SAINT-SINNER
CONFLICT

Topics: Apathy; Busyness; Choices; Compromise; Desires; Distractions; Human Nature; Hypocrisy; Self-indulgence; Temptation; Time Management; Values; Vices; Weakness; Weariness

References: Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13; 1 Corinthians 6:13–18; 10:21; Galatians 6:7–8; 1 Thessalonians 4:1–8; James 4:8

We want to be a saint, but we also want to feel every sensation experienced by sinners; we want to be innocent and pure, but we also want to be experienced and taste all of life; we want to serve the poor and have a simple lifestyle, but we also want all the comforts of the rich; we want to have the depth afforded by solitude, but we also do not want to miss anything; we want to pray, but we also want to watch television, read, talk to friends, and go out.

It’s a small wonder that life is often a trying enterprise, and that we are often tired and pathologically overextended.

—Ronald Rolheiser, The Holy Longing (Doubleday, 1999)