Putting God Into A Box

Returning to the idea of discernment as understood by St. Ignatius, an idea which I covered in some posts earlier this year and last month, I want to emphasize a few points which may help some readers avoid the deadly fall into deceit when the times of tribulation come upon us.

One falls into deceit when one does not know one's self, and when one does not have a relationship with God. For St. Ignatius, one's relationship with God was a constant, something which "happened" all day, in every circumstance.

If one is talking with a friend, God is there in the conversation, When one is shopping, God is there with one, and when one is walking in the sunshine, God walks with one.

There is never, for the Catholic who is in sanctifying grace, a time when God is not in relationship.

For those who have been in love, we understand this permeation of love in all things, at all times.

God is conscious of us all the time. If He was not, we would not exist. In prayer, we attempt to become conscious of God, Who is with us all the time.

But, too many Catholics want to put God in a box. They do not want God to be in their living rooms, sitting by them at the computer, in the midst of a conversation.  The God-in-a-box is a safe God, a God controlled by one's own will.

Sometimes people remember their "conversion" or "reversion" experience as if that was the only time God was with them in some way.

It is good to remember important encounters with God, such as our First Communion Day, or the day one got married, or made a vow to a religious order and so on.

But, those peak moments do not define one's relationship with God.

God in one's life is not now and then, but always, all the time, everywhere.

God may be most obvious in suffering. Lately, I have encountered much I suffering and have tried to find God in that suffering.

Of course, I do find God in the suffering--the God of the Passion.

Every Friday, as part of my prayers for the Auxilium Christianorum, I pray the Litany of Humility.

Now, when one prays this, one must expect God to answer this litany. God takes us seriously when we pray.

Let me remind you of this litany. And, let me give you real examples of how God answers this, the God Who encounters us in ordinary as well as extraordinary events of our days.

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus. Then, one loses a job, and loses status, becoming an invisible 

From the desire of being loved...Then, one is passed over by another, when one wants to be especially loved 
From the desire of being extolled ...Then, no one notices one's gifts or achievements
From the desire of being honored ...Ditto, and one is ignored even in small successes
From the desire of being praised ...Deeds are done unnoticed
From the desire of being preferred to others...One's friends have no time for one's company
From the desire of being consulted ...One is either told things one already knows, or one is not consulted when one has more knowledge
From the desire of being approved ...Then, one is actually not approved of, but finds only distrust and disdain from others; the following are the tests of saints...to no longer fear even betrayal or mistrust, or being unloved....because in holiness, they have found freedom...
From the fear of being humiliated ...Christ let Himself be put in a manger
From the fear of being despised...Christ allowed Himself to be hated by His Own People
From the fear of suffering rebukes ...Christ was slapped and spit upon
From the fear of being calumniated ...Christ was accused of false teaching
From the fear of being forgotten ...The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests....
From the fear of being ridiculed ..."If you are the Son of God, come down from the Cross."
From the fear of being wronged ...Judas, a friend, betrayed Christ
From the fear of being suspected ..."Is not this the carpenter's Son?"

That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I ...Finally, one takes joy in this...
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease ...Finally, one only wants to be hidden in God
That others may be chosen and I set aside ...One sits with Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane
That others may be praised and I unnoticed ...One comes to understand the truth of being lowly
That others may be preferred to me in everything...and, one rejoices in letting others be recognized over one
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…seeing that God has called one to be a little one, and not a great saint....

When one is able to fulfill the graces of this litany, a person would be completely free. God would not longer be in a box, but one would walk and talk and sleep in God constantly.

If a Catholic does not want to become truly humble, he or she should not say this prayer.

God answers this prayer and He is no longer in the box of one's own making.

Sometimes, God will take a person to the edge of Gethsemane and make one wait until one is strong enough spiritually to enter into the Garden. One can see the darkness, but not understand, until He allows one into the place of His Own suffering.

Then, and only then, does the Catholic become authentic. Until one really accepts suffering with Christ in His Passion, all is pretense and play.

Three times Christ asked Peter is he loved Him, because of the three denials of Peter.

Not only was Christ showing Peter how to forgive, but the necessity of being open to the daily encounter with God. 

It is too easy to betray God. It is too easy to put Him into a box.

Like St. Ignatius, one has to come to the knowledge that God is with us, all around us, in every circumstance, constantly.

In this realization, we come to knowledge of the self, and knowledge of God.

The more one knows one's self and knows God, the greater is one's capacity to love.

We meet Christ at Mass Who has allowed us to put Him in a box, the tabernacle.  Christ Present in the Host has become the Vulnerable God, the Hidden God in the Host. One thinks that one can manipulate this Small God. 

