Follow-up to the Follow-up to 025: Combat?

Just as a quick follow-up to Michael's excellent post regarding Mike's excellent post below. (confused yet?)

One of things that I really like about The Spiritual Combat is the ultimate goal it has for the reader. In fact, its ultimate goal for the reader is the same goal that we have in mind for the listeners of Into The Deep. The goal is beatitude... We want Heaven, for ourselves and our listeners.

The combat against our all too real adversary is not an end, but a means. The battle is not meant to go on forever. It is merely the trial which we must endure and conquerer to obtain the prize that the Lord has prepared for us. We are not locked in an eternal battle. It is a battle with a defined endpoint, at which we will ether have won or lost.

Our main concern in this battle is the elimination of everything which pulls us away from God.. who is Himself our prize. The major field of battle in this effort is the cultivation of virtue and the elimination of vice. However, Scupoli makes it clear that we are not building up a "heavenly bank account" of virtue. We do not stock pile good deeds and then, when we have collected a required sum, God somehow "owes us Heaven."

The increase in virtue and decrease in vice is necessary but not sufficient. We must, by definition, remove those things which seperate us from God, in order to grow closer to God. But that growing closer to God is something that only God can do in us. We are ourselves powerless to enter into the sublime mystery of the Blessed Trinity. But through the Incarnation, Christ now lives within us! And so we may participate in his own eternal life.

Please, please, please always keep that eternal goal in mind. We engage in this battle not because it will make us happy or successful in this life. Nor do we do it simply because it is an agreeable system of morality. We do it because we love our Lord and we desire to be untied with him now and forever.

Gift and Sacrifice...

I thought this article by Fr. Sirico was interesting. He discusses the nature of a true "gift" and gives the simplest, most complete definition I've seen:

What is a gift? It is something provided to another without expecting and demanding anything in return. We might gain from giving – winning affection, appreciation, good favor – but we must not expect this. These are byproducts, unintended results of giving properly understood.

That was eye-opening to me. How often do we select gifts based on what we'll get out of it? Or more likely what we'll avoid - hurt feelings, rude comments about bad gifts, etc.

Further on, Fr. Sirico talks about the gifts of the Magi being "sacrifice" and by that I take it he means as opposed to "tribute" where you are hoping to obtain favor.

The rest of the article is about economic exchanges and the relationships between gifts and exchanges, and the necessity of both. But really, the idea of a gift as a sacrifice and the way that relates to love (being our act of willing good toward another without regard to how that act will affect us) was what was interesting to me.

Truly holy persons, feelings, and trust...

In our Where's Waldo podcast, we talked a bit about our fear of "surrender", "annihilation", or of "disappearing" if we really give up our own will - and conform ourselves to God's will. Let me propose something here that I hadn't thought of before. And feel free to object or correct me if I'm way off...

Certainly we do desire our own way, and we were made in God's image and the goods that he gave to us in this world are indeed goods, as Brent pointed out below. So it might seem somewhat natural to feel that way - that we are losing something good. But I would say that this is one of those places where feeling leads us the wrong way, and faith (informed with knowledge and by Revelation) should strengthen us.

For if we have faith, and we believe that God's way for us is the way that is best for us, we should trust that if we do as He asks, we will get where it is best for us to go; that is, where He wants us to go. Even if seems painful and terrifying.

Dom Scupoli writes that

"...truly holy persons...pray and meditate on the life and Passion of our Redeemer, not through curiosity, nor for the sake of some sensible pleasure arising from this, but from a desire of knowing...Divine Goodness, and...the depth of their own ingratitude."

It is interesting that our feelings, neither fear of surrender nor "sensible pleasure" at prayer and meditation are reliable guides to what is right.

There are many ways in which over-intellectualizing our Faith can slow or derail our spiritual journey (I struggle with these regularly) and now I see a way that under-intellectualizing may do the same.

Truly, the way is narrow.

Follow-up to 025: Combat?

Just as a quick follow-up to Mike's excellent post below. He says

Modern Catholics seem to think that sin and temptation are just part of human nature, and that the Devil is for children (and maybe Fundamentalists).

I think he is exactly right that many people dismiss the Evil One as "a personification of the temptation and evil within man's heart". However, we must keep in mind that the reality of the devil and hell is a Dogmatic teaching of the Church.

