St. Mary's Catholic Church of Tomahawk, WI

Detachment is Everything

Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is like to a merchant seeking good pearls, who when he had found one pearl of great price, went his way and sold all that he had, and bought it” (Mt. 13:45,46). The kingdom of God is of great price and if we want to possess it, we must detach ourselves from every inordinate appetite. St. Teresa of Avila speaking of detachment, says, “When it is practiced perfectly, it is everything. When detachment is practiced, it leads effectively to its goal: union with God”.

St. John of the Cross speaks of the golden rule of detachment. He says that the soul must always be inclined “not to the easiest thing, but to the hardest; not to the tastiest, but to the most insipid; not to things that give the great pleasure, but to those that give the least; not to restful things, but to painful ones; not to consolation, but to desolation; not to more, but to less; not to the highest and dearest, but to having no desires”.

It is hard to detach but it can be accomplished only by strength of the will. It demands decision and generosity. It is difficult to detach, but we can have a spirit of detachment and cultivate a desire for it so when an opportunity for detachment occurs, we can do so without natural repugnance. It means real death to selfish and worldly satisfactions, but this death will give birth to life. “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it itself produces much fruit” (Jn. 12:24,25).