|
|
|
Psychological
Healing
in the Catholic Mystic Tradition
Spiritual
Counsels |
|
To develop
love for God and healthy self-love |
Neither shall you
allege the example of the many
as an excuse for doing wrong. |
— Exodus 23:2 |
Fear |
Love |
Humility |
Therapy |
Books |
About CSF
Introduction |
The Mandate |
A Basis both Ecclesiastical and Psychological |
Rationale |
The Counsels
 HE
MANDATE of
Christianity is simple: love. Yet in this simplicity,
complicated problems can spring up like weeds, for we more often than not
use “love” as a mere excuse for
self-indulgence. In the modern world
especially—although it has been a problem throughout Church history—we
commonly scorn real love. We scorn the suffering, self-sacrificial love with
which Christ loved us to save us from our sins. And even though Christ commanded
us to love each other “as I have loved you,” we scorn this love
because we have so perverted and sentimentalized the concept of “love”
that we even condone sin today in the name
of Christ. Today, many of us believe that Christianity amounts to an unconditional
acceptance of anything, even to the point of unconditionally accepting
sin—and we do it in the name of “Christian
love.”
We have forsaken real love because
children are brainwashed from infancy by movies,
television, social media, magazines, popular music, and sports that are all awash
with the Satanic vices of aggressiveness, competition, defiance of authority,
disobedience, hatred, anger, revenge, and lust. Today, these vices, rather than
Christian virtues, unconsciously motivate everyone’s behavior. In today’s culture
of insanity the fundamental Christian principle of dying to the self has so
lost its meaning that even most Catholics find the concept to be incomprehensible.
Instead of dedicating their lives to fighting
the great spiritual battle against evil, using love for God as their weapon, they
welcome moral corruption into their hearts as they go about seeking social acceptance
from a corrupt world.
The Mandate
So, before explaining the spiritual
counsels that can assist your healing, the development of your love for God, and your
protection from evil influence, let’s consider the practical
framework of a Christian life, reduced to its own simplicity: before we can enter into
the pure love within the Kingdom of Heaven, we must be purified of all that is
not genuine
love.[1]
Therefore, our mortal life should be a life of spiritual refinement, whereby
we
Therefore, a life of genuine
Christian faith and love must
be directed to doing everything we can to fulfill the Christian mandate
and to avoiding anything that contradicts this mandate.
A Basis both
Ecclesiastical and Psychological
Through its Tradition and laws,
the Church is able to “guarantee to the faithful the very necessary
minimum in the spirit of prayer and moral effort, in the growth in love of
God and neighbor” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2041). Now,
in this context, the very necessary minimum means that salvation is
not possible with anything less than what the Church
requires.
But can it be advisable to do
more than what the Church minimally requires?
Well, remembering how easy it
is to pervert love into something it isn’t, it is just as easy to make
“the very necessary minimum” into a mere intellectual performance.
If we do that, we end up deceiving ourselves—and that, sadly, is far
from what is really needed. Even at its very necessary minimum, love must be
more than a surface scratch—it must cut deeply into the heart.
Now, in the realm of psychology,
when attempting to heal emotional wounds that block spiritual growth, we
need to go far deeper than surface appearances. We need penetrating psychological
insight to get to the roots of the weeds that choke our spiritual
development.
The best way to develop
psychological insight and spiritual development is to turn away from social
“outsight”—that is, attachment to social identifications that
merely cover over our inner confusion and turmoil with a surface feeling
of acceptance by others. So, considering that unconscious psychological
conflicts [2]
more often than not lead us away from complete trust in God and right
into spiritual disobedience, and
considering the consequences of disobedience—all the temporal misery
of purgatory, or, even worse, the unending misery
in hell—it would be prudent to make certain
that “the very necessary minimum” is not just an intellectual
superstition.
Therefore, seek true
love—the true and single ecclesiastical and
psychological goal—at any cost. Aim high or you will miss
the mark altogether. It is necessary to do everything we can to remain aware,
at every moment of our lives, from the very depths of our hearts, that we are
totally dependent on God’s love for us.
