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Happy Mother's Day Mary

                May 11, 2014

                God the Father: Mary is pure gift –
                    I give you

                Today's Readings

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven and addressed them in a loud voice:

    ‘Men of Judaea, and all you who live in Jerusalem, make no mistake about this, but listen carefully to what I say.

    ‘For this reason the whole House of Israel can be certain that the Lord and Christ whom God has made is this Jesus whom you crucified.’

Hearing this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘What are we to do, brothers?’ ‘You must repent,’ Peter answered, ‘and every one of you must be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise that was made is for you and your children, and for all those who are far away, for all those whom the Lord our God is calling to himself.’ He spoke to them for a long time using many other arguments, and he urged them, ‘Save yourselves from this perverse generation.’ They accepted what he said and were baptised. That very day about three thousand were added to their number.

        

Psalm 23: 1-6

Yahweh is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
In grassy meadows he lets me lie.

By tranquil streams he leads me 
   to restore my spirit. 
He guides me in paths of saving justice 
   as befits his name. 

Even were I to walk in a ravine as dark as death 
I should fear no danger, for you are at my side. 
Your staff and your crook are there to soothe me. 

You prepare a table for me 
   under the eyes of my enemies; 
you anoint my head with oil; 
   my cup brims over. 

Kindness and faithful love pursue me 
   every day of my life. 
I make my home in the house of Yahweh
    for all time to come.

  

1 Peter 2: 20-25

but what glory is there in putting up with a beating after you have done something wrong? The merit in the sight of God is in putting up with it patiently when you are punished for doing your duty.

    This, in fact, is what you were called to do, because Christ suffered for you and left an example for you to follow in his steps. He had done nothing wrong, and had spoken no deceit. He was insulted and did not retaliate with insults; when he was suffering he made no threats but put his trust in the upright judge. He was bearing our sins in his own body on the cross, so that we might die to our sins and live for uprightness; through his bruises you have been healed. You had gone astray like sheep but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

 

John 10: 1-10

‘In all truth I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a bandit. He who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the flock; the gate-keeper lets him in, the sheep hear his voice, one by one he calls his own sheep and leads them out. When he has brought out all those that are his, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow because they know his voice. They will never follow a stranger, but will run away from him because they do not recognise the voice of strangers.’
Jesus told them this parable but they failed to understand what he was saying to them.
        So Jesus spoke to them again:

In all truth I tell you,
I am the gate of the sheepfold.
All who have come before me
are thieves and bandits,
but the sheep took no notice of them.
I am the gate.
Anyone who enters through me
   will be safe"
such a one will go in and out
and will find pasture.
The thief comes
only to steal and kill and destroy.
I have come
so that they may have life
and have it to the full.

                Sing: Valleys of Green

                R. The image figure of the Shepherd is very common –
                The Psalm is a Psalm of the living –
                The Lord will lead His people to safe pastures –
                Moses and David were great Shepherds
                God considers those who are bad shepherds
                    who are doing it for themselves –

                Jesus: The sheep hear My voice and they follow Me –

                R. The sheep listen to the voice of their Shepherd and
                    they follow him –

                The sheep follow the voice of their shepherd –

                A Good Shepherd leads the sheep where God
                    wants them to go –

                Jesus Christ says: Take up your cross and follow Me –

                R. Some sheep were afraid to cross the waters –
                    The shepherd picked up a sheep and
                        carried him –
                    So they knew they were safe and followed –

                The Shepherd was the Sheep - Gate –
                    He protected the sheep – so
                        they would not get hurt –
                    Jesus is the Good Shepherd –

                Jesus came to show us He loves us
                Jesus came to show us God the Father loves us –

                Bad shepherds
                    save their own lives rather than
                    helping to save the sheep –

                Jesus condemns the shepherds of
                    His day –

                The Pharisees acted like thieves
                    and marauders –

                The Pharisees are concerned about
                    themselves –

                The 4th Sunday of Easter is Good Shepherd Sunday –

                Today is Vocation Day –

                God calls us to our vocation –
                    single –
                    married life –
                    religious

                God is calling us to our vocation –
                That we give our life to God's calling –

                Jesus was willing to give Himself –
                Jesus calls us to our vocation –

                Jesus tells us to come follow Me –

                The Lord is our Shepherd –
                    He has showed us the way –
                    Jesus gave His life for us –
                    Jesus leads us to green pastures –

                The Lord loves us –
                He is our Shepherd –
                Jesus is the Good Shepherd

                Easter Joy –

                He brings new growth out
                    of what appeared to be
                    dead trees of winter –

                His sky is open - telling us of
                    the limitlessness of
                    meditating on the
                    omnipotence of God –

                Easter Joy –

                The wideness of the road that
                    leads to perdition is
                    seen in contrast to the
                    road ahead which is
                    the way, the truth and the life –
                    a road of one –
                    following the Good Shepherd –

                The Good Shepherd who lays
                    down his life for His sheep.

