“Sickness is the acid test of spirituality, because it discloses whether our virtue is real or sham.”

If with the first three chapters, St. Alphonsus makes the case for obedience to God—the excellence of this virtue, and that man’s ultimate happiness derives from it—in these chapters, St. Alphonsus gets practical, turning his attention to those instances where obedience to God can sometimes be especially difficult.

In particular, he focuses on our susceptibility to sickness, and stresses the importance of obedience to God’s will in times of infirmity.

That renders these chapters especially relevant to our own day, when it should be apparent that most of our suffering over the past year has come from our attempt to avoid suffering, and certainly not to accept it in the spirit of trust and docility which St. Alphonsus here describes.

Indeed, in some places, Alphonsus’ words seem almost prophetic:

“It often happens,” St. Alphonsus writes, “that some, on the occasion of a slight illness, or even a slight indisposition, want the whole world to stand still…”

Sound familiar?

Links

Uniformity with God's Will Full text: http://www.catholictreasury.info/books/uniformity_with_Gods_will/un3.php

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Judging Freedom

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