Ijournal entry 092517 #38. September, Month of Our Lady of Sorrows. The Rule of St. Benedict. Quotes by St. Padre Pio, St. Jean Vianney, and By E. B Pusey. "HOW DO I KNOW IF GOD IS TALKING TO ME IN PRAYER?, by Fr. John Bartunek. "A Grace Considered Intensively", by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. Audio presentation: "Refurbishing the Soul", Episode 7, by Babsie Bleasdell.
The seven promises Our Lady made, through St. Bridget of Sweden, to those who are devoted to meditating on her Seven Sorrows:
😥1. “I will grant peace to their families.”
😥2. “They will be enlightened about the Divine Mysteries.”
😥3. “I will console them in their pains and I will accompany them in their work.”
😥4. “I will give them as much as they ask for as long as it does not oppose the adorable will of my Divine Son or the sanctification of their souls.”
😥5. “I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and I will protect them at every instant of their lives.”
😥6. “I will visibly help them at the moment of their death. They will see the face of their Mother.”
😥7. “I have obtained this grace from my divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to my tears and dolors, will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness since all their sins will be forgiven and my Son and I will be their eternal consolation and joy.”
😥1. “I will grant peace to their families.”
😥2. “They will be enlightened about the Divine Mysteries.”
😥3. “I will console them in their pains and I will accompany them in their work.”
😥4. “I will give them as much as they ask for as long as it does not oppose the adorable will of my Divine Son or the sanctification of their souls.”
😥5. “I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and I will protect them at every instant of their lives.”
😥6. “I will visibly help them at the moment of their death. They will see the face of their Mother.”
😥7. “I have obtained this grace from my divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to my tears and dolors, will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness since all their sins will be forgiven and my Son and I will be their eternal consolation and joy.”
The Rule of St. Benedict
"But this obedience itself will then be acceptable to God and pleasing to men, if what is commanded be not done timorously, or tardily, or tepidly, nor with murmuring or the raising of objections. For the obedience which is given to superiors is given to God, since he himself said: He that you heareth me. And disciples should give their obedience with a good will, because God loveth a cheerful giver. For if the disciple obey with ill-will, and murmur not only in words but even in his heart, then, even though he fulfil the command, his work will not be acceptable to God, who sees that his heart is murmuring. For work such as this he will gain no reward; nay, rather, he will incur the punishment due to murmurers, unless he make reparation and amend.
"But this obedience itself will then be acceptable to God and pleasing to men, if what is commanded be not done timorously, or tardily, or tepidly, nor with murmuring or the raising of objections. For the obedience which is given to superiors is given to God, since he himself said: He that you heareth me. And disciples should give their obedience with a good will, because God loveth a cheerful giver. For if the disciple obey with ill-will, and murmur not only in words but even in his heart, then, even though he fulfil the command, his work will not be acceptable to God, who sees that his heart is murmuring. For work such as this he will gain no reward; nay, rather, he will incur the punishment due to murmurers, unless he make reparation and amend.
MC=This is so applicable in regards to both God and neighbor. Many times God is speaking to us through others, and we dismiss them and their message. For some it is like if you are coming with credentials, in the form of a theological degree, then there isn't much to be said. God is very generous towards us, and at times we may grudging give to others our time, treasures, and talents. How sad that such behavior which will not be handsomely rewarded as stated above. Sloppily attending Mass can be a form of disobedient, evidenced by poor;t reverencing God and not loving Him whole heartedly. Deliver us O Lord, from such evil.
🔴 "Don't spend your energies on things that generate worry, anxiety and anguish. Only one thing is necessary. Lift up your spirit, and love God." By St. Padre Pio
🎾"Those who are led by the Holy Spirit have true ideas; that is the reason why so many ignorant people are wiser than the learned. The Holy Spirit is light and strength. When we are led by God of strength and light, we cannot go astray". St. Jean Vianney
🌰"I have often thought, since I had to think of this, how, in all adversity, what God takes away He may give us back with increase. One cannot think that any holy earthly love will cease, when we shall "be like the Angels of God in Heaven." Love here must shadow our love there, deeper because spiritual, without any alloy from our sinful nature, and in the fulness of the love of God. But as we grow here by God's grace will be our capacity for endless love". By E. B Pusey
🎾"Those who are led by the Holy Spirit have true ideas; that is the reason why so many ignorant people are wiser than the learned. The Holy Spirit is light and strength. When we are led by God of strength and light, we cannot go astray". St. Jean Vianney
🌰"I have often thought, since I had to think of this, how, in all adversity, what God takes away He may give us back with increase. One cannot think that any holy earthly love will cease, when we shall "be like the Angels of God in Heaven." Love here must shadow our love there, deeper because spiritual, without any alloy from our sinful nature, and in the fulness of the love of God. But as we grow here by God's grace will be our capacity for endless love". By E. B Pusey
👱🏼One day Dan texted: Why walk in darkness when you can see the light? God did not create us to stumble!
💅Me=Where did u get this from? Your text:"why walk in darkness when you can see the light", really touched me.
👱🏼Dan=Its common sense, God did not create us to stumble.
💅Me=Well, it is common sense, because the light have come, so what excuse do we have?
💅Me=Where did u get this from? Your text:"why walk in darkness when you can see the light", really touched me.
👱🏼Dan=Its common sense, God did not create us to stumble.
💅Me=Well, it is common sense, because the light have come, so what excuse do we have?
