Tough as Nails, Gentle as a Dove
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Jacinta: Hello and welcome to Two Hearts True Healing! Glad you could come along for the journey. We are talking about the action of God when it comes to growing in holiness. Last episode we talked about what the enemy does to prevent us from doing good and growing in virtue. This episode we will explore what Holy God does to strengthen us so we can keep growing. Angela can you refresh us on the rule?
Angela: Absolutely. Rule 2: “In the persons who are going on intensely cleansing their sins and rising from good to better in the service of God our Lord, it is the method contrary to that in the first Rule, for then it is the way of the evil spirit to bite, sadden and put obstacles, disquieting with false reasons, that one may not go on; and it is proper to the good to give courage and strength, consolations, tears, inspirations and quiet, easing, and putting away all obstacles, that one may go on in well doing.”
Jacinta: Yay! Thank you! I would like to start our conversation with a quote from the great Saint Padre Pio. “The Spirit of God is a spirit of peace. Even in the most serious faults he makes us feel a sorrow that is tranquil, humble, and confident, and this is precisely because of his mercy. The spirit of the devil, instead, excites, exasperates, and makes us feel, in that very sorrow, anger against ourselves, whereas we should on the contrary be charitable with ourselves first and foremost. Therefore if any thought agitates you, this agitation never comes from God, who gives you peace, being the Spirit of Peace, but from the devil.”
What a beautiful way to look at sorrow and peace! It calls us to look at how these things affect us, not that these things will not happen. In other words, we must look at fruit and causality. Am I first of all tranquil? Or is there something that makes me look down on myself and feel insecure versus with understanding the whole picture and all the trappings? Agitation is something different than unrest. Does it build confidence? Or does it just excite or make it worse? Often a little time and space is all we need for things to become clearer, and if something is really bothering us we need to give it time. Because over time we will see where the different movements come from. We are spirit, mind, and body beings. And often things are multi-faceted. Once we become aware of feelings, reasons (body mind spirit), and motives (heart) we can begin to navigate what to do. (St Ignatius calls it understanding, which is the second step of discernment). It is very strong to say if it is agitation it is not of God. Does it tear down or build up? Does it make me a better version of myself or instead cause reactions? Am I acting from a place of security? Is it meditated or impulse?
Angela: Outside of any appropriate guilt, things that steal our peace are not of God. The things that are of God confirm our peace. While God allows us to struggle, He always uses everything for our eternal good. St. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 to “test everything and retain what is good. Refrain from every kind of evil.” We can’t do this on our own. The “good spirit” and “bad spirit” alike know this. One will try to shame or frighten you into inaction, and the other will encourage you to reach for the help that comes from the Lord.
St. Ignatius names five ways God acts. The first one he calls “courage and strength.” This can often come in the form of Scripture, often the Psalms that assure us of the attributes of God. We are given by God a Spirit of power and of love, and of a sound mind. God’s truths have a way of strengthening us. Perhaps they humble us first, but that is only to ultimately lift us up. For example– God often reminds me what he says to Moses at the beginning of his mission– “I will be with you.” For me, that dispels darkness. Jacinta, could you share with us some examples of scripture passages through which God can strengthen us?
Jacinta: “But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant, and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage. For we are bondmen; yet our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but has extended to us his mercy before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection in Judea and Jerusalem.” Ezra 9:8-9
A secure hold that brightens our eyes and revives us. We are slaves to sin, and forgiveness and reconciliation mend that. As well as our repairing action with God’s. It is a both and. God works, and we cooperate. Does it bring joy, or does it bring slavery? I’m not talking about a quick fix fast acting pleasure but deep abiding joy that lasts and brings life and momentum.
We have a tendency to live from “without” versus “within.” What tickles the senses versus the intellect. It is easier to see what gladdens them versus what gladdens the heart. It's more tangible and real and easy to access; to just remain on the surface. The temptation is to drift from good to good rather than to go inward and see causes and reasons. It involves work, and it is for the individual who is truly aware and working toward that end that St. Ignatius has written these rules of discernment as interior awareness is what directs us and where spirits move to tempt us and God moves to strengthen us. Anything else is diversion and seeking pleasure in an inordinate way versus allowing God to give us pleasure and shower us with His blessings. He has mercy for those who turn to Him for help and strength and He will revive us in difficulty. Diversion brings slavery and bondage whereas living from within brings freedom and peace.