Rationale
All the counsels that follow derive
from pure love as exemplified by the Catholic mystics
through the ages. There is nothing arbitrary, or artificial, or puritanical about
them. As Christ told Saint Catherine of Genoa:
Yet, sadly, most everyone
who reads these counsels will balk.
“I can’t do that,”
they say. “I’ll die if I have to give up television, Facebook,
video games, cigarettes . . .”
“I’ll die if I have to stop wearing sexy clothes.”
“I’ll die if I have to give up the emotional and financial
security of living with my boyfriend.” “I’ll die if I
can’t watch football every Sunday.” “I’ll die if I
have to wear a chapel veil.” Well, maybe you get the
idea. We claim that we want to follow Christ, but, like the rich young man of
the Gospels, we all have something we refuse to do because we’re
afraid that life will be dull and empty at the foot of
the Cross.
Christ told us, however, that
in order to follow Him we had to take up the cross and die to our social
identities. What is Christianity but death to this world and birth to a new,
ineffably delightful spiritual life? And what is the basis for this new life?
Love. Pure, simple love. And what are the things that
obstruct pure, holy love? Well, how about entertainment,
cigarettes, sports,
and lust, for example—the very things to which you
cling in order to preserve your social life
as you think it should be.
So how do these things obstruct
love? Well, in trying to preserve what now seems to you to be
“life”—that is, in defending your pride
of feeling accepted by the world—you in effect prevent yourself from
doing what Christ told us all to do: give up everything for Him, from the
very depths of your heart, so as to serve Him with every aspect of your being.
To do what He asks is love, for it is to value the holy life He offers through
Himself more than your own illusions
about how you think life should serve your own
pleasure.
|
 The
present time is very precious. Now are the safe days. Now is the acceptable time.
But how sad that you do not spend this time well while you have strength to gather
the merit which will allow you to live forever! The time will come when you will
wish for one day or one hour for changing your ways, and I do not know whether
you will get it. . . . Learn now to place Christ at the center of your life,
that then you may begin to live your life with Christ. Learn now to let go
of all things that stand between you and Christ . . . . Do, do now, dear
friend, whatever you can do, because you do not know when you will die, nor
do you know what will happen to you afterwards. Gather everlasting riches
while you have time. Think of nothing except your eternal well-being. Care
only for the things of God. . . . Keep your heart free and lifted up to God,
for this world is not your permanent home . . . . |
|
|
—Thomas à Kempis
The Imitation of Christ, 1. 23
(Trans. by William Creasy) |
|
Right now, with all your illusions
wrapped around you, you are dwelling in blindness, even though you deny it.
Of course you can’t see it. Without deep spiritual scrutiny, who could see
it?
Just remember, for example, that many
individuals caught up in addictions, such as alcoholism, will, while in a state of
intoxication, claim that they are doing nothing harmful to their lives.
It’s only when they get into a sober state of mind that they can perceive
how close to death and total destruction they really were. And so it is in
the spiritual realm. When you’re caught up in all the attractions of
the world it’s literally impossible to see how
much of your life is a refusal to serve God and
how close to spiritual ruin you really are, even if you already claim to
be a devout Catholic.
|
 I have seen this in myself,
for from time to time I have found many natural
desires destroyed within me which had previous
seemed to me very good and perfect; but when they were thus removed I saw
that they had been depraved and faulty, and in accordance with those spiritual
and bodily infirmities which, being hidden from me, I had not supposed myself
to possess. And this is why it is necessary to attain such a subtlety of
spiritual vision, in order that all which at first appears to us perfection
may in the end be known as imperfections, robberies, and woes: all this is
clearly revealed in that mirror of truth, pure love, in which all things
appear distorted which to us had seemed upright. |
|
|
—Saint Catherine of Genoa
The Life and Doctrine of St. Catherine of Genoa
Chapter XXIV |
|
Therefore, if only you would
now do what I tell you here, in true imitation of Christ, you would soon
discover for yourself an experience of holy love so palpable and real that
every unconscious resistance will dissolve
into oblivion and only pure love will
remain.
|
Instead of seeking
your own pleasure, seek to do God’s will. Instead of defending your
pride, defend the Faith.