Lots of times you hear people say: "I am just human" or "we are just human", for sure that's no excuse because God created us and graces utilized is intended to make us supernatural.
💅Me= Thanks Dan, you're helping me to see that my many stumbles are going against the grain, so not created for that. It for me to follow my created pattern, following the light and finding in Christ no stumbling block. We see Jesus attributing stumbling blocks to the enemy. So surely it's for me to be careful in regards to stumbling blocks, being one or seeing one before me. Walking in the light will make it visible, long before it causes me to trip and stumble, and God forbid, talking a fall. Wow Dan, finding many scripture verses to confirm what you said about God not creating us to stumble. Scriptures passages have been found in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, so the point is being solidified wit a rubber stamp.
1 John 2:10 "The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him" |
👱🏼Dan= I stumble once, then I learn. God did not create us stupid either. These quotes are mine, from trying to live my faith, a gift from God.
💅Me= So you woke up and thought about texting me about not walking in darkness. That is so wonderful, beautiful, it made me so happy to see how God is working in your life. It's like me saying this to God: Praise you, Lord God, so much improvement is going on, and at as such a rapid pace in Dan's life, he is making progress. Lord that's not happening in my life at such a rapid pace. Dan, if the graces you are responding to was befalling me, a giant improvement would be occurring in my life. Trying to grow, but it's in no way exponential like what is happening with you. It's like as if you can find me making it to second base with my hit, and for you it's one hit and you have gone around all three bases and about to score. You will end up being a man of great faith in the Lord's eyes, be watchful and see if this in not accomplished during your life time. You are a true bonafide "GIG- ER" for the Apostolate is God's Intimate Group, Growing In Grace, Growing In God, so you are a Guy Growing in Grace. Greatness is in the eyes of the Lord who reads souls. What might not appear as much to others, may appear quite different to God, because He sees the soul as it is and as it will forever be. In eternity our souls will be glorious. You are allowing the tarnish from your soul to be removed little by little and you are beginning to shine. Yes, God is telling you, let Him in more and more , and you will shine brilliantly, thus says da Lord!
This meditation developed from you sharing a simple text: As children of God, we call ourselves Christians right? We are the sheep of the Good Shepherd right? Then how can we walk in darkness if we see Christ the Light and abide in Him? Walking in darkness is being equated with being fearful, short patient, selfish, unloving, not trusting, undue anger, being avaricious, cheaters, unforgiving, liars, irreverent, and not accepting what is befalling us at the moment. We stumble when we act like we don't know that prayers changes things, bringing strength or deliverance as God so wills in due season. Light manifests that certain things are being allowed for very good reasons and that we we'll end up being more then conquerers. God created us to be obedient,and if we become obedient we will not stumble because grace will accompany us with Christ the Light, showing us the way and helping us live the life. If we see Christ, them walking in His direction in truth is the only option. If the truth is not in us, then we will falter in darkness. He who is the great I Am, teaches us all things to prevent us from tripping on stones in darkness. Walking with Him who is the light of the world, we'll be to see stepping stones, and not stumbling blocks, which will lead to eternal life for us and those for whom we knowingly and unknowingly suffer for.
Guess the bottom line is don't be a stumbling block, and don't stumble on blocks by walking in darkness apart from abiding in Christ the light. Blocks may be physical or spiritual, it's to beware! Of course if we stay babes only surviving on formula, not wanting to be weaned and progress to know The Truth of solid food, then we'll miss the offering of light, and never grow bright. Incomprehensible will be The Way of the royal road, the path that leads to eternal life. Handicapped will be The Life we life we live on the path upon which we are placed to travel. Head knowledge without heart knowledge is futile to perfection
💅Me= So you woke up and thought about texting me about not walking in darkness. That is so wonderful, beautiful, it made me so happy to see how God is working in your life. It's like me saying this to God: Praise you, Lord God, so much improvement is going on, and at as such a rapid pace in Dan's life, he is making progress. Lord that's not happening in my life at such a rapid pace. Dan, if the graces you are responding to was befalling me, a giant improvement would be occurring in my life. Trying to grow, but it's in no way exponential like what is happening with you. It's like as if you can find me making it to second base with my hit, and for you it's one hit and you have gone around all three bases and about to score. You will end up being a man of great faith in the Lord's eyes, be watchful and see if this in not accomplished during your life time. You are a true bonafide "GIG- ER" for the Apostolate is God's Intimate Group, Growing In Grace, Growing In God, so you are a Guy Growing in Grace. Greatness is in the eyes of the Lord who reads souls. What might not appear as much to others, may appear quite different to God, because He sees the soul as it is and as it will forever be. In eternity our souls will be glorious. You are allowing the tarnish from your soul to be removed little by little and you are beginning to shine. Yes, God is telling you, let Him in more and more , and you will shine brilliantly, thus says da Lord!
This meditation developed from you sharing a simple text: As children of God, we call ourselves Christians right? We are the sheep of the Good Shepherd right? Then how can we walk in darkness if we see Christ the Light and abide in Him? Walking in darkness is being equated with being fearful, short patient, selfish, unloving, not trusting, undue anger, being avaricious, cheaters, unforgiving, liars, irreverent, and not accepting what is befalling us at the moment. We stumble when we act like we don't know that prayers changes things, bringing strength or deliverance as God so wills in due season. Light manifests that certain things are being allowed for very good reasons and that we we'll end up being more then conquerers. God created us to be obedient,and if we become obedient we will not stumble because grace will accompany us with Christ the Light, showing us the way and helping us live the life. If we see Christ, them walking in His direction in truth is the only option. If the truth is not in us, then we will falter in darkness. He who is the great I Am, teaches us all things to prevent us from tripping on stones in darkness. Walking with Him who is the light of the world, we'll be to see stepping stones, and not stumbling blocks, which will lead to eternal life for us and those for whom we knowingly and unknowingly suffer for.