                Christ is our friend –

                We see the love of Christ
                    for Peter and John

                Christ loved Peter in a different
                    way than He loved John

                His love for John we see from
                    John's writings –
                    "the disciple He loved most"
 

                R. All disciples were loved –

                John was sensitive

                John was gentle –

                John the Baptist was
                    different than St. John
                    the Apostle –

                We see Jesus' love for the
                    people –

                When He was tired –

                Jesus shows us love –

                We can see more and more in
                    the Blue Books how
                    Christ is calling men to
                    the tender love of His Sacred Heart.

                We see the gentleness of Jesus'
                    love for His Mother –
                    We see the gentleness of
                    love of Jesus for John –

                We see Jesus gives to us His Church
                    not in a cold way –
                    Christ gives us the Church
                    through His pierced Heart –

                Jesus wants this intimate love of
                    His Sacred Heart

                How Jesus is wounded by
                    Sisters and Priests and brothers
                    who approach their marriage
                    to Jesus, like a cold job rather
                    than a marriage to Him and
                    devotion in love to His Sacred Heart.

                Jesus wants me to talk about
                    the mystery of His love –
                    the depth of the love of
                    the Heart of Christ –

                This is the message of Jesus.

                R. We focus on the love of the Trinity –
                    the oneness of Jesus and the Father –
                    the gift of the Holy Spirit within us
                    when we are in the state of grace –

                We are to show others with our lives –
                    this gift of knowing God's
                    love more and more. We
                    circulate these writings –

                God wants us to see the mystery
                    of His love –

                To see the gifts God has given
                    to us in all of Creation –

                God the Holy Spirit wants to lead us to
                    full communion with the
                    Father through Christ.

                We will never be satisfied here
                    below – God calls us
                    to listen to Him – to grow
                    in this intimacy with Him –

                The man who lives to prove himself
                    right, all the time, in any
                    situation is a victim of
                    pride – a victim to himself,
                    a victim enslaved by his
                    wounded human nature –

                Where we see the vastness of the
                    sky – we get a glimpse of
                    the infinitude of God and
                    we see the closed down man
                    thinking of himself first as
                    the hired man, the bad shepherd
                    in John's Gospel – who is
                    concerned with himself – not
                    the sheep, like the Good Shepherd.

                Through the pierced Heart of the Good
                    Shepherd, the Church was born –
                    God outpours these gifts to us
                    in lavishing love –

                The man living by his wounded human
                    nature in vices, blocks what God
                    wants accomplished through him

                He is fooled by satan by pride –
                    wanting no correction or directions,
                    so satan is free to implement
                    a failing plan which will not
                    help the Kingdom of God to flourish –

                Do we not see many lessons from the garden –

Now, the snake was the most subtle of all the wild animals that Yahweh God had made. It asked the woman, 'Did God really say you were not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?' The woman answered the snake, 'We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden. But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, "You must not eat it, nor touch it, under pain of death." ' Then the snake said to the woman, 'No! You will not die! God knows in fact that the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good from evil.' The woman saw that the tree was good to eat and pleasing to the eye, and that it was enticing for the wisdom that it could give. So she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realised that they were naked. So they sewed fig-leaves together to make themselves loin-cloths.

The man and his wife heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from Yahweh God among the trees of the garden. But Yahweh God called to the man. 'Where are you?' he asked. 'I heard the sound of you in the garden,' he replied. 'I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.' 'Who told you that you were naked?' he asked. 'Have you been eating from the tree I forbade you to eat?' The man replied, 'It was the woman you put with me; she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.' Then Yahweh God said to the woman, 'Why did you do that?' The woman replied, 'The snake tempted me and I ate.'

