Calendar

Leader's School
Thur June 6, 7:00pm
St. Benedict's, BA
RE classroom #8

Ultreya-Tulsa
Fri June 7, 7:00pm
St. Mary's, Tulsa

Ultreya-BA
Fri June 21, 7:00pm
St. Benedict's, BA

Leader's School
Thur July 11, 7:00pm
St. Benedict's, BA
RE classroom #8

Ultreya-Tulsa
Fri July 5, 7:00pm
St. Mary's, Tulsa

Ultreya-BA
Fri July 19, 7:00pm
St. Benedict's, BA

Men's Weekend #31
Sept 26-29, 2002
St. John's, McAlester

Women's Weekend #31
Oct 10-13, 2002
St. John's, McAlester

SPIRITUALITY 101

SPIRITUAL REFLECTION- 61

Deacon Jim Breazile o.c.d.s.

Our heart, or personality is like a city's mint turning out coins of good works that are used to buy heaven.  But for those coins to have any value, they must be properly minted.  There are coins without the proper alloy that are good for nothing; works that seem good but are mixed with bad intentions; alms that incite to dishonesty; jealousy that is vengeance; devotion that is inconstant and superficial; and humility that is ambitious.

Finally, in order to be able to circulate, coins need a legal die. What will be the legal die for our good works? Saint Augustine gives an answer; "Man is God's coin that has Christ on the obverse and the crucifix on the reverse." We often mint coins that have a cross on the obverse and the devil on the reverse. These are the works to which Saint Ambrose referred to when he exclaimed: "Erase, erase, from your soul's coin the devil's image and put on it Christ's image!"

The coins of our mind, our heart, our spirit and our souls and the coins of our works should be minted in the same way, without alloy, forgery or illegal dies. They must be made of the purest gold and having firmly stamped on them the image of our Redeemer and of the crucifix.

DEVOTION

As Christians, who wish to live in the glory of Heaven for all eternity with our good Lord, we recognize the need to live our daily lives in constant devotion to Him. We are aware that in order to do this it is necessary to respond without delay to His will in all things at all times.  This demands that we remain constantly aware of His presence, and that we give Him glory in each minute of our lives. These assumptions are reasonable. This is exactly the attention that we would expect from anyone who truly loves us. Why then is it true that we find ourselves in need of continually renewing this resolution, because we recognize the many times during a day when we have not been faithful to His will? Is this just the concupiscence or weakness of our soul that makes it impossible to keep such a pledge?  If we listen to the words of our Lord, we know that this is not the case.  He gives us the commandment to be holy as our Father in heaven is holy.  He would not give us a commandment without giving us the means to obey.

The reason that our love for the Lord is not perfected to the point at which we never forget Him is that we love other persons or things more than we love Him.  We cannot have Him unless we have Him all the time in all things of our lives. In the last reflection, we noted that there are identities and opposites within our personality that bring us close to or restrain us from perfect love.  Identities that will assist our continual unity with the Lord are those things held in our hearts in which we recognize, meet and visit Him.  Opposites within our personalities that restrain us from the Lord are those things held in our hearts in which He is absent.

From this it may seem that perfection is then just around the corner for us. All we have to do is identify the opposites and amplify the identities and we are at home with the Lord.  As one might suspect, it is not as simple as that.  When we begin to look at the opposites, which are really what needs our attention, we will find that there are some items that we hold so dear that it seems impossible to give them up... even for God.  We say, "No, surely not! I would give up anything for God!" But we will find it is true that there are some things more dear to us than God!!!!"  It is these characteristics that block perfection and that must first be identified before they can be displaced.  Once identified we will find these items have so pervaded our personality that they have often come to identify our very self.  To remove them means to lose some things that are very much the means by which we identify ourselves.  It will be a grand warfare to remove them from our personality. They are so dear and one with us.

Some spiritual leaders refer to these opposites or opposing items to the Lord as our attachments, affectations, appetites or the world (e.g. Catherine  of Siena, St. Francis de Sales, Theresa of the Child Jesus and John of the Cross). Because we have attached ourselves to them and allowed ourselves to be identified with and by them, they are very much a part of our inner self.  It is clear that our lack of perfection brings us to the conclusion expressed in that famous quotation of Pogo, who said, "we have found the enemy and it is us!" In the following reflections we will consider some of the more obvious of these attachments and remedies for their removal. If we are to become persons of devotion it is necessary that all opposing elements of our personality be replaced by the image of Christ our redeemer and by the image of the crucifix, the symbol and instrument of our salvation. 

THE NEW CATHOLIC CATECHISM:

ARTICLE NO. 717

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John  (Jn. 1:6). John was “filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb” (Lk 1:15,41), by Christ himself, whom the Virgin Mary had just conceived by the Holy Spirit.  Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth thus became a visit from God to his people.(Lk 1:68)

ARTICLE NO. 718

John is “Elijah [who] must come.” (Mt 17:10-13; cf. Lk 1:78) The fire of the Spirit dwells in him and makes him the forerunner of the coming Lord.  In John, the precursor, the Holy Spirit completes the work of “[making] ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Lk 1:17)

ARTICLE NO. 719

John the Baptist is “more than a prophet.” (Lk 7:26) In him, the Holy Spirit concludes his speaking through the prophets.  John completes the cycle of prophets begun by Elijah. (Cf. Mt. 11:13-14) he proclaims the imminence of the consolation of Israel; he is the “voice” of the Consoler who is coming. (Jn 1:23; cf. Isa 40:1-3) As the Spirit of truth will also do, John “came to bear witness to the light.” (Jn 1:7; cf. Jn 15:26; 5:35) In John’s sight, the Spirit thus brings to completion the careful search of the prophets and fulfills the longing of the angels. (Cf. 1 Pet 1:10-12) “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.  And I have seen and have born witness that this is the Son of God… Behold, the Lamb of God.” (Jn 1:33-36)

ARTICLE NO. 719

Finally, with John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit begins the restoration to man of “the divine likeness,” prefiguring what he would achieve with and in Christ.  John’s baptism was for repentance; baptism in water and the Spirit will be a new birth. (Cf. Jn 3:5)

BAPTIST’S GRACE

Deacon Jim Breazile o.c.d.s.

Ó2001 DR. JAMES E. BREAZILE, deacon 
JOHN PAUL EVANGELIST OCDS

SPIRITUALITY 101

SPIRITUAL REFLECTION- 62

Deacon Jim Breazile o.c.d.s.

