Cardinal Manning cuts to the quick concerning why so many
people who are baptized and confirmed, have the gifts of wisdom and counsel, as
well as discernment, and still go astray, into foolishness.
Here is his answer, to a question several readers have asked
me to delineate. I use his words which are found in the long perfection series
similar to those of other saints, reiterated by me, concerning the loss of
discernment. Let the holy and expert Cardinal answer: “This gift of counsel lies dormant in them; it is oppressed, kept down
by their own mental and moral faults. They have made their ear dull of hearing
and their eye dark so that they cannot discern. The first great antagonist of this spirit of counsel is the wisdom of
the world. And the wisdom of the world
is the fashion and opinion of men possessed with the spirit which is of the
world and not of God. The maxims, the traditions, the habits of thought, and
the habits of life which spring from flesh and blood…these things stifle the
voice of counsel.”
Too many Catholics do not want to admit that the thinking of
the world perverts their own minds and therefore, their consciences.
I have written a lot on this blog on the ego Believe it or
not, people object to me writing that the ego gets in the way of building up
the Church.
Manning states the problem better
than I do. “The love of pre-eminence; the
inordinate desire of their own proper excellence; a ser-conscious straining to
be spiritual guides of other men, to correct their faults, to criticize their
actions and their states before God, and to go about setting others right—these
are some of the least perceived and subtilest workings of pride….The greatest
intellects are sometimes found in the smallest moral characters. The want of
counsel makes them to be strange mixtures of greatness and littleness.”
I have struggled on this blog to know what and when to state
some things critical of others or even of groups. One must look carefully at
one’s self to look at motives and leanings, the lack of purity and the need for
healing. I have chosen to back off from criticizing the clergy, for example,
believing that I cannot judge publicly and that it is better if I pray for
those I think have gone astray and are no longer good pastors.
The other great sin of those who have received baptismal and
confirmed gifts is that of presumption. Manning notes this, “This presumption, the root of which is in
all of us, will, if indulged, destroy and utterly extinguish the gift of
counsel.”
I have seen this happen among good people who are working in
the Church. I have seen this in fellow bloggers, as well as in myself. One must
be willing to let God deal with us, take us through purgation.
Presumption can lead to becoming rash and not praying to God
for guidance.
It can lead to impetuosity, which is of the flesh, not the
Spirit, states Manning. “They invert the
divine order; and having set out in the way of their own choosing, they come to
crosses and sorrows. Then, they begin to
ask for counsel, and perhaps they ask it of God; but they ask it too late. They
are already so committed that they cannot go back. At last they so persuade
themselves, that they will not follow good advice even if it were given.”
This is why we need to find good spiritual directors, which
is so hard at this time. We cannot fall
into a pattern of trying to force our will upon the Will of God. How silly it
is to think that we can make God’s will give way.
Manning quotes the great St. Augustine: “Thou, O Lord, givest counsel to all that ask. If they ask of Thee
divers things, Thou always answerest he same; Thou answerest clearly enough,
but they will not hear Thee, for they ask the things they desire, and they wish
to make Thy will bend to theirs. Thou answerest that which is Thy will, and
they hear what they will not; and therefore they do it not. He is the best
servant who does not desire that God should say the things that he wills, but
who desires himself to will the things that God says.”
This is the reason for the Dark Night. The purgation of
self-will and “self-counsel” that is the “pride of his own will, and the pride
of his own judgment” must happen.
Submitting to the Will of God really means giving in.
Manning states, “When you kneel at the
holy Mass, put your heart upon the paten and let it be offered up. God will
counsel you. If you do His will, even though it cross your own, then you have
the surest sign that you are not following your own choice.”
This purgation of the will leads, finally, to purity of
heart. That is the reason for such
purgation. One has to stop playing God
and let God be God in one’s life.
Manning advises us,
“Desire, then, to please God above all things, and all things shall be added
unto you. If you cannot do all you desire, at least desire great things for His
sake.”
This is what it means to become like a little child.
Children who have good parents implicitly trust those parents in love. “Freely choose His service; for it is your
freedom, and its own exceeding great reward,” which are the Cardinal’s last
words on this subject.
To be continued…