Then Yahweh God said to the snake, 'Because you have done this,

    Accursed be you
    of all animals wild and tame!
    On your belly you will go
    and on dust you will feed
    as long as you live.
    I shall put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
    it will bruise your head
    and you will strike its heel.'

    To the woman he said:

    I shall give you intense pain
        in childbearing,
    you will give birth to your children
        in pain.
    Your yearning will be for your husband,
    and he will dominate you.

To the man he said, 'Because you listened to the voice of your wife and ate from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat,

    Accursed be the soil because of you!
    Painfully will you get your food from it
    as long as you live.
    It will yield you brambles and thistles,
    as you eat the produce of the land.
    By the sweat of your face
    will you earn you food,
    until you return to the ground,
    as you were taken from it.
    For dust you are
    and to dust you shall return.

The man named his wife 'Eve' because she was the mother of all those who live. Yahweh God made tunics of skins for the man and his wife and clothed them. Then Yahweh God said, 'Now that the man has become like one of us in knowing good from evil, he must not be allowed to reach out his hand and pick from the tree of life too, and eat and live for ever!' So Yahweh God expelled him from the garden of Eden, to till the soil from which he had been taken. He banished the man, and in front of the garden of Eden he posted the great winged creatures and the fiery flashing sword, to guard the way to the tree of life.

 

John 10: 1-10

‘In all truth I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a bandit. He who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the flock; the gate-keeper lets him in, the sheep hear his voice, one by one he calls his own sheep and leads them out. When he has brought out all those that are his, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow because they know his voice. They will never follow a stranger, but will run away from him because they do not recognise the voice of strangers.’
Jesus told them this parable but they failed to understand what he was saying to them.
        So Jesus spoke to them again:

In all truth I tell you,
I am the gate of the sheepfold.
All who have come before me
are thieves and bandits,
but the sheep took no notice of them.
I am the gate.
Anyone who enters through me
   will be safe"
such a one will go in and out
and will find pasture.
The thief comes
only to steal and kill and destroy.
I have come
so that they may have life
and have it to the full.

                R. Easter Joy –

                    Happy Mother's Day Mary –

                    We learn to meditate on what it means to
                have God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit dwelling
                in our graced, baptized soul. God wants the
                world to be obedient to His commandments,
                to live His life, death and resurrection in our lives.

                    That means we live by the will of God, that is
                our goal to do what He wants – when we see
                through tainted eyes and think with more
                and more distorted thinking we develop
                habits that become vices when we are
                living not by faith, hope and love – the virtues,
                but we can see ourselves incorrectly and live
                by making ourself look okay by the standards
                of the world from our distorted thinking.
                We can see, not through the pure eyes God
                wants of us, doing His will, but through
                blinded eyes of pride – seeking dominance for
                dominance sake, we can see through the eyes
                of selling ourselves short and thinking that
                we should be envious of our brothers (their
                goodness, we can think with
                distorted thinking, so we want
                to bring them down. We can see through the
                eyes of jealousy (not liking our neighbor,
                jealous eyes, instead of seeing them as beautiful
                in God's eyes and we are beautiful and loved
                by God too).

                We can look at our neighbor with eyes of love
                as God wants of us or we can see them
                in a distorted way and look at ourselves too,
                distortedly because of our tainted vision.
                We pray in the Prayer for Union, Jesus gave us –
                "Come to me Lord, and possess my soul" –
                This is growing in the spiritual life on
                our way to the beatific vision when we
                are wrapped in the embrace of God.
                When God is more and more abundantly filling us
                with His life – we realize we will suffer
                here with the human condition – We, some
                of us as leaders, have a responsibility to make
                sure God's will is followed.
                If one is living as the spouse of Jesus,
                of being one with God and living by God's
                will, the correction will be received and
                followed and if one wants to never be corrected they
                will do all they can to serve satan and keep what is
                wrong what is being done.

                Dealing with people under us, intent on
                not being corrected or receive directions --
                keeps satan in control.
                They don't see satan is operating them
                when they disobey just authority.

                    Having responsibility in authority over what
                God wants is not a "yes" man job. When
                satan is working to try to make what is
                wrong – right – he presses on a person,
                sometimes, to cover-up their ways to do
                it against what God wants, in secret and when the
                evil is revealed satan does not want to give up.
                Satan threatens God's work through
                prideful disobedient people.
                Satan presses on the people he is using
                for his evil designs. They can act impudent and try
                to force the plan satan wants to get away
                with and not take correction or direction
                if they can get away with it.