A church father kept a large crucifix hanging in his room.  When he rose in the morning, he would stand before the crucifix and envision the intense love that was required for our Lord to accept death on the cross. He imagined the crucifixion as the hell of Christ.  He imagined that the fires of and suffering of hell were overcome by the great love of Christ in his acceptance of such a terrible death. By so meditating, he kept his will strong in goodness and overcame all temptations. He exhorted others who were suffering with their imperfections to do likewise. He would often be heard to say "Ah man, In all temptations in this life to turn to God's love, descend with Christ through the crucifix to the sufferings of hell. This will keep you from going there after death, because then you will not be able to leave it!"

We will suffer much internal turmoil in the spiritual warfare against our attachments. At times the temptations will burn in us as if it were a true flame threatening to overcome us. These fires of temptation can be extinguished only through the love of our Lord. We can acquire the strength needed to overcome these sufferings from the suffering of Christ.  When we join into in a real way into His crucifixion, death and resurrection we gain the strength and determination to become saints.

DEVOTION -Forgiveness

In our last reflection we considered why, in spite of all our efforts, there are many reasons we may not have yet achieved true devotion.  Even after exercising spiritual discipline over long periods of time, we may be capable of maintaining only brief periods of true devotion to our Lord. We are bound by seemingly unbreakable chains by our affectations, those persons, attitudes or things that we love more than we love God.  Spiritual advancement requires that these chains be recognized and broken. Other than through a miraculous intervention by God, these chains can be broken only one link at a time. The greatest and strongest link in the chains that binds us and prevent God from being the center of our life is our failure to forgive. To have a close relationship with our Lord, it is necessary that we reflect His glory. We best reflect His glory when we reveal his nature, providence and mission in our lives. Forgiveness is the mission of our Lord Jesus. He is personified Forgiveness and Salvation. His crucifixion reveals the wholeness of the love of the Father for us. Scripture tells us that "the Father so loved the world that He sent His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life." (John 3:16)  Forgiveness is the nature of God (Psalm 86:5). We cannot expect to experience the inner life of the Holy Trinity when we fail to forgive. We must forgive whom we fail to love. This includes all who have done us direct personal harm, and all who we have perceived to have done us harm, whether they have or not. 

Failure to forgive actual or imaginary wrongs reveals an intense pride, or attachment to ourselves.  Unless this attachment is broken, we can have no progress in our relationship with God. Attachment to ourselves represents a major concupiscence of our soul derived from original sin. To overcome this form of concupiscence, it is necessary that we make a deliberate decision to love the persons who are the objects of our harm. God is love, in order to forgive, it is necessary that we love.  "If anyone says, 'I love God," but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen." (1Jn 4:20)

Forgiveness is an act of love. It is as Reinhold Niebuhr once wrote, "We must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness." The nature of love is the full acceptance of another person. This includes all their greatness and all their foibles. With true love, there is no need to forgive. The person loved is always and totally accepted and held dear. Whatever they do evokes love from us, and there is no idea that a wrong has been intended. It is this kind of love that Jesus demonstrated on the cross when He asked the Father "Father forgive them, they know not what they do." (Lk. 23:34)  It is the same love that Stephen held for his fellow Israelites when he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit....Do not hold this sin against them." (Acts 7:59-60)

Forgiveness, even by God requires drastic action.  "Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness." (Hebrews 9:22) It was the blood of Christ that gave Stephen the grace to praise the Lord in the midst of his enemies and to pray for their forgiveness when they were unjustly stoning him to death.  The courage of Stephen came from his total focus on Christ his Savior. As the rage of his listeners increased, Stephen "filled with the Holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God."  Note that Jesus does not "sit," in Stephen's vision, but "stands," at the right hand of God.  Whenever one turns to the glorified, resurrected Jesus in their struggle for holiness, He "stands" in our place and intercedes for us to the Father in just the same way as he interceded and gained strength for Saint Stephen.

It is obvious that what we are talking about is a personal major conversion. This is required to pass from holding grudges and fantasized injustice done to us, to a person who truly loves. To make this transition does not mean that we must shed blood, but it does require a destruction of our old self of hatred to a new self of love.  This transformation requires continued vigilance to our thoughts, words and deeds, so that nothing but love is revealed in us.  Although we don't know the details, it is obvious that such a transformation was required for Stephen to reach a level of perfection that in a time at which he who was being stoned, prayed not for his own life and comfort but for the souls of his persecutors. 

Vigilance will protect our souls against a tendency not to forgive or a failure to love. Our daily holy hour, at the tabernacle in which Jesus resides, strengthens us against all sin and particularly unforgiveness.  Whenever a need for forgiveness is recognized, or an idea of persecution enters our mind, turn it to the resurrected, glorified Christ, who "stands at the right hand of God," and intercedes for each of us.  Let Jesus, in His presence to us in the tabernacle transform us. With Him we can overcome all things, even ourselves.

THE NEW CATHOLIC CATECHISM: “REJOICE, YOU WHO ARE FULL OF GRACE” ARTICLE No. 721

Mary, the all-holy ever-virgin Mother of God, is the masterwork of the mission of the Son and the Spirit in the fullness of time.  For the first time in the plan of salvation and because his Spirit had prepared her, the Father found the dwelling place where his Son and his Spirit could dwell among men.  In this sense the Church’s Tradition has often read the most beautiful texts on wisdom in relation to Mary. (Prov 8:1-9; Sir 24) Mary is acclaimed and represented in the liturgy as the “Seat of Wisdom.”

In her, the “wonders of God” that the Spirit was to fulfill in Christ and the Church began to be manifested: 

BLESSED THEOTOKOS

Deacon Jim Breazile o.c.d.s.

Ó2001 DR. JAMES E. BREAZILE, deacon 
JOHN PAUL EVANGELIST OCDS

SPIRITUALITY 101

SPIRITUAL REFLECTION- 63

Deacon Jim Breazile o.c.d.s.

A visitor to a magnificent exhibition of painting was walking through the rooms bored to tears because even the most beautiful pictures did not impress him. When he complained to an artist that the exhibit was very tiresome, the artist replied: "Ah, if I could only lend you my eyes so that you could see them as I see them!" The visitor said, "but that is impossible, why don't you just tell me what you see."  The artist replied, "In order for you to see the paintings as I see them without seeing them through my eyes, you would have to live my life. That would be equally impossible."

How different would we see the world around us, our individual lives and our eternal struggle for sanctity if we could for a moment see through the eyes of our Creator.  Since we cannot "borrow" God's eyes, however, we can begin to live His life.  This is the purpose of our growth in spiritual life. We are assured that by joining into the death of His Son,  we can live His life as our own. Then the world around us, our individual lives and the narrow road to sanctity will be clear to us.