Guess the bottom line is don't be a stumbling block, and don't stumble on blocks by walking in darkness apart from abiding in Christ the light. Blocks may be physical or spiritual, it's to beware! Of course if we stay babes only surviving on formula, not wanting to be weaned and progress to know The Truth of solid food, then we'll miss the offering of light, and never grow bright. Incomprehensible will be The Way of the royal road, the path that leads to eternal life. Handicapped will be The Life we life we live on the path upon which we are placed to travel. Head knowledge without heart knowledge is futile to perfection
1 Corinthians 3 :1-3 "Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready, for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man?…" |
Hebrews 6:1 "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God" |
Philippians 1:3-6 "I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" |
💅Me=👍🏼, can't wait to share all that developed from your am text mess. God is using you to feed me spiritually, thank you.
👱🏼Dan =Lets do what it takes
💅Me= We are all the body of Christ, helping each other in different ways. Thank God each member have something to contribute, no one have it all, it's to discover what we have to offer and let go and let God.
👱🏼Dan=I cant explain all this, maybe it's a gift. All I know it's just in my mind, the feeling to express what is inside just comes to the surface, and for me it's just to let it out.
💅Me=Yes, God is with you, Emmanuel, God is with us. Wait till you see how much have developed in dialogue, all the scriptures, and the fluidity of the finished product. Thought what you sent would be a text mess, but it's turning out to be a veggie on the web.
👱🏼Dan= Let go and let God, thats what you have shown me. There's no stone that can't be cracked.
💅Me = OK, another Dan-ism, too much, too fast, you go guy! Have to deal with that one on another day. Filing this away: "there's no stone that can't be cracked, just let go & let God, got it! Off & soon running, taking care of my assignment from God, thanks Bro in Christ.
👱🏼Dan =Lets do what it takes
💅Me= We are all the body of Christ, helping each other in different ways. Thank God each member have something to contribute, no one have it all, it's to discover what we have to offer and let go and let God.
👱🏼Dan=I cant explain all this, maybe it's a gift. All I know it's just in my mind, the feeling to express what is inside just comes to the surface, and for me it's just to let it out.
💅Me=Yes, God is with you, Emmanuel, God is with us. Wait till you see how much have developed in dialogue, all the scriptures, and the fluidity of the finished product. Thought what you sent would be a text mess, but it's turning out to be a veggie on the web.
👱🏼Dan= Let go and let God, thats what you have shown me. There's no stone that can't be cracked.
💅Me = OK, another Dan-ism, too much, too fast, you go guy! Have to deal with that one on another day. Filing this away: "there's no stone that can't be cracked, just let go & let God, got it! Off & soon running, taking care of my assignment from God, thanks Bro in Christ.
"HOW DO I KNOW IF GOD IS TALKING TO ME IN PRAYER?, by Fr. John Bartunek
Info from this site: http://www.spiritualdirection.com/2012/04/02/how-do-i-know-if-god-is-talking-to-me-in-prayer
"Dear Father John, I keep hearing (and reading) that Christian prayer is a conversation with God. But, to be totally honest, when I pray I don’t really hear God speaking to me. At least, how do I know it’s God and not just my own thoughts? Am I doing something wrong?
You are right: the phrase “conversation with God” describes Christian prayer beautifully. Christ has revealed that God is a real person, and that he is interested – passionately interested – in our lives, our friendship, our closeness. For Christians then, prayer, as Pope Benedict explained when he visited Yonkers, NY in 2007, is an expression of our “personal relationship with God.” And that relationship, the Holy Father went on to say, “is what matters most.”
Parameters of Faith
When we pray, God speaks to us in three ways. But to understand these three ways, we need a reminder. Our relationship with God is based on faith. Faith gives us access to knowledge that goes beyond what we can perceive by our senses. By faith, for example, we know that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, even though our senses only perceive the appearances of bread and wine. Whenever a Christian prays, the prayer takes place within this atmosphere of faith. When I address God in vocal prayer, I know that he is listening to me, even if I don’t feel his presence with my senses or emotions. When I praise him, ask things of him, adore him, thank him, tell him I am sorry… In all these expressions of prayer, I know by faith (not necessarily by my senses or my feelings) that God is listening, interested, and that he cares. If we try to understand Christian prayer outside of this atmosphere of faith, we will get nowhere.
Keeping that in mind, we can look briefly at the three ways God speaks to us in prayer.
The Gift of Consolation
In the first place, God can speak to us by giving us what spiritual writers call consolation. Through consolation, he touches the soul and allows it to be comforted and strengthened by a felt awareness of his love, his presence, his goodness, his power, his beauty…
This consolation can flow directly from the meaning of the words of a vocal prayer. For instance, when I pray Blessed Cardinal Newman’s famous “Lead, Kindly Light..” prayer, God may boost my hope and my confidence, simply because the meaning of the words nourish and revitalize my awareness of God’s power and goodness.
