Harry, I was thinking you could have just prescribed a pill for my hypertension?” the patient asked.
“I would gladly do that for you, Ted,” the doctor replied.
“So, why did you have to ask me to come over for a formal appointment?”
“As you would clearly understand,” Harry patiently explained. “I would have readily given you what you were asking me for, but as a doctor and above all as your friend, I believe that I couldn’t give you a simple prescription.”
“Ah, come on, Harry!” Ted pounded on the table.
“I know you’re going to say, ‘How’s this different from our usual dinner or garden party consultations?’” the doctor said.
“Yeh, you took it right out of my mouth!”
“Those were, if I recall, prescriptions for headaches, colds and stomach aches,” Harry reminded Ted.
“So how’s hypertension goin’ to be different from them?”
“It’s common knowledge that hypertension is a potential killer, Ted.”
“I know that, but don’t you all just ask us hypers to pop the pill?”
“Usually yes, but the yes comes with a no when you don’t combine the pill with the proper lifestyle, Ted.” Harry tried to explain.
“Lifestyle?” Ted cringed at the word.
“Yeah, lifestyle. A pill can only do so much. It is important to combine that with a healthy lifestyle through a good and balanced diet, exercise and reducing stress related activities.”
“You’re asking me to change my lifestyle, Harry?”
“Yes, that is, if you want to live happier and longer not only for yourself but also for your family.”
“But you’re gonna ask me to not eat this or that, to….”
“Look, Ted, I’m not only going to be a bad doctor but also a lousy friend if I didn’t tell you these.”
“So happy days are over then, doc?”
“Not really,” the doctor smiled.
* * *
Something similar happens to people who consult a spiritual director regarding their struggles. They are often inclined to receiving some ‘magical spiritual pill’ to counteract their defects, faults and miseries.
I could only imagine how funny it would sound if someone dropped in to ask, “Father, would you have a pill for my longstanding bout with impatience?”
Like doctors, we also wish that the remedy would be that simple. And like doctors, –if we wanted to be true Shepherds of our Lord– we aren’t satisfied with giving a quick fix. And unlike doctors, we are dealing with saving souls, and not merely someone’s life. Both are important, but the former is definitely much more valuable.
So like doctors, we lament that we cannot simply give a ‘pill’ for pride, lust, greed and man’s other capital vices. Naturally, there are circumstances that may only require simple advice such as recommending some prayers, how to improve some aspect of piety or additional practices of penance and mortification. But even these would require being situated within a healthy spiritual lifestyle if one sincerely desires a more enduring and fruitful effect of grace.
Let’s take the example of attending Sunday Mass. Concretely, concerning not arriving late for the Lord’s Day. All this may trivially be resolved by tweaking one’s schedule, making the sacrifice of waking up earlier or making the sacrifice of shortening some leisurely indulgence. But this is not all!
One has to be helped to understand the Mass within the context of one’s entire Christian existence. Otherwise, one will only go to Mass out of compliance or routine. If one doesn’t capture this, he can go through the entire week not channeling his thoughts, actions and words towards that culminating divine moment of receiving our Lord’s grace literally fleshed and poured out for us.
Another example would be overcoming some vice. For starters, someone may be advised to avoid the occasions of sin, to prime his life of prayer and sacrifice and frequent the sacraments. These sound like a multi-power tablet of graces that would render one immune to sin. But again, not totally!
If one only wishes a pill to counteract his pride, lust, sloth or anger but without understanding how his sins affect his entire Christian living, then he may end up only seeking some spiritual palliative for his conscience. Instead of understanding deeper the root of his sins, their effects upon his person and relations, he is only addressing the fact of his sins but not the fact of the sinner who must commit himself to a lifestyle of conversion.
This lifestyle is woven through one’s entire day through constant acts of piety, sacrifice and the sacraments. Unknown to many, the lifestyle of conversion is not some sad and drab existence of wading through sins and miseries. It is above all a joyful lifestyle found in the chained moments and occasions of grace that our Lord offers us in countless opportunities throughout the day: generosity, order, cheerfulness, service, diligence, honesty and kindness, etc.
Thus, like doctors, we priests also would often say: “If symptoms persist… Consult your doctor!”