                    It takes a life-time of dying to one's
                own will, to learn to do the will of God,
                but as Mary shows us –
                She loved the will of God –
                Mary loved the will of God so much, she
                endured all the suffering that went
                with it in loving God's will and living
                by God's will –

                    We see Mary as model. We see Mary, not
                like Eve who gave into satan, but Mary
                crushes the head of satan. Mary is
                the New Eve. Mary living as the little
                daughter of the Heavenly Father – loving
                God so much, loving His will –
                Mary the perfect handmaid of the Lord.
                Mary is the Spouse of the Holy Spirit.
                Mary is the spiritual Mother of us all and
                she cries out in this message about
                her children –
 

Mary's Message
from the Rosary of August 27, 1996

Mary:  I stood beneath the cross of my Son, and my Heart was in such pain for I saw Him before my eyes. I saw Him covered with blood. I saw Him die. My Heart, my children, my Heart to watch my Son, but my Heart, my Heart, how I suffered for my little children of the world that give in to this world and give up the love of my Son. O my little children of light, I give you this message. Carry this light into the darkness for your Mother Mary, for I stood beneath the cross and I cried. I cried for the little ones. I cried for the young ones, the ones that do not care and will lose their souls. How do I make you see for you will not listen to me? What can I do? I come. I appear. I beg. I plead. I give you these gifts from my Son, and you reject me. I do not deliver messages very often anymore for I have been ignored. The message is the same. You do not read the messages I have given to you. Please help me. Help the little children. I appear. I appear. I appear, and I am ignored. I stood beneath the cross, and I cried. I cried, and my Heart was in such anguish for my little children, for I am searching for them this day as I searched for the Child Jesus. Please, please help me. I cannot hold back the hand of my Son any longer. I am Mary, your Mother. I ask you to help my children. You are my children of light.

end of Mary's Message

                R. Mary appeared to me 20 years now, telling
                me how souls are going to hell –
                and telling us the importance of consecration
                to her Immaculate Heart –
                Mary tells me we are to spread this all over
                the world –
                to give our hearts to her Immaculate Heart
                and to the Heart of her Son Jesus.
                Mary tells us we are to make reparation to
                Their Two Hearts for the offenses against
                Them.
                Jesus tells us we are to make reparation to
                Their Two Hearts for the offenses against
                Their Two Hearts.

                God the Father tells us in the messages we
                are to make reparation to Their Two Hearts
                for the offenses against Them.

                The devil tries to get people to make right –
                    wrong and wrong – right and he uses
                    others who develop habits to
                    deadly sins, called vices to operate
                    his plan for them.

                The devil works in secret and he tells
                    them untruths to get them to work
                    his plan and then the devil appeals to their pride
                    so his plan won't get uncovered. Satan presses
                    on his agents through these vices
                    to try to implement ways that will set
                    up laws to do his dirty designs of evil
                    against God's will.

                    The devil uses pride, his puffs up his agents, the
                devil tries to make them see their need for independence.
                Satan puffs up their pride -- they want no correction and
                no direction. They are not
                working for good to promote God's will,
                but their goal can become their own
                personal gain, they disobey God's will,
                They raise themselves up, they disobey God's
                will. They work in pride
                against the very goal of promoting
                the will of God, just to be independent
                and in control.

                    The account of Genesis in the Garden
                shows us how the devil works and it
                sows us about generational sin when
                Cain killed his brother – even though
                God warned him – "satan is lurking
                at your door"

                    The person being used by satan can
                confuse independence with a design of satan
                to keep their designs covered up. Satan can use
                boredom as a time to come in with his
                old ways to tap into the vices satan pressed
                on before.

                    If a person is so one with God, loving
                God's will – like Mary – they aren't full of
                pride and they see themselves, not with
                the distorted eyes of pride and envy, but
                they know God loves them and He dwells
                in their graced, baptized soul and this is
                their strength – to love God's will, to love
                to serve God, to love to be the child of
                God, to love one's brothers and oneself
                not to bring sin down on their own soul.
                God is a just God and He
                is to be loved and obeyed and not be offended
                by our disobedience to God. We are to give
                to Him what is His due – which is
                like Mary did.

