Temptations Of An Apostolic Heart

[BarbTherese]

There are real gems of spiritual wisdom on this website. They are written with simplicity and, considering the subjects that they do tackle in the spiritual life, are to the point and relatively brief yet descriptive. The primary authors are a layman, Catholic Priest and a Discalced Carmelite Nun.

I have a daily subscription email into my Email Inbox (free of charge) and this can be organized on the website here: [url="http://rcspiritualdirection.com/blog/"]http://rcspiritualdirection.com/blog/[/url]


If I run out of spiritual reading or want to look up some subject of Catholic Spirituality, I usually can find it in the archives of this website.


[u][b]TEMPTATIONS OF AN APOSTOLIC HEART[/b][/u]
[url="http://rcspiritualdirection.com/blog/2010/11/11/temptations-of-an-apostolic-heart"]http://rcspiritualdi...apostolic-heart[/url]

[quote][u]Excerpt only[/u]:............."....................[color=#000000]The devil [i]is[/i] occupied with those who work with fervor for the Kingdom of God.
His first tactic is to find our greatest point of personal weakness and attack. It can be our health, our family, our prayer life (or lack of one). It can be relationships in our lives, it can be our [url="http://rcspiritualdirection.com/blog/2010/04/26/how-can-i-identify-my-root-sin"]root sin[/url], or it can be our children. If he doesn’t find enough weak points in these areas, he is not discouraged. He is well acquainted with how to divert the hearts of people of good-will............"........... [/color]
[color=#000000]..........."...........[/color]

[left][color=#000000][color=#000000]It is universally true with all people that there are only a few things each week or each day that absolutely [u][b][i]must[/i][/b][/u] be done. It is [u][b][i]never[/i] true[/b][/u] that God requires us to accomplish more than we have the time and capacity to accomplish. Yes, he can and will often add supernatural grace to our efforts. Yes, he will also sometimes ask us to accomplish the impossible. However, if we are [u][b]regularly guilty[/b][/u] of taking on more tasks or projects than any day, week, month, or year will allow, we are probably tasking ourselves well into the devil’s path of distraction and destruction..................".......................

(Read full article on above link) [/quote][/color][/color][/left]

[left][color=#000000][color=#000000]Must admit that if I felt God was asking me to accomplish the impossible or seemingly impossible (which is contrary to common sense - the guide of all the virtues and humility their foundation) I would be running it past my spiritual director before attempting what I felt God was asking in the impossible or seemingly so.[/color][/color][/left]

[BarbTherese]

Also well worth a read is the article on our "root sin". I thought this a very handy list to take along to my spiritual director and discuss it.
[url="http://rcspiritualdirection.com/blog/2010/04/26/how-can-i-identify-my-root-sin"]http://rcspiritualdi...ify-my-root-sin[/url]


[left]
[color=#000000][b]COMMON MANIFESTATIONS OF PRIDE:[/b] [/color][/left][list]
[*][color=#000000]too high an opinion of myself[/color]
[*][color=#000000]annoyance with those who contradict me, brooking no contradictions[/color]
[*][color=#000000]anger if I don’t get my way or am not taken into account[/color]
[*][color=#000000]easily judgmental, putting others down, gossiping about them[/color]
[*][color=#000000]slow to recognize my own mistakes, or to see when I hurt others, and inability to seek and give forgiveness[/color]
[*][color=#000000]rage when others don’t thank me for favors[/color]
[*][color=#000000]unwillingness to serve, rebellion against what I don’t like[/color]
[*][color=#000000]impatience, distance, brusqueness in my daily contact with others[/color]
[*][color=#000000]thinking I am the only one who knows how to do things right, unwillingness to let others help[/color]
[*][color=#000000]inflated idea of my own intelligence and understanding, dismissing what I do not understand or what others see differently[/color]
[*][color=#000000]not feeling a need for God, even though I do say prayers[/color]
[*][color=#000000]nursing grudges, even in small matters[/color]
[*][color=#000000]never taking orders[/color]
[*][color=#000000]inflexible in preferences[/color]
[*][color=#000000]always putting myself and my things first, indifference towards others and their needs, never putting myself out for them[/color]
[*][color=#000000]centering everything (conversation, choices..) on myself and my likes[/color]
[*][color=#000000]calculating in my relations with God and with others[/color]
[/list]
[color=#000000][b]COMMON MANIFESTATIONS OF VANITY:[/b] [/color][list]
[*][color=#000000]always seeking admiration and praise, worrying about not getting it[/color]
[*][color=#000000]excessive concern about physical appearance[/color]
[*][color=#000000]being guided by the opinions of others rather than principle (this is sometimes called “human respect”)[/color]
[*][color=#000000]some types of shyness[/color]
[*][color=#000000]sacrificing principles in order to fit in[/color]
[*][color=#000000]placing too much a premium on popularity and acceptance[/color]
[*][color=#000000]easily discouraged at my failures[/color]
[*][color=#000000]taking pleasure in listening to gossip and hearing about others’ failures[/color]
[*][color=#000000]always wanting to be the center of attention, at times stretching the truth, or lying outright, or being uncharitable in my words in order to achieve this[/color]
[/list]
[color=#000000][b]COMMON MANIFESTATIONS OF SENSUALITY[/b] [/color][list]
[*][color=#000000]laziness[/color]
[*][color=#000000]always the most comfortable, what requires least effort[/color]
[*][color=#000000]not going the extra mile for others[/color]
[*][color=#000000]procrastination, last-minute in everything[/color]
[*][color=#000000]shoddiness, complaining, excessively affected by minor discomforts[/color]
[*][color=#000000]inability to sacrifice[/color]
[*][color=#000000]not doing my part at home[/color]
[*][color=#000000]expecting everyone else to serve me always[/color]
[*][color=#000000]behavior and decisions ruled by my feelings and moods instead of my principles[/color]
[*][color=#000000]daydreaming a lot with self at center[/color]
[*][color=#000000]unable to control my thoughts when they attract me, even if they are not good[/color]
[*][color=#000000]doing only what I enjoy (choice of food, work, etc)[/color]
[*][color=#000000]uncontrolled and overpowering curiosity, wanting to see and experience everything and every pleasure[/color]
[*][color=#000000]my senses and impulses overrule what I know is right and wrong[/color]
[*][color=#000000]acting out my feelings (frustrations, desires…) with no regard for my conscience, God or others[/color]
[*][color=#000000]only working with those I like, being easily hurt[/color]
[*][color=#000000]fickleness and inconstancy[/color]
[*][color=#000000]can never finish what I start[/color]
[/list]
I think I would probably have problems with a few things in each section at varying times. It is heartening to read [quote]
[left][color=#000000]Notice that each of these root sins is a disordered attachment to something. The things in themselves – achievements, relationships, pleasures – are not evil. The problem comes when we seek meaning and fulfillment in those temporal, created realities. In fact, we are created and called to seek our meaning and fulfillment in God alone, in our ever-deepening relationship with him. Achievements, relationships, and pleasures are meant to be ordered around and towards that principle and foundation of our life.[/quote][/color][/left]