DEVOTION -Beginning to love - 1^st Stage

After we have come to a desire to know our Lord enough to obey his command to forgive, we can begin to make some progress in growth of love.  Failure to forgive produces an impenetrable block to God's love. We cannot begin to love until it is overcome. Until we have forgiven, and seriously sought the forgiveness of those who hold even the smallest slight against us, we cannot begin to live a life of devotion.  For most of us, this is a difficult obstacle to remove.  We are not used to expressing our forgiveness, and then living it. We are not used to asking forgiveness of others.  Until we begin this practice of forgiveness however, we will remain alien to God and His treasure of love. For beginners, it is usually necessary that failure to forgive and ask for forgiveness become a part of our daily examination of conscience and frequent celebration of the Sacrament of reconciliation.  Through these practices, we can gradually perfect forgiveness to the point at which our lives obtain a full share in the forgiveness of Christ.

God gives Himself to us to the degree that we give ourselves to Him.  To receive Him fully and completely requires that we give ourselves in the same measure.  We cannot give anything to Him until we have begun to give to our neighbor.  Forgiveness is the first act of the will that provides the ability to love.  As forgiveness is perfected, there is more space in the will for the love of God and He immediately occupies that space.

As we increase in the perfection of forgiveness, we will recognize observe ourselves to be increasingly involved in the vocal prayers and liturgical celebrations in which we participate.  Removal of the forgiveness barrier opens the gates of our hearts to God's love, and from time to time we begin to experience something of His presence.  These gentle touches of our Lord represent an activation of the virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit  infused into our souls at Baptism and provide motivation to deepen our love for Him.  We can love Hm only to the limits that we know Him.  We come to know Him in the Scriptures prayer and service to Him.  To initiate a journey toward perfect love, regular prayer and a study of the Scriptures is indispensable.

The first stage of love develops a desire for His presence that is greater than our desire for the good things of the world. Because we are so joined to the things of this world, developing this first stage requires continual motivation and considerable determination.  A disciplined scheduled prayer, a program of holy actions and a study of Scriptures must become important parts of our daily schedule.  In order that these be achieved definite times must be established for each of these activities.

As we become familiar with the God of the Scriptures, we will grow in our love of Him.  Our prayers will increasingly include what He wills, rather than what we will, and our actions increasingly governed by our love for Him.  There will develop an urgency to read the Scriptures instead of popular literature, exciting mysteries or other novels.  The reading of Scriptures leads us to understand more fully that God is love, and the more we are with Him, the more we come to know what love really means.  As this initial love matures, there will be an increasing usage of Scripture in our prayer and our thoughts, words and actions increasingly reflect a life of the Scripture. 

This initial stage of development of love is hard labor for us.  At times, it seems that there are so much better things to do, and the sensate pleasures of the world seem very attractive.  It appears that the Lord does not make this beginning easy, but expects us to work through the trials of decision to be His son or daughter.  Even though it seems that God is not helping, just day to day grinding out our schedule of Scripture, Prayer and Service soon becomes a part of our routine. This discipline of love is necessary if we are to become a person of devotion. 

THE NEW CATHOLIC CATECHISM:

ARTICLE No. 730

At last Jesus’ hour arrives (Jn 13:1; 17:1) he commends his spirit into the Father’s hands (Lk 23:46; Jn 19:30) at that very moment when by his death he conquers death, so that, “raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,” (Rom 6:4) he might immediately give the Holy Spirit by “breathing” on his disciples (Jn 20:22) From this hour onward, the mission of Christ and the Spirit becomes the mission of the Church: “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” (Jn 20:21; cf. Mt. 28:19; Lk 24:47-48; Acts 1:8).

HOLY MISSION

Deacon Jim Breazile o.c.d.s.

Ó2001 DR. JAMES E. BREAZILE, deacon 
JOHN PAUL EVANGELIST OCDS

SPIRITUALITY 101

SPIRITUAL REFLECTION- 64

Deacon Jim Breazile o.c.d.s.

According to legend, once Christ and St. Peter were traveling where it had rained heavily and the roads were very muddy and impassable. They saw three men whose wagons were stuck in the mud and could not go forward or backward.  One of the men was whipping his horse, cursing like a mule skinner. The second, buried in the mud up to his knees, had his arms crossed and was praying to God to get him out. The third man had tied a rope to the wagon and assisted the horses, all the time praying that God would help.

St. Peter, in his usual impulsive manner tucked up his cloak and was about to help the first driver when Jesus, with a smile said , "No, Simon, not yet!"  Simon then got ready to help the second driver and Jesus said, "Wait Simon!"  St. Peter then looked at the third driver thinking, surely I can help someone. What he saw was that Jesus had stepped forward and helped the third man.  St. Peter then understood that the Lord expects us to do whatever we can on our own, before we can expect help from Him.

DEVOTION -Growth in love- 1^st Stage

We can easily understand that to love the Lord our God with all our body, mind, heart, spirit and soul will take some considerable change in the way we think, of what we love and of all our priorities.  This will take some time and considerable effort.  In our last reflection, we met with an initial difficulty of just getting started in the progress of love.  As we begin in our attempts to acquiring a disciplined scheduled prayer, a program of holy actions and a study of Scriptures we meet with great resistance.  This is the first indicator that are many things in this life that we love more than we love God and that these things have a great and powerful hold on how we live.  We may feel that we are free to meet our desire to love God above all things, and our neighbor as ourselves, but in the first day, at the first hour of prayer, on our journey we meet with what seems overwhelming difficulties.

A major factor in the difficulty of progress in love resides in the habits we have acquired. For many years we have lived in order to fulfill the many appetites required to satisfy our senses.  We like what we spend time watching, and find it difficult to give up our favorite television or motion picture in order to find time to pray, to study and to adore.  We like what we taste, and don't want to give up the time we take to prepare the food we eat, or to go to our favorite restaurant in order that we have time to pray or to read the scriptures.  We love the physical and mental contact we find in golf, or the gymnasium and simply cannot give up this time and effort for the Lord.  If we do give up time from the movies, food or interaction with our friends in order to visit the Blessed Sacrament, or to read Scripture, or simply to spend some quiet time with Him we then encounter a new difficulty.  Although we have removed ourselves from the activities, we have not removed the activities from us.  The sensate pleasures of our past life, those we are attempting to separate ourselves from are very much with us. As we begin to give more time to the Lord, we find that our mind and heart are still with the senses that bring pleasure, rather than with the Lord in adoration. We begin to seek new sensate pleasure in the knowledge we acquire in our study of Scripture, or Catechism and in honor we receive from others.  We are such slaves to our sensate pleasures that the very word "adoration" seems to be a foreign language to us.