Does what happens around the situation cause within me greater impetus? It’s okay if we are scared or not confident. What we feel about something is important but we have a will and an intellect that God gave us to direct our feelings and move toward something. And God moves in peace. Action will happen. And living from within will give peace, and God promises protection. Even if we receive a healthy dose of consequences. How do we run with it? I think it is here to note the three types of being aware: Psychological, Moral, and Spiritual. Ignatius is talking about the spiritual awareness in these fourteen rules but for harmony we need a marriage of awareness because each affects the other. Let me give you a personal example. I was given a compliment from a friend, “You are a very peaceful person.” At the time, I was not peaceful and couldn’t receive this truth. But that complement allowed me to go inward. Why could I be calm in some situations and filled with such anger and agitation in others toward my closest? I went on for quite some time noticing this weird difference. Something had to happen. Calmness is something different than the peace that directs everything. That would be the human attribute. A hardship happened that really shook my confidence and security in who I am and I saw what the person said about me was true. I had the ability to rise above the difficulty and act on a different plane than my surroundings with peace and serenity, and somehow an interior strength arose from admitting this truth and telling myself, “You are a calm person. You are a peaceful person.”
Suddenly I found that I could approach life differently with my closest because I acknowledged the wound that I was discovering that was attacking my peace. I could then make a moral decision to either live with this new found strength or reject it. When I chose to live from strength, I noticed the ability, even with difficult surroundings, to be peaceful, and that peace made me calm. That is the awareness St. Ignatius is seeking to direct. That permeating spirit that tries to show us a good path and the ability to discover that other voice that throws obstacles at us. The agitation is from the Enemy or our own thought processes and wounds. Spiritual awareness is meant to direct the human and moral and permeate everything. The difficulty that I was experiencing was multi-faceted and very physical (think post concussion syndrome and the emotional havoc that brought baggage with it). But I had to discover I could rise above it. Angela, what are some other ways that this good permeating strength moves?
Angela: The second way that God acts is by giving “consolations and tears.” When we cover the 3rd rule in a bit we’ll get into more about what Ignatius means by consolations. These are moments when we are given the gift of feeling God’s presence and His love and goodness. Often these experiences can be accompanied by tears. The good kind where there is release, healing, and strengthening.
One memory I have of experiencing this action of God came when my husband and I were brand new parents. At the time, he and I worked opposite shifts. Our little one was not a good sleeper, and so we deeply depleted. Emotionally, physically, and almost spiritually. One weekend after Mass I stayed behind for a few minutes in the chapel. Just me and Jesus, nothing else I needed to think about. I could let him care for me and not focus for a bit on caring for others. And I wept. God said to me in my heart “I see you. I see how hard you try and how tired you are. Rest in me for a while. It’s going to be okay, and this too shall pass. Keep going.” And I could. My strength was renewed, and while things were certainly still difficult, I could keep going.
The third way that God acts when we are pursuing Him is through “inspirations.” This is when God gives us spiritual clarity. It is an “aha” that often feels like a door has been opened for a newly discovered pathway towards God. These are some of my favorite spiritual experiences. (I hate feeling confused, so these are always a welcome relief!) Often God will take time, sometimes months or even years, sort of “setting up dominoes” – a scripture verse here, an experience there (sometimes even a painful one), and usually the person is wrestling with questions. And when it’s time, God “tips over” those dominoes. He uses all of those things, brings them all together, and shows purpose in them, giving direction and new hope.
The fourth way that God acts is directly opposed to the enemy’s “disquieting” tactics. Ignatius calls it “a strengthening quiet of heart.” God and only God can instill a true sense of peace. We won’t find it anywhere else. One example I have is through the Sacraments. Sometimes we can experience palpable feelings when receiving them. After all, each person is a soul/body composite. Many people say that during absolution in Confession, they feel a physical “lightening” sensation, as if the burden of sin and guilt is literally lifted off their shoulders. Praise God, when I enter a chapel or church where the Blessed Sacrament is exposed, the peace there is usually physically felt, as if the goodness and grace of the Risen Lord is a light that comes to me, fills me, and passes through me. I don’t want anything else but to be in His presence. I do feel strengthened and “quieted” in those moments.