Instead of serving your self-interests, serve others with real love, as Christ
Himself commanded us to do. |
|
COUNSELS for Healing
To Develop Love for God and Healthy Self-love
The greatest commandment is this:
to love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your
strength. If you really loved God, all the things you do and all the things
you refuse to do—that is, all the behaviors of your life—would
express your love for God. Although many various behaviors characterize this
love, the mere performance of such behaviors is not an act of love. Still,
practicing behaviors that characterize love can help to lead you into an
understanding of divine love. Therefore, the goal of these counsels is not
to strive to perform them perfectly; the goal is to perform the counsels
in the hope of growing in love.
|
Practice the counsels
now as an act of discipline to start your healing; eventually, when you have healed
from your emotional pain and trauma, you will be performing the counsels spontaneously
and gracefully as an act of love for God. |
|
There are four basic aspects
to this growth process: prayer, abstinence from defenses,
charity, and self-encounter.
1. Make
prayer the basis
of your emotional stability. Prayer has its foundation in formal prayers, but it
derives its power and efficacy from constant moment-by-moment quiet communication
with God. Some persons, however, cannot achieve a moment-by-moment quiet communication
with God until they have developed a daily practice of formal prayers, so be gentle
with yourself as you learn to pray. Just cling to the desire to reach the depths of
constant prayer.
Note that prayer is not about bribing some cosmic magician to
get rid of your problems, it’s about doing the hard work of facing your problems
and overcoming them through trust in God’s guidance.
• |
Maintain a constant awareness of the
presence of God by practicing gratitude throughout the
day. Also, teach yourself to pray the Jesus Prayer
as a moment-by-moment ongoing practice. Interspersed with this prayer, add constant
prayers of supplication for guidance and protection. State what you are feeling,
and then ask for the guidance to work through your experiences. such as the following:
“God, I feel so helpless; teach me how to do this.” “God, I’m so
alone; give me strength and courage to continue.” “God, I don’t know
what to do; show me what to do and help me.” “God, I’m overwhelmed with
temptation; help me to resist.”
|
• |
Sit frequently in silent prayer and accept your
helplessness before God. Feel the pain of the emotional wounds from your childhood,
and let your tears be prayers. Weep for what was inflicted on you, and
weep also for the pain you have inflicted on others
because you have not dealt in a healthy way with your own emotional wounds but instead
have used defenses such as addictions,
lust, and anger to
suppress your pain. Admit that you cannot make others act as you would like them
to act. Admit that you cannot save the world from its insanity. Admit that without
God you are nothing. Feel the nothingness and accept it. Accept that only in your
helplessness and nothingness will you ever receive a mission from God to do anything
meaningful. When we try to flaunt our greatness—whether it be physical allure,
athletic prowess, military power, social celebrity, intellectual finesse, philosophical
reasoning, or whatever—we push God out of our lives. A life of
humility, however, keeps us oriented toward God’s
majesty.
Oh, the depth of the
riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are His judgments and how
unsearchable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been His
counselor? Or who has given Him anything that He may be repaid? For from Him and
through Him and for Him are all things. To Him be glory
forever. |
—Romans
11:33-36 |
|
• |
 Wear
the Miraculous
Medal [3]
around your neck at all times as a seal upon your heart; having it on
your Rosary beads misses the point. The chain for the medal, therefore,
should be long enough to keep the medal over your heart, rather than over
your throat as a piece of jewelry. Say its prayer (“O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for
us who have recourse to thee.”) many times a day.
Like the angels, Mary had
free will, and in her conception she was given the grace, like the angels, to be free
of the desire to commit sin. Unlike Mary, the rest of humanity, in its state of
original sin, is afflicted with the desire
to commit sin, and so, for the sake of our salvation, we must endeavor always to renounce
that unholy desire which lurks deep in the heart of our fallen being. Keeping the medal of
the Blessed Virgin over our hearts gives us assistance in our battle of renouncing sin and
evil.
|
• |
Attend
Mass every Sunday (if not daily) and on every
holy day of obligation. Wear
modest and reverent dress clothing. Women, wear a skirt,
not pants, and cover your heads with a scarf or chapel veil before
entering the church. Be careful to arrive on time (before the priest enters the sanctuary);
if you do arrive late, do not receive the Eucharist. When you enter the church, look at the
tabernacle and genuflect, saying silently, “My Lord and my God.” Do not leave before the
dismissal, and, when you leave, look at the tabernacle and genuflect, saying silently,
“My Lord and my God.”
