Another selection that troubles me. Please help

[Mr.Blank1.5]

On the day when she wants to receive her God, she spends part of the morning thinking of temporal matters. If it is a man, he will be thinking about his deals and his sales. If it is a married woman, she will be thinking about her household and her children. If it is a young girl, her thoughts will be on her clothes.

If it is a boy, he will be dreaming about passing pleasures and so on. The lukewarm soul shuts God up in an obscure and ugly kind of prison. Its possessor does not crucify Him, but God can find little joy or consolation in his heart. All his dispositions proclaim that his poor soul is struggling for the breath of life.

After having received Holy Communion, this person will hardly give another thought to God in all the days to follow. His manner of life tells us that he did not know the greatness of the happiness which had been his.

A lukewarm Christian thinks very little upon the state of his poor soul and almost never lets his mind run over the past. If the thought of making any effort to be better crosses his mind at all, he believes that once he has confessed his sins, he ought to be perfectly happy and at peace. He assists at Holy Mass very much as he would at any ordinary activity. He does not think at all seriously of what he is doing and finds no trouble in chatting about all sorts of things while on the way there.

This is a selection by a larger piece by St. Jean Vianney from this previous thread forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=518382

The whole issue about lukewarmness has been troubling me for months. Is St. Vianney saying that we cannot have any thoughts other than the Eucharist on Sundays, or am I misinterpreting this? Also, are we really not allowed to talk about any other things on the way to mass? I understand that we are to put God above all things, but reading this makes me worry that any secular related matter is an affront to God. I need help please.

 

[teachccd]

Would you think that the priest who is celebrating Mass has no outside thoughts on his mind? While it is definitely wrong to be lukewarm as a Christian, one cannot take this to extremes. Unless we are in the monastic era, we are going to have continuous thoughts in our minds regarding our families and resposibilities. These thoughts in no way detract from a fervency of the faith. I believe that the tolerance exhibited among many Christians are what Paul talks about when he speaks of being lukewarm. Are we cafeteria Catholics whereby we preach one thing and practice another? We must stand firm in our faith in order to uphold the teachings of the gospel.

But, to answer your question, I would have to think that if you have a fervent love for our Lord then you would have to take care of the family and whatever He provided for your stewardship. This would mean interaction and thoughts on a Sunday. That is my two cents. I am not a theologian but I do have a great love of God and I stand on those credentials… teachccd

 

[fhansen]

This would be the ideal. The closer to holiness we are the more prone we are to act in the way St Jean describes. But holiness can’t be forced or pretended-it’s something to be strived for.

 

[JoanREDirector]

I would think the good pastor means that we take all our burdens, and that would include our legitimate cares, our failings, our distractions, to the foot of the cross and leave them there.

We all have burdens but the “lukewarm” person is the one who doesn’t put them down and rest in Jesus when he has the chance. Putting them down is hard to do. You might say our little way of salvation is putting them down over and over.

 

[Mr.Blank1.5]

I would think the good pastor means that we take all our burdens, and that would include our legitimate cares, our failings, our distractions, to the foot of the cross and leave them there.

We all have burdens but the “lukewarm” person is the one who doesn’t put them down and rest in Jesus when he has the chance. Putting them down is hard to do. You might say our little way of salvation is putting them down over and over.

This might seem like an obvious question, but how does one offer their burdens to Christ? I’m pretty sure I have an idea, but I’m not exactly sure.

 

[JoanREDirector]

This might seem like an obvious question, but how does one offer their burdens to Christ? I’m pretty sure I have an idea, but I’m not exactly sure.

You just say, “O good Jesus, I place all my cares in your merciful hands.” Then, imagine Jesus taking you in His arms and pressing you to His Sacred Heart. Just rest there for awhile. He’ll let you know when it’s time to go.

Repeat whenever you feel overwhelmed or distracted.

 

[JaredR]

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt 6:21). When we are preoccupied with everything but the Eucharist on Sunday morning, we’re not appreciating the greatest treasure on Earth. It’s almost like the Eucharist is just another item on the to-do list. Really, Sunday Eucharist should be the highlight of our day or even our week. The whole week should be oriented towards the Lord’s day. But the lukewarm soul is only going through the motions and does not take care to enter into the mystery of the Lord’s Supper.

We all get distracted though, so don’t sweat it too much. It’s the “chronic blindness” that we would want to worry about, but if you take your faith seriously enough to be here talking about it, you are probably not like the lukewarm souls in St. Vianney’s lesson.