The fifth way that God acts when we are pursuing Him is to take away our internal obstacles. These are experiences that inspire hope. They can begin with non-spiritual consolations– any truth, goodness, or beauty. In the writings of St. Augustine, we find an example of what it sounds like when the “good spirit” takes away obstacles. It was as if the virtue of continence was saying to him, “Can you not do what these men and women do? Do you think they find the strength to do it in themselves and not in the Lord their God? … Why do you try to stand in your own strength and fail?...Cast yourself upon God and have no fear. He will not shrink away and let you fall. Cast yourself upon him without fear, for he will welcome you and cure you of your ills.”
For all of these things– courage and strength, consolation or tears, inspirations, a strengthening “quiet” of heart, their end is that we can go forward in doing good. God truly does want to encourage us in doing His will.
Jacinta: How do we know this? Let’s take a peek at another scripture passage. “For I will be to her a wall of fire round about, says the Lord, and I will be the glory within her.’” Zechariah 2:5
That implies that our God will protect us and shower us with light and understanding and all we need to do is follow where He leads. It will be made known the voices that are calling to us by how they manifest themselves. We ask and believe that in faith we will know the Lord when we see Him. This quietness will settle in and a peace of heart and soon even if we are in turmoil or storm (not agitation) a light gradually dawns and we find resolution when we ask Him to shed light. It often does not come in the way we expect but soon we find ourselves on the other side and wiser for it. Sometimes this quietness is not realized until fruits start coming and we begin acting toward them or through them. Time is an essential piece. It kinda is like a trampoline. We are jumping and as we go higher exhilaration begins to fill us. But the resolve keeps us going and some of the motion is because of the exertion and some is just gravity. It is similar to likening it to growth in virtue. As we get better we are quicker to realize what and where that voice is coming from and what moves us. Let’s move on to rule three and see more what consolation is.
Jacinta: Rule 3
“I call it consolation when some interior movement in the soul is caused, through which the soul comes to be inflamed with love of its Creator and Lord; and when it can in consequence love no created thing on the face of the earth in itself, but in the Creator of them all. Likewise, when it sheds tears that move to love of its Lord, whether out of sorrow for one’s sins, or for the Passion of Christ our Lord, or because of other things directly connected with His service and praise. Finally, I call consolation every increase of hope, faith and charity, and all interior joy which calls and attracts to heavenly things and to the salvation of one’s soul, quieting it and giving it peace in its Creator and Lord.”
“Agree with God, and be at peace; thereby good will come to you. Receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart. If you return to the Almighty and humble yourself, if you remove unrighteousness far from your tents.” - Job 22:21-23
Agreement with God is nothing but choosing to love Him and respond to the movements of the Heart toward Him. Being in unity with Him. He desires our company and to give us many good things and blessings. He wants to bring us into the everlasting happiness of Heaven (as it says in the Baltimore Catechism) and wants that to start on earth in response to our loving pursuit of Him. Though that does not mean that if we turn from Him He will change that goal. On the contrary, as we spoke of in Rules 1 and 2, He changes the method of showing love. Sometimes it is tough love and sometimes it is stooping down to meet us where we are at and all of the time it is overly abundant and gracious and He cannot be outdone. God is abundance and Love. This is His characteristic. St. Ignatius in the the Spiritual Exercises says the following, “Love consists in a communication between the two parties, that is to say, in the lover’s giving and communicating to the beloved what he has or out of what he has and is able to give” (SpirEx, 231).
Here in Rule three we are again looking at the loving action of God toward us with direct outpourings of His grace so that our life is enlightened and strengthened. This is called consolation. Angela can you give another definition and some examples of what consolation is?
Angela: Let’s do it! Spiritual consolation is the gift (which can be freely accepted or rejected) of being pulled into loving God. It’s any increase in faith, hope, and charity. During consolation, one feels peace in God. The peace that surpasses all understanding! It’s part of what it means to feel alive and to thrive. It’s happy, uplifting, and instills joy.
While there are many non-spiritual consolations, maybe in the form of relief from some type of physical, mental, or emotional suffering, or temporary happiness, St. Ignatius is always referring to the spiritual in these rules. When we experience any type of consolation, however, God can use it as a doorway to specifically spiritual consolation. Just like Satan will use anything he can to tempt us away from God, Our Creator has infinite ways to draw us to him.
