Sunday, 10 August 2014

Code-Breakers and Catalysts

If you read the series on code-breakers, some of you will recognize another category, which one of my spiritual directors called that of the "catalyst".

In 1980, I was told by my then spiritual director, a Jesuit, that I was a catalyst. Now, I did not want to be a catalyst, nor do I still want to be a catalyst, but I am.

But, a catalyst "does" very little. This person is a conduit of God's mercy and grace. Why, I do not know. Catalysts make things happen to other things. Now, two points, "a catalyst is not consumed by the reaction" and "they may be inhibited, deactivated, or destroyed by secondary processes". (wiki)

The inhibitors are evil things, like horrible sins, demons, etc.

One just lives and things happen. According to the wiki article, catalysts are noted symbolically by the letter "z".  I do not remember my chemistry, taken in a class so long ago, but this is interesting.

In a general sense,[16] anything that increases the rate of a process is a "catalyst", a term derived from Greek καταλύειν, meaning "to annul," or "to untie," or "to pick up."

Spiritually, to untie reminds me of Our Lady the Untier of Knots.  And, to annul also means not actively untying but just quietly watching things wash away.

Some people like catalysts and some do not. I shall write more about this later.