One of the great virtues related to charity is zeal. Zeal is the ardor of charity; it is love burning brightly. It is a fiery love for God, for His gracious truth, and for the salvation of souls.
Because of human fear, sloth, and self-seeking, zeal is rare. It is especially difficult to find in our present age, when relativism and “tolerance” are so prevalent. Both relativism and excessive tolerance are little more than sloth masquerading as something more benign. People consider truth to be relative and exalt tolerance more out of laziness than anything else. Seeking the truth and obeying it is just too much trouble.
Yes, zeal is quite hard to find today. Rare indeed are those fiery souls whose love for God and neighbor compels them to speak, teach, and suffer for souls and for the glory of God. Zeal once sent missionaries around the world, hungry for the salvation of souls, dedicating their whole lives to Christ and the glory of His vision.
With notable exception, many once-effective missionary orders slumber in a soporific universalism that presumes that most, if not all, will be saved without repentance and faith.
A great somnolence has been upon too many Church leaders, priestly and parental. Despite the horrific condition of our culture and of too many souls, a kind of sleepiness consumes most Catholics. There are silent pulpits with drowsy priests. There are silent dinner tables with parents who should speak out but are distracted by less important things instead of being vigilant for the salvation of their children’s souls and the protection of their moral lives.
Meanwhile, the secular and the satanic are passionate and dedicated. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light (Lk 16:8). Oh, for the zealous—ablaze with love for God, love for souls, and joy in the truth; who spend themselves sacrificially and who earnestly work for the Kingdom! They are among us, but they are too few.
We should seek this gift of zeal, but we must be careful—for zeal, like anger, is difficult to master. Zeal admits of defect but also of excess. Zeal is not some sort of wild running about; it is not indiscriminate argumentation or merely lashing out at evil. As with any gift of God, it must be rooted in and balanced by other virtues, natural and theological, such as charity, prudence, counsel, and meekness.
In this brief reflection I am drawing from Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, who himself draws from St. Thomas Aquinas. Because I am drawing from a lengthier work and reordering some of its content, I am not presenting exact quotes but rather selecting and paraphrasing his material in substantial ways and interweaving my own commentary. Fr. Lagrange’s thoughts are recorded in The Three Ages of the Interior Life, Vol II, Tan Publications pp. 213-223.
Zeal is the ardor of charity, the burning fire of love—but one that is enlightened, patient, meek, and disinterested.
Consider first some motives or causes of zeal:
The first motive for zeal is that God deserves to be loved above all things. Knowing this and experiencing His love and providence for us should light within us a fire of love Him. He is worthy of our love and gratitude. Zeal’s first object is an increasingly bright and burning love for God.
A second motive for zeal is the inestimable value of the immortal souls redeemed by Jesus Christ. We love them, and their well-being is important to us. We zealously seek to reach them, knowing that each is worth more than the entire physical universe. St. Paul wrote, I most gladly will spend and be spent myself for your souls; although loving you more, I be loved less (2 Corinthians 12:15). That means he will love and spend himself for them even if they do not return his love, even if they turn on him; this is a motivated zeal for souls!
Yet another motive for zeal is the contrary zeal with which the enemies of Christ and His Body the Church dedicate themselves to working disorder, corruption, and death. Their work is indescribably perverse and influential; many are lost through them. We work against them even as we pray that they will turn back from the road to damnation along which they are dragging so many others.
While zeal should be ardent, it must also be free from all excessive human self-seeking. Thus, it should be enlightened, patient, meek, and disinterested.
Enlightened – First, zeal should be illumined by the light of faith. If zeal is only animated by our natural spirit it easily drifts from the task of converting souls to God and begins to imagine a worldly utopia. Utopianism is often envisioned by restless, angry, blundering, ambitious people and features what is impulsive, unreasonable, trendy, and ephemeral.
Thus, Christian zeal must also be illumined by a faith rooted in obedience to Christian prudence and in the gift of wisdom and counsel. The goal is the glory of God, the triumph of His truth, and the salvation of souls. Zeal not enlightened by faith tends more to the tower of Babel than to the glory of God.
Patient and Meek – We must learn to avoid the tendency to become uselessly irritated by evil, venting in unproductive indignation and indiscriminate sermonizing. Patience and meekness teach us to tolerate certain evils in order to avoid greater ones, and to prevent ourselves from becoming bitter in the great struggle that faces us.
Most of us know people who have been in the battle just a little too long; people who, though understandably aggrieved by the condition of our culture, have tended toward bitterness and harsh condemnation of others who do not share their exact priorities or hold just the right combination of views on issues.
Zeal detached from charity too easily becomes mere indignation. God mysteriously tolerates certain evils, often for lengthy periods; He does this for some greater good. Although He bids us to fight error, evil, and injustice, He does not promise us immediate victory. The cross must be endured, even the grave experienced, but in three days we rise with Him. Patience and meekness engage the battle, endure the cross, and look to the vindication that will one day come.
Disinterested – The glory of God is our goal, not the winning of an argument, not a political victory. True zeal works for the Kingdom. It does not care who gets credit for the victory. We should not claim as our own what belongs to God. The battle is the Lord’s and to Him go the victory and the spoils. Neither should we appropriate to ourselves what belongs to others. We should never claim credit for what God or others have done; we should rejoice that God has worked it, through and through. Zeal for the Kingdom is our work. It is not about our glory; it is about God’s glory, His truth, and the salvation of souls.
In the end, zeal is the ardor of charity: enlightened, patient, meek, and disinterested. While zeal is too often lacking today, we should not presume that the solution is a kind of reckless zeal that indiscriminately and foolishly lashes out and manifests bitterness or anger.
Zeal is for God’s glory and for the salvation of souls. Like anger, it is difficult to master. It is needed as never before, but it must be true zeal, not some human imitation of it.
Lord, give us true zeal! Give us the zeal such as your servant and prophet Jeremiah spoke of when he said, If I say, I will not mention the Lord, or speak any more in his name, there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. (Jer 20:9-10). Give us the zeal of St. Paul, who said, I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls (2 Cor 12:15). Yes, Lord, give us fiery zeal; give us the ardor of charity for You, Your people, and Your truth. Let zeal for Your house consume us, that we may be a fiery warmth and a purifying fire to all around us. In Your grace we pray. Amen.
This song says, “Fire, fire, fire, fire fall on me. On the day of Pentecost, the fire fall on me.”
Thank you very much for this teaching.
Thank you, thank you, Father. We need your words of moderation in these times of confusion. The laity wants to help and support faithful priests like you, but anger and shame often prevail and are not helpful in this battle. God bless you.
For all the lack of zeal in the world today why is it we have no shortage of zealots?
“In the end, zeal is the ardor of charity: enlightened, patient, meek, and disinterested. While zeal is too often lacking today, we should not presume that the solution is a kind of reckless zeal that indiscriminately and foolishly lashes out and manifests bitterness or anger.”
Ok….Msg Pope, give me three examples of good zeal that you have seen in your parishioners this past week. I understand that zeal begins in the heart but often when I read these very good essays I think they miss the practical examples.