Those who have put God in a box cannot appreciate either spiritually or spiritually the great freedom which Christ has given us in the Eucharist.

We consume God. We become one with Him as He becomes one with us. We become the box, the tabernacle of God. We hold Him either in love and awe, or even in a darkness. For those who receive Him unworthily, (and only God can make us worthy), the Body of Christ is again, as during the Passion, put into the cell of satan, the prison of one's own making.

Christ has made Himself accessible to us in the Host. He is the God of Bethlehem's manger, the God of the prison of the Sanhedrin, the God on the Cross...

The sacrilege of receiving Christ when in serious sin is a mocking of the Passion of Christ, and a denial of His suffering.

Either one allows God to purify the body, soul, imagination, memory and will, in order to become a holy receptacle, or one mocks God by imprisoning Him in one's own self-centeredness and sin.

One loses the chance to become more like Christ, and in the narcissism of sin, one wants to make Christ into one's own image and likeness.

Only humilty and love can save one from this putting God into a box.

Once one understands and experiences love, the box of one's own self becomes a little place of heaven, the cell of contentment and peace.

But, this takes courage. 

Be a tabernacle, not a prison. Let God out of the box of selfishness, malice, mistrust, fear...let Him meet you in freedom.

He is always with us, always, desiring us to meet Him in freedom, humility and love.

All barriers, all boundaries melt away, and one becomes alive trusting in God.

Life becomes exciting and new, and one learns to live outside the box of conformity, false comfort, and selfishness.

Let God out of the box of your own making. Let Him lead you into freedom.

BTW, during the Protestant Revolt in England, the Protestants made fun of the True Presence, by referring to the Eucharist as the Jack-in-the-Box, a reference to an earlier myth that a local saint in Princes Risborough captured the devil and put him into a boot. This horrible disrespect and blasphemy of the Protestants towards the Eucharist displayed itself in the mockery of the Consecrated Hosts in many places, including the documented throwing of the Hosts on the ground at Fountains Abbey and the visitators forcing the horses to trample Christ.

They put Christ in the box of their own power, imaginations, hatred...

Those men crucified Him again and again and again...

The tabernacles of England were emptied for a long time because people wanted to put God into a box of their own making.

God is more than we know...

Framing Prayer 21 The Jesuits and Mary

While some orders have a day of discipline, by setting aside certain hours for prayer and some for work and necessities, such as eating and sleeping, the Jesuit must organize his own day according to his work.

In this way, the day of the Jesuit, especially in the missions, would resemble a lay day. And, if the Jesuit teaches at one of the many colleges or universities, his day would be similar to that of a college professor--with a huge difference.

I assume that most readers do not know that the patron of the Jesuit order is Our Lady Mary, under the title of Madonna Della Strada, Our Lady of the Road.

St. Ignatius chose this devotion to Mary as she interceded for him under this title. But, for me, this name of Mary evokes the peripatetic nature of missionary work and the movement of the Jesuit order across the world. In addition, such a patron would help a lay person realize, in his or her busy life, that Mary is with him or her on the way.

Like the popes before him, Pope Francis has a great love for Mary, especially Our Lady Undoer of Knots. But, this love of Mary has been a mark of the Jesuit order from day one. This image of Mary may be found in the Gesu, the main Jesuit Church in Rome. I was there twice.

Other chapels are dedicated to Our Lady of the Road, like the one at Loyola in Chicago.

Mary calls each one of us to follow her to Jesus, to take up a "way", a life, which includes prayer and discipline.  One of the readings for the Feast of Our Lady of the Way, or Road (May 24th) follows. In this selection from Proverbs, the reader is exhorted to become wise, become just, and then, perfect. 

Proverbs 4:10-18Douay-Rheims 

10 Hear, O my son, and receive my words, that years of life may be multiplied to thee.

11 I will shew thee the way of wisdom, I will lead thee by the paths of equity:

12 Which when thou shalt have entered, thy steps shall not be straitened, and when thou runnest thou shalt not meet a stumbling block.

13 Take hold on instruction, leave it not: keep it, because it is thy life.

14 Be not delighted in the paths of the wicked, neither let the way of evil men please thee.

15 Flee from it, pass not by it: go aside, and forsake it.

16 For they sleep not except they have done evil: and their sleep is taken away unless they have made some to fall.

17 They eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of iniquity.

18 But the path of the just, as a shining light, goeth forwards and increaseth even to perfect day.

Of course, one of my favorite paintings of Christ, mentioned several times on this blog, the original Sacred Heart by Batoni is also in the Gesu, and in the old Jesuit Church in Malta, the Church of the Circumcision, where I would go pray daily when I lived in Valletta.