If you have a family, read the
Scriptural texts for the next day’s Mass in the evening as a family activity.
Spend time reflecting on the meaning of the texts. If you need help interpreting
the texts, then use the book A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture
as described on the Reading the Bible page of this
website.
Also, if you have young children, teach them how to sit quietly
at home in prayer so that when you take them to Mass they will not be unruly and
noisy. Unruly children at Mass are an indication that the parents have an unruly
prayer life.
|
• |
If you go to Eucharistic Adoration, rather
than pray the Rosary or read spiritual texts, use the time to reflect on the emotional
pain of your past and to shed prayerful tears for your emotional wounds.
|
• |
Pray the
Waking Prayers every morning to begin the day.
|
• |
Pray the
Deliverance from the Tyranny of Evil as daily
protection from demonic influence.
|
• |
Pray the
Litany of Humility daily.
|
• |
Every noon (and at 6:00am and 6:00pm also if
possible) stop what you are doing and pray the Angelus
(or the Regina Coeli during the
Easter season). Note that the Angelus is prayed kneeling while
the Regina Coeli, because of its joyful character, is prayed standing.
|
• |
Endeavor to pray the
Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (adapted)
every day as a critical part in the spiritual battle against the smoke of Satan in the
deep Church.
|
• |
Endeavor to pray the
Rosary every day.
If you have a family,
pray the Rosary every evening after dinner with your family, in lieu of watching
television. Teach your children that prayer is protection, and let them witness
your seeking protection when you pray; in this way, they will want to imitate you,
rather than think of prayer as a boring duty.
|
• |
Endeavor, at the least, to pray Morning Prayer
(if not the other hours) from the Liturgy of the Hours.
If you have a family,
pray the Evening Prayer each day as a family activity, to the extent possible. As
with the Rosary, teach your children that prayer is protection, and let them witness
your seeking protection when you pray; in this way, they will want to imitate you,
rather than think of prayer as a boring duty.
|
• |
Practice a constant attitude of
gratitude.
|
• |
Every night, before going to bed, kneel
before the Crucifix, review the day, and give thanks for everything you accomplished
that day.
|
• |
Pray
always for all the souls in Purgatory (and know that they will be praying for you,
in return).
|
2. You can encounter
your inner brokenness by abstaining from all self-indulgent defenses that serve
only to distract you from your brokenness. These defenses do nothing to lead you to
spiritual purity and do quite a bit to seduce you into spiritual impurity. Have you ever
affirmed a vow to renounce the works of Satan? Well, think carefully. The things that
follow are—either directly or indirectly—all works of Satan.
• |
Sexual
activity. Sex is not love,
so outside of its procreative function in
Holy Matrimony,[4]
it serves only the narcissistic purpose of making ourselves
“feel good.” Learn, therefore, to place your trust in
God, not in your own body or in the body of a
“partner”—that is, a “partner in sin.” To learn to
trust in God, it is important to face your
emotional emptiness directly,
without defenses. Therefore, to develop a love for God,
live in chastity and abstain from eroticism: no fornication, no
masturbation, no pornography;
in general, no lust.
If you are struggling to
overcome an obsession with pornography or masturbation, keep in mind that following
the other counsels on this page will aid your struggle against sexual temptations. Also, add
the Litany of Chastity to your dailiy prayers.
|
• |
Immodesty. For
both men and women, immodesty is a grave opening to sin. Avoid
tight or revealing clothing, sports insignia, piercings, and
tattoos. (If you have an existing tattoo,
cover it in sorrow for having defiled your body, the
temple of the Holy Spirit.) For women, do not wear
leggings, jeans, or slacks, keep your shoulders and chest covered, and cover your head
with a chapel veil when praying, especially in church. To learn
true humility, set aside all
vanity.[5]
|
• |
Social Media.
