Today, we are face to face with a dim and grim reality, that is, in a spiritual sense. It seems that our generation is trying to avoid anything that has something to do with mortification, penance, or sacrifice. Our youth, more so those who are well provided with all sorts of pleasures and comforts, call the acts of mortification passé or old practice, and acts of self-denial as shots of “kill joy”.
It might be well to understand the true significance of mortification, which comes from the Latin words mors-mortis, meaning “death.” Mortification is related not to one’s clinical or physical death — the stopping of the brain and heart functions. It pertains more to dying to oneself or self-love. Dying to oneself is denying whatever provides pleasure and too much comfort, hence stepping out of the comfort zone. To mortify is to deny pleasure, even legitimate ones.
Carry your cross daily and follow me
Jesus addresses us all: “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Lk. 9:23). In this particular passage, it must be noted that Jesus hurled His challenge to all and not only to His closest friends. This can only mean one thing: that self-denial is a Catholic call to duty. The practice of mortification is not exclusively for the priests and the religious, but an open invitation to every Christian disciple. In a spiritual sense, while men and women of the world are born to live, we who follow the footsteps of Jesus are born to die. To attain a solid Christian spirituality, mortification is a necessity. To draw closer to the crown of glory, one has to carry the cross, undergo passion and death.
Scary huh? There is no Easter Sunday without a Good Friday, for beyond the cross of Jesus Christ lies the hope and glory of His resurrection.
More to be admired than imitated
In the past, acts of mortification include abstinence from meat and fasting for many days, pilgrimage on foot, using sackcloth for underwear, sleeping on flat and rough boards, and even flagellations. Numerous saints used one or all of the above means of dying to self. Some of the mortifications practiced by these heroic saints are more to be admired than imitated.
For sure, God desires not want penance for its own sake. Our Father God wants us to enjoy life and live it to the full (Jer. 29:11). However, beyond any doubt, as all spiritual writings can attest, mortification is meritorious for any serious disciple who wants to be intimately related with Jesus Christ. Without mortification no one can simply follow the footsteps of his Master.
Mortify as we aspire for holiness
To aspire for holiness, we need to fight our enemies both from within and from without, deep within self such as lust and dishonesty and temptations arising from worldliness. It is not solely sufficient to win spiritual victories against sin and the devil, as it is also necessary to overcome our rebellious flesh, our concupiscence, ang pagnanasa ng laman at ang kahinaan ng tao.
One cannot deny that there is an ongoing rebellion within us, the flesh is warring against the Spirit. No believer is exempted from this continuing inner struggle, unless he claims that he too was immaculately conceived like our Blessed Mother.
St Paul complains about the “battle within” in one of his letters: “What I do, I do not understand, since I do not do what I want but I do what I hate” (Rom. 7:15). This rebellion in our human nature is a result of Original Sin. The first sin of our first parents has caused the weakening of our natural inclination to follow the good. Because of the fallen nature in us, there is a need to mortify or die to oneself. From this situation of our fallen nature is where mortification or dying to self is said to be necessary. Only after taming the animal in us will our body be worthy to be called the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16).
Before our passion enslaves us
The saints were wont to say: “It is better to enslave our passion before our passion enslaves us.” A venerable priest once appeared before his congregation in a kingly robe, a royal crown, and a scepter. When asked for a reason for such an unusual costume, he replied:
“Don’t you know that I am a king!”
“A king? But whom do you rule?” they inquired.
“My subjects,” the priest answered.
“And who are your subjects?” they pressed on.
“My evil inclinations!” he exclaimed.
The priest was right in giving himself the title of a king. And all of us could be kings ruling over our passions by our daily acts of mortification. After prayer there is no other way of ruling our passions than by denying its demands. St. Paul writes: “Now those who belong to Christ [Jesus] have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24). To crucify our flesh is to experience mortification.
Daily acts of mortification
The following acts of mortification, even outside the Lenten Season, may prove beneficial for one’s spiritual nourishment:
- Always wear a cheerful smile especially for those who bother you;
- Spend more time each day before the Blessed Sacrament and in Scripture reading;
- Forego movies for two months;
- Study harder than usual;
- Suspend shopping of expensive shirts, clothes, shoes, perfumes, and other non-essentials for two months;
- Be silent when unjustly accused
- Fast on words for those who are talkative;
- Forego softdrinks, beer drinking, and cigarette smoking for a few months;
- Reduce by as rnuch as 50% the time consumed for make-up, footspa, and other vanities.
Do not tell anyone that you are mortifying
Beware lest you fall into the same trap as the hype about gift-giving during Christmas, which may become a force of habit more than a personal decision to actually share. In short, our dying to self must sink deep into our system and not just remain a fad or an “in” thing. Every action done for the wrong reason or by mechanical force of habit is a defeated act in itself, robbed of its true worth.
Do not tell anyone that you are fasting, doing penance, or helping the poor. “Do not let the right hand know what your left hand is doing” (Mt. 6:1-4). The moment you reveal your sacrifice, you lose your merit.
In self-imposing acts of mortification the intention is important. And the only valid intention in offering a sacrifice is the desire to be united with Jesus on the cross for the salvation of souls and for the greater glory of God. We carry our cross to give more crowns to God.
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