Christian life has been present in the West for 2000 years… and the Christian could be sad to see the decline of what was once an influence and social recognition. Some stiffening perhaps comes from this observation… as much as from inappropriate adjustments that dilute the Christian life. Every treasure of civilization needs to be reclaimed from generation to generation. The support of each person cannot be given by proxy, nor can we be satisfied with the opinion (“ I think that ”), we must go as far as adhesion in conscience, face to face. face with God. We cannot stay for long saying “ yes ” and doing “ no ” and vice versa, saying “ no ” and doing “ yes ”. One day our “ yes ” must be “ yes ”! The question must therefore arise: what could be an obstacle to adherence to the Christian life (and not only to the Christian faith)? We see at least 3 reasons:

1/ The evil that we suffer can in fact be an obstacle to welcoming the love of God, to Salvation and to conversion to live according to the Beatitudes, as disciples of Christ, in the midst of our world. And surprisingly, the harm we do and cause us to suffer does not appear to us as much of an obstacle to conversion, whether our own or that of others.

2/ The silence of God ! often invoked to lead one’s life without Him… But well used when a man wants to continue doing as he wants, without a policeman on his back.

3/ Finally, in a more subtle way: the conception we have of life with God can be an obstacle to conversion… Indeed, because we walk voluntarily with God, we should be exempt from going through difficulties… Because we love God good and are loved by God good, the world should be “ only happiness »… Our vision of happiness with God is therefore thwarted. Contradiction often appears as an obstacle to conversion and love towards God or towards our brother. The path in annoyance seems contradictory to the happiness that should be in our eyes, the walk with good God. Why are we not already in happiness walking with Christ, good God, while we try to live as authentic Christians? The Curé of Ars himself said: “ It seems that because we love the Good Lord a little, we must have nothing that upsets us, nothing that causes us to suffer. »… Nodet p 89/139 Yes, both Salvation given by Christ, total and irreversible, is not yet received by all… and thus men still walk in the harmful and fatal fumes of evil which continues to spread. And, at the same time, in the Salvation given, Christ calls his disciples to walk with Him … and therefore by carrying the crosses on a daily basis (and with Him), becoming then a more free and more selfless manifestation of our love towards Him…. whose authentic sheep recognize the voice and follow the steps. And this voice, gradually discovered in the history of the Jewish People, is much more often that of “a fine silence ” as for Elijah. (1 King 19:12)…contrarying our preference for “ clear and distinct ideas ” which would impose themselves on discernment… And during this time, a good number of conversions take place (like those of the catechumens) around the sometimes cooled disciple: enough to wake him up on the way, asleep…