In all perfections there are 7 levels of achievement. In the progress toward perfect love, there are also 7 stages. These are referred to in a variety of ways by different saints, such as the 7 interior castles of Teresa of Avila. These stages are each supported by the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the seven Sacraments of the Church. There are however also 7 demons, one for each stage of love. These demons interfere with our ability to grow toward perfection. These are recognized as the 7 heads of the dragon of the Apocalypse referred to in the Book of Revelation 12:3 and 13:1.  John of the Cross (Ascent of Mt. Carmel, book II, Chapter 11, page 135-136 - in Collected Works, ICS Publications, Washington, D.C.) identifies the first head as the one that wars against our first stage of love.  This head brings us to love sensate pleasures more than we love God.

How do we overcome such an obstacle?  Certainly not all at once, and not simply by our own desire for perfection. We know that we can overcome habits by developing new ones.  We can give up the things of the world that we love more than we love God, and through developing habits of prayer, study and adoration, we can make progress toward becoming the person God wishes us to be.  We can, with a firm will, overcome ourselves in this way, but how do I overcome the demon, or, as John of the Cross says, "cut of the first head?"  We find ourselves very much in the position that the disciples of Jesus described in Matthew 17:14-21.  They were not able to overcome a demon (or cut off its head) because of lack of faith.  We know that the Lord has given us more than enough faith to move mountains, but this mountain of our senses seems rock solid.  Jesus indicates that only through prayer and fasting, will we be able to overcome such demons (Mark 9:29). When we truly ask Christ to intercede, as did His disciples, can we overcome the dominions and principalities that war against the perfection of our soul. When we mortify ourselves in fasting and humility, we then gain the way to overcome Satan and his dominions. In order to invoke Jesus, it is necessary that we abandon ourselves and depend totally on Him. This is something we will have to learn how to do. 

THE NEW CATHOLIC CATECHISM:

ARTICLE No. 731

On the day of Pentecost, after the seven weeks of Easter come to an end, Christ’s Passover is fulfilled by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, manifested, given and communicated as a divine person: of his fullness, Christ, the Lord, pours out the Spirit in abundance. (Acts 2:33-36)

ARTICLE No. 732

On that day, the Holy Trinity is fully revealed  Since that day, the Kingdom announced by Christ has been open to those who believe in him: in the humility of the flesh and in faith, they already share in the communion of the Holy Trinity.  By his coming, which never ceases, the Holy Spirit causes the world to enter into the “last days,” the time of the Church, the Kingdom already inherited though not yet consummated.

                We have seen the true Light, we have received the heavenly Spirit, we have found the true faith: we           adore the indivisible Trinity, who has saved us. (Byzantine liturgy, Pentecost, vespers, repeated after           communion)

TRINITY REVEALED

Deacon Jim Breazle o.c.d.s.

Ó2001 DR. JAMES E. BREAZILE, deacon 
JOHN PAUL EVANGELIST OCDS

SPIRITUALITY 101

SPIRITUAL REFLECTION- 65

Deacon Jim Breazile o.c.d.s.

Some farmers had just tilled their fields when the devil came up and said: "Half the earth is mine. I also want half of your crop." The crafty farmers said to the devil: "You may have our crop if you take the half hidden in the earth."  "No," shouted the devil, "I want the part on top."  The farmers then planted turnips, and when harvest time came, they took the vegetables and the devil had to be satisfied with the leaves.  The following year, the irate devil said: "This time I want the part hidden in the earth."  Then the farmers planted wheat and at harvest time they took the sheaves of grain and left the roots for the devil.

We should deceive the devil in this way. Let him always take what does not have eternal value, but let him leave us the tasty fruits, the ripened ears of virtue. They are for God and we always have to defend them from the snares of His great enemy.

DEVOTION -Growth in love 1^st stage

Detachment from sensate pleasures represents the first stage of perfect love.  To love God more than we love feeling good, indulging our appetites for food, drink or sex, sleep in excess of what is required, or the good feelings derived from praise, family and friends requires engagement in a tremendous battle for control of our souls.  Just as we begin these detachments, we recognize a markedly increased awareness of our need for these sensory pleasures.  It is not just the concupiscence of our fallen nature that raises this awareness.  The demon of the 1^st head of the dragon of the Apocalypse is a major factor.  This force acts in our soul to lead us to rationalize our dependence on fulfillment of our sensate habits in order to divert us from the goal of perfection in love of God.

It is of assistance at this stage, the very beginning of our way toward perfect love, to understand a few things about Satan and the demons who serve him, the 7 headed dragon of the Apocalypse.  The essential facts are that Satan is real, and that his realm is the earth, that his goal is the diversion of souls from God and the delaying of the coming of God's Kingdom.  The Christian view of the role of Satan as an adversary to our spiritual growth comes from Divine Revelation. Divine revelation informs us of Satan's relationship to the angels in Job 1:6; "One day, when the sons of God came to present themselves to the Lord, Satan also came among them." The name Satan, itself implies that he was an "adversary," who patrolled the earth. The Book of Revelations 12: 9 tells us that "The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it."

Satan was an archangel, created to serve God and to bring Him glory.  As a creature of God, living in eternal time, Satan would be able comprehend the future and therefore would know the plan of God for man.  The fact that man was to be raised above the angels caused Satan to be jealous of this decision and to rebel against God.  Thus jealousy, a sin derived from the capital sin of pride, produced the rebellion in heaven and resulted in Satan being cast out.  He was, however, cast to the earth, where he constantly attempts to interfere with the fulfillment of Gods plan.

Since angels are of a higher intellect than man, it would seem that man would be at the mercy of Satan's designs.  This would be true unless God intervenes.  And God does intervene. It is through His intervention that our soul can overcome the temptations to love the pleasures of  the senses more than we love God.  The key, then to overcoming Satan's power is to ask God for the strength of character to fulfill His wishes rather than our own. 

What happens in this event is that with a sincere prayer, from a pure heart, grace enhances the effectiveness of the tools of holiness infused into our souls in the sacrament of Baptism. The virtues that strengthen our soul for the various attitudes and actions of life that will lead us to God and away from the senses, work toward our salvation.  In order that the virtues are strengthened, the Lord will amplify the particular gifts of the Holy Spirit necessary to overcome in each instance the wide array of sensory temptations. Maintaining an ongoing relationship with God in continuous prayer is the only weapon at our disposal against the power and intellect of Satan.  With this ongoing prayer, we can then liberated from the desire to hold on to sensate pleasures in preference to being in communion with God. Because some sensate pleasure hold us more firmly than others, we should not be discouraged by the fact that they do not all leave us with equal ease.  Overcoming these temptations is a long and continuous struggle that is only perfected when we become the person God created us to be.  Discipline and effort on our part and trust in God will bring success in this battle.