                The tainted eyes of a person becomes more
                tainted as they live in these bad habits and
                vices and their thinking is more distorted.
                Satan uses habits, he has worked hard
                to get the person to give into. Satan uses
                people for his evil designs.

Excerpt of The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, by Louis J. Puhl, S.J. P.60-61
 

136. THE FOURTH DAY

        A MEDITATION ON TWO STANDARDS

The one of Christ, our supreme leader and lord,
the other of Lucifer, the deadly enemy of our
human nature

PRAYER.   The usual preparatory prayer.

window at a former Jesuit Seminary

137. FIRST PRELUDE.   This is the history. Here it will be that Christ calls and wants all beneath His standard, and Lucifer, on the other hand, wants all under his.

138. SECOND PRELUDE.   This is a mental representation of the place. It will be here to see a great plain, comprising the whole region about Jerusalem, where the sovereign Commander-in-Chief of all the good is Christ our Lord; and another plain about the region of Babylon, where the chief of the enemy is Lucifer.

139. THIRD PRELUDE.   This is to ask for what I desire. Here it will be to ask for a knowledge of the deceits of the rebel chief and help to guard myself against them; and also to ask for a knowledge of the true life exemplified in the sovereign and true Commander, and the grace to imitate Him.
   

FIRST PART

THE STANDARD OF SATAN

140. FIRST POINT.   Imagine you see the chief of all the enemy in the vast plain about Babylon, seated on a great throne of fire and smoke, his appearance inspiring horror and terror.

141. SECOND POINT.   Consider how he summons innumerable demons, and scatters them, some to one city and some to another, throughout the whole world, so that no province, no place, no state of life, no individual is overlooked.

142. THIRD POINT.   Consider the address he makes to them, how he goads them on to lay snares for men and bind them with chains. First they are to tempt them to covet riches (as Satan himself is accustomed to do in most cases) that they may the more easily attain the empty honors of this world, and then come to overweening pride.

   The first step, then, will be riches, the second honor, the third pride. From these three steps the evil one leads to all other vices.
   

SECOND PART

THE STANDARD OF CHRIST

143.   In a similar way, we are to picture to ourselves the sovereign and true Commander, Christ our Lord.

144. FIRST POINT.   Consider Christ our Lord, standing in a lowly place in a great plain about the region of Jerusalem, His appearance beautiful and attractive.

145. SECOND POINT.   Consider how the Lord of all the world chooses so many persons, apostles, disciples, etc., and sends them throughout the whole world to spread His sacred doctrine among all men, no matter what their state or condition.

146. THIRD POINT.   . . .
   

end of excerpt

Excerpt of The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, by Louis J. Puhl, S.J. pp. 141-150

  

313. RULES FOR DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS
I

Rules for understanding to some extent the different movements produced in the soul and for recognizing those that are good to admit them, and those that are bad, to reject them. These rules are more suited to the first week
  

314.  I.  In the case of those who go from one mortal sin to another, the enemy is ordinarily accustomed to propose apparent pleasures. He fills their imagination with sensual delights and gratifications, the more readily to keep them in their vices and increase the number of their sins.

    With such persons the good spirit uses a method which is the reverse of the above. Making use of the light of reason, he will rouse the sting of conscience and fill them with remorse.

315.  2.  In the case of those who go on earnestly striving to cleanse their souls from sin and who seek to rise in the service of God our Lord to greater perfection, the method pursued is the opposite of that mentioned in the first rule.

    Then it is characteristic of the evil spirit to harass with anxiety, to afflict with sadness, to raise obstacles backed by fallacious reasonings that disturb the soul. Thus he seeks to prevent the soul from advancing.

    It is characteristic of the good spirit, however, to give courage and strength, consolations, tears, inspirations, and peace. This He does by making all easy, by removing all obstacles so that the soul goes forward in doing good.

316.  3.  SPIRITUAL CONSOLATION.  I call it consolation when an interior movement is aroused in the soul, by which it is inflamed with love of its Creator and Lord, and as a consequence, can love no creature on the face of the earth for its own sake, but only in the Creator of them all. It is likewise consolation when one sheds tears that move to the love of God, whether it be because of sorrow for sins, or because of the sufferings of Christ our Lord, or for any other reason that is immediately directed to the praise and service of God. Finally, I call consolation every increase of faith, hope, and love, and all interior joy that invites and attracts to what is heavenly and to the salvation of one's soul by filling it with peace and quiet in its Creator and Lord.

