Duty and devotion

By Barbara A. Schoeneberger

St. John of Martha Celebrating Mass by Miranda (public domain).

A fellow blogger inspired this post when she wrote about her frustrations with Holy Days of Obligation being celebrated during the week, which necessitates our attending Mass according to Church law. Many people feel that way, some to the extent that they skip Mass, but not so this blogger who went because it was her duty to go whether she liked it or not.

Life is like that. We all have duties, some of which become outright oppressive at times. Who hasn’t been tempted to shirk them at home, at work, or church? The concupiscence of our human nature is constantly at war with our spirit which urges us on to the noble acts required by our status as children of God. Fulfillment of all of our duties according to our state in life and its attendant obligations is a virtuous act of filial piety, something we tend to rebel against now and then. Filial piety flows into devotion, which St. Thomas Aquinas tells us, is “the will to do promptly all that pertains to the service of God.”


Continue reading at Barb's blog Suffering with Joy.