Answer to Jack

A reader notes that being a Catholic seems masochistic. If original sin had not happened and if our natures were not bent on selfishness and narcissism, one could say that such mortification seems harsh. However, the self-love and sin we to experience must be challenged. To put this topic in a positive light, how can we love God with our whole heart, mind, and soul if there is no room in our heart for God? The purgative state cleanses our imagination, purifies our intentions, enlargens our heart in order to really love. Scroll down to my posts on the will, read the articles using material by Saints Bernard and Thomas Aquinas.I just read your second comment. The key is trying not to worry and trusting in Divine Providence, begging for healing and grace. Showing God you are serious about wanting to love Him above all things and people....accepting poverty and even chosing it as He has allowed it. The joy of seeing all suffering as opportunity to love God in reality and not sentimentality is the challenge. Jack, ask for the grace. Ask yourself if you want to love God first.

Suffering and the purgative way

For the lay person, just as with the religious, the first step is found in the purgative way: that is, the ego, the self-will must be destroyed...the losing of one's self. In the monastery, this could mean doing things which seem nonsensical...like not giving a guest a coffee spoon because only so many spoons are allowed in the kitchen; or having to use only water for cleaning and not soap. Obedience over-rules common sense. In the lay life, this could mean being overlooked for a well-earned promotion, or being unemployed and very poor. The suffering, if seen as a moment of grace and accepted, becomes part of the molding of the soul into humility. A great Failure, for example, can be a huge grace. I do not have my computer. I am blogging by phone..a moment of grace, rather than frustration. Criticisms by someone in the church who said I was odd and a burden, becomes a moment of joy, indifference and peace....to be continued.

R.I.P.

My godfather, Uncle Charlie, died this past week. Please pray for his soul. He was a Catholic, very funny, a marathon runner, and a lover of movies. He is responsible for my love of the cinema, especially Audrey Hepburn movies and musicals. He is the first in that maternal side of his generation to pass away. He never married and I last saw him in early 2011. He will be buried in a military cemetary. May the angels take his soul into Paradise.