulties.  He is not clear about what he means by “dangerous” but my guess is that he means spiritually dangerous; something that can cause us to drift away from God in our pursuit of other things.  Father Hecker starts with the premise that the safest way to heaven is to deal with where we are and what is happening to us right now.
 
Hecker says that sanctity comes from dealing with the responsibilities, people and moments that arise in our present.  Don’t spend your time wishing you were in a different station in life; something we probably all have done at some point.  And it is not through the imitation of others that we should respond.  Sanctity is found in being attentive to the promptings and inspiration of the Holy Spirit who has brought us to this particular time and space.  Father Hecker had a deep appreciation of the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Where we are at present has to do with the Providence of God and our ability to respond to the challenges of our vocation and be faithful about it comes from our attentiveness to the Holy Spirit within.
 
Paulist Father Paul Robichaud CSP is Historian of the Paulist Fathers and Postulator of the Cause of Father Hecker. His office is located at the Hecker Center in Washington D.C.
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