Fulfilled

 It could be said that if a person lives in seclusion, he does not need a habit. But then what is the purpose of wearing a habit? They will keep you warmer in the cold, but hotter in the heat. But then, the more the habit is worn, the more it deteriorates. and in the case of some orders who espouse poverty in their solitude, one habit is the usual quota for a solitary. 

But regardless of these things, it is the Lord who gives us our habit,  to wear. To say it is not necessary for a solitary to wear a habit is to say, Jesus doesn't care, and disregards who sees the habit or the monk.

In the matter of anything the Lord might insist on, the solitary is seen by the Lord, and his attitude is known, and if the monk disdains his habit, is he not also disdaining the Will of the Lord? It should be sufficient that He has spoken; all that is necessary is obedience. It may not be necessary to wear the habit in order to carry out one's mission, but in carrying it out, the Lord also regards the depth of our obedience. The habit may make secular people uncomfortable, and some religious cite that discomfort as a reason not to wear their habit; we must not discomfort others; the Lord wore poverty on the cross, and He intends that we should experience that empty poverty with Him, and to the extent we make an effort to carry out His Will as faithfully as we can, we will also experience His joy, for in union with Him, it will be possible to feel what He feels.

Then there is the case where a secular person wishes to live his life religiously, for Jesus and in accordance with His Will. It may come to pass that a secular person feels such identification with Jesus, that he wishes to be seen as being such an obedient person, that his own will is submerged in Christ. If He states He wishes a person to wear a habit, why not permit him to fulfill the Will of the Lord? Some will say not to wear the habit because it will confuse the secular people, but if a person wears a habit out of obedience to God, it will not confuse anyone. 

If a life is lived in exemplary virtue, it will not confuse anyone, but clarify the simple mandate that we should obey God, because obdience is of God. and if authorities refuse to permit a person to wear a habit simply because they can say a person ought not to, then there is a conflict which ought not to have arisen, and indeed, if a person was seen to be fitting in wearing the habit, then there is no reason to oppose it, unless there be some personal moral problem.

Indeed, obedience may cause conflict with those whom it should evoke conversion, in the life of one in authority and in the life of one dedicated to God out of love for embracing His Will.

Indeed, during the disorders in France, many religious were beheaded because they proclaimed their committment to God by wearing their habit instead of repudiating their committment to God's Will  by taking off the  habit. Indeed, it might have been preferable to  renounce one's convictions and live, but to those for whom it mattered, that was not possible.

In these days, it is fashionable to renounce religious life and discard religious garb, in order to give allegiance to something that hates Christianity altogether.

If a lay person (secular) wishes to live in accordance with virtues of a religious life, why prevent him from wearing his habit it he feels the conviction? The people themselves will repudiate that person if they do not live up to the virtues of religious. Phonineness and selfishness are not the signs of religious virtue.

One ought not to overlook the desires of God. It is the desire that all people should love God, and He goes to great lengths to provide grace so there might be virtue, and love so that we may know love and thus know the love of God. He goes to extraordinary lengths to reach out to people to heal their sicknesses and forgive their sins so they might be fit to live with Him in eternal happiness. He sends lay people to convert to religious for sake of making it obvious what virtue is and what its existence accomplishes in human lives. 

A priest who is the pastor of a parish ought not to cancel confessions without reason. He is placed where he is so that God may dispense His mercy by forgiving their sins and restoring them to grace so they can carry out their vocations to please God and be happy. The secularisation of religious life has sterilised Christianity and rendered it infertile, and it displeases the Lord. He created us as we are but not without the invisible aid He provides that explains all things to people so they might discover the joy of loving God.

By the same token, we were not made for debauchery and immoral and lascivious living. We were not created to live an entire life for the purpose of gathering wealth, possessions and power, and souls who are dedicated to such things are destined for suffering, sadness, despair and emptiness. 

Ordinary people who are filled with love are occasions of God's mercy toward us. Questioning His motives for allowing misfortune in lives overlooks the fact that it is precisely in suffering and pain and death that we are freed of sin and all things that prevent our happiness, contrary to what people think. The natural way of thinking sees suffering and pain as something to be avoided because it is so unpleasant. But Jesus Himself deliberately appeared in our midst and healed us, fed us, and provided spiritual nourishment in His words and deeds, so all people might look on His life and realize where happiness actually lies.

Certainly, from a human perspective, the scourging He endured ought to have been sufficient, yet we see that it was not, because the desire to kill Jesus was so strong that it went to extra lengths to carry out torture to the nth degree, in a futile attempt to oblitterate Jesus altogther. Many a saint has realizes this and has embrace the unthinkable in participating in the life of Jesus, in the scourging, the coronation with thorns and in the nailing of His Body to the cross in crucifixion, so that the nails might fulfill their destiny and fasten us all to Him to be purified and made wothy of His love. It certainly seems that was His motive in undergoing such an eradication. Those who through exemplary love enter into such a conformity to His divine love, even fpr a brief time every day, will find the truth made manifest to them in unmistakable terms. The proud scoff at Him that He does not make things more obvious, but they lack spiritual insight and in its place is sheer empty desocation in which there is no love, no kindness and no regard for other people.

There is one Good above all others that ought attract  our hearts and minds, and it is the unflinching love of Jesus for us all in every circumstance, diminishing our our sorrows by replacing them with His love.

Be still for a few moments. In every hour, be still long enough to hear His whispering "I love you". One day a trasnformation begins and a person is fulfilled in all  possible ways.