I thought I would jot down a few thoughts on growth in the Spiritual Life . that is to say our life in prayer,for they are mor nor less the exact same thing. These are only my own thoughts, I would love to hear what others think. For there are many diffferent ways of viewing such growth and so many different perspectives. I love to hear new ways of looking at things ,as I suppose do we all. The first thing I would say is that I expect that most people do not as such step back and ask themselves the question of how far along the Spiritual Road they have travelled, anymore than most people, for instance ask a simple question such as, 'How far along the road am I in raising a family?', of, 'How far along the path am I in my career plan?'. I think most people kind of get on with it. Sometimes I look at older married people as they sit in Church and am often astonished how alike they are to each other. This is no accident for they did not start out as brothers and sisters it is clearly love that has melded them together down the course of the years. Not only alike in looks but you I think I can see looking on as outsider how they kind of meld together as though they are one unit. The husband for isntance knowing to let the wife go first, giving assistance to each otehr, both knowing the place they want to go to and so on. But do the husband and wife know how much this melding has taken place, how far along the Sacramental Path they have come, how well they have responded to its graces and calling tha tthe two become one? I would very much doubt it. Perhaps from time to time they do stop and wonder , but I suspect this self questioning would be more frequent in the earlier days of marriage rather than the later were most of the questions have been answered and the course set. Many questions being a role of the young, many answers , hopefully , more the role of the older.
A Priest told me one time that it was not uncommon for older people to come to Confession with a common complaint and problem . The problem being that they find themselves, 'Unable to pray'. They describe it as trying to say the rosary but when they , for instance say, 'Hail Mary', they get so lost in the words they get kind of caught out of themselves and can no longer continue the rosary. The penitent blames him/herself in being lost in idle day dreaming for what is not in fact a problem but a great, great grace. They have in fact entered into the Prayer of Quiet (Contemplative Prayer) and are starting in the end stages of the great journey home to heaven. It is not a problem but a delight. Would it have helped these people to have know this, to know the stage or place in prayer/ the Spiritirual Life they had gottne too? Well yes, obviously , but then again a few wise words form the Confessor will put their minds and hearts at ease. So there is perhaps no great problem there. View attachment 4448
All this being said about the almost unconcious growth in the Spiritual Life I suspect what is the large majority of Devout Catholics make on the Spiritual Journey, I suppose the question could at once be asked what good is it establishing, 'stages' in prayer? Couldn't it be a form of narcissim, or pride or a kind of harmful navel gaving , a turn into self inwards unhealthily rather than outwards towards God? I think there is no simple , 'Yes', or , 'No', to this . Obviously if folks can cruise along in the Spiritual Journey without such knowledge of Mystical/Ascetical Theology, well fine. Why not? But there are osme people such as myself who have found such knowledge helpful and for a variety of reasons. Take for instance someone who weighs themselves every day. This could be self absorbed and narcisstic, but say they are doing this as part of a calorie controlled diet to see if they are really loosing weight, as a part of weight watchers , say..then obviously this measurment helps. Say again they had Cancer and know that weight loss is a big symptom, then clearly they might want to watch their weight to find out if their treatment is effective. In fact one of the first things a Urologist might want to do is to take your weight. Similiarly if you have diabetes you might have a legitamete need to test your blood sugar lever frequently. View attachment 4449
For me, an examination of conscience helps keep my focus on continually trying to conquer my faults. Daily or weekly resolutions help me make some progress as well. As far as thinking how far am I on the path? No, but one of the saints said if you are not going forward, then you are slipping back. So I am content with plodding along forward to the best of my ability with the Lord's grace.
A vital and encyclopedic resource here: http://www.christianperfection.info THE THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE Prelude of Eternal Life by Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.