This call to the devotion to Our Lady is advice not only for a Jesuit, but for us as well. Our prayers must be based on the words of God, on the Word of God and the Mother of the Word. We, too, must leave the way of evil and cling to Mary. The Post-Communion prayer for the day indicates that one must rely on Mary to intercede for us daily in our work and we are called to look to her for inspiration.

Lord,
we rejoice in your sacraments
and ask your mercy
as we honour the memory of the Virgin Mary.
May her faith and love inspire us to serve you more faithfully
in the work of salvation.
Grant this in the name of Jesus the Lord. Amen.

Perhaps Mary of the Road is a good companion for a lay person on the way to deep prayer and union with Christ.

to be continued....

Lesson from St. Ignatius

Knowledge of Divine Things Twenty-Two--Fides et Ratio Thirteen

This next section applies to all of us to a certain extent, although not all are called to be theologians. We are, by our baptism, called to come to an understanding of the basics, not only for the appropriation of our own faith, but for evangelizing. This section proves to be one of the most important in the entre work. Objectvity and rationality must alway be part of the study of the structure of knowledge about sacred things, sacred words, sacred texts.

65. Theology is structured as an understanding of faith in the light of a twofold methodological principle: the auditus fidei and the intellectus fidei. With the first, theology makes its own the content of Revelation as this has been gradually expounded in Sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture and the Church's living Magisterium.⁸⁸ With the second, theology seeks to respond through speculative enquiry to the specific demands of disciplined thought.

Philosophy contributes specifically to theology in preparing for a correct auditus fidei with its study of the structure of knowledge and personal communication, especially the various forms and functions of language. No less important is philosophy's contribution to a more coherent understanding of Church Tradition, the pronouncements of the Magisterium and the teaching of the great masters of theology, who often adopt concepts and thought-forms drawn from a particular philosophical tradition. In this case, the theologian is summoned not only to explain the concepts and terms used by the Church in her thinking and the development of her teaching, but also to know in depth the philosophical systems which may have influenced those concepts and terms, in order to formulate correct and consistent interpretations of them.

These skills are woefully missing in so many priests, bishops and cardinals. Theology based on philosophy will be intelligible, logically consistent, clear and not contradictory to Tradition or the Scriptures.

66. With regard to the intellectus fidei, a prime consideration must be that divine Truth “proposed to us in the Sacred Scriptures and rightly interpreted by the Church's teaching” ⁸⁹enjoys an innate intelligibility, so logically consistent that it stands as an authentic body of knowledge. The intellectus fidei expounds this truth, not only in grasping the logical and conceptual structure of the propositions in which the Church's teaching is framed, but also, indeed primarily, in bringing to light the salvific meaning of these propositions for the individual and for humanity. From the sum of these propositions, the believer comes to know the history of salvation, which culminates in the person of Jesus Christ and in his Paschal Mystery. 

If a lay person, for whatever reason, cannot appropriate some truths, that person must be obedient in order to be saved. This assent of faith is a humble recognition of limitations of all sorts.

Believers then share in this mystery by their assent of faith.

Now, one of the main purposes of this entire series comes to the fore in St. John Paul II's text.

Meaning must be articulated in the form of argument, as well as in narrative. 

Going to Mass in such desert, this can be woefully not the case in too many parishes.

For its part, dogmatic theology must be able to articulate the universal meaning of the mystery of the One and Triune God and of the economy of salvation, both as a narrative and, above all, in the form of argument. It must do so, in other words, through concepts formulated in a critical and universally communicable way. Without philosophy's contribution, it would in fact be impossible to discuss theological issues such as, for example, the use of language to speak about God, the personal relations within the Trinity, God's creative activity in the world, the relationship between God and man, or Christ's identity as true God and true man. 

How beautiful it is to want to know Christ through the gifts of faith and reason. This drive is a true sign of the saint, the one who loves.

This is no less true of the different themes of moral theology, which employ concepts such as the moral law, conscience, freedom, personal responsibility and guilt, which are in part defined by philosophical ethics.

It is necessary therefore that the mind of the believer acquire a natural, consistent and true knowledge of created realities—the world and man himself—which are also the object of divine Revelation. Still more, reason must be able to articulate this knowledge in concept and argument. Speculative dogmatic theology thus presupposes and implies a philosophy of the human being, the world and, more radically, of being, which has objective truth as its foundation.

What an indictment these last two paragraphs are for so many clerics today, who merely think from the emotions, in the passions, and not from conceptual reflections, rational discourse, argument.

The meaning of what it means to be human ultimately gets lost in the chaos resulting from the lack of thinking.

