The great value we ought to set on Spiritual Things

"I wished," says the Wise Man, "and there was given me sense; I asked it of God, and there came upon me the spirit of wisdom; and I preferred her before thrones and royal sceptres; and I made no account of riches in comparison therewith, nor of precious stones; for all gold in comparison with her is as a little sand, and silver shall be counted as clay before her." (Wisdom 7:7-9). The true wisdom on which we ought to set our eyes is perfection, which consists in union with God by love, according to the saying of the Apostle St. Paul: "Above all I commend to you charity, which is the bond of perfection" (Colossians 3:14), and joins and unites us with God. Now the esteem which Solomon says here he had of wisdom, we ought to have of perfection and of all that makes thereto. In comparison with that, all should appear to us as a little sand, a little clay and ordure, as the same apostle said: "I count all things as ordure and refuse in view of gaining Christ." (Philippians 3:8). This is a main means for gaining perfection: at the rate in which that esteem grows in our hearts, at the same rate will our perfection grow... The reason is, because such as is the value that we set upon a thing, such is the desire that we have of obtaining it: for the will is a blind power and follows what the understanding dictates and proposes to it; and according to the esteem and value that the understanding sets on a thing, so also is the will and desire to obtain it. And as the will is queen, and commands all the other powers and energies of the soul, as well interior as exterior, it follows that according to the will and desire that we have of a thing, will be our contriving and taking means thereto, and our efforts to obtain it. Thus it is very important to have a great esteem and appreciation of spiritual things and of what appertains to our spiritual progress, that so the will and desire of them may be great, and great also our effort to procure and gain them, for in all these things like goes with like.

A dealer in precious stones has need to know and form a right estimate of their value, under pain of being deceived, for in default of such knowledge and such estimate he will exchange and sell a stone of great value for a thing of very little worth. Our trade is in precious stones and pearls. "The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant seeking precious stones." (cf. Matthew 13:45). We are merchants of the kingdom of heaven: we must know and form a right estimate of the price and value of the merchandise in which we deal, that we be not deceived, changing gold for clay, and heaven for earth, which would be a huge mistake. And so says the prophet Jeremy: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the rich man in his riches; but let him that glorieth glory in this, in knowing and understanding me." (cf. Jeremiah 9:23-24). This is the greatest of all treasures, knowing and loving and serving God, and this is the greatest business we can have on hand, or rather, we have no other business than this, for this we were created... this is our end, our terminus and our glory.

– Fr. Rodriguez, Practice of Perfection and Christian Virtues, First Treatise, Chapter 1 (1609; Rickaby's translation 1929)

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