Dominica XV post Pentecosten - The Predominant Fault

PRESENTATION: Finding fault… with ourselves

One of St. Paul’s favourite topics is “Life in the Spirit”, or as we tend to call it nowadays, the Spiritual Life. St. Paul’s term is probably more illustrative of what we are striving for, though. Through our Baptism and Confirmation, the Holy Ghost has taken up residence in our souls, and is busily at work conforming us more and more closely to Christ. But as we know, God respects our freedom, and if we work against the Holy Ghost, He will stand back (metaphorically speaking, that is) and allow us to undo His work.

If we truly want to live the Life of the Spirit, with the Holy Ghost accomplishing and perfecting His efforts within us, then we need to do our part as well, which, as St. Paul points out in today’s Epistle, includes overcoming our faults. And there is one fault in particular that we all must overcome if we every hope to become saints, the one that each of us individually is drawn to more than any other, otherwise known as our Predominant Fault.

Our Predominant Fault, as the name suggests, is the one that tends to predominate over all the others, and thus over our manner of feeling, judging, willing, and acting. It tends to have a close relationship to our temperament, as for example, some temperaments are more inclined to sloth, others to gluttony and sensuality, and others to anger and pride. It is like a crack in a wall that seems to be solid, but has a fatal weekness that can cause it to crumble if it is struck in just the right place.

Our predominant fault is so dangerous as it often compromises our principle good point, the natural virtue that we tend to excel at above all the others. For example, a man is naturally inclined to gentleness, but if his predominant fault is pusillanimity, then his gentleness degenerates into weakness. Another person, on the contrary, may be inclined to fortitude, but if he gives into his predominant fault of anger, his fortitude becomes cruelty and even violence.

If we give free reign to our predominant fault, we become like the wheat field overrun by weeds.

EXPLANATION: From fault finding to finding our fault

Since it is of prime importance to eliminate our predominant fault, the first thing we need to do is identify it, and have no illusions about it, especially as our Adversary knows our fault quite well and makes good use of it, exploiting it like a general sending his troops against his enemy’s weakest defense.

For beginners in the spiritual life, it is often an easier task, because as we progress in our spiritual lives, our predominant fault begins to disguise itself as a virtue such as pride taking on the outward appearance of magnaniminity, or pusillanimity clothing itself in the appearance of humility. Yet we must succeed in discerning our predominant fault, because if we do not, we cannot fight it, and we will never truly have the Life of the Spirit.

In order to discern it, we must begin by asking God for light, praying: “Lord, make me know the obstacles I more or less consciously place in the way of the working of Thy grace in me. Then give me the strength to rid myself of them, and, if I am negligent in doing so, do Thou deign to free me from them, though I should suffer greatly.”

After praying for light, we must then undertake a serious examination of ourselves, asking ourselves: “Toward what do my most ordinary preoccupations tend, in the morning when I awake, or when I am alone? Where do my thoughts and desires go spontaneously?”

Next we should ask ourselves: “What is generally the cause or source of my sadness and joy? What is the general motive of my actions, the ordinary origin of my sins, especially when it is not a question of an accidental sin, but rather a succession of sins or a state of resistance to grace, notably when this resistance persists for several days and leads me to omit my exercises of piety?”

We can also ask our spiritual director what he thinks our predominant fault might be, especially if we have known him for some time. The predominant fault also experiences a particular repugnance to be unmasked, what fault am I particularly touchy about, especially when someone else brings it up? Lastly, in moments of true fervour, what is the inspirations of the Holy Ghost will ask us for the sacrifice of this particular fault.

If we have recourse to these different means of discernment, it will not be too difficult for us to recognize this interior enemy within ourselves.

IMPLICATION: Forcefully fighting our fault

Because the predominant fault is our principal interior enemy, we must combat it if we wish to live the Life of the Spirit. The predominant fault is not conquered, however, as long as there is no true progress in the spiritual life. If we are striving for progress, then we can employ the three principal means of combatting our fault: prayer, the particular examen, and a sanction.

Our prayer must be sincere: “Lord, show me the principal obstacle to my sanctification, the one that hinders me from profitting by graces and also by the exterior difficulties that would work to the good of my soul if I had greater recourse to Thee when they arise.” We might also borrow the prayers of the saints. St. Louis Bertrand prayed: “Lord, here burn, here cut, and dry up in me all that hinders me from going to Thee, that Thou mayest spare me in eternity.” Blessed Nicholas of Flüe used to pray: “Lord, take from me everything that hinders me from going to Thee. Give me all that will lead me to Thee. Take me from myself and give me to Thyself.”

Of course, sincere prayer does not dispense us from self-examination, rather it should lead to it. In the particular examen we focus not on all of our sins and faults, but on our predomiant fault, writing down each day, or each week the number of times we have yielded to that fault that seeks to rule us like a despot.

Finally, it is highly profitable to impose a sanction, or penance, on ourselves each time we fall into this defect. It may take the form of a prayer, a moment of silence, or an exterior or interior mortification. It makes reperation for the fault and satisfaction for the penalty due to it. At the same time we acquire more attentiveness for the future. Just think of those who have cured themselves of the habit of cursing by imposing upon themselves the obligation of giving alms in reparation each time they fall (something also known as the swear jar).

It has been said that when it comes to fighting our predominant fault, the spiritual combat is more necessary than the victory, because if we dispense ourselves from this struggle, then we abandon the Life of the Spirit, and we no longer tend toward perfection. We must never make peace with our faults.

When our Lord comes to us in Holy Communion today, let us ask for the graces we need to identify our predominant fault, and fight mightily against it.