St. Ignatius mentions five different types of experiences of consolation. The first is “when the soul comes to be inflamed with love of its Creator and Lord.” Fr. Gallagher tells us that when this happens, one’s heart is “lifted up in love for God.” This can last for a long time or a brief moment; it can range from subtle to intense. There is a warmth that stays afterward, which makes sense, because God is trying to encourage us in moving forward.
The second experience is when the person “can love no created thing…but only in the Creator of them all.” This second form of consolation is a result of the first. After being inflamed with love of God, we of course then love all of creation in light of the Creator. We know that true love of God always extends itself to love of neighbor and proper love of self. This can actually be something that corrects disordered attachments. Maybe someone has become romantically involved, but, as we mentioned last episode, the involvement doesn’t allow for the beloved to be seen for who they truly are, a child of God, but rather, and even unintentionally, for the needs that the beloved may fill. Let’s say the relationship doesn’t work out. God can provide consolation that then clarifies the lover’s view of the beloved. Acceptance of the end of that romantic relationship can be achieved, because true love would mean recognizing that the beloved is, in fact, meant for someone else, or a vocation other than marriage.
The third form of consolation is when the person “sheds tears that move to love of [the soul’s] Lord.” This experience involves the whole human person. These are tears that can come from one of three things– sorrow for sins, sorrow towards Christ’s Passion, or towards things that are “directly ordered to His service and praise.” In other words, they are not tears of self absorption or despair.
Fourth is “every increase of hope, faith, and charity.” This is part of our baptism, and it continues throughout our lives. Increases of hope, faith, and love can happen in ways that are noticeable to us. It’s a beautiful moment when we recognize a positive change in ourselves, like, “Hey, I used to react with anger or discouragement or indifference… but this time, a wave of grace carried me further in love.” What a cool thing to be a part of with God. This moment, this wave, passes, but like a shell washed up on the shore, the impact remains with us. It’s a moment to be trusting and thankful.
The fifth way that God consoles us is “all interior joy that calls and attracts to heavenly things.”
Related to the second form where one loves created things not any less but just in a more ordered way, this last form puts the things of God at the top, not just in our minds but in the desires of our heart. I think of St. Paul who says “I long to depart this life and be with Christ, [for] that is far better. Yet that I remain [in] the flesh is more necessary for your benefit.” Here we are in a place where we recognize that only God can truly fill us up, and naturally we start to pursue those things.
Jacinta: We have been talking about the methodology of the “good spirit” and the “enemy.” In order to understand more deeply, let’s just mention again that “biting obstacles” have different contexts. The Good Spirit bites only when we are on a path away from Him and the “bad spirit” bites when we are on a path toward God. One brings peace and unrest and the other brings agitation, exacerbation, pricking, anxiety, and paralyzation.The enemy also gives fake pleasure and assurance but to keep us on the wrong path. Consolation is a direct action of God to strengthen us for hard times and to pull us through stronger and more aware of His loving presence. Think of the transfiguration of Christ on Mount Tabor. God will bring us to the mountaintop so that when desolation, suffering, obstacles, and life bring us down we can keep walking forward. Remember He transformed to dazzling white and a voice from Heaven was heard to confirm who He was, and two mighty prophets were seen conversing with Him. This experience was meant for Peter, James, and John alone, and they were not to tell anyone until after the suffering of the cross and the glory of the resurrection. But Peter and James didn’t realize what Jesus was trying to do for them. They were completely derailed when the suffering came. It wasn’t ‘til after that they understood. John remained at the heart of Christ and thus was able to make it through. He understood what the gift of the mountaintop experience was meant for. To establish Christ’s divinity and power so that trust was awakened for hard times when John didn’t understand what might appear contrary to what was expected. Abiding in the presence sometimes is filled with light and joy and, as we will discuss later, is sometimes in darkness and insecurity.
It is important to note that not all consolation is spiritual consolation. Discernment is key here just like when we were talking about the types of awareness. There are two kinds of consolation. Spiritual and non-spiritual. Non-spiritual would be that amazing feeling after an especially hard workout, or when we say something that’s been on our chest for awhile, or experience the beauty of nature around us. These are good beautiful things but not necessarily directing us toward God’s will and action. We need these moments to help us in our brains with dopamine and to push us forward in momentum, but there is a distinct difference with spiritual consolation. Natural/non-spiritual consolation is meant to be a springboard to want more. To find more. It is to bring us a step deeper to the awareness of God’s presence. This is the spiritual awareness and spiritual consolation that St. Ignatius is talking about and teaching discernment over.
We all have that God-shaped hole in our hearts that can only be filled with God-shaped things. See, if we just stay at the human level on the surface, our hearts won’t be satisfied. We will just keep wanting more. When we turn our eyes to the gift versus the Giver we are filled with a restlessness and dissatisfaction. Only when we let natural consolation springboard us to the next level can we find true contentment and a lasting, satisfying peace. God allows natural consolation to awaken desire. And desire can awaken many good things if we let it. But we can’t stop there. We need to direct our gaze to faith. We need to let desire direct us to God and the pursuit of God and what God desires for us. He wants to give us many good things and will lavish us with more the more He sees us open our hands to receive it well and return it. He will lavish us with more when He sees us detached from the gift if the feeling is there or not as precisely that; a passing gift. Not our own good per say but a love language, a signpost of the Giver. A relationship with Him. (Factoid which leads me to another characteristic to help us discern natural versus spiritual is if the strength remains when the feeling passes. More on this next time.) When our focus shifts, God is more likely to take it away to bring us back to desire again and to see that it is not us but Him who gives us the good things of life. This would be desolation, which is the next topic of our next episode. But what God wants is to be with us always in the ordinary ups and downs of life.
Angela: We’ll end our episode with a quote from Fr. Gallagher’s book and one more example of consolation that wraps up Rule 3 very nicely. From page 57, he says:
What will happen to us in our spiritual lives if we become aware of God’s ‘ordinary’ presence to us in the spiritual consolations He pours on us? What will happen if we are ‘within’ enough to be aware of and identify these spiritual consolations as a loving God gives them to us day by day? Then, like Ignatius, we will increasingly ‘find God’ during the hours of the day. Then what may seem a beautiful but distant teaching of faith, that is, that God is ever with us, will cease to be abstract, and, with wonder, we will personally know its truth. Through awareness of the spiritual consolations stirring in our hearts we will know that our God is for us, as for the pilgrim people in the desert, a ‘pillar of cloud by day’ and a ‘pillar of fire by night’ (Exodus 13:21-220) a God who always walks by our side, leading us along the way.
Overall Example:
In preparation for this podcast with Jacinta and accompanying Bible study, there have been months of prayer and reflection. Throughout this time, a recurring message that Jesus has had for me in prayer has been from that very same section of scripture– In Exodus chapter 3, God promises Moses, “I will be with you.” One day this past summer He put in my mind this image of a giant willow tree– I love willow trees– often I am this tree, directed to drink from the streams of God’s word so as to provide the comfort of shade and bear fruit for those around me. Then at one point, the message was that, in a sense, He is the tree, providing shade but also this gigantic, sturdy trunk. If you’ve ever been a kid playing in a willow tree, you’ll know that once you climb to the space where the largest limbs meet the trunk, there’s a whole world up there– ants all around and dirt supporting other smaller plants– even litter. But the point is, that space can only be there if the tree has a very wide trunk. God told me He wants to be with me. That He will be with me with this sturdy, centuries old, solid, protective love. Dear listeners, this is how much God thirsts for us (as willows are quite thirsty trees), and He wants to be with us– as an ordinary part of baptized life!
Jacinta: Thank you so much for joining us! We are happy to be a part of your ordinary life today and that you invited us along into your home and into your space. If you want to tell us how this episode impacted you or if you have questions or suggestions reach out to us at twoheartstruehealing@outlook.com or on our website www.twoheartstruehealing.com. You can pop over to say hi on Facebook or Substack where you can subscribe so you never miss an episode. We are also on YouTube and Catholic 365. May God bless you abundantly and know we are holding you! Until next time, rest in the abundance of God’s Love!
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Hello! I am a writer and podcaster looking to make a difference in the world of faith and mental health. I believe in the power of God’s love and wish to help bring you closer to Him. I am a wife and stay-at-home mom of three beautiful girls. We enjoy the adventure of homeschooling and living on our small homestead in the country. Other things we enjoy together are the great outdoors and hanging out with friends and family. We are active in our parish and community. www.twoheartstruehealing.com