Such is the Protestant heritage and the charismatic empahsis on the emotions......

to be continued....

Detachment Again

A long time ago, I wrote in the perfection series about detachment.

When one truly becomes detached from one's own desires and no longer prefers something to something else, one can finally hear God.

People ask me, "How can I hear God."  I answer, "Become totally detached from everything."

In fact, imperfect love can be a distraction and is a sign of the lack of detachment. One can only truly love a person when one loves that person for the sake of Christ. One has to become detached from affections. One reason why so many marriages fail is the lack of detachment which allows one to love the other in the marriage freely.

This scares people, as they think that detachment means unlove. On the contrary, one is capable of real love, sacrificial love once one is detached. One loves more like God loves.

Too often, people cannot discern, (see my series on discerment), because they are too attached to people, things, places.

How can one know God's Will if one cannot determine what is from God and what is from the flesh, the world, or the devil? One learns how to determine God's working in one's life through detachment.

I write this for four men who are friends of mine and who are struggling with detachment. Not all of them read this blog, but I pray for them and ask that you do as well. They do not mind me referring to them in a general way, as it will help other men discern reality in their lives. These men are called to move on in their faith in a huge and demanding way. Without detachment, they cannot go on to the next stage of holiness to which God is calling them.

The same is true for each one of us. Without detachment even from our own desires, one cannot see what it is that God desires for our lives.

We must be detached so that we can hear God speaking to us in the quiet of prayer, and in the daily movements of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

OK A Respite And A Post on A Common Sin

Mark 6:1-6

The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth

6 He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.2 On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary[a] and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense[b] at him. 4 Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” 5 And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief.

I am in a waiting mode and cannot do any of the work I need to do for some very good reasons. I also need surgery but cannot schedule that either. Pray for me. My only consolation is that I am joined to the Cross of Christ in a real way. I rely totally on Divine Providence alone.

Therefore, I am writing a post on the sin of sentimentality, one to which I am not personally prone, but one which I find is more common in America than in Europe. Europeans tend to fall into the sin of cynicism, which is that nothing is true or good or holy. The sin of sentimentality encourages a subjective thinking in which a person only sees the good, and never evil. A healthy objectivity marks the saint, who knows in the depth of his heart and soul that one could be the worst sinner ever, but for the grace of God.

This objectivity must be reached and is encouraged by God in the Dark Night, in the passive purgation.

One waits for God. One waits in God, but one must never fall into sentimentality.

Not being of a romantic nature, I have other sins, but this sin of sentimentality grips the GenXers, who look towards good feelings.

Sentimentality rests on bad theology, a theology which confuses natural law, and the dignity of the human person, seeing all things, all creation as equal, which it is most certainly not.

Now, my readers know that I really like animals. I am partial to birds, dogs, cats, and horses.

But, I am not sentimental about such creatures. They have animal souls and I shall not see my dead pets in heaven.

God gave me these pets for my comfort and amusement while on earth. Period.

GenXers were raised on sentiment, which comes from seeing the emotions as all-important and the reasoning faculties of humans as not worthy of consideration. When classical education fell into disuse, along with it was the loss of the training of the mind in rational discourse. How many times have I written on this topic on this blog and the Guild blog as well? Many.

Emotions clog up the soul, the mind, the heart, the imagination with goo and this goo bubbles up into sentimentality.

Catholics seriously lack discernment. Why? Three reasons. One, they refuse to admit that in Confirmation they are given the gift of knowledge which develops into discernment with prayer and practice. Sloth takes over the practice of virtue.

Two, discernment demands that one is absolutely ruthless about one's own sins. Humility brings about discernment.

Three, deceit in the world clouds many people's imaginations to be the point where they can no longer think like Catholics. Catholics, especially saints, know that the emotions must follow reason, or one becomes a slave of emotion and sentimentality.

God's justice must be the most misunderstood attribute of God in 2015, because people have fallen into sentimentality. Sentimentality will not judge between good and evil. We can name a very prominent priest who has fallen into heresy over sentimentality about God being so merciful that He would not allow anyone to choose hell.

Remember when I wrote about raising mushy kids instead of children in the Church Militant? This mushiness rises out of the sin of sentimentality.

The Church in the pew in America is weak because sentimentality creates nasty, long roots of false connections, tying one down to pagan families, immoral cultural pursuits, and even mortal sin. Sentimentality crushes truth, making one feel good about themselves, their families, even their friends.

Unbelief comes from many sources, but sentimentality and cynicism destroy belief. Christ in today's Gospel is seen as not being able to work in His own territory. Why?

The lack of discernment.....and if you remember, I have an entire series on discernment.