The greatest growth for my personal prayer life (which has SO far to go/grow) was to stop asking for "this, that, and the other" of my needs in prayer, and start to converse more with God. Meaning I now thank him, tell him he has a faithful servant in me, and pray that He shows me His will for what He wants me to do and that I will do it. I am really really intrigued by our brothers and sisters who are striving to live in the Divine Will and the thread on this forum on that is so chock full of wisdom. My wife is currently working on it also, calling it contemplative prayer. I have to admit that it is a bit above my spiritual capabilities as I'm more of a meat and potatoes guy and I "think" the good Lord knows that. So I'm more blunt with it . . . "show me your will, Lord and I'll do it!" But I am trying to learn what I can do to understand how to live each moment in the Divine Will
When I came back to the faith most of what I was doing (rosary, scapular, prayer, good works, etc) was more out of fear for my soul...fear of hell. I remember not understanding the difference of what was important. It was not about love of God or love of neighbor but all fear. I remember when I first learned about the brown scapular, I absolutely just had to have one because the fear in me was that it was an easy way to avoid hell. I thought I would have to do is wear this brown scapular and I would be fine. What a childish thought. Thankfully one progresses and begins to do things out of love. I noticed the changes began to happen rather quickly though. It would really occur for me during times praying the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary. I would begin to truly think about our Lord's passion and literally weep. I would pause in these moments and cry out to the Lord and just talk to him. Looking back it all now those were the most powerful prayer times. It was not a matter of me getting through the whole rosary without drifting in thoughts it was about a deep connection with the Lord and His Mother that really mattered. What matters more....saying 50 Hail Mary's just going through the words of the prayer or saying 1 Hail Mary and truly feeling a deep connection to our Blessed Mother and our Lord. Another devotion that really got me to tears and still does from time to time is the 7 sorrows of Mary. The first time I learned this devotion I was in tears because it was so personal for me. I had to bury a child in my life and the moment I got 5, 6 and 7 of Mary's sorrows I could relate with all of it. I saw my daughter dying, I held her lifeless body for the last time, I placed her in her tomb. It was so much sorrow and so much relating to what Our Blessed Mother. Those powerful deep prayer times to come as often any more but they do still come. I don't look to say the rosary now to feel those deep connections though I would love to, but I do look to do it because our Mother asked us to. I am not a perfect child though and even though I should eat my vegetables every day like you should I still try to. Oddly enough for me it was one of those deep prayer connection moments that brought me back to the Lord in the first place. I had been working towards that end for a few years prior and almost trying to find the path again but it was one night of tears that truly brought me back and it was in a moment of connection with the Lord. I have told this before but it nice to remember again. It was Sunday night, St. Patrick's day 2013. I was watching the series The Bible on the History channel and that night was the episode where Jesus was born. It was such a beautiful scene and I just began to weep. I was a mess and I had to pause the show and I just looked to the Heavens and called out to the Lord. I just wanted to be His again and I begged Him to help me and to take me back. I was sick a lot last week and I spent so much time at home just watching shows about Jesus and the bible. I came across that series again and there were so many times in that program where I felt that deep connection again and just wept and cried out to the Lord. I treasure those moments and treasure that time of connection and realize those few and far between times are truly special in our relationship and aiding in our spiritual growth.
I would like to just share a bit at a time. Otherwise it would turn into a long post. The first time I remember hearing about God as a child. It was because of the sin of Adam and Eve we were banned from the garden of Eden, and we had to earn our living by the sweat of our brow. We had to learn to know, love and serve God and then we could go home to Heaven where we belonged. I believed for many years that our indebtedness to God was about finance. LOL yes that is true, and nobody ever twigged. However when I was very young, I had a dream about Jesus. I thought He was my guardian angel then and He did not make me aware for some years Who He really was. But from that moment, I just wanted to go home to Heaven, and never stopped asking God when can I come home. No adult ever knew this until I was in my twenties. Married by then and had two children.