391 Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God, which makes them fall into death out of envy. Scripture and the Church's Tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called "Satan" or the "devil".The Church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: "The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing."

and Dr. Ludwig Ott, in his book The Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma indicates that

The Devil possesses a certain dominion over mankind by reason of Adam's sin.

is a De fide, dogmatic teaching of the Church with the same truthfulness as the teaching of the two natures in one person of Christ. Thus, the notion that the modern age has done away with the devil is nonsense (and exactly what the Evil One would have us believe).

We aren't to obsess about the Devil. He is finite and created. God has infinite power over him. As long as we humbly stay close to Christ, he can't touch us. But as Mike so aptly put it, we must know our adversary so we might overcome him.

025: Combat?

Brent outlined below the direction Into the Deep will be going - Spiritual Combat.

I think sometimes the idea of "combat" in our spiritual lives - even in the context of fighting against personal sin, temptation, etc. is given an eye-roll amongst Serious Christians. The idea of a real Devil, an Evil One who seeks our destruction seems, well... not what modern Catholics think about sin. Modern Catholics seem to think that sin and temptation are just part of human nature, and that the Devil is for children (and maybe Fundamentalists). But if we are going to take Dom Scupoli's work seriously, and I think we should, then we have to acknowledge the existence of an enemy. Otherwise Spritual Combat becomes a weak metaphor. It becomes Spiritual Diplomacy- just another self-improvement technique, talking ourselves out of bad behavior, mostly so we can feel better about ourselves. And that is not, I think, what Dom Scupoli intended:

...they leave [themselves] prey to their own corruption and to the tricks of the devil. It is then that this destroyer, seeing them go astray, not only encourages them to go on their way, but fills their imagination with empty ideas, making them believe that they already taste the joys of paradise, the delights of Angels, that they see God face to face...

A serious enemy demands a serious response, which The Spiritual Combat is. Serious and difficult, as we try to separate our own desires and attachments from our souls, and try to conform to HIS infinitely better way for us. Our enemy uses force only occasionally, usually it is spiritual judo - turning us on ourselves, using our efforts against us (because they are our efforts, rather than God's, they can be turned). I am thinking of the advice on how to ruin prayer that Screwtape gives to Wormwood in C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters:

The amateurish suggestions in your last letter warn me that it is high time for me to write to you fully on the painful subject of prayer. ... The best thing, where it is possible, is to keep the patient from the serious intention of praying altogether. ... If this fails, you must fall back on a subtler misdirection of his intention. ... The simplest is to turn their gaze away from Him towards themselves. Keep them watching their own minds and trying to produce feelings there by the action of their own wills. When they meant to ask Him for charity, let them, instead, start trying to manufacture charitable feelings for themselves and not notice that this is what they are doing. When they meant to pray for courage, let them really be trying to feel brave. When they say they are praying for forgiveness, let them be trying to feel forgiven. Teach them to estimate the value of each prayer by their success in producing the desired feeling; and never let them suspect how much success or failure of that kind depends on whether they are well or ill, fresh or tired, at the moment.

So don't be turned away by the title of the text. We will not be singing Onward Christian Soldiers, or suggesting that your every waking moment is subject to demonic attack. But will be taking seriously the nature of our situation.

Be Pleased, O God...

I found this gem of an article on Catholic Exchange just before Thanksgiving. I thought it was an amazing little practice that can help us learn to pray more often and deeply. I have been meditating on this Psalm for awhile now, and while I've still a long way to go, it certainly does work its way into your daily routine, without becoming... well, routine. From the article:

"You should, I say, meditate constantly on this verse in your heart. You should not stop repeating it when you are doing any kind of work or performing some service or are on a journey. Meditate on it while sleeping and eating and attending to the least needs of nature"

As I said, I've a long ways to go yet, but the thought of the Lord's constant support, without which I can only fail, are good comfort. As Br. Brent writes:

When this verse has become the last thought before going to bed, and the first thought upon rising, it sinks deep into the heart. And thus the one who prays it continuously becomes the only thing worth being: an empty-handed beggar standing before the divine Self-Gift.

I like this version of the Psalm - for I need not just help, but deliverance- and I recognize my plight as so urgent as to be in need of His help with haste.

Everything is grace!

I'm not a big sports guy. My idea of a "good game" is a eight hour Diplomacy fest...