The consolation can also flow from the reflection and pondering involved in mental prayer. As I read and reflect slowly, prayerfully on the parable of the Prodigal Son, for example, I can feel my soul being comforted by that picture of the Father embracing the repentant younger brother. That picture of God’s love comes to my mind, and gives me a renewed awareness of God’s mercy and his goodness: “God is so merciful!” I think to myself, and I feel the warmth of his mercy in my heart. That image and those ideas are mine, insofar as they arise in my mind, but they are from God, insofar as they arose in response to my consideration of God’s revelation, in an atmosphere of faith. Or, on another occasion, I could meditate on the same biblical passage and be moved to a deep experience of sorrow for my own sins: in the ungrateful rebellion of the Prodigal Son, I see an image of my own sins and rebellions, and I am repelled by them. Again, the idea of the ugliness of sin and the feeling of sorrow for my personal sins are my own ideas and feelings, but they are a response to God’s action in my mind as he guides my mind’s eye to perceive certain aspects of his truth while I listen to him speaking through his revealed Word in the Bible.
In any of these cases, my soul is touched anew, and thus nourished and consoled, by the truth of who God is for me, and who I am for him – a truth which God speaks to my soul. But the distinction between God’s speaking and my own ideas is not so clear as we would sometimes like. He actually speaks through the ideas that come as I turn my attention towards him in prayer. He speaks within my heart, within the words that form in my heart as I gaze at the Word.
Nourishing the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
In the second place, God can respond to us in prayer by increasing in our souls the gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, knowledge, understanding, piety, fear of the Lord, fortitude, and counsel. Each of these gifts nourishes our spiritual muscles, so to speak; they build up our spiritual faculties. They make it easier for us to discover God’s will in our lives, to appreciate and want his will, and to carry out that will. In short, they enhance our ability to believe, to hope, and to love God and neighbor. During a time of prayer, then, when I am addressing God in vocal prayer, or seeking to know him more deeply through mental prayer, or adoring him through liturgical prayer, God’s grace touches my soul, nourishing it through increasing the power of these gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Since these gifts are spiritual, and not material, and since God’s grace is spiritual, I will not always feel the nourishing take place. I may spend fifteen minutes reading and reflecting on the parable of the God Shepherd, and no consoling ideas or feelings are stirred up; my prayer feels dry. But that doesn’t mean that God’s grace is not nourishing my soul, that he is not strengthening within me the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
When I take vitamins (or eat broccoli), I don’t feel my muscles grow, but I know that those vitamins are indeed enabling that growth. Likewise, when we pray, we know we are entering into contact with God’s grace, with a God who loves us and is making us holy. When I don’t experience consolation, I can be certain that God is still working in my soul, strengthening it with his gifts by means of the spiritual vitamins that my soul takes in whenever I have faith-filled contact with God. But I only know this by faith, because God doesn’t always send sensible consolation with this spiritual nourishment. This is why spiritual growth depends so significantly on our perseverance in prayer, regardless of whether we feel consolation.
Direct Inspirations
Thirdly, God can speak to our souls through words, ideas, or inspirations that we recognize clearly as coming right from him. Personally, I have a vivid memory of the first time the thought of the priesthood came into my mind. I wasn’t even Catholic yet. No one had told me that I should become a priest. And yet, in the aftermath of a powerful spiritual experience, the thought simply appeared in my mind, fully formed, with compelling clarity. I knew without any doubt that the thought had come directly from God, that he had spoken to me directly, giving me an inspiration.
Most of us have had some, even if only a few, experiences like this, when we knew God was saying something specific to us, even though we heard the words only in our hearts, and not with our physical ears. God can speak in this way even when we are not at prayer. But a mature prayer life will make our souls more sensitive to these direct inspirations, and create more room for God to speak directly more often, if he wishes to do so.
Jesus assured us that any effort we make in prayer will bring grace into our souls, whether we feel it or not:
Info from this site: http://www.spiritualdirection.com/2012/04/02/how-do-i-know-if-god-is-talking-to-me-in-prayer
"Dear Father John, I keep hearing (and reading) that Christian prayer is a conversation with God. But, to be totally honest, when I pray I don’t really hear God speaking to me. At least, how do I know it’s God and not just my own thoughts? Am I doing something wrong?
You are right: the phrase “conversation with God” describes Christian prayer beautifully. Christ has revealed that God is a real person, and that he is interested – passionately interested – in our lives, our friendship, our closeness. For Christians then, prayer, as Pope Benedict explained when he visited Yonkers, NY in 2007, is an expression of our “personal relationship with God.” And that relationship, the Holy Father went on to say, “is what matters most.”
Parameters of Faith
When we pray, God speaks to us in three ways. But to understand these three ways, we need a reminder. Our relationship with God is based on faith. Faith gives us access to knowledge that goes beyond what we can perceive by our senses. By faith, for example, we know that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, even though our senses only perceive the appearances of bread and wine. Whenever a Christian prays, the prayer takes place within this atmosphere of faith. When I address God in vocal prayer, I know that he is listening to me, even if I don’t feel his presence with my senses or emotions. When I praise him, ask things of him, adore him, thank him, tell him I am sorry… In all these expressions of prayer, I know by faith (not necessarily by my senses or my feelings) that God is listening, interested, and that he cares. If we try to understand Christian prayer outside of this atmosphere of faith, we will get nowhere.
Keeping that in mind, we can look briefly at the three ways God speaks to us in prayer.
