(Holding ball and dropping it to the ground) What made this ball drop? … That’s right gravity.
Just as there are forces at play in the physical dimension that we cannot see but that we can sense the effects of, the same is true in the spiritual dimension. There are forces at play in our everyday spiritual lives that we cannot see, but we can sense the effects of.
In today’s second reading, Saint Paul tells us about the opposing spiritual forces at play in our lives. He calls these warring spiritual forces spirit and flesh. For some of us, this mention of warring spiritual forces may call to mind a cartoon we saw during our childhood where a character has an angel sitting on their right shoulder trying to convince the character to do something good and who has a devil sitting on their left shoulder trying to convince the character to do something bad.
Once we’re ready to move beyond an elementary understanding of these spiritual forces, St. Paul and St. Ignatius of Loyola have valuable insights to share with us about the way these spiritual forces are at play in our every day. While most of us can identify and understand the physical force of gravity on this ball, chances are we could benefit from Saint Ignatius’ help with identifying and understanding how the spiritual forces act on our lives.
The spiritual exercises and rules Saint Ignatius of Loyola shares with us are practical guidelines for the spiritual life. Think of this as the spiritual equivalent of a physical exercise manual. These spiritual exercises help us to be at our best spiritually no matter what the circumstances are in our lives at the time.
The spiritual life, like all of life, consists of normal ups and downs. It can be hard for us to manage and navigate these spiritual ups and downs when we don’t know the spiritual forces at play. We may feel ill-equipped, the spiritual equivalent of babies who are trying to stand up for the first time without knowing about the force of gravity working against us and without having developed the strength necessary to take the appropriate action to rise up.
Saint Ignatius refers to these spiritual forces that are working for us as the good spirit and the spiritual forces that are working against us Ignatius calls the evil spirit. The good spirit refers to the Holy Spirit, as well as the good angels, the grace within us we received at baptism, positive influences around us, and all the ways God works in our hearts to lead us toward God and the good.
When we look back, examine, and reflect on an activity we did, or something we said, our behavior, and we say to ourselves, “man, I’m glad I did that, I still feel uplifted by that, I continue to be filled with joy and purpose because of that,” then this is probably an indication that the good spirit was leading us at that moment and wants us to do more of that.
The evil spirit refers to the enemy scriptures describe as the tempter, the accuser, the one who is the liar as well as the legacy of Original Sin within us. The evil spirit pulls us away from where God wants us to go. If we look at back on something we did, or something we said, or our behavior, and we think to ourselves, “Man, I wish I wouldn’t have done that, I feel disappointed in myself about that. I wish I wouldn’t have given into that temptation. That was not good for me. That wasn’t helpful.” Then, this is probably an indication that the evil spirit was guiding us when we did that.
We should not dialogue with the evil spirit who is trying to tempt us to do these activities and behaviors again and again. You see, we are not passive actors to these spiritual forces. These spirits do not negate our free will.
It is while we are still using our free will that the good spirit tries to build us up and the evil spirit tries to drag us down and make us fall. Saint Ignatius refers to the ups and downs of our spiritual lives as consolation and desolation.
He calls the ups consolation. In consolation, our hearts feel light and are lifted up, we feel inspired, we experience joy, and we desire to connect with others. In consolation, our vision is refreshed so we can see where God is active in our lives and where God is leading us. This is what spiritual consolation looks and feels like.
Early on in our spiritual growth and relationship with God, we may experience a lot of this consolation and joy. Later, in our walk with God, this good feeling may fade, but this could actually be a good thing for us. We are meant to fall in love, not with the good feelings God gives us. We are meant to fall in love with God. And there is a big difference between these two. God is allowing us to discover and experience this difference, which makes all the difference in the world for our eternal soul.
You see, the trouble is we can get addicted to these good feelings and when the will of God is leading us in a direction that will not produce good feelings, then we may fall away from following where God is leading us. Do not take this lack of good feelings to mean God has abandoned us. Instead, take this to mean that God is leading us into a deeper place. Happy feelings, when we are experiencing the presence of God in our lives are great, when they happen, but they are not the same as experiencing the fullness of God.
The opposite of consolation is desolation. Ignatius calls the spiritual downs we experience in life desolation. We experience desolation during those times when our hearts feel heavy and weighed down, causing us to want to fall into despair, driving us down the spiral ever deeper into our own negative feelings. Desolation is when we have a tendency to turn in on ourselves and our selfish desires. Desolation cuts us off from community and makes us want to give up on spiritual practices that used to be important to us. Desolation tries to take over our whole consciousness and make our past, present, and future seem worthless, meaningless, and hopeless. Desolation makes our spiritual lives feel dry, unsatisfied, and drains us of energy.
During these times of desolation, we may experience a desire to move closer to God and yet have an indescribable feeling that something is holding us back. This is the evil spirit trying to keep us in desolation. One way the evil spirit tries to keep us in desolation is by tempting us to try to flee the desolation into some sort of gratification, which really doesn’t help things. When we give in to this temptation of trying to flee desolation into some sort of gratification or pleasure, we end up causing this spiritual down in our lives to be much lower and longer than it otherwise would be.
In times of desolation, the good spirit is calling us to be patient and to be faithful. In desolation, we are to continue our spiritual exercises we were doing before this desolation began such as praying, going to Mass, and reading the Bible. Continuing these spiritual practices will be a light for us when all other light seems to have gone out. The moment we are most tempted to stop praying, to skip Mass, to stop reading the Bible, and to be unfaithful to God in some other way, that is precisely the moment it is most important for us to keep being faithful. This is certainly true in our human relationships such as a marriage, so why would our relationship with God be any different?
By staying faithful, this sends the message to the evil spirit that the evil spirit is wasting time trying to get us to fall and eventually the evil spirit will depart for a time looking for an easier and weaker victim. Like Jesus’ Good Friday, every time we faithfully carry the cross with Jesus, it always leads to an Easter Sunday. The good spirit is always stronger than the evil spirit. When we stay patient and faithful to our vows to God through the desolation, the downs we experience will be less deep and less long.
Desolation is a normal part of life just like a rainy day is a normal part of the weather forecast. This desolation or rainy day is not going to last forever. Jesus is letting us know that there is a sunny day ahead in the forecast and it is coming a lot sooner than the evil spirit is leading us to believe. The good spirit is trying to guide us through these downs so that we may grow closer to God and neighbor through them.
By making it through these tough times, we are growing and gaining in spiritual strength. Without desolation, we would remain spiritual children who never grow up. When we take two steps forward and one step back in the spiritual life, we go forward to God only by never giving up. By learning from Saint Ignatius, may we have a new set of spiritual eyes to see and to understand what has always been happening in our spiritual lives. This is revealing to us a part of ourselves we’ve always experienced but may not have known how to name or understand and therefore haven’t been able to take the appropriate action. May our eyes be opened, at least a little, so that we may be aware, understand, and take action.
So, during times of consolation, we should thank God who has given us this grace, receive these blessings, and store up this grace for the challenging times that might lie ahead when we may need to draw on this grace.
And during times of desolation, we should be patient and remain faithful to our spiritual practices, and do even more than before with these practices.
And if you remember nothing else I’ve said, remember this, While the evil spirit may lead you to fall, the good spirit will not let you down.
13th Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle C – June 26, 2022
Mass Readings:
Reading 1: 1 Kgs 19:16b, 19-21
Psalm: Ps 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11
Reading 2: Gal 5:1, 13-18
Gospel: Lk 9:51-62