As popular as they may be in contemporary culture, social media
(such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest) have only one psychological purpose:
to get approval and acceptance from others. In your desperation to get approval, you are
drawn into an evil breeding ground for pride and lust, as well as for anger, rudeness,
hostility, hate, and bullying of anyone you don’t like—and so you are drawn away from
developing contemplative love for God. Note carefully that these evil behaviors, as Saint
Paul warned, will exclude a person from the Kingdom of Heaven (see Galatians 5:19–21).
It’s that simple.
|
• |
Entertainment.
Most entertainment, such as TV, movies, social media,
sports, electronic gaming, gambling, and secular music, distracts you from a prayerful
focus on holy things. Entertainment, in general, not only squanders your time and
talents on frivolities, but it also infects you with
the anti-Christian values (such as lust, pride, avarice, vanity, self-indulgence,
competition, hostility, etc.) of contemporary society. Furthermore, these things
incite you to idolize (that’s a mortal sin, remember) social acceptance, to
neglect constant prayer, and, ultimately, to
dilute the holy presence of God in your life. So, instead of turning to a corrupt
social world for emotional satisfaction, turn to God in
contemplative silence and prayer.
|
• |
Tobacco. No
one who remains enslaved to any addiction, including
smoking, can fulfill Christ’s command
to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). To be
addicted to anything means, by definition, that you love the addiction more
than anything else—more than the welfare of your own soul and, therefore,
more than God.
|
• |
Alcohol. A
small glass of wine can be a legitimate part of a meal, and an occasional glass
of beer or a cocktail can be a part of a festive celebration, but any
habitual use of alcohol simply for pleasure is nothing but
a way to soothe yourself when you should be turning to God in
prayer.
|
• |
Marijuana
(cannabis). Recreational drugs, especially marijuana
(now called cannabis to hide the fact that it is an age-old street drug),
cause you to let down your guard against evil. Marijuana—even “medical marijuana”—deceives
you with the false belief that you can function competently even though your brain is
scrambled, and this self-deceived state opens a hellgate to
demonic influence, making you the plaything of
demons.[6] Marijuana
is for atheists (those who reject the idea of God) and for Satanists (those who reject
God). Self-induced altered states of consciousness are all a fraud, in the spiritual
sense, because recreational drugs have no place in real love
and devotion to holy things; instead, they manifest a hatred for
authority.
|
• |
“Junk” foods and
“fast” foods. If you really
believed that your body is the
temple of the Holy Spirit, you would eat a healthy
diet, not “bad for you” foods. Avoid white flour, and eat
fatty foods and sugars sparingly. Eat only foods baked with whole grain flours. As
much as possible, avoid eating meat, because meat is an expensive luxury. Eat simple
foods;[7]
avoid a regular use of restaurants; and gather up the money you’ve saved and give it
to the poor—and lose excess weight in the
process.
|
• |
Colas and
soft-drinks. Drink water. Our bodies need water for
survival,[8]
but soft-drinks are just self-indulgence: empty sweetness with no nutritional
or spiritual value.
|
• |
Coffee.
Avoid coffee or tea that is not a part of a legitimate meal (i.e., breakfast, afternoon
tea, and dinner). Coffee and tea, like wine, can aid digestion, but, taken
repetitively throughout the day simply as pleasure, coffee or tea become harmful addictions.
Drink water throughout the day for healthy hydration, rather than poison yourself with
an addiction.
|
• |
Secular reading.
Avoid magazines, books, newspapers, etc. not necessary for professional purposes.
Read only spiritual texts that will help you understand the true Faith.
(You can begin with the recommended readings from this
website.) |
Neither shall you allege
the example of the many as an excuse for doing wrong. |
—Exodus 23:2 |
For many, as
I have often told you and now tell you even in tears, conduct themselves
as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction. Their God is
their stomach; their glory is their “shame.” Their minds are occupied
with earthly things. |
—Philippians
3:18-19 |
3. You can learn
to minimize your sense of self-importance and pride by treating others with
charity.