The Gift of Consolation
In the first place, God can speak to us by giving us what spiritual writers call consolation. Through consolation, he touches the soul and allows it to be comforted and strengthened by a felt awareness of his love, his presence, his goodness, his power, his beauty…
This consolation can flow directly from the meaning of the words of a vocal prayer. For instance, when I pray Blessed Cardinal Newman’s famous “Lead, Kindly Light..” prayer, God may boost my hope and my confidence, simply because the meaning of the words nourish and revitalize my awareness of God’s power and goodness.
The consolation can also flow from the reflection and pondering involved in mental prayer. As I read and reflect slowly, prayerfully on the parable of the Prodigal Son, for example, I can feel my soul being comforted by that picture of the Father embracing the repentant younger brother. That picture of God’s love comes to my mind, and gives me a renewed awareness of God’s mercy and his goodness: “God is so merciful!” I think to myself, and I feel the warmth of his mercy in my heart. That image and those ideas are mine, insofar as they arise in my mind, but they are from God, insofar as they arose in response to my consideration of God’s revelation, in an atmosphere of faith. Or, on another occasion, I could meditate on the same biblical passage and be moved to a deep experience of sorrow for my own sins: in the ungrateful rebellion of the Prodigal Son, I see an image of my own sins and rebellions, and I am repelled by them. Again, the idea of the ugliness of sin and the feeling of sorrow for my personal sins are my own ideas and feelings, but they are a response to God’s action in my mind as he guides my mind’s eye to perceive certain aspects of his truth while I listen to him speaking through his revealed Word in the Bible.
In any of these cases, my soul is touched anew, and thus nourished and consoled, by the truth of who God is for me, and who I am for him – a truth which God speaks to my soul. But the distinction between God’s speaking and my own ideas is not so clear as we would sometimes like. He actually speaks through the ideas that come as I turn my attention towards him in prayer. He speaks within my heart, within the words that form in my heart as I gaze at the Word.
Nourishing the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
In the second place, God can respond to us in prayer by increasing in our souls the gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, knowledge, understanding, piety, fear of the Lord, fortitude, and counsel. Each of these gifts nourishes our spiritual muscles, so to speak; they build up our spiritual faculties. They make it easier for us to discover God’s will in our lives, to appreciate and want his will, and to carry out that will. In short, they enhance our ability to believe, to hope, and to love God and neighbor. During a time of prayer, then, when I am addressing God in vocal prayer, or seeking to know him more deeply through mental prayer, or adoring him through liturgical prayer, God’s grace touches my soul, nourishing it through increasing the power of these gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Since these gifts are spiritual, and not material, and since God’s grace is spiritual, I will not always feel the nourishing take place. I may spend fifteen minutes reading and reflecting on the parable of the God Shepherd, and no consoling ideas or feelings are stirred up; my prayer feels dry. But that doesn’t mean that God’s grace is not nourishing my soul, that he is not strengthening within me the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
When I take vitamins (or eat broccoli), I don’t feel my muscles grow, but I know that those vitamins are indeed enabling that growth. Likewise, when we pray, we know we are entering into contact with God’s grace, with a God who loves us and is making us holy. When I don’t experience consolation, I can be certain that God is still working in my soul, strengthening it with his gifts by means of the spiritual vitamins that my soul takes in whenever I have faith-filled contact with God. But I only know this by faith, because God doesn’t always send sensible consolation with this spiritual nourishment. This is why spiritual growth depends so significantly on our perseverance in prayer, regardless of whether we feel consolation.
Direct Inspirations
Thirdly, God can speak to our souls through words, ideas, or inspirations that we recognize clearly as coming right from him. Personally, I have a vivid memory of the first time the thought of the priesthood came into my mind. I wasn’t even Catholic yet. No one had told me that I should become a priest. And yet, in the aftermath of a powerful spiritual experience, the thought simply appeared in my mind, fully formed, with compelling clarity. I knew without any doubt that the thought had come directly from God, that he had spoken to me directly, giving me an inspiration.
Most of us have had some, even if only a few, experiences like this, when we knew God was saying something specific to us, even though we heard the words only in our hearts, and not with our physical ears. God can speak in this way even when we are not at prayer. But a mature prayer life will make our souls more sensitive to these direct inspirations, and create more room for God to speak directly more often, if he wishes to do so.
Jesus assured us that any effort we make in prayer will bring grace into our souls, whether we feel it or not:
But at the same time, we have to always remember that we must live our entire lives, including our prayer lives, in the light of our faith, not only in accordance with what we perceive and with what we feel. As St. Paul said so powerfully:
Fr. John Bartunek, LC, S.Th.D, received his BA in History from Stanford University in 1990. He comes from an evangelical Christian background and became a member of the Catholic Church in 1991. After college, he worked as a high school history teacher, drama director, and baseball coach. He then spent a year as a professional actor in Chicago before entering the religious Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ in 1993. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 2003 and earned his doctorate in moral theology in 2010. He provided spiritual support on the set of Mel Gibson’s "The Passion of the Christ" while researching the 2005 Catholic best seller, "Inside the Passion"--the only authorized, behind-the-scene explanation of the film. Fr. John has contributed news commentary regarding religious issues on NBC, CNN, Fox, and the BBC. He also served as the English-language press liaison for the Vatican’s 2005 Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist. His most widely known book is called: "The Better Part: A Christ-Centered Resource for Personal Prayer". His most recent books are "Spring Meditations", "Seeking First the Kingdom: 30 Meditations on How to Love God with All Your Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength", and "Answers: Catholic Advice for Your Spiritual Questions"
"A Grace Considered Intensively", by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.