317.  4.  SPIRITUAL DESOLATION.  I call desolation what is entirely the opposite of what is described in the third rule, as darkness of soul, turmoil of spirit, inclination to what is low and earthly, restlessness rising from many disturbances and temptations which lead to want of faith, want of hope, want of love. The soul is wholly slothful, tepid, sad, and separated, as it were, from its Creator and Lord. For just as consolation is the opposite of desolation, so the thoughts that spring from consolation are the opposite of those that spring from desolation.

318.  5.  In time of desolation we should never make any change, but remain firm and constant in the resolution and decision which guided us the day before the desolation, or in the decision to which we adhered in the preceding consolation. For just as in consolation the good spirit guides and counsels us, so in desolation the evil spirit guides and counsels. Following his counsels we can never find the way to a right decision.

319.  6.  Though in desolation we must never change our former resolutions, it will be very advantageous to intensify our activity against the desolation. We can insist more upon prayer, upon meditation, and on much examination of ourselves. We can make an effort in a suitable way to do some penance.

320.  7.  When one is in desolation, he should be mindful that God has left him to his natural powers to resist the different agitations and temptations of the enemy in order to try him. He can resist with the help of God, which always remains, though he may not clearly perceive it. For though God has taken from him the abundance of fervor and overflowing love and the intensity of His favors, nevertheless, he has sufficient grace for eternal salvation.

321.  8.  When one is in desolation, he should strive to persevere in patience. This reacts against the vexations that have overtaken him. Let him consider, too, that consolation will soon return, and in the meantime, he must diligently use the means against desolation which have been given in the sixth rule.

322.  9.  The principal reasons why we suffer from desolation are three:

    The first is because we have been tepid and slothful or negligent in our exercises of piety, and so through our own fault spiritual consolation has been taken away from us.

    The second reason is because God wishes to try us, to see how much we are worth, and how much we will advance in His service and praise when left without the generous reward of consolations and signal favors.

    The third reason is because God wishes to give us a true knowledge and understanding of ourselves, so that we may have an intimate perception of the fact that it is not within our power to acquire and attain great devotion, intense love, tears, or any other spiritual consolation; but that all this is the gift and grace of God our Lord. God does not wish us to build on the property of another, to rise up in spirit in a certain pride and vainglory and attribute to ourselves the devotion and other effects of spiritual consolation.

323.  10.  When one enjoys consolation, let him consider how he will conduct himself during the time of ensuing desolation, and store up a supply of strength as defense against that day.

324.  11.  He who enjoys consolation should take care to humble himself and lower himself as much as possible. Let him recall how little he is able to do in time of desolation, when he is left without such grace or consolation.

    On the other hand, one who suffers desolation should remember that by making use of the sufficient grace offered him, he can do much to withstand all his enemies. Let him find his strength in his Creator and Lord.

325.  12.  The enemy conducts himself as a woman. He is a weakling before a show of strength, and a tyrant if he has his will. It is characteristic of a woman in a quarrel with a man to lose courage and take to flight if the man shows that he is determined and fearless. However, if the man loses courage and begins to flee, the anger, vindictiveness, and rage of the woman surge up and know no bounds. In the same way, the enemy becomes weak, loses courage, and turns to flight with his seductions as soon as one leading a spiritual life faces his temptations boldly, and does exactly the opposite of what he suggests. However, if one begins to be afraid and to lose courage in temptations, no wild animal on earth can be more fierce than the enemy of our human nature. He will carry out his perverse intentions with consummate malice.

326.  13.  Our enemy may also be compared in his manner of acting to a false lover. He seeks to remain hidden and does not want to be discovered. If such a lover speaks with evil intention to the daughter of a good father, or to the wife of a good husband, and seeks to seduce them, he wants his words and solicitations kept secret. He is greatly displeased if his evil suggestions and depraved intentions are revealed by the daughter to her father, or by the wife to her husband. Then he readily sees he will not succeed in what he has begun. In the same way, when the enemy of our human nature tempts a just soul with his wiles and seductions, he earnestly desires that they be received secretly and kept secret. But if one manifests them to a confessor, or to some other spiritual person who understands his deceits and malicious designs, the evil one is very much vexed. For he knows that he cannot succeed in his evil undertaking, once his evident deceits have been revealed.