More later, maybe.....maybe.

On those fallen away

 I have been meditating on what it is like to choose to be outside the Catholic Church.

This “vision”, purely from my imagination, connotes a dual danger of apostasy.

When we are baptized, we enter into the Mystical Body of Christ. We become children of God and heirs of heaven, which we are not, if we are not baptized.

As children of God, we are to be formed into the likeness of God by grace, which is given in the sacraments of the Church.

To turn away from all these graces is to choose a greater suffering than God ever intended.

I see in my mind’s eye a windswept plain with hundreds of people crawling on the hands and knees, into a darkness. All is gray and dusty, as if these people were lost in a coal tip, a dust tip, as in the famous book, Our Mutual Friend.

When one chooses a life outside the arms of Mother Church, one is exposed to evil in a new way. We all meet evil daily, but with strength, courage, and even confidence in God to carry us through the evil we meet.

This scenario changes when one chooses to leave the graces of the sacramental life.

That wind sweeping across this dusty barren waste howls with the voices of the devils and the liars of this world.

Why would anyone choose such a life of gray futility, setting aside the Eucharist, Confession, the Last Rites?

Another characteristic of these hundreds of people creeping across the dust and ashes, is that they are complaining, blaming others, events, circumstances, God, for their degradation. Such is the lot of those who leave discernment behind. One cannot even take responsibility for one’s life, one’s sin.

Humility would bring light, like great beacons, on this dull plain. These beacons of light would pierce the mind and heart, allowing those crawling nowhere to see their sins and their culpability.

But, no, these sad people choose daily to curse the goodness which surrounds them and stay in the gloom of despondency and even, final despair.

I remember that St. Peter and Judas committed the same sin of betrayal, albeit, one more seriously, but betrayal none the less.

The only difference between the two men was that one became humble through his sin and could leave the grey plains of guilt and blame, while the other could not believe in God’s goodness, God’s love, and, therefore, killed himself, as his soul was already dead.

I pray for those on the plain that they may have a graced moment of light, see the beacons and stand up, leaving the others behind, and walk towards true freedom into the love of God, Who always forgives our sins and creates us anew daily.

During this Holy Week, pray for those Catholics who have left the Church for the grey plains.

Perfection Series II:xvii--Mortification continued...

St. Bernard, after Our Lady, is the saint I love the most. His words have guided me most of my life.

He notes that the passions are like weeds, which keep reappearing even after we weed the garden.

Venerable Louis of Granada notes that St. Bernard tells us that there would be no need for hell if the passions did not exist in men and women. But, these do. The passions are connected to self-love.

Here is Louis' short reference found here.

Hence St. Bernard says that if we take away self-love, by which he understands all the movements of the sensitive appetite, there will be no longer any reason for the existence of Hell. (De Resurrectione Dni., Serm. 3).

Things which we consider "normal" and "good" many be hidden passions to be purged in the Dark Night.

Mortification, writes St. Alphonsus, who also refers to St. Bernard, rids us of the passions, the weeds of our souls. We are not animals, which live in passion, as our passions get in the way of purity of heart. St. Gregory compares the passions, found in a quotation used by St. Alphonsus, to raging beasts.

Do not confuse temptation with the passions which still rage in our souls. God gives us discernment to know the difference.

Pray for discernment daily.

Here is more "good stuff" from Venerable Louis Granada: his works on this website listed above is like a short version of Garrigou-Lagrange.

The Reformation of the Will

One of the most efficacious means of effecting this reformation is to strengthen and adorn the superior will that is, the rational appetite with humility of heart, poverty of spirit, and a holy hatred of self. If we possess these, the labor of mortification is easily accomplished. Humility, according to the definition of St. Bernard, is contempt of self founded on a true knowledge of our baseness. The effect of this virtue is to pluck from our heart all the roots of pride as well as all love of earthly honors and dignities. It inspires us to seek the lowest place, persuading us that had another received the graces we enjoy he would have been more grateful and would have used them more profitably for the glory of God. It is not sufficient that man cherish these sentiments in his heart; they should also be evident in his deportment and surroundings, which, regardless of the world's opinion, should be as humble and simple as his position will admit. And while he maintains the dignity due to his station his heart should ever be ready to submit not only to superiors and equals, but even to inferiors for the love of God.

The second disposition required to strengthen and adorn the will is poverty of spirit, which consists in a voluntary contempt for the things of this world, and in a perfect contentment in the position in which God has placed us, however poor and lowly it may be. This virtue effectually destroys cupidity, and affords us so great a peace and contentment that Seneca did not hesitate to affirm that he who closed his heart to the claims of unruly desires was not inferior in wealth or happiness to Jupiter himself. By this he signified that as man's misery springs from unfulfilled desires, he may be said to be very near the summit of happiness who has learned to subdue his desires so that they cannot disturb him.