Info from this site:
http://www.therealpresence.org/archives/Grace/Grace_003.htm
Chapter VIII: Sanctifying Grace"St. Thomas, following St. Augustine, declares that "the justification of the ungodly … is greater than the creation of heaven and earth" (l-2qll3a9). Since the former is a supernatural work of the highest order and the other only natural, more glory is given to God in justification than by all perfections of nature. Is justification, then, the greatest supernatural work? No, the Incarnation of the Word and the beatification of the just in heaven are greater.
Causes of justification. What causes a sinner's justification? Many causes conspire harmoniously to bring it about. The efficient cause is God, the Triune God; its final cause is the glory of God and Christ and eternal life; its meritorious cause is Christ; its instrumental cause is baptism; its formal cause is sanctifying grace.
Nature of Sanctifying Grace. What is sanctifying grace? It has been called the "masterpiece of God's handicraft in this world … far more glorious than anything we can behold in the heavens above us or on the earth at our feet." Is it just God's favor toward us, as Luther wanted? No, it is much more. Is it God's life or nature or God's love, as some have called it? No, for God's life and love and nature are uncreated, are God Himself. Sanctifying grace is not God, it is not the Holy Spirit, it is not just God's favor. It is something created, given to us by God out of love and mercy, which gives us a created likeness of God's nature and life. It is a supernatural gift infused into our souls by God, a positive reality, spiritual, supernatural, and invisible.
Divine Quality. According to St. Thomas, sanctifying grace "is neither a substance nor a substantial form, but an accidental form, a permanent quality placed by God in the very essence of the soul, which causes it to participate by means of a certain likeness in the divine nature" (1-2q110aa.2-4). No wonder, then that the Roman Catechism calls it a "divine quality."
Sanctifying grace is not a substance, then, but an accident. But it is a most remarkable accident, sui generis, like no other. In terms of its supernatural perfection it is much higher than the soul in which it inheres. God has established a most wonderful harmony here: sanctifying grace "needing" my soul as subject of inhesion, my soul "needing" sanctifying grace so as to become deiform. Sanctifying grace is such an extraordinary thing that some have denied it could exist; they thought God could not make such a quality, or if He could it would do violence to nature. But God quietly infuses sanctifying grace into a soul without doing any violence to it. These two things fit perfectly together in a most remarkable union of nature and grace, to produce a most amazing new unit: a deiform soul.
Sanctifying grace is not a virtue, according to St. Thomas, not even the virtue of charity, but it is the foundation of all the infused virtues. It is a gift by which "the very nature of man is raised to a measure of dignity that places it in the same plane as its end." Just as our natural faculties (operative principles) derive from nature, "so in the faculties of the soul do the (infused) virtues that move them, derive from grace." While the infused virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are supernatural operative and responsive habits, sanctifying grace is a supernatural initiative habit, somewhat as health is in the body in the natural order. Often theologians call sanctifying grace a quasi-nature, or a "super-nature."
Some of its Effects. Sanctifying grace has many, almost incredible effects. St. Thomas singles out especially four. 1. Destruction of sin, such that "the forgiveness of sin would be incomprehensible without the infusion of grace," 2. Deification, such that the creature is made deiform and shares in a sonship of adoption. 3. Inhabitation, a special presence of God to which sanctifying grace gives rise. 4. Merit, of which sanctifying grace is the essential foundation. To sanctifying grace the Council of Trent ascribes the supernatural justice and friendship with God and the interior renovation and sanctification of the just soul. Pope Pius XI called it the “permanent principle of supernatural life." According to theologians and saints it gives the soul a special supernatural beauty. Some of these effects we shall consider presently, others in the chapters that follow.
Justice. Through sanctifying grace we are made "just," with a mysterious justice that is hard to define precisely. It is not the cardinal virtue of justice, which inclines our will to give everyone his due, but involves this and much more. It is an internal, "deep down," supernatural justice or rectitude before God, whereby we are rightly ordered for supernaturally producing all acts of all virtues. Essentially it consists in sanctifying grace, adequately it involves also the infused virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Perhaps the word that most vividly expresses this justice is rectitude, supernatural rectitude or righteousness. The man made just by God through sanctifying grace, is supernaturally right in the depths of his soul, mind and will; he is (ontologically) rightly ordered toward God, neighbor and self. Sanctifying grace is a principle of rectitude within his soul: by it his soul is supernaturally right with God. His mind (through faith) is right with God, not just with the God of the universe, of nature, but with the Triune God of faith. That is why it is easier for a sinner to come back: the virtue of faith is still in him. A picture of Christ on the Cross can be a most powerful motive, moving him to contrition. And as faith orientates the mind toward the "inside" of God, the essence of God and the Trinity of Persons, so the infused virtue of charity makes the will right, rightly orientated for loving the Triune God.
Sanctifying grace, then, in making us just, gives us a basic supernatural rectitude, a deep-down orientation and inclination to an all-virtuous life. We sometimes think it would have been convenient if God had put it "nearer the surface," so to speak. For persons and things around us often pull us strongly away from right action, We have adequate principles of right action deep within us, it is true, but we are very much affected by persons and things, and do not always act rightly. Our first aim, then, is always to act rightly. But a much higher degree of perfection would be not merely to do the right action, but to do it perfectly in God’s way and at God’s time, by habitually following the lead of the Holy Spirit drawing us through the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Deletion of Sins. When a man is made just through sanctifying grace, all his mortal sins (and original sin, if he has it) are remitted; if he is justified through sanctifying grace in baptism, all his sins are remitted, and should he die then he is ready for immediate entry into glory.
