there are two evils that comprise the only, or at least the main, enemies of the soul: a misguided love of the world and an excessive love of self...
I named the post where these words can be found For Solid Food Like This (Hold the Milk). As posts of mine go, it was unread for the most part. Last week I suggested that we all could spend an extra hour a week reading the Bible. But Frank, you may be thinking, where do we start? I think St. Bernard might have an idea or two.
In that homily, which is on the title of The Song of Songs, he recommends two of my favorite books from the Old Testament to tackle: The Book of Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes.
Comparing these two books to loaves of rich bread, here is what he says to us about them in regard to his quote above,
Of course, he is addressing the brothers in the Cistercian order. As such, he is no longer talking to mere babes in Christ, but to soldiers of Christ. No longer folks who believe, but folks who have committed their whole life to Christ and His Church. And today, he is speaking then to Christians who are ready to take the training wheels off their bicycles and really begin to ride. But why these two particular books? Here's what Doctor Mellifluus has to say,
The Book of Proverbs: Uproots pernicious habits of mind and body with the hoe of self-control.
Have we thrown self-control and self-discipline to the wayside? It appears that St. Bernard is describing the merits of this book as the first phase of recruit training to me. The process where we scrub off our old, worldly selves and become immersed in the culture of our new family. More than just a thought, where in our minds the light-bulb comes "on", this book deals in concrete actions that teach us how to become practicing Christians and children of God. The military analogy that pops in my mind? Marines aren't born, they're made. The same is true for Christians. And what of the second book?
Ecclesiates: by the use of enlightened reason, quickly perceives a delusive tinge in all that the world holds glorious, truly distinguishing between it and deeper truth. Moreover, it causes the fear of God and the observance of his commandments to be preferred to all human pursuits and worldly desires.
To me this is St. Bernard's "know your enemy" book recommendation, comparable to Sun Tzu's Art of War. The shocker to many is that the Church doesn't discard the use of reason, but she embraces it. Many have thought, "Why is Ecclesiastes even in the Canon of Scriptures?" Because the Church Fathers deemed this inspired book's merits far outweighed its demerits, and for the very reasons that St. Bernard cites above.
Qohelth describes the world as we know it. Writing as if he is King Solomon, "the Teacher" profiles all of the paths that people take in the world, and describes in pithy phrases the stark truth: all of these ways lead to dead-ends except one. Which is why the good Doctor can say this without batting an eye about these two books,
the former is the beginning of wisdom, the latter its culmination, for there is no true and consummate wisdom other than the avoidance of evil and the doing of good, no one can successfully shun evil without the fear of God, and no work is good without the observance of the commandments.
Tempted to skip these two books and head straight to the Song of Songs? I wouldn't recommend it and neither does St. Bernard.
Taking it then these two evils have been warded off by the reading of choice books, we may suitably proceed with this holy and contemplative discourse which, as the fruit of the other two, may be delivered only to well prepared ears and minds.
In other words, don't put the cart before the horse. Learn the fundamentals, and practice them constantly until they become second nature. No, I don't have this completely "wired" yet and probably never will. But we have to start somewhere and practice, practice, practice.
The Book of Proverbs is pretty straight forward, and the notes in your Catholic Bible should have all the resources you need to understand it. Ecclesiastes may be a little more challenging, but there is a lot of information available to help you along with the writer's, and thus the Holy Spirit's, reasoning. As Our Lord says,
but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
Come to the well.