I cannot speak for others, but there hae been times n my spiritual journey I have not been at all certain if I was going backwards or forwards or if I was going nuts or decieving myself. Notably in the Dark Nights. Even now I get concerned very often. I remember the words of St Paul who said that we should work our Salvation in Fear and trembling. Philippians 2:12 Shining as Stars 12So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.… ..also as Jesus said: Matthew 7:13 The Narrow Gate 13"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14"For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. This may be a bit hard on both myself and others. But did you notice at the end of this Scripture Jesus says.....'.. and there are few who find it.'? I know these things are a mystery but the implication of, few there are find it, it seems to me is that few people find the way to heaven. Sometimes lately when I look at the world around me, I see a great darkness. When I am round crowds of people in the city busy, going about their everyday lives, the thought corsses my mind as I look at them to wonder if they ever pray, if God or thoughts of God ever cross their minds, all day, for weeks , for years, forever. I don't want to sound very hard on people but my impression is that most people are well, Godless..without God. I know this sounds harsh. After all the people I meet , on the whole are very good mannered, friendly, hard working, obeying the law, helpful and so on. But that is being civilised and nice. But being nice is not what will ever get any of us into heaven. I would imagine hell is fullof nice, good mannered people who would never have hurt a fly. In fact many people would say being a Christian is what makes us hateful and judgemental and nasty these days. On ther hand we Christians are the ones who oppose Self Murder, called Euthansia, the murder of the unborn, called Abortion , sexual pervsion called the Gay lifestyle and so on , while these wonderful freindly civilised people embrace it all. So anyway as my eyes rove and turn outwards to myself and I think to myself if so many are in fat on the road away fro God towards Darkness myself? ..and yes there is a certain Holy Fear a certain trembling, for if we are on the Dark Path, the very last person who will now about it is ourselves. I am sure most of the people I look at aorund me think they are doing wonderfully well, even though God is absent in their lives. But as Scripture tells us: Proverbs 9:10 The Way of Wisdom …9Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser, Teach a righteous man and he will increase his learning. 10The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. 11For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be added to you.… So in a World that is more and more rejecting Christ , more and more a Holy Fear and trembling comes upon me about my own place in God's plan...
I know that last post may seem very dark and drear. I do not mean it that I way, for , personally I am a very happy, joyful person really. But I think in our generation , because our societies are so rich, civilised, cultured, nice, we have lost not only the sense of evil and of sin but the sense of the consequences of such things. Or to put it another way we are living in kind of collective delusion about ourselves as a society and as individuals. Or to put it more simply, we have, colelctively lost the plot. I don't think the CHurch is immune from this self deception at all. For instance I think if you were to get a time machine and bring a Catholic from , say, the 1930's or 1950's and show then the world as it is now and ask them what they think they would maybe scream in horror. I listened to a Hassiddic Jew for instance, being asked about their strict moral code the other day and he said that basically they lived as everyone did back in 1950's. There is a great deal of truth in this, I suspect.
What gets you into heaven? It is rather simple if you go by what Jesus said, but it is rather hard to accomplish. Love God with your whole heart and love your neighbor as yourself. It is all about how we loved in life. You mention the world for the most part is Godless, Padraig and I agree. How many people truly get what that love for God is. For me it is a detesting of my sins and shortcomings and desire to do away with such things and a desire to ask God for His help in my fight against the many sins and offenses as well as to help me fight the temptations and passions in the world. Loving God is about picturing our Lord carrying the heavy cross that was not just the weight of the wood ripping at his shoulder with every step He took but the weight of all sin, past present and future that he too carried on His back for us, because of us. How can one not look up at a cross and not see it as a symbol of perfect love? He is God and yet endured such pain and suffering for us when He did not have to do such a thing. Many people truly can love their neighbor and do kind charitable works for others which has to account for something but they must also fulfill the first part of what Jesus instructed us. We must love God and try to detest in our lives what he detests and we must accept that He will be merciful on us if we detest and truly want to repent of the things that offend Him. I feel so much sorrow every time I offend Him and fall short of what He expects of us. The sorrow is huge because I know in my heart that it is such an action that adds yet another stripe to His perfect, holy body. Thankfully though I know He loves to forgive and help us all if we truly surrender it to Him, trust Him and believe that He will work in us what we bring to Him. Jesus I trust in you, I love you, please have mercy on me and on the whole world and help that love and trust to grow only stronger every day of my life!
The main thing people miss as a whole I think is the love God with your whole heart, soul, mind, strength part. People seem to be content with I am good to my neighbor so I must be a good person. But that is less than half of what is required for salvation. And hardly anyone that I have spoken to, you know irl, loves their neighbor for the sake of God. Also, everyone needs to remember the Lord rewards a good will and one who perseveres. We must trust that He knows our weaknesses, will uphold us, and that He desires our salvation more than we do.