Mortal sin means a privation of sanctifying grace. So when grace comes, mortal sin must "go." It really "goes," is remitted and deleted; it is not just covered over as it were by a cloak of the merits of Christ, as Luther said. God does not just declare the sinner to be just and cover over his sins, but He makes him just and remits his sins by the infusion of sanctifying grace. God does not merely saysomething, as Luther thought, He does something. By infusing sanctifying grace He remits sin. For sanctifying grace (righteousness) and mortal sin (unrighteousness) are contraries which necessarily exclude each other. Mortal sin brings supernatural darkness and death: sanctifying grace brings supernatural light, beauty, life. Sanctifying grace just has to be there, and there is supernatural light, beauty and life in the soul (and mortal sin is gone). Sanctifying grace is beauty so it infuses beauty into the soul; it is light, so it gives infused light to the soul; it is life, so it gives deiform life to the soul. It is a form which simply by being in the soul, imparts what it is.
Beauty. Sanctifying grace gives the soul an ineffable, supernatural beauty. St. Chrysostome compares the beauty of a soul in sanctifying grace to a statue of gold, St. Basil to a shining light flooding a crystal and to transforming fire. St. Ambrose describes a soul as "painted by God," having "the loveliness of virtues" and reflecting "the image of divine activity." According to St. Thomas, "divine grace beautifies (the soul) like Light."
St. Catherine of Siena declared: "Had you, my father confessor, beheld the beauty of one soul adorned with grace, you would certainly for the sake of one such soul, gladly suffer death a thousand times." St. Teresa compared a soul in grace to a crystal globe illuminated from without by the rays of grace, and within by the rays of God’s own beauty.
Friendship. Closely connected with the beauty which sanctifying grace confers, is the supernatural friendship it establishes between God and the soul since true beauty elicits love and benevolence. By nature man is merely a servant of God; since the fall, he is His enemy, Sanctifying grace transforms this hostile relation into genuine friendship. For God loves the just man as His intimate friend, and enables and impels him by means of sanctifying grace and charity to reciprocate that love with all his heart. Here we have the two constituent elements of friendship.
Friendship according to Aristotle is "the conscious love of benevolence of two persons for each other." So there must be lovability in each friend. Love is measured by lovability, by goodness. Divine goodness in God, deiform goodness in man: these are the conditions of divine friendship. Through sanctifying grace man has deiform goodness, goodness and lovability like unto God’s. Through the infused virtue of charity he has the power to love as God loves. So God loves him with the pure love of friendship and draws man to reciprocate that love with all his heart"
Info from this site:
http://www.therealpresence.org/archives/Grace/Grace_003.htm
Chapter VIII: Sanctifying Grace"St. Thomas, following St. Augustine, declares that "the justification of the ungodly … is greater than the creation of heaven and earth" (l-2qll3a9). Since the former is a supernatural work of the highest order and the other only natural, more glory is given to God in justification than by all perfections of nature. Is justification, then, the greatest supernatural work? No, the Incarnation of the Word and the beatification of the just in heaven are greater.
Causes of justification. What causes a sinner's justification? Many causes conspire harmoniously to bring it about. The efficient cause is God, the Triune God; its final cause is the glory of God and Christ and eternal life; its meritorious cause is Christ; its instrumental cause is baptism; its formal cause is sanctifying grace.
Nature of Sanctifying Grace. What is sanctifying grace? It has been called the "masterpiece of God's handicraft in this world … far more glorious than anything we can behold in the heavens above us or on the earth at our feet." Is it just God's favor toward us, as Luther wanted? No, it is much more. Is it God's life or nature or God's love, as some have called it? No, for God's life and love and nature are uncreated, are God Himself. Sanctifying grace is not God, it is not the Holy Spirit, it is not just God's favor. It is something created, given to us by God out of love and mercy, which gives us a created likeness of God's nature and life. It is a supernatural gift infused into our souls by God, a positive reality, spiritual, supernatural, and invisible.
Divine Quality. According to St. Thomas, sanctifying grace "is neither a substance nor a substantial form, but an accidental form, a permanent quality placed by God in the very essence of the soul, which causes it to participate by means of a certain likeness in the divine nature" (1-2q110aa.2-4). No wonder, then that the Roman Catechism calls it a "divine quality."
Sanctifying grace is not a substance, then, but an accident. But it is a most remarkable accident, sui generis, like no other. In terms of its supernatural perfection it is much higher than the soul in which it inheres. God has established a most wonderful harmony here: sanctifying grace "needing" my soul as subject of inhesion, my soul "needing" sanctifying grace so as to become deiform. Sanctifying grace is such an extraordinary thing that some have denied it could exist; they thought God could not make such a quality, or if He could it would do violence to nature. But God quietly infuses sanctifying grace into a soul without doing any violence to it. These two things fit perfectly together in a most remarkable union of nature and grace, to produce a most amazing new unit: a deiform soul.
Sanctifying grace is not a virtue, according to St. Thomas, not even the virtue of charity, but it is the foundation of all the infused virtues. It is a gift by which "the very nature of man is raised to a measure of dignity that places it in the same plane as its end." Just as our natural faculties (operative principles) derive from nature, "so in the faculties of the soul do the (infused) virtues that move them, derive from grace." While the infused virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are supernatural operative and responsive habits, sanctifying grace is a supernatural initiative habit, somewhat as health is in the body in the natural order. Often theologians call sanctifying grace a quasi-nature, or a "super-nature."