• |
Avoid swearing, whether aloud
or silently. Train your thoughts to be as calm, peaceful, and prayerful as
possible. Avoid all hostility. Do not engage in protest
or seek revenge, and do not make arrogant, angry threats.
When injured, give a silent blessing to the person who
injured you and pray the Chaplet of The Divine
Mercy for the sake of that person with the intention that he or she will
come to recognize and repent such hurtful behavior.
But now you must
put them all away: anger, fury, malice, slander, and obscene language out
of your mouths. |
—Colossians 3:8 |
|
If anyone who
does not control his
tongue [9]
imagines that he is devout, he is self-deceived; his worship is
pointless. |
—James
1:26 |
|
For the judgment
is merciless to one who has not shown mercy. |
—James 2:13
|
|
• |
Avoid all gossip and
competitive behavior, including
sports. Learn to focus instead on your own
inadequacies.
Do nothing out
of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more
important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but
everyone for those of others. |
—Philippians
2:3-4
|
|
• |
To every beggar who asks you for money,
give a silent blessing—along with money, if it’s clear he or she is not an addict, and
if the beggar has a reverent attitude and asks politely. Learn to feel the enormity of the
world’s need and your inadequacy to provide for it. Moreover,
you don’t have to be concerned with whether the beggar is a fraud; just give a silent blessing
for his or her spiritual enlightenment.
|
Give to everyone
who asks of you. |
|
|
—Luke 6:30;
Matthew 5:42 |
|
|
4. You can learn
to encounter your unconscious fears and conflicts by
• |
entering into the scrutiny of
Healing and the Four Steps
to Humility; |
• |
keeping a nightly log of your
dreams—and
interpreting
your dreams; |
• |
keeping a personal journal of
your experiences; |
• |
reading spiritual texts and setting
aside time for contemplative prayer.
 Study the books on the
Recommended Readings page of this website. Begin with
the Imitation of Christ. Read it straight through once, quickly, but
thereafter open it at random and read bits of it in depth, as a sort of daily
guidance, while reading the other books, including the
Bible, and keeping the Liturgy
of the Hours. |
 EMEMBER
, the mystics did all these things,
and more, out of pure love and reverence for God. The
martyrs gave their lives out of faithful love for Christ.
|
The prefect Rusticus
said: “Now let us come to the point at issue, which is necessary and
urgent. Gather round then and with one accord offer sacrifice to the gods.”
Justin said: “No one who is right thinking stoops from true worship
to false worship.” The prefect Rusticus said: “If you do not do
as you are commanded you will be tortured without mercy.” Justin said:
“We hope to suffer torment for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
so be saved. For this will bring us salvation and confidence as we stand
before the more terrible and universal judgment-seat of our Lord and
Saviour.” |
|
|
—From the Acts of the martyrdom
of Saint Justin
and his companion saints
Office of Readings, June 1:
Saint Justin, martyr |
|
So what are you willing to do for
the sake of love? Can you keep these counsels? Ultimately, you may
do what you want—that is, no one can force
you to live a holy life, because if your actions are not based in love, then
they are all worth nothing, as Saint Paul said (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
And the spiritual awareness that our lives, without grounding in divine love,
are worth nothing, is the justification for these counsels. So, having
successfully encountered the work of your healing, you just might have
a changed outlook on Christian mysticism and morality, and
love—real love.
Now I occupy
my soul
and all my energy in His service;
I no longer tend the herd,
nor have I any other work
now that my every act is love.
If, then, I am no longer
seen or found on the common,
you will say that I am lost;
that, stricken by love,
I lost myself, and was found. |
—Saint John
of the Cross,
The Spiritual Canticle,
The Poem, Stanzas 28-29 |
Notes.
1.
Keep in mind this analogy: fire does not burn itself—only that which
is not fire is burned by fire. Thus, in the spiritual realm, God’s
love burns and torments whatever is not love. The fire of Purgatory
is God’s love purifying and burning out of repentant souls every worldly
attachment that is not love, until those souls become pure love. And the
fire of Hell is God’s love that burns and torments
unrepentant souls who are “not love” because in this life they
have chosen lifestyles defiant of love, thereby refusing the opportunity
to become love.