THE NEW CATHOLIC CATECHISM:

ARTICLE No. 733

“God is love”(1 Jn 4:8, 16) and love is his first gift, containing all others. “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Rom. 5:5)

ARTICLE NO. 734Because we are dead or at least wounded through sin, the first effect of the gift of love is the forgiveness of our sins.  The communion of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 13:14) in the Church restores to the baptized the divine likeness lost through sin.

RESTORED IMAGE

Deacon Jim Breazile o.c.d.s.

Ó2001 DR. JAMES E. BREAZILE, deacon 
JOHN PAUL EVANGELIST OCDS

SPIRITUALITY 101

SPIRITUAL REFLECTION- 66

Deacon Jim Breazile o.c.d.s.

A blind man, known for his holiness and peace continuously wondered what it would be like to see the world outside himself. One day he asked to be taken to the tomb of Saint Thomas of Canterbury. He wanted to ask for a miracle.  After fervently praying, he recovered his sight. He then was able to contemplate the beauty of light and nature.  After a time looking at the world, he found that the inner sight he had become accustomed to was more beautiful than his newly recovered outer sight. He returned to the tomb and asked to have his blindness restored. After his blindness was restored, he rejoiced, danced and sang.  His happiness was beyond explanation and seemed to fill the rooms he occupied. In this way he lived the remainder of his life giving praise and glory to the Lord. He now could devote all his attention to the Lord living in his soul, and not thinking about what he was missing in the world. What he had discovered was that his inner sight of our Holy Lord, was much more beautiful than his outer sight of the world.

As we grow in love for the Lord, we increasingly gain this inner sight.

DEVOTION -Growth in love 1^st Stage (and extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit)

In the first stage of love, God often gives us some extra help, that spurs us on to maintain our efforts, and continue to grow in our love for Him over our love for the things of the world. This extra help comes to us as the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are referred to as extraordinary because they are particular, one gift given to one person, another to another as the Lord determines (1 Corinthians 1:8-11).   These gifts come with our "first love" of the Lord, much in the same way that of our "first love" of a human person. As in human love there is often great excitement, and a lifting of the heart.  Like new wine, first love is often fizzy and bubbly, all stirred up and difficult to contain. The excitement of first love tends to spew out of us, in great emotion.

It is in this first love that we see David, filled with the Holy Spirit as the Ark of the Covenant was brought back from Baala of Juda to Jerusalem.  (2 Samuel 6:2-5)  "David and all the Israelites made merry before the Lord with all their strength, with singing and music." The journey was, however, delayed, and after a delay of three months, they continued. "Then David made sacrifice of an ox and a fatling to the Lord and girt with a linen apron came dancing before the Lord with abandon" (2 Samuel 6:13-14).  It is interesting that in this first love, when we begin to give up the emotions and sensory pleasures of the world, our Good Lord fills us with a gift of emotional excitement and sensory favors of His choosing. As in human love, this divine love stirs us to continue our love, and to seek Him more clearly.

This emotional rush of fresh love, that many refer to as being "baptized in the Holy Spirit," may be accompanied by extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit. These may come in the form of speaking in tongues, prophesy, interpretation of tongues, power to heal, etc. The gifts the Lord gives to His new loves are given to each individual for some particular benefit (1 Corinthians 12:7). The extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit assist in enabling each person to become conformed to the soul that God instilled in them at their conception. These gifts of first love give encouragement to remain with the Lord and to seek ways to please Him, to discern His will, and to be His glory in our lives.  Without these extraordinary assists (gifts) from the Lord, we alone could never sever the first head of the dragon of the apocalypse.

With time, after the first head has been severed, as in human love, the new love for our Lord matures. It is no longer continuously bubbly and fizzy and stirred up (as new wine). It becomes settled and quiet and secure, no longer disturbed by the 1^st head (now severed).  It is often the case that the initial extraordinary gifts are then experienced less often and less intensely. But like human love on occasion loved is fanned into flame by the Lord once again to restore our love and journey to devotion.  Without this help, we could do nothing against our worldly sensory pleasures, with Him, we achieve much progress.

THE NEW CATHOLIC CATECHISM:

ARTICLE NO. 766

The Church is born primarily from Christ’s total self-giving for our salvation, anticipated in the institution of the Eucharist and fulfilled on the cross.  “The origin and growth of the Church are symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from the open side of the crucified Jesus.” (Jn 19:34) “For it was from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth the ‘wonderous sacrament of the whole Church’ (Concilium 5) As Eve was formed from the sleeping Adam’s side, so the Church was born from the pierced heart of Christ hanging dead on the cross. (St. Ambrose In Luc 2, 85-89, PL 15, 1666-1668)

BIRTH OF THE CHURCH

Deacon Jim Breazile o.c.d.s.

Ó2001 DR. JAMES E. BREAZILE, deacon 
JOHN PAUL EVANGELIST OCDS

SPIRITUALITY 101

SPIRITUAL REFLECTION- 67

Deacon Jim Breazile o.c.d.s.

An artist had set up his easel in the city square and was painting a picture of the last supper. Someone called his attention to the beauty of the oil lamp he had painted on the table to the side of Jesus. The painter quickly covered it with a stroke of the brush and said; "I want our Lord to be the center of interest with nothing whatever distracting from Him."

It is necessary that we sacrifice everything that is a distraction to our attention on the Lord. This applies to all our sensory pleasures and entertainment as well as our inner pleasures.... our imagination and our fantasy.

 DEVOTION - Growth in love- 2^nd stage

      VISIONS AND LOCUTIONS

We should recall that the first stage of love of the Lord is detachment from external sensory pleasures. This stage of human love is reflected in the promises made in new love. Promises of a young lover to the lady of his new love always involve deprivation. Recall the times you have heard "I will do whatever is necessary to make you happy; swim the widest ocean, climb the highest mountain." Such promises in the world may be merely exaggerations but in love the 1^st stage in our love for the Lord they are absolutely necessary. If we are to begin to love the Lord of eternity we can never seek our own pleasure. It is necessary that we set aside whatever sensory pleasures are obstacles to our love for Him.

Whenever we grow in our ability to accept the deprivation of the external corporal sensory attachments, there will be an increasing growth of attention to the interior corporeal senses of fantasy and the imagination. The 2^nd stage of love for the Lord is identified by this diminished attachment to external and increased attention to interior senses. Just as in human love this stage involves an increasing incidence of the loved one in the mind. This presence is recognized by images and inner conversations. These images and conversations serve to stimulate the imagination. Many fantasies occur with new human love. Dreams of the little house with the picket fence, or of the pleasure of continually being in the presence of the loved one. Fantasies are not in themselves harmful but if we are ever to love another human being, fantasy must at sometime give way to reality.  If we are to love our enemy as God has commanded us, human love cannot rely to any degree upon fantasy or imagination. Love must be rock hard and determined, or we will never get beyond the first stage of love.