The third disposition is a holy hatred of ourselves. "He that loveth his life shall lose it," says Our Saviour, "and he that hateth his life in this world keepeth it unto life eternal." (Jn. 12:25). By this hatred of self Our Lord did not mean that wicked hatred in which they indulge who yield to despair, but that aversion which the saints experienced for their flesh, which they regarded as the source of many evils and as a great obstacle to good. Hence they subjected it to the empire of reason, and denied its inordinate desires, that it might continue a humble servant and willing helper of the soul.

If we treat it otherwise we shall realize these words of the Wise Man: "He that nourisheth his servant delicately from his childhood, afterwards shall find him stubborn." (Prov. 29:21 ). This hatred of self is our chief instrument in the work of salvation. It enables us to uproot and cast from us all our evil inclinations, however much nature may rebel. Without it how could we strike rude blows, penetrate to the quick with the knife of mortification, and tear from our hearts objects upon which our affections are centered? Yes, the arm of mortification, which draws its force as much from hatred of self as from love of God, enables us to treat our failings with the firmness of a skillful physician, and relentlessly to cut and burn with no other thought than to rid the soul of every evil tendency. Having developed this subject in the Memorial of a Christian Life, we shall not here speak of it at greater length.

Predominant Fault Series Continued

Those regular readers know that I have done in the past a series on the predominant fault. Just follow the tags and labels. Some posts are linked below.

Remember when I wrote of the possibility of us having more than one? Well, apparently, St. Francis de Sales wrote that he had two predominant faults, as noted by St. Alphonsus Ligouri in his book, The Twelve Steps to Holiness and Salvation.

St. Francis de Sales admitted to having anger and love as his two predominant faults. Today, I want to examine what both saints wrote of these two predominant faults.

Firstly, St. Alphonsus reveals that anyone who gets upset with sin in one's own life is not humble, but proud, and may be exhibiting the predominant fault of anger. Anger is not merely focused on other or events, but one can look at one's self in anger.

St Alphonsus corrects one's perception by noting that the humble person quietly and resignedly accepts sin as part of life (until the Unitive State), and that one must pray to God, as did St. Catherine of Genoa, to see the good in one, the fruit of repentance, not merely the horror of sin.

"Lord, see, here is the fruit from my own garden! But, pardon me, I beg Thee!" A quick and sincere prayer reveals a humble heart.

And, St. Francis de Sales warns against all types of anger, even towards one's self.

That St. Francis admitted his own predominant faults encourages us to face and overcome our own, with grace. He wrote that it took his twelve years to overcome anger, working on that sin for that length of time.

Some women have shared with me that vainglory is a predominant fault-that is, wanting to be noticed, wanting to be attractive.

St. Francis shared that one of his predominant faults was love. How can love be a fault, one might ask?

Love many be inordinate or focused too much on people rather than God Himself. God is a Jealous God when it comes to our hearts. When St. Francis changed the emphasis of his love to God, he finally overcame that predominant fault of misplaced love.

More later...an here are some links

Friday, 6 December 2013

More on The Predominant Fault AND Many Links

Posted by Supertradmum

For those interested in most of the postings on the predominant fault, I have tried to find most of the links on this subject, which is a Catholic idea, btw, and not a protestant one.

As one who is being dragged into looking at my predominant faults, I can assure you the journey is painful, but worth it.

As Garrigou-Lagrange notes, without a struggle, we shall not be made perfect, as we are called to be. 

Mortification plays a huge part in the destruction of the predominant fault. 

Let God lead into those murky waters of sin in order to deal with the predominant fault. Here is a selection from the great Dominican.

The truth is that without this persevering and efficacious struggle we cannot sincerely aspire to Christian perfection, toward which the supreme precept makes it a duty for all of us to tend. This precept is, in fact, without limit: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and with thy whole soul and with all thy strength and with all thy mind: and thy neighbor as thyself." (11)

Without this struggle, there is no interior joy or peace, for the tranquility of order or peace comes from the spirit of sacrifice. It alone establishes us interiorly in order by putting to death all that is inordinate in US.(12)

Lastly, charity, the love of God and of souls in God, finally prevails completely over the predominant fault; it then truly occupies the first place in our soul and reigns there effectively. Mortification, which makes our principal fault disappear, delivers us and assures the predominance in our soul of our true natural qualities and of our special attraction of grace. Thus little by little, we grow to be ourselves, in the broad sense of the word, that is, to be supernaturally ourselves minus our defects. We do not have to copy in a more or less servile manner another's qualities, or enter a uniform mold that is the same for all. There is a great variety in human personalities, just as no two leaves or flowers are perfectly similar. But a person's temperament must not be crushed; it must be transformed while keeping whatever is good in it. In our temperament, our character must be the imprint of the acquired and infused virtues, especially of the theological virtues. Then, instead of instinctively referring everything to self, as is the case when the predominant fault reigns, we will turn everything back to God, think almost continually of Him, and live for Him alone; at the same time we will lead to Him those with whom we come into contact.