327.  14.  The conduct of our enemy may also be compared to the tactics of a leader intent upon seizing and plundering a position he desires. A commander and leader of an army will encamp, explore the fortifications and defenses of the stronghold, and attack at the weakest point. In the same way, the enemy of our human nature investigates from every side all our virtues, theological, cardinal, and moral. Where he finds the defenses of eternal salvation weakest and most deficient, there he attacks and tries to take us by storm.

328. RULES FOR DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS
II

Further rules for understanding the different movements produced in the soul. They serve for a more accurate discernment of spirits and are more suitable for the second week
  

329.  I.  It is characteristic of God and His Angels, when they act upon the soul, to give true happiness and spiritual joy, and to banish all the sadness and disturbances which are caused by the enemy.
   It is characteristic of the evil one to fight against such happiness and consolation by proposing fallacious reasonings, subtilties, and continual deceptions.

330.  2.  God alone can give consolation to the soul without any previous cause. It belongs solely to the Creator to come into a soul, to leave it, to act upon it, to draw it wholly to the love of His Divine Majesty. I said without previous cause, that is, without any preceding perception or knowledge of any subject by which a soul might be led to such a consolation through its own acts of intellect and will.

331.  3.  If a cause precedes, both the good angel and the evil spirit can give consolation to a soul, but for a quite different purpose. The good angel consoles for the progress of the soul, that it may advance and rise to what is more perfect. The evil spirit consoles for purposes that are the contrary, and that afterwards he might draw the soul to his own perverse intentions and wickedness.

332.  4.  It is a mark of the evil spirit to assume the appearance of an angel of light. He begins by suggesting thoughts that are suited to a devout soul, and ends by suggesting his own. For example, he will suggest holy and pious thoughts that are wholly in conformity with the sanctity of the soul. Afterwards, he will endeavor little by little to end by drawing the soul into his hidden snares and evil designs.

333.  5.  We must carefully observe the whole course of our thoughts. If the beginning and middle and end of the course of thoughts are wholly good and directed to what is entirely right, it is a sign that they are from the good angel. But the course of thoughts suggested to us may terminate in something evil, or distracting, or less good than the soul had formerly proposed to do. Again, it may end in what weakens the soul, or disquiets it; or by destroying the peace, tranquility, and quiet which it had before, it may cause disturbance to the soul. These things are a clear sign that the thoughts are proceeding from the evil spirit, the enemy of our progress and eternal salvation.

334.  6.  When the enemy of our human nature has been detected and recognized by the trail of evil marking his course and by the wicked end to which he leads us, it will be profitable for one who has been tempted to review immediately the whole course of the temptation. Let him consider the series of good thoughts, how they arose, how the evil one gradually attempted to make him step down from the state of spiritual delight and joy in which he was, till finally he drew him to his wicked designs. The purpose of this review is that once such an experience has been understood and carefully observed, we may guard ourselves for the future against the customary deceits of the enemy.

335.  7.  In souls that are progressing to greater perfection, the action of the good angel is delicate, gentle, delightful. It may be compared to a drop of water penetrating a sponge.
    The action of the evil spirit upon such souls is violent, noisy, and disturbing. It may be compared to a drop of water falling upon a stone.
    In souls that are going from bad to worse, the action of the spirits mentioned above is just the reverse. The reason for this is to be sought in the opposition or similarity of these souls to the different kinds of spirits. When the disposition is contrary to that of the spirits, they enter with noise and commotion that are easily perceived. When the disposition is similar to that of the spirits, they enter silently, as one coming into his own house when the doors are open.

336.  8.  When consolation is without previous cause, as was said, there can be no deception in it, since it can proceed from God our Lord only. But a spiritual person who has received such a consolation must consider it very attentively, and must cautiously distinguish the actual time of the consolation from the period which follows it. At such a time the soul is still fervent and favored with the grace and aftereffects of the consolation which has passed. In this second period the soul frequently forms various resolutions and plans which are not granted directly by God our Lord. They may come from our own reasoning on the relations of our concepts and on the consequences of our judgments, or they may come from the good or evil spirit. Hence, they must be carefully examined before they are given full approval and put into execution.

end of excerpt

May 16, 1998 - Prayer to the Father

 From the Priestly Newsletter Book III by Fr. Edward Carter, S.J.