Some of its Effects. Sanctifying grace has many, almost incredible effects. St. Thomas singles out especially four. 1. Destruction of sin, such that "the forgiveness of sin would be incomprehensible without the infusion of grace," 2. Deification, such that the creature is made deiform and shares in a sonship of adoption. 3. Inhabitation, a special presence of God to which sanctifying grace gives rise. 4. Merit, of which sanctifying grace is the essential foundation. To sanctifying grace the Council of Trent ascribes the supernatural justice and friendship with God and the interior renovation and sanctification of the just soul. Pope Pius XI called it the “permanent principle of supernatural life." According to theologians and saints it gives the soul a special supernatural beauty. Some of these effects we shall consider presently, others in the chapters that follow.
Justice. Through sanctifying grace we are made "just," with a mysterious justice that is hard to define precisely. It is not the cardinal virtue of justice, which inclines our will to give everyone his due, but involves this and much more. It is an internal, "deep down," supernatural justice or rectitude before God, whereby we are rightly ordered for supernaturally producing all acts of all virtues. Essentially it consists in sanctifying grace, adequately it involves also the infused virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Perhaps the word that most vividly expresses this justice is rectitude, supernatural rectitude or righteousness. The man made just by God through sanctifying grace, is supernaturally right in the depths of his soul, mind and will; he is (ontologically) rightly ordered toward God, neighbor and self. Sanctifying grace is a principle of rectitude within his soul: by it his soul is supernaturally right with God. His mind (through faith) is right with God, not just with the God of the universe, of nature, but with the Triune God of faith. That is why it is easier for a sinner to come back: the virtue of faith is still in him. A picture of Christ on the Cross can be a most powerful motive, moving him to contrition. And as faith orientates the mind toward the "inside" of God, the essence of God and the Trinity of Persons, so the infused virtue of charity makes the will right, rightly orientated for loving the Triune God.
Sanctifying grace, then, in making us just, gives us a basic supernatural rectitude, a deep-down orientation and inclination to an all-virtuous life. We sometimes think it would have been convenient if God had put it "nearer the surface," so to speak. For persons and things around us often pull us strongly away from right action, We have adequate principles of right action deep within us, it is true, but we are very much affected by persons and things, and do not always act rightly. Our first aim, then, is always to act rightly. But a much higher degree of perfection would be not merely to do the right action, but to do it perfectly in God’s way and at God’s time, by habitually following the lead of the Holy Spirit drawing us through the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Deletion of Sins. When a man is made just through sanctifying grace, all his mortal sins (and original sin, if he has it) are remitted; if he is justified through sanctifying grace in baptism, all his sins are remitted, and should he die then he is ready for immediate entry into glory.
Mortal sin means a privation of sanctifying grace. So when grace comes, mortal sin must "go." It really "goes," is remitted and deleted; it is not just covered over as it were by a cloak of the merits of Christ, as Luther said. God does not just declare the sinner to be just and cover over his sins, but He makes him just and remits his sins by the infusion of sanctifying grace. God does not merely saysomething, as Luther thought, He does something. By infusing sanctifying grace He remits sin. For sanctifying grace (righteousness) and mortal sin (unrighteousness) are contraries which necessarily exclude each other. Mortal sin brings supernatural darkness and death: sanctifying grace brings supernatural light, beauty, life. Sanctifying grace just has to be there, and there is supernatural light, beauty and life in the soul (and mortal sin is gone). Sanctifying grace is beauty so it infuses beauty into the soul; it is light, so it gives infused light to the soul; it is life, so it gives deiform life to the soul. It is a form which simply by being in the soul, imparts what it is.
Beauty. Sanctifying grace gives the soul an ineffable, supernatural beauty. St. Chrysostome compares the beauty of a soul in sanctifying grace to a statue of gold, St. Basil to a shining light flooding a crystal and to transforming fire. St. Ambrose describes a soul as "painted by God," having "the loveliness of virtues" and reflecting "the image of divine activity." According to St. Thomas, "divine grace beautifies (the soul) like Light."
St. Catherine of Siena declared: "Had you, my father confessor, beheld the beauty of one soul adorned with grace, you would certainly for the sake of one such soul, gladly suffer death a thousand times." St. Teresa compared a soul in grace to a crystal globe illuminated from without by the rays of grace, and within by the rays of God’s own beauty.
Friendship. Closely connected with the beauty which sanctifying grace confers, is the supernatural friendship it establishes between God and the soul since true beauty elicits love and benevolence. By nature man is merely a servant of God; since the fall, he is His enemy, Sanctifying grace transforms this hostile relation into genuine friendship. For God loves the just man as His intimate friend, and enables and impels him by means of sanctifying grace and charity to reciprocate that love with all his heart. Here we have the two constituent elements of friendship.
Friendship according to Aristotle is "the conscious love of benevolence of two persons for each other." So there must be lovability in each friend. Love is measured by lovability, by goodness. Divine goodness in God, deiform goodness in man: these are the conditions of divine friendship. Through sanctifying grace man has deiform goodness, goodness and lovability like unto God’s. Through the infused virtue of charity he has the power to love as God loves. So God loves him with the pure love of friendship and draws man to reciprocate that love with all his heart"
Audio presentation: "Refurbishing the Soul", Episode 7, by Babsie Bleasdell.
Audio link:
http://listen.ewtn.com/~IJ/~IJ000010.mp3
Audio link:
http://listen.ewtn.com/~IJ/~IJ000010.mp3