In the 2^nd stage of love of the Lord, mystic events are commonly experienced. The smell of roses, or incense, or a vision (or apparition) of an angel or saint, even the Blessed Mother or Jesus, Himself are not uncommon. One may hear the voice (or a locution) of the Lord or of one of the saints.  These messages, or locutions from the Blessed Mother are often widely publicized. 

Apparitions and locutions may arise from either supernatural means or natural means. In either case these may be true mystic experiences of holiness, or may they may be false experiences. Images often occur during meditation because this stage of prayer depends upon mental images. Meditation is most often the result of reflection on a scene or a line from the Scriptures.  Jesus may be clearly "seen," with His head wreathed with the crown of thorns, and the blood of His suffering dripping from his head and His hands, feet and side. These visions can be so real, that one could feel that they could reach out and touch the image. 

In the 2^nd  stage of love, visions and locutions must be considered to be false and no attention paid to them, other than that which is helpful to continue to the next stage of love. Even if our Lord, or a saint may actually appear to us, we must live as though all visions and locutions did not occur. This is not to deny that they on occasion really do happen, or that they are not really experienced. At first, this idea seems foreign to us because we think that a visit from our Lord or from a saint must be the most sanctifying thing that could happen in our lives. We may thank the Lord for the visit, but there are several reasons why it is necessary that no further attention be paid to the experience.

The first and dominant reason that we must disregard visions and locutions is that nothing occurs in our imagination that is not built upon a basis of a previous experience through the external senses (John of the Cross in Ascent of Mt. Carmel, Book II, p. 137). Images are replicates of statues, painting, or descriptions to which the senses have been exposed.  Locutions are previous ideas generated by ourselves, or given to us from others. One cannot experience anything in the imagination that has not previously been indirectly experienced through such "learning." It is likely because of this reality that when the Blessed Virgin appears (and I think she really does), in Japan, she is viewed as Japanese. When she appears in Africa, she is viewed as African.  We are conditioned by our learning, and our visions are determined by our conditioning.

The second reason we must disregard visions and locutions is that humans in this life are not able to interpret the meaning of any locution from eternity.  We are so intimately time bound and limited by our temporal lives to the degree that anything from eternity is totally foreign to our capabilities.

The reason that paying attention to visions and locutions is a major obstacle to our spiritual live is that it distracts us from God, who is the central object of our love. In the 2^nd stage of love one must pay no attention to these inner sensory experiences because they divert the focus of our love away from God.  We may hear and develop many arguments about the positive effects of visions and locutions on our spirituality, but unless we become detached from them and do not turn our face totally to the God of eternity, we will not continue to grow in our love for the Him. The truth is, harsh as it may sound, that we will fall into paganism, worshiping the idols of our mind in place of the divine.

 THE NEW CATHOLIC CATECHISM:

ARTICLE No. 767

“When the work which the Father gave the Son to do on earth was accomplished, the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost in order that he might continually sanctify the Church.” (John 17:4) Then the Church was openly displayed to the crowds and the spread of the Gospel among the nations, through preaching was begun.  As the “convocation” of all men for salvation, the Church in her very nature is missionary,” sent by Christ to all the nations to make disciples of them. (Mt. 28:19-20)

MISSIONARY  CHURCH

Deacon Jim Breazile o.c.d.s.

Ó2001 DR. JAMES E. BREAZILE, deacon 
JOHN PAUL EVANGELIST OCDS

SPIRITUALITY 101

SPIRITUAL REFLECTION- 68

Deacon Jim Breazile o.c.d.s.

A woman, we will call Gladys had been married for 35 years. She and her husband had raised three children, all of whom were healthy and doing well in the world.  When her husband ask for a divorce Gladys was shocked.  She proclaimed that she had loved him above all else and that whatever he did, her love would never diminish.  Within a year after the divorce, Gladys learned that he had married someone else. The lady he had married was much younger than Gladys, and had no children.  Gladys was greatly sorrowed by this news and began to question her self worth. The passion of fear of living alone the rest of her life, couple with the passion of sorrow daily increased.  She responded to these passions with tears of loneliness that gradually became tears of hatred.  She began to hate her former husband and the woman he had married.  In an emotional rage, Gladys planned and carried out a murder of both her former husband and his new wife. Gladys is today in the penitentiary, serving a very long sentence. Today, over 10 years later she proclaims a deep and abiding love for her husband.

We have all heard a story similar to that of Gladys. It may be true that Gladys wishes to think that she loves her late husband, but it is obvious that she was seriously distracted from this love by her passions and emotions.

DEVOTION - Growth in love- 2^nd stage

                CHARISMS (Extraordinary Gifts of the Holy Spirit)

The second stage of love contains a number of experiences that are extremely exciting and that serve to urge us on in our love for the Lord.  In human love, the excitement of sense pleasures of touches, embraces, words and looks serve to bring lovers together. In supernatural love the Lord makes use of similar pleasures.  The natural and supernatural pleasures of visions and locutions were considered in our last reflection.  Other types of spiritual pleasures are often experienced through the passions and emotions associated with the extraordinary gifts or charisms of the Holy Spirit.  The charisms, differ from the ordinary gifts, of wisdom, knowledge, understanding, counsel, fortitude, piety and fear of the Lord referred to in Isaiah chapter 11: 1-2. The ordinary gifts are received in our Baptism of water and the Spirit. They become spiritual habits that turn our intellect and will toward God (see reflections No. 28-29).  The extraordinary gifts or charisms are to complement the ordinary gifts in building up or strengthening the community of faith. (Acts 14:12). 

                Charisms are widely varied between individuals because the Lord enriches each of us with the particular gifts that are important to our individual role within His Mystical Body, the Church. The extraordinary gifts are many and diversified, but include preaching, teaching and counseling with great spiritual insight. They also include the power of healing, or prophesy, discernment of spirits, speaking in tongues and interpretation of tongues (1 Cor. 12:4-11).  These extraordinary gifts are often manifested in the 2^nd stage of love to enable and encourage a further growth in love. 

                The charisms of the Holy Spirit may be likened to the gifts that lovers bring to each other in matrimony.  Their purpose is to encourage husband and wife to reach their potentials of personal love and come to a full unity in their marriage for the glory of God. The charisms are gifts that in a like manner encourage those who are growing in love of God. The charisms stimulate our passions and urge us to overcome the obstacles to our love for Him so that we ultimately become fully united in His love. There is no doubt by those who have experienced these extraordinary gifts, that they lift the human spirit toward God.