[left][color=#000000]It seems to me, and I hope I am not rationalizing, that my weakness can cause me to fail in a few of the above in each section from time to time. The real problem arises when it is habitual. That statement is qualified by:[/color][/left]

[left][color=#000000][color=#000000][quote]Saying that we have a “root sin” simply means that for each of us, one of the three is dominant. It’s bigger than the others and exerts greater influence on our day-to-day behavior.[/quote][/color][/color]

[/left]

[AccountDeleted]

Thank God being human is acceptable to Him!

[BarbTherese]

[quote name='nunsense' timestamp='1324981852' post='2358053']
Thank God being human is acceptable to Him!
[/quote]

In essentials unity, in non essentials liberty - and in all things love!
(dont know why my emoticons wont come out at times)

Edited December 27, 2011 by BarbaraTherese

[Lisa]

Thank you for those lists and that section. These are definitely things that I struggle with.

A book that I would recommend for those that are struggling with balancing the interior and apostolic life is[i] The Soul of the Apostolate[/i].

[MithLuin]

So what if we have all three, then what are we supposed to do?

[Ice_nine]

[quote name='MithLuin' timestamp='1325217830' post='2359811']
So what if we have all three, then what are we supposed to do?
[/quote]

I second this!

[BarbTherese]

[quote name='MithLuin' timestamp='1325217830' post='2359811']
So what if we have all three, then what are we supposed to do?
[/quote]

I found that I had at least a couple from all three lists that crop up now and then. Or even most of them at different times. I wouldn't become too stressed, as nunsense commented "Thank God, being human is acceptable to Him". This begs the question: "What is human?" We are faulted creatures who often can fail, if not in this or in that - then somewhere else.....somewhere anyway and simply because we really are faulted creatures and from the start. Jesus told us to forgive, seventy times seven or endlessly - and first He practises what He preaches. He was not only instructing us but sharing something about Himself. There is a beautiful Psalm 50 in the Douay Rheims that runs [quote] "Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy. And according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my iniquity.Wash me yet more from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my iniquity, and my sin is always before me.
To thee only have I sinned, and have done evil before thee:[u][b] that thou mayst be justified in thy words and mayst overcome when thou art judged. For behold I was conceived in iniquities; and in sins did my mother conceive me[/b][/u]. For behold thou hast loved truth: the uncertain and hidden things of thy wisdom thou hast made manifest to me. Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow. To my hearing thou shalt give joy and gladness: and the bones that have been humbled shall rejoice. [/quote]"

Trustful confidence in God and His Love and Mercy will never ever go astray. Also we have The Sacrament of Penance in which we publicly witness to our trustful confidence in His Love and His Mercy.
We were conceived sinners from the very beginning - all of us - (original sin). We get off on the wrong foot and can find it very hard to get back on the right foot at times. Rather reminds me of marching and getting out of step and skipping and skipping trying to get into step again and no sooner do so, than I am skipping and skipping again looking for the right foot to put forward - my journey. God knows this and what else can He do but confess to us that He Loves us and that His Mercy is endless and that nothing whatsoever is beyond it. How much does He love us. The Passion and Death of Jesus answers us. - to absolute distraction..........for God not only became a human being, He went all the way that a human being could possibly go to a cruel death without backing off from it. The God and Creator, Sustainer, of Heaven and of earth! This is an amesome, an amazing and stunning truth to ponder! Truly are we God's folly! His weakness.

Jesus instructed us to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is Perfect and we can try and try and just never get there. But what is impossible to mankind is possible to God. He can perfect us and finally does.

That said, if one goes through the lists, there will be some failure that seems to be more consistent in our lives than the rest and the heading it falls under is the "root sin". That which we need most to tackle. This does not mean victory other than in the Love and Mercy of Jesus. It is always the Love and Mercy of Jesus that is victorious.

Edited December 30, 2011 by BarbaraTherese

[BarbTherese]

I keep trying to correct my adjectives "amesome, an amazing and stunning truth to ponder!" The board just will not behave for me!

Actually, I think I really like "amesome" coming from the French "aimer" = to love! Thank you Board!

Edited December 30, 2011 by BarbaraTherese

[BarbTherese]

[quote name='Lisa' timestamp='1325210431' post='2359710']
Thank you for those lists and that section. These are definitely things that I struggle with.

A book that I would recommend for those that are struggling with balancing the interior and apostolic life