HOW TO Recognize Our Attachments and the Means We Must Use to fight Them

By Father Anselm Longpre

I.                   Signs of Attachments to Riches

1.      Solicitude, preoccupation, hurry in order to acquire them: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will seat (or drink), or about your body, what you will wear.   Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”  Mt. 6:25.

2.      Fear to lack something:  “He said to them, ‘When I sent you forth without a money bag or a sack or sandals, were you in need of anything?’ ‘No, nothing,’ they replied.”

3.      To worry much about the future:  Lk. 22:35.  “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His Justice, and all these things shall be added to you. Lk. 12:31.

4.      To desire luxury, in one’s home, one’s living quarters, one’s furniture, one’s means of transportation, at table, etc.  “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the one that is to come.”  Heb. 13:14.

5.      Never to be happy or satisfied with what one has: ‘If we have food and clothing, we shall be content with that.  Those who want to be rich are falling into temptation and into a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.”  I Tim. 6:8-10.

6.      To envy the rich:  “Tell the rich in the present age not to be proud and not to rely on so uncertain a thing as wealth but rather on God . . . “  I Tim. 6:17.

7.      To act in a covetous way and to hold to what one has:  Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, . . . But store up treasures in heaven.”  Mt. 6:19-20.

8.      To grumble in making alms:  ”But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing . . . “  t. 6:3.

9.      To have esteem and consideration for the rich and little care for the poor: “But woe to you who are rich, . . . But woe to you who are filled now.”  “Blessed are the poor in spirit”  Lk. 6:24-25 and Mt. 5:3.

10.        Not to count upon riches in the apostolate:  “ Not to rely on so uncertain a thing as wealth but rather on God.”  I Tim. 6:;17.

How to fight against attachment to riches?

1.      To be happy with what is necessary and truly useful, in one’s lodging, furniture, food, clothing, etc.

2.      To be happy with what one has and to thank God for what He gives us.

3.      To accept joyfully sometimes to lack what is necessary.

4.      Never to complain of the inconveniences of poverty.

5.      Not to become attached to what we have or what is given us to use:  our room, books, clothing, means of transportation, etc.

6.      Not to weep over losses.

7.      To give generously according to our means.

8.      To accept sometimes to give our services free of charge.

9.      To love and to visit the poor.

10.  To take care of and use with economy those things we have to use.

11.  Adopt the way of life of ordinary people.

12.  Moderation in the use of modern conveniences.

13.  Avoid getting mixed up in temporal matters and speculation as much as possible.

II.                SIGNS OF ATTACHMENT TO BODILY GOODS

HEALTH – REST – SATISFACTIONS – COMFORT

1.      Fear of getting tired, of becoming sick, of doing too much, of dying.

2.      Preoccupation about one’s body:  food, clothing, rest, comforts, pleasures, satisfactions.

3.      To seek out that which delights the taste buds, sight, the ear, the senses of smell and touch:  exquisite food, liqueurs, delicacies, music, perfumes, etc.

4.      A constant effort to obtain that which is most comfortable in one’s living quarters, in one’s clothing, in travel.

5.      Laziness, wasting time, little application at work.

6.      Immodesty in looks, in touch, in one’s bearing and in encounters with others.

7.      Complacency in certain delectations that one would like to have, without however, going beyond certain limits.

8.      Familiarities which provoke sexual emotions.

9.      Rest, sleep, recreations, days off, vacations sought out and prolonged longer than is really necessary.

10.  The fear of the least suffering, the least privation.

11.  Annoyance and discontent when the body is deprived of something.

12.  Murmuring and sadness in sickness or in poverty.

HOW TO FIGHT AGAINST ATTACHMENT TO BODILY GOODS ?

1. Renounce the cult of the body.

a)      remove any exterior adornment which is affected, worldly;

b)      avoid in clothing that which is luxurious, elegant, studied effeminate;

c)      give the body simply the ordinary care that necessity, decorum, and decency require;

d)     do not use delicate silky things common in worldly circles. “Make not provision for the flesh in its concupiscences” Rom. 13:14.

2. Apply yourself to practice conscientiously the most perfect chastity.

a)      keep modesty, in looks, in hearing, in conversations;

b)      fight all sensuality in senses of sight, bearing and touch;

c)      give up tender and sensitive friendships

3. Rise promptly and early in the morning.
4. Do not eat between meals unless there is a good reason, and be happy with what is served, never complaining.
5. Take necessary recreations but avoid idleness.
6. Work without respite until your strength is exhausted, always taking into account the rules of prudence.
7. Avoid abuse in the use of radio, newspapers, etc.
8. Do not complain about the weather, tiredness, sickness, discomfort, infirmities, sleeplessness, etc.
9. Accept joyfully to suffer in your body; “I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.” Rom. 12:1.
10. Impose upon yourself voluntarily some light penances, [such as. . . ] especially when afflicted by temptations of the flesh.
11. Practice fasting and abstinence as required by the Church.  (As this was written before Vatican II, it means the Traditional days of Fast and Abstinence).

I.                   SIGNS OF ATTACHMENT TO ONE’S OWN JUDGMENT

1. Desire of the esteem of men, complacency in praise.
2. Attachment to your ideas, your manner of considering things, your manner of acting.
3. Stubbornness, obstinacy in defending one’s point of view.
4. The spirit of independence by which you do as you please, despising the counsel of others, and escaping from obedience.
5. Impatience and anger when opposed.
6. Stratagems and even trickery to obtain your goal.
7. Presumption of rashness.
8. Touchiness, that is unable to put up with any remarks.
9. Arrogance which makes one sharp tongued.
10. Ostentation, affectation, which causes one to show off his knowledge, his relations, his influence.
11. Disobedience to superiors and little respect towards them.
12. The habit of criticizing everything, judging everything, condemning everything.
13. Intellectual laziness; one thinks it is not necessary for him to study.
14. Love of novelty, flights of enthusiasm for things new.  ”O Timothy, keep that which is committed to they trust, avoiding the profane novelties of words and oppositions of knowledge falsely so-called.”  (Tim. 6:20).

HOW TO FIGHT ABAINST ATTACHMENT TO ONE’S OWN JUDGMENT?

1. Distrust yourself, your thoughts, your judgments and your ideas.
2. Often take counsel and accept with joy those which are given to you.
3. Live your life in obedience to a superior.  Submit yourself in heart and in spirit to the church and to the duly constituted authorities (as long as they do not command what is sinful).
4. Combat the signs mentioned above by their contrary.

a)      Desire of esteem by desire of contempt.

b)      Attachment to your own ideas, by considering the well-founded ideas of others.

c)      Stubbornness by open-mindedness.

d)     The spirit of independence by the spirit of submission.

e)      Impatience by patience when opposed knowing that God’s will is in this opposition.

f)       Stratagems by simplicity.

g)      G. Rashness by the prudent seeking of advice.

h)      Touchiness by humble acceptance of remarks.

i)        Arrogance by humble speech and a humble tone of voice.

j)        Ostentation by learning to silence what need not be said.

k)      Disobedience by obedience and respect for superiors.

l)        A habit of criticism by the habit of speaking well of others and their enterprises.

m)    Love of novelty by a return to Tradition and age-old truth.