Because of the fallen nature of man however, the sensory and intellectual experiences that accompany any given charism represent an especially dangerous threat to spiritual growth. The first danger lies in the emotional fervor that expresses the passions aroused by the particular charism. The Lord created us with the ability to express and experience emotions. Although passions and emotion will be considered more completely in later reflections, it is necessary to recognize the particular role they play in the 2^nd stage of love.

The passions and emotions experienced in human love are good and give life to or vivify a growth of  love. In our relationship with the Lord, the emotions are also good and are meant to be an encouragement for seeking further growth and union with the Lord. The danger lies in becoming attached to the passion or its associated emotion. When this happens, the danger is that we begin to seek the gift and are diverted from seeking the Giver.  The charism may be real, and the effect evident in the community, but often the Lord withholds the emotion. When this happens, unless we obey a wise spiritual director, discouragement may occur that can eventually lead to a loss of faith. 

The power and attractions of passions and emotions cannot be underestimated in our spiritual growth toward perfection. Emotions are physiological and sensual expressions and experiences of our passions. The four passions, joy, hope, sorrow and fear are given to us in order that we may recognize an experience of divinity  in our intellect and will.  At this very early stage in the growth of our love for the Lord, the sometimes overwhelming nature of passions and emotions associated with religious experiences of the charisms become very attractive. They may be so powerful that many think that they have already reached a maturity of love and stop trying to advance. They are much like Peter on the mount of Transfiguration, (Mt 17:4) "Lord it is good that we are here. If you wish, we will make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." It is clear that Peter thought that nothing more holy could happen to him.  The emotions derived from experience of charisms may become more attractive to us than the continued growth in love of God. In this manner they are major obstacles. God does not give them to us as obstacles, but we make them obstacles through the weakness of our own intellect and will.

THE NEW CATHOLIC CATECHISM: ARTICLE No. 771:

“The one mediator, Christ, established and ever sustains here on earth his holy church, the community of faith, hope and charity, as a visible organization through which he communicates truth and grace to all men.” (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 8; 1.)

The Church is at the same time:

-a “society structured with hierarchical organs and the mystical body of Christ;

-the visible society and the spiritual community;

-the earthly Church and the Church endowed with heavenly riches.” (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 8)

These dimensions together constitute “one complex reality which comes together from a human and a divine element.” (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 8)

The Church is essentially both human and divine, visible but endowed with invisible realities, zealous in action and dedicated to contemplation, present in the world, but as a pilgrim, so constituted that in her the human is directed toward and subordinated to the divine the visible to the invisible, action to contemplation, and this present world to that city yet to come, the object of our quest. (Heb 13:14)

humility! O sublimity! Both tabernacle of cedar and sanctuary of God; earthly dwelling and celestial palace; house of clay and royal hall; body of death and temple of light; and at last both object of scorn of the proud and bride of Christ! She is black but beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem, for even in the labor and pain of her long exile may have discolored her, yet heaven’s beauty has adorned her (St Bernard of Clairvaux, In Cant. Sermo 27:14:PL 183:920 D)

THE CHURCH

Deacon Jim Breazile o.c.d.s.

Ó2001 DR. JAMES E. BREAZILE, deacon 
JOHN PAUL EVANGELIST OCDS

SPIRITUALITY 101

SPIRITUAL REFLECTION- 69

Deacon Jim Breazile o.c.d.s.

A philosopher was being ferried across a lake by a man who is ignorant in all respects save one.  He knew his job. He was a good boatman and a good swimmer.  During the crossing the philosopher began a conversation with the boatsman; "say, do you know anything about the stars?"  "No, said the boatman, I just know that they are in the sky, nothing more." Then the philosopher said, "Do you know anything about mathematics?",  "Nope, said the boatman, I don't have any need for it."  "What a pity?" Lamented the philosopher, "There goes half of your life. You can't really have lived without such an education."  As they were crossing the lake, a squall came up and threatened to wreck the boat.  The boatman said to the philosopher. "Do you know how to swim?" The philosopher admitted that he had never learned the sport.  Just before the boat capsized in the storm, the boatman said to the philosopher, "Well, there goes all your life. I don't think you could be said to ever lived if you don't know how to swim." The boat capsized and the philosopher struggled in the water, finally called out, "help me, I don't know how to swim."  The boatman, who was an excellent swimmer held the philosopher in his grasp and brought them both safely to shore.

This is the way it is with our spirituality.  We cannot learn enough to grow in perfection.  We need someone who knows the way to lead us.  It is not important how the other knows the way, what is important is that they know.

DEVOTION - Growth in love- 2^nd stage

      CHARISMS (Extraordinary Gifts of the Holy Spirit)

It is assumed that people of God are following the direction of a competent personal spiritual director.  In choosing a spiritual director there are some considerations that must be made.  The first is that spiritual direction is a gift from the Holy Spirit.  It is not something someone decides to do and studies to perfect as one would the arts or sciences.  Although education in the methods of spiritual direction may help some, the most noted spiritual directors through the history of the Church have not been the well educated.  The one man who immediately comes to mind is St John Baptist Vianny, also known as the Cure D' Ars. 

St. John had a great deal of difficulty in the seminary.  He could hardly pass any of his courses, especially Latin. This caused considerable concern when the decision was made concerning his ordination.  The question that plagued his bishop was, "did he know enough to serve as a pastor?".  The bishops reluctant decision to ordain him was based on his holiness and humility.  His bishop decided that he could serve the church by administering the sacraments and that in order that he do minimum damage he would be assigned to remote parishes with few souls to care for.

Ars was chosen for his first parish.  Within a short time, however, his professors and his bishop began to hear of the unusual priest who was pastor of Ars.  It was said that he had an otherworldly ability to understand his people and assist them with their sins. St. John had the gift of spiritual direction that attracted not only his parishioners, but people from all over the area were going to Ars for spiritual nourishment.  Priests and bishops soon joined them.  The bishop who had questioned his ordination was a regular attendant at the Church at Ars.  Other bishops from around the world often accompanied him.

This narrative is provided to emphasize that in a search for a spiritual director, one is not necessarily looking for the smartest person around.  It is not that education will harm one who has the gift of spiritual direction, but it is not the primary concern for those who are seeking spiritual direction.  One should also understand that although some counseling takes place during spiritual direction, the only counseling of importance involves our personal relationship with God. 