I think the bottom line is that people (mostly on the Left of the political spectrum) have enthroned Man himself as a God. This goes right back to the French Revolution and the birth of modern liberalism. It takes its roots in Fremasonary and the Illuminati. The premise ifs that man is at heart basically good and cosntantly capable of progressing to some secular heaven. In as much as it accepts God , it is as a God, 'Outside the machine', (a God who does not, 'interfere'. However I belive as people move up the laddder of Freemasonary they are more and more shown the true belief the the true here for them if Lucifer who rightly went into rebellion against a tryanical God. That mankind too should join this rebellion by rejectng God, not as someone who does not exist, for they knwo God does in fact exist. But, knowing Him to exist still to reject Him. Or evil for evils sake if you will. I believe that all the 'Freedoms' we think we possess in modern secualr societies are illusional. We are all under soem kind of control or influence by a samll group of people. If you doubt this ask yourself how much of the wealth of the world is in the hands of a small group of people? An elite, a governing elite. In fact half of the worlds wealth is in the hands of 1 per cent of the population, this is no accident: http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/oct/13/half-world-wealth-in-hands-population-inequality-report Or to put it more simply half the world wealth is in the hands of 62 people: http://www.theguardian.com/business...naires-wealthy-half-world-population-combined
If you look at the richest people in the world again and again you see they have a clear Masonic/ Secularist/ Satanic agenda: http://www.forbes.com/sites/luisakr...he-richest-people-on-the-planet/#3bb2ed6c41cb I am off on a rant and went way of subject of the thread. Silly old me.
I would imagine our spiritual growth begins and ends with prayer. Praying, especially serious prayer, is an act of the will. Sometimes it's easy and sometimes it is hard. Sometimes it is fulfilling your daily obligation and sometimes it is full of consolation. I guess growth in prayer can progress from a simple Our Father and Hail Mary to the rosary and then other additional devotions. It might start as a habit you try to establish and it grows to easy conversation with God all day long as you do your daily duties. The next thing you know you are praying from the heart. But it all starts with an act of the will and the decision to start to pray, and the decision to make it a part of your daily routine.
Yes Cathy, the soul has been compared to a fortified city and at the very centre of the walled city is the Citadel, which is the Will. Every other part of the city can fall to the Enemy (the devil) but the central part the Citadel of the Will can only ever be handed over to Satan if we turn round and give him the Keys. ( This is why Satanists have have an introductory Rite were people opt for Hell by , for instance, jumping on top of a crucifix at which point they hand over the keys and the devil enters right on in. At this time they give no sign of possession it is only if they decide to fight back that the obvious signs of possession occur. Thus we call people who have handed over the Keys of the Citadel, the Will, 'Perfectly Possessed'). On the other hand when people will opt to pray, they are doing just the opposite and handing over the keys of the Citadel to God. At the end point of prayer, 'Spiritual Marriage' , the soul as it were gifts itself to God entirely so that the Citadel of the Soul , 'The Will' is handed right on over to God. For that reason when we talk of Jerusalem the City in Scripture we are often talking about the Soul: Psalm 122:3 Jerusalem is built like a city that is closely compacted together.
I know its of the point, but speaking of the devil I read the most interesting story by a priest from Pennsylvania yesterday concerning the devil and Eucharistic Adoration. It was from a book of stories I am reading on the Eucharist over Lent. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inspirational-Stories-Eucharist-Patricia-Proctor/dp/0972844716
The Father was a late vocation. When he was in his parish he became more and more interested and involved in prayer and was instrumental in bring Eucharistic Adoration to his home Parish. This led to a break up with his then girl friend as she thought he was spending to much time in Church. But it was a kind of never say never open ended kind of break up. Anyway, as the preist ells it he had difficulty to fill the early morning slots for Adoration so he often filled them himself. So one morning he went in from 2 am to 3 am in Church on his own. Round about 10 to three in the morning ,as he tells us, there was a disturbance behind him and it was his girl friend, crying and reproaching him for leaving her for CHurch nad ordering him outside. But the Father refused to leave the Host alone till a replacement came. The girl friend left. As soon as he got home he decided to ring his girl friend to fix things but did not think she would answer as she lived quite a few miles more distant from Church than he did. She could not have gotten back so quick. But to his surprise she answered the phone right away, sounding sleepy. When he mentioned what had happened in the Church she denied ever having ben there. She had been out with some girl friends, had retunred home early and went to bed..... So who had been the visitor, trying to lure the Father away from Eucharistic Adoration in the Church that night...?