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2012/07/perfection-series-again-pride.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2012/07/perfection-series-our-predominant-fault.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2012/07/predominant-fault-three-perfection.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-predominant-fault-homeschooling-and.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/08/new-home-schooling-series-not-yet.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/09/supertradmums-home-schooling-posts-list.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-dark-night-part-49.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/09/father-ripperger-on-protection-from.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/09/on-temptations.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2012/07/perfection-series-our-predominant-fault.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/09/why-people-follow-false-seers-their.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/09/following-false-visions-and-predominant.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/09/part-three-tackling-predominant-fault.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/09/following-false-seers-and-predominant.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/09/part-five-predominant-fault-and-false.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/what-is-detachment-from-venial-sin.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/one-more-note-on-thoughts-from-st-john.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2012/07/perfection-series-continued-predominant.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2012/07/perfection-series-continued-predominant.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/09/a-predominant-fault-in-some-men.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/09/on-beauty.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-predominant-fault-of-some-women.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-predominant-fault-of-some-women-two.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/09/virtues-in-children-continued-on.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/09/parents-giving-in-to-peer-pressure-and.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/09/clarifications-on-prayer-part-one-first.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/10/as-i-noted-in-very-beginning-of.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/09/i-hate-to-break-this-to-you-all-but.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-mystery-of-pain.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/what-is-detachment-from-venial-sin.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-short-note.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/repost-on-prayer.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/again-on-dark-night.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/more-more-on-discernment.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/one-more-note-on-thoughts-from-st-john.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/on-sin-of-impatience.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/more-on-predominant-fault_27.html

On Mis-Information and What To Do

A friend of mine and I had a fascinating discussion last week on the growing use of false information in most, if not all, the main stream media.

Many of us have seen this, including myself, as I taught media control in a college class in 2010. The manipulation of news has been known since the hay-day of yellow journalism, a la Citizen Kane. 

Also, I have been involved in newspaper writing in the past, so I know of some of this first-hand. Journalism demands honesty, but too often is taken over by agendas and propagandists.

However, what my friend stressed, was the purposeful feeding of mis-information to even so-called independent news sources, including radio and television.

I have been suspicious of some news and wondered about this second, and even third level, of false news, false reporting, false statistics and so on.

The UN is one of the main sources of falsified information, as the Malthusian philosophy holds sway in that organization. Other big groups, such as "charities" funded by Bill Gates, also take part in mis-information for the sake of population control in the Third World.

In the past year, those of us who are "Vatican Watchers" have seen the continual misuse of information from such sources as La Stampa and L'Osservatore Romano.

Check this out for mis-information. The headline makes me sick. This is manipulation loud and clear.

http://www.osservatoreromano.va/en

So, what is a good Catholic to do?

One, be holy and hone one's discernment. See my blogs on this. Here is one link.

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2014/02/why-catholic-cannot-discern.html

Two, choose news sources carefully and use common sense.

Three, always, always, always compare news items and editorials with the Teaching Magisterium of the Church.

Four, be cautious and wise. Pray daily for the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be operative in your life

Five, do not, I repeat, do not watch television. All the news is manipulated on that media.

Six, follow reliable sources by looking at the author's philosophies.

More on this later...

The Trad Blind Guides

Most of the people I know in Iowa and Illinois live in denial. The traditional Catholics form a group from varied backgrounds, but many refuse to admit to the signs of the times.

Christ Himself told us we would be persecuted, and the Church has seen this over and over and over.

If you are watching daily news on television, you are being duped. If you are not praying for discernment, you will be deceived. If you are sinning and refuse to repent, you will not have the discernment to see what God is telling all of us.

I hear the laity weekly blaming the priests for abandoning their flocks. What about fathers and lay leaders abandoning their wives and children to the world?

St. Timothy in this short passage warned us.

2 Timothy 3:12

Douay-Rheims 

12 And all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution.

I cannot convince people who are in denial about the role of the Catholic laity in days to come. All I can do is to teach people how to become holy in order to face these days.

Why are there so many trad Catholics who are refusing to face what is happening across the globe concerning the daily martyrdom of Christians?