Although this gift is rare, there are a few people around to God has gifted in this way.  They may be a priest, a deacon, a religious or a lay person. God makes no distinction in distributing His gifts.  Finding these persons sometimes requires patience and discernment.  Generally those who have a good spiritual director will pass that word on to others.  There are a couple of indicators to keep in mind. First no legitimate spiritual director advertises this gift and secondly because it is a gift from God, no legitimate spiritual director charges for their time.  If you have had difficulty finding someone who suits your needs, keep praying, and keep looking.

THE NEW CATHOLIC CATECHISM:

ARTICLE No. 773

In the Church this communion of men with God, in the “love [that] never end,“ is the purpose which governs everything in her that is a sacramental means, tied to this passing world (1 Cor 13:8).  “[The Church’s] structure is totally ordered to the holiness of Christ’s members. And holiness is totally measured according to the ‘great mystery’ in which the Bride responds with the gift of love to the gift of the Bridegroom.” (John Paul II, Mulieris dignitatum, 27).  Mary goes before us all in the holiness that is the Church’s mystery as “the bride without spot or wrinkle.” (Ephesians 5:27) This is why the “Marian” dimension of the Church precedes the Petrine.” (John Paul II, Mulieris dignitatum, 27).

ADOPTED WARD

Deacon Jim Breazile o.c.d.s.

Ó2001 DR. JAMES E. BREAZILE, deacon 
JOHN PAUL EVANGELIST OCDS

SPIRITUALITY 101

SPIRITUAL REFLECTION- 70

Deacon Jim Breazile o.c.d.s.

Brother Ruffino, a follower of St. Francis of Assisi was convinced by Satan, who appeared to him as his Lord, Jesus Christ, that he was condemned to spend eternity in hell.  Because Brother Ruffino was convinced that the one who spoke to him was Christ, he no longer believed anything that St. Francis told him. Brother Ruffino not only lost his love for St. Francis, but became very depressed and melancholic. The Lord spoke to St. Francis and informed him of what was happening to Brother Ruffino. St. Francis sent one of his monks to speak to Brother Ruffino, and finally convince him to come see Francis.  When he did and followed the counsel that St. Francis gave him, the Lord opened his eyes. By following the direction of St. Francis, Brother Ruffino was able to overcome Satan and was returned to health.

Just as Satan threatened Brother Ruffino, Satan continually tests each of us. He particularly attacks those who are seeking holiness and to live a life of perfection. Neither our wit nor our holiness is likely to protect us from his power.  We need a great deal of help.  Of course we have the sacraments, without which we would not have a chance, but a good spiritual director can be a mighty big help.

DEVOTION - Growth in love- 2^nd stage

      CHARISMS (Extraordinary Gifts of the Holy Spirit)

                In our last reflection the gift of spiritual direction was discussed.  It was emphasized that it is a gift of the Holy Spirit, given to few in the community in order to assist others in their relationship with the Lord. Through the ages of the Church, there has been great emphasis on the necessity of availing oneself to a spiritual direct in order to assure proper growth in this relationship.  At the same time, the scarcity of spiritual directors has also been emphasized.  St. Theresa of Avila, in the 16^th century indicated that of ordained priests of her time only 1 in a thousand would qualify.  In 1609, St. Francis De Sales, who was Bishop of  Geneva, wrote that only 1 out of 10,000 would qualify. 

There are two reasons for the scarcity.  One is that it is often assumed that education is all that is needed for the training of a director.  Many well-educated people have made a real mess of spiritual direction, because they lacked the gift of the Holy Spirit that is essential for success. In our previous reflection, it was emphasized that although education is not necessary, it certainly doesn't hurt. A good spiritual director will study as though your soul depends on it.  To some extent it does. Even though God can give anyone an overwhelming gift, He still expects each of His children to develop all their faculties to the fullest on His behalf.  If, however, one does not have the gift of spiritual direction, doctorate degrees in spirituality will not make one an effective director. This was the emphasis of the previous reflection, in which St. John Baptist Vianney was the example of one with the gift, but without education.

The second reason for the scarcity is that those who have the gift often fail to discern its presence and its origin.  This discernment of the presence and origin of extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit must be made with the counsel of a spiritual director This is true as well for the gift of spiritual direction many who have the gift. When one thinks that the Lord has blessed them with this gift, possibly because they have experienced what appears to be its effectiveness, it is necessary that a spiritual director be consulted. The necessity is obvious when one considers how much damage Satan can cause when working through one who is functioning as a doctor of souls. Satan never gives up in his seeking our soul. 

All the gifts of the Holy Spirit can be imitated by Satan, and appear to be authentic. Even the theological gifts can appear to be real on the surface, but are quickly discerned by anyone who has serious introspection. It is generally assumed that the lesser of the gifts, such as speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, prophesy, and healing the sick are real, simply because they are first experienced in a revival situation, and were accompanied by a great deal of emotion.  Emotional religious experiences are the playground of Satan.  It is here that we are most vulnerable, and less likely to protect ourselves with continued prayer.

The same is true for spiritual direction.  If you feel that you have had success advising others in regard to their spirituality, you should raise this issue with your spiritual director and the two of you should explore all avenues of the exercise of this gift before assuming that it is from God. If you have a spiritual director, it would be instructive for you to discuss with them the means by which they discerned that their gift was from God and not from themselves, the world around them or from Satan. 

THE NEW CATHOLIC CATECHISM:

ARTICLE No. 782

The People of  God is marked by characteristics that clearly distinguish it from all other religious, ethnic, political, or cultural groups found in history:

It is the People of God:  God is not the property of any one people.  But he acquired a people for himself from those who previously were not a people: “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation (1 Pet 2:9)

One becomes a member of this people not by a physical birth, but by being “born anew,” a birth “or water and the Spirit,”(Jn 3:3-5) that is, by faith in Christ and Baptism

This People has for its head Jesus the Christ (the anointed, the Messiah).  Because the same anointing, the Holy Spirit, flows from the head into the body, this “the messianic people.”

The status of this people is that of the dignity and freedom of the sons of God, in whose hearts the Holy Spirit dwells as in a temple.”

Its law is the new commandment to love as Christ loved us.” (Jn  13:34) This is the “new” law of the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:2; Gal 5:25)

Its mission is to be salt of the earth and light of the world (Mt. 5:13-16) This people is “a most sure seed of unity, hope, and salvation for the whole human race.”

Its destiny, finally, “is the Kingdom of God which has been begun by God himself on earth and which must be further extended until it has been brought to perfection by him at the end of time. (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 9:2).

PEOPLE OF GOD

Deacon Jim Breazile o.c.d.s.

Ó2001 DR. JAMES E. BREAZILE, deacon 
JOHN PAUL EVANGELIST OCDS