2.
A conflict refers to the psychological fact that one part of your
unconscious mind wants healing and health and another part of your unconscious
mind resists healing. This resistance usually derives from two things. First,
because you have been so mistreated by others, in the depths of your mind
you secretly believe that you are worthless and
don’t deserve anything good. Second, because you are so
angry with others for having mistreated you, you
experience a certain unconscious satisfaction in remaining a victim so that
you can “throw your pain back into their faces” in
protest.
3.
Just as Christianity “began,” so to speak, with the Blessed Virgin,
so your spiritual healing should begin with her guidance.
But please understand that the Miraculous Medal is not
“magic.” The graces that flow from
its use, through the hands of the Blessed Virgin, depend entirely on your
willingness to open your heart to them totally, free from
superstition, with a deep yearning to have
your life profoundly changed by them.
In this sense, then, the Miraculous Medal is a
sacramental. Tangible things such as medals and scapulars, and intangible
things such as blessings are all sacramentals. Sacramentals, says the
Catechism of the Catholic Church, “signify effects, particularly
of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the
Church. By them, men are disposed to receive the chief effect of the
sacraments, and various occasions in life
are rendered holy” (§ 1667).
Thus, whereas sacraments in and of themselves produce
graces for those who are properly disposed to receive them, sacramentals
inspire us to desire divine grace.
4.
In lieu of genital contact, try practicing non-genital emotional and physical
intimacy such as cuddling, holding hands, and embracing.
5.
Please understand that I’m speaking here of vanity (from the Latin
vanitas, meaning “emptiness” or “worthlessness”).
We all need to go shopping at times, but some persons make shopping into
a self-serving hunger for materialism. We all must keep our fingernails trimmed,
but wasting money on having them painted is, well, wasteful. We all have
hair that must be groomed, and premature gray hair is sometimes more attractive
if it is returned to its natural color, but some persons change the color
of their hair just to project an illusory sense
of identity. The point here is that personal grooming shows a necessary respect
for the body, the temple of the Holy Spirit, whereas
self-indulgence and vanity—both sins of
pride—impede not only
humble service to Christ but also true
love to others and are therefore spiritually
worthless.
6.
Marijuana is an evil substance. “Medical marijuana” is a demonic
deception. No matter what your reason for using it, marijuana opens you to
demonic influence. If you use marijuana you are playing with hell fire. If you
don’t want to believe this, then do what you want to do. And if you don’t
learn the truth until you get to hell, then have no doubt the demons will be
roaring with laughter at you.
7.
Don’t be rigid about this, however. The point here isn’t to punish
yourself or make your life misery; the point is to introduce
simplicity to life. Even though simplicity is a core value of Christianity,
there is nothing wrong with eating special foods once in a while or of feasting
occasionally.
8.
In general, one glass (8 oz—or 250 ml) of pure water per hour is recommended
for good health. Be advised, though, that exceeding the maximum recommended
water intake—½ qt/hr (500 ml/hr) in moderate temperatures and easy
work load—can lead to a medical condition called water intoxication
(hyposmolality/hyponatremia).
9.
“If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we also
guide their whole bodies. It is the same with ships: even though they are
so large and driven by fierce winds, they are steered by a very small rudder
wherever the pilot’s inclination wishes. In the same way the tongue
is a small member and yet has great pretensions” (James
3: 3–5).
Healing
|
Though
Demons
Gloat
|
Anger
&
Forgiveness
|
Falling
Families,
Fallen Children
|
Disasters
and
Trauma
|
Psychology
from the
Heart
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Psychological healing
in the Catholic mystic tradition |
True Christian
identity
in confronting
evil |
How to turn the
emotional wounds
of daily life into
psychological growth. |
The psychological
and
spiritual remedy
for our cultural
disintegration |
The Struggle for
Psychological
and Spiritual
Growth |
Collected texts
about the spiritual depth of
clinical psychology |
More information |
More information |
More information |
More information |
More information |
More information |
|
Read an excerpt about spiritual blindness