Why are Catholics who are traditional sending their children to schools which have adopted Common Core?

You will lose your children to the evil one if you do this. They will be indoctrinated to the point where they will turn against you.

That parents and single people act as though everything in this country is the same scandalizes me.

When times get tough, old people will be tempted to suicide, and young people will capitulate to the new world order.

Yet, talk after Mass is full of trivia, as if the powers of evil have not begun a huge assault.

Wake up, trad Catholics, please.

Your souls and the souls of your children are at stake.

Do you think that merely going to Latin Mass will save you without good works, without working on daily holiness in your families, with your friends?

Do you think that the saying of the rosary will protect your children from brainwashing if you send them to Common Core schools?

Do you think and talk about things and money more than thinking and talking about God and His ways?

Do you think you are going to live in the same world, in the same manner as your parents?

It is the duty of the parent to protect the child, and it is the duty of the laity to try and change society.

But, if people are not admitting the evil is growing and forming a circle around them, they may perish, spiritually.

Pray for those who cannot see, or worse, do not want to see, the signs of the times.

God has warned us in history, in the Scriptures. Any prophet crying "Peace in our days" is false. Anyone not forming children in the way of virtue will be judged harshly by God. Anyone thinking that the forms of religion are enough to save one, is no better than the Sadducees and Pharisees.

Matthew 24

Douay-Rheims 

24 And Jesus being come out of the temple, went away. And his disciples came to shew him the buildings of the temple.

2 And he answering, said to them: Do you see all these things? Amen I say to you there shall not be left here a stone upon a stone that shall not be destroyed.

3 And when he was sitting on mount Olivet, the disciples came to him privately, saying: Tell us when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the consummation of the world?

4 And Jesus answering, said to them: Take heed that no man seduce you:

5 For many will come in my name saying, I am Christ: and they will seduce many.

6 And you shall hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that ye be not troubled. For these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be pestilences, and famines, and earthquakes in places:

8 Now all these are the beginnings of sorrows.

9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall put you to death: and you shall be hated by all nations for my name's sake.

10 And then shall many be scandalized: and shall betray one another: and shall hate one another.

11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall seduce many.

12 And because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold.

13 But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved.

14 And this gospel of the kingdom, shall be preached in the whole world, for a testimony to all nations, and then shall the consummation come.

15 When therefore you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place: he that readeth let him understand.

16 Then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains:

17 And he that is on the housetop, let him not come down to take any thing out of his house:

18 And he that is in the field, let him not go back to take his coat.

19 And woe to them that are with child, and that give suck in those days.

20 But pray that your flight be not in the winter, or on the sabbath.

21 For there shall be then great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be.

22 And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect those days shall be shortened.

23 Then if any man shall say to you: Lo here is Christ, or there, do not believe him.

24 For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect.

25 Behold I have told it to you, beforehand.

26 If therefore they shall say to you: Behold he is in the desert, go ye not out: Behold he is in the closets, believe it not.

27 For as lightning cometh out of the east, and appeareth even into the west: so shall the coming of the Son of man be.

28 Wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together.

29 And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be moved:

30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all tribes of the earth mourn: and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty.

31 And he shall send his angels with a trumpet, and a great voice: and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them.

32 And from the fig tree learn a parable: When the branch thereof is now tender, and the leaves come forth, you know that summer is nigh.

33 So you also, when you shall see all these things, know ye that it is nigh, even at the doors.

34 Amen I say to you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.

35 Heaven and earth shall pass, but my words shall not pass.

36 But of that day and hour no one knoweth, not the angels of heaven, but the Father alone.

37 And as in the days of Noe, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, even till that day in which Noe entered into the ark,

39 And they knew not till the flood came, and took them all away; so also shall the coming of the Son of man be.

40 Then two shall be in the field: one shall be taken, and one shall be left.

41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill: one shall be taken, and one shall be left.

42 Watch ye therefore, because ye know not what hour your Lord will come.

43 But know this ye, that if the goodman of the house knew at what hour the thief would come, he would certainly watch, and would not suffer his house to be broken open.

44 Wherefore be you also ready, because at what hour you know not the Son of man will come.

45 Who, thinkest thou, is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath appointed over his family, to give them meat in season.

46 Blessed is that servant, whom when his lord shall come he shall find so doing.

47 Amen I say to you, he shall place him over all his goods.

48 But if that evil servant shall say in his heart: My lord is long a coming:

49 And shall begin to strike his fellow servants, and shall eat and drink with drunkards:

50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day that he hopeth not, and at an hour that he knoweth not:

51 And shall separate him, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.