Plus, I fear the outdoors... There's always something stinging you... or dripping mucus on you... And don't get me started on the lack of air conditioning... Nope. I usually see no reason to venture out into that big blue room that people call the "outside."

So you can see why I'm not much for sports. Not that I have any problem with people who are. I do not hold to the school of thought that says that only those things overtly Catholic are worthy of attention. As C.S. Lewis observed through the eyes of the demonic tempter Uncle Screwtape:

He has filled His world with pleasures. There are things for humans to do all day long without His minding in the least- sleeping, washing, eating, drinking, making love, playing, praying, working. Everything has to be twisted before it's any us to us. We fight under cruel disadvantages. Nothing is naturally on our side.

God gave us a great big world to enjoy... and all the facilities we need to enjoy it. As long as an activity is not disordered, does not tempt us (or those around us) toward sin, and is kept in its proper place of priority (detachment)... go for it! Enjoy the wondrous creation that God has given us.

This enjoyment isn't something separate from God that we do "on our own time." It is a continual offering up of ourselves and our works back to the Lord.

For example, if you like to paint, painting can be a form of prayer for you. As your creation unfolds, praise God for the beauty of your subject. Thank him for your gifts. Beg him to help you improve. Offer up your final work for his glory. Though this prayer, God will speak to your heart. He will reveal deep insights about the world, and about your own heart. This is the Catholic way of life and it is beautiful!

What does this have to do with sports? Well.. if you're asking that question, you must not live in Boise, Idaho... You see, right now in Boise EVERYTHING has to do with sports.

Our Boise State University Broncos just won the biggest and most exciting game in university history at the Fiesta Bowl. Indeed many people are saying it was one of the greatest games in college football history. The game was so amazing that even a sports scrooge like myself was screaming at the TV, cheering on the team.

And that too is prayer... if you are open to it.

Oh yes... for some people.. televised, professional (or quasi-professional) sports can be a HUGE attachment and occasion of sin. It is loaded with corporate greed, consumerism, morally bankrupt athletes, etc, etc. But that's the twisted part. At its core it still belongs to God. The prince of this world can create nothing. He can only twist what God has created.

The battle that the Broncos fought was a struggle against a larger, stronger, better equipped adversary. On paper, there was no contest. The Broncos should have been crushed. Does this sound familiar? This is exactly the situation we find ourselves in:

For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. (Eph 6:12)

The Broncos had the lead the entire game, but one broken play near the end of the game cost them the lead and almost cost them the game. We find ourselves in a similar spiritual combat. A combat that is very possible for us to lose, and even lose at the last minute, should we choose to take our eyes off of Christ:

No, I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified. (1 Cor 9:27)

But after that disastrous play, the Broncos did not quit! It would have been all to easy to succumb to despair. But instead (as testified to in post game interviews) they renewed their faith in each other and went back out onto the field.

But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved. (Matt 24:13)

No reasonable person watching the end of that game would say that skill alone won the game for the Broncos. They used multiple, high risk plays that rarely turn out well. One of the players commented after the game that those plays almost never work in practice, much less a high pressure bowl game. But in that game, they just worked. Many people are using the phrase "unbelievably lucky" to describe the Broncos.

Perhaps...

But the important thing for us is to realize that it wasn't up to their skill alone. They certainly did their part. They worked and trained their whole lives for that game. They went out and gave it their all. And when the chips were down, they did not quit!

But that didn't end up being enough. They needed more.

The same with us. Our efforts to persevere to the end will not be successful on our own. Not even close. But at the end, God will make up the rest. Our miracle plays will just work. Just like the Broncos, our miracles will arrive and victory will be handed to us. We have to put in the work, but only because God won't work in us without it. But in the end, our arrival at Heaven is his job. We just need to want it. Like the Broncos wanted that Fiesta Bowl.

The point of this is that everything is grace! Even a stupid football game can be a powerful example and exhortation. It can make visible to us the spiritual realities that can too often seem hidden and obscure.

Our hobbies, pastimes, adventures, trials and tribulations.. All of it is grace! It can all draw us nearer to our God, because he created them and created them good!

So use creation well... and be pleasing to your Father in Heaven!

Yep, I'm Waldo...

Yeah, it is me...Waldo...er...I mean, Michael Lee. I am to blame for all of the kerfluffle at the National Offices of Into the Deep^TM. I single-handedly made them the International Offices of Into the Deep! Anyway, it is an amazing experience to be living in Austria studying theology at the International Theological Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family. Please check out their website, and, if possible, make a donation to them. The ITI is supporting and training so many seminarians and others from the former Communist countries in addition to other Europeans and Americans. It is very small but can and will have a huge impact on the Universal Church.

I have reflected long and often about this whole move. The call came so much like the parable of the Rich Young Man in Mark 10:17-31

And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: `Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'" And he said to him, "Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth." And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." At that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!" And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God." Peter began to say to him, "Lo, we have left everything and followed you." Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many that are first will be last, and the last first."

We made the move and yet I found myself sad anyway. We certainly didn't have riches back home (at least according to American standards), and we were willing (and did) give up what we had. Why was I mourning the loss of so many things,specially, the life that I lived in Idaho?

I realized that, in fact, I was exactly like the young man. Sure, I gave it all up and left it exteriorly, but interiorly I was sad because the possessions still had me. My heart was still with the prior life and possessions. It still is to a degree...I am getting better and am learning at an even deeper level what it is to "...count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." (Phil 3:8a) Not long ago, I would have told you that I understood that Scripture at some level and had incorporated it into my life...and I had to a point. However, the Lord always wants to draw us to himself more deeply - to a deeper union with him.

That is why this place is such a blessing (even more than the fantastic education). It is a place where I can shun the possessions of my heart so that I can possess Christ alone. The Lord extends the same invitation to you; to shun the possessions of your heart so that he alone possesses it. Don't be discouraged if you have been here before, thought you gave it up, and are now back again. To apply to us the famous quote of the troll Schrek ogre Shrek (Ooops! My kids would kill me!) "humans are like onions - we have lots of layers". Therefore, we must be continually be healed and purified facing many of the same issues, sins and struggles as God peels away the hardened layers of our heart.

Yeah, I guess I am really am Waldo 'cause the Lord has definitely "found" me...and he continues to find me everyday inviting me evermore deeply into sharing his divine life. Where are you??

Text of The Spiritual Combat

The third series of Into The Deep is going to focus on the spiritual classic, The Spiritual Combat by Fr. Dom Lorenzo Scupoli.

We invite you to walk through the book with us. The text is in the public domain and can be downloaded in plain text, PDF and HTML format. You should be able to read any of these on your computer... tho PDF will probably be the best formatted. If you find that you can't open the PDF version, you need to download a free PDF reader.

You can also purchase a print copy from your favorite local Catholic bookstore or online at sites like TAN Books and Amazon.

Weeeeee'rrreeeee Baaaacckkkk.....

Into the Deep is back in action!

Thank you so much for all of the emails of support and for hanging in there during our hiatus. Your support means the world to us.

The challenges of doing a transatlantic podcast are pretty substantial... (if you don't know what I'm talking about, listen to episode #25 :)). But we're committed to putting in the effort as long as we discern that the Lord is calling us to move forward with it.

We need to beg your indulgence for the (hopefully occasional) distortions and other losses of quality in the audio. Historically, we actually pretty obsessive about audio quality. And we still are... but there's certain limitations that we haven't figured out how to overcome yet. And we may not be able to overcome them for some time with the equipment that we have available. But I think the show still sounds pretty good... and the occasional bleeps and bloops are probably a good way for us (well... mostly me) to stay humble and remember that the message is what is important, not how sultry our voices sound... :-P

We've changed our site around quite a bit, so that everything is centered around the podcast. This included changing the domain name from CatholicTruth.NET to DeepCast.org. It also included setting up a label (or tag) for each podcast episode. So you will be able to click on a link on the blog and find all the posts relating to a particular episode.

The older episodes don't have many posts yet, and we are working to rectify that... as we recognize that there are a lot of new listeners and that many people are at different places in listening to the past shows. But we didn't want to put off the re-launch of the show until we had posts for all the episodes, as it will probably take us a couple months to get through them all.

As always, we welcome your feedback, comments or questions. Thank you for listening, and please make 2007 a year where you grow ever so much more deeply in love with our sublime Lord!

025: Where's Waldo

The great Lee family migration. Being willing sacrifice to following the will of the Lord. Introduction to The Spiritual Combat by Dom Lorenzo Scupoli.

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Duration: 44:45
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Related resources: The Spiritual Combat