Spiritual Corner -- Spiritual Tepidity

CHRIST said, “MY CHILD, spiritual tepidity is another name for halfhearted service of God. A tepid man does not usually avoid his duty, but neither is he enthusiastic about it. He does as little as possible, and often does it through habit. He has lost the joy of serving Me.

2. When you start to grow lukewarm in serving Me, consult your spiritual director. You are slipping into a dangerous condition of soul on which your future may depend. The tepid soul is afraid to exert itself. It begins to look for consolation from the worldly things around it. The tepid man has contracted a disease which brings spiritual death. The germs hat will kill his soul are laziness and worldliness.

THINK: Tepidity, as a mood, comes to most people at some time or other. In this mood one loses for the moment his enthusiasm and zeal in working for God and Heaven. The really tepid man, however, is one who has allowed this mood to become a habit. As a result, he now has no desire for prayer, and he no longer fears and fights temptations as he should. One who does not arouse himself against tepidity, loses many actual graces and opportunities to do good. Without perceiving it, he is slipping closer and closer to serious sin by failing to recognize the occasion of sin.

PRAY: Lord, protect me against this disease. How will I end up if I start so easily to grow tepid? Will I look for ease and rest on earth, as though I had already arrived in the heavenly country? I still have to fight against the enemies of my soul, and I cannot afford to act as though I were secure against serious sin. In prayer, work, and penance let me serve You. I shall seek to know Your Will ever more clearly so that I may serve You, not in my own way, but in the way which You desire. Amen.

Yours,
Fr. John Wang
(Excerpt from “My Daily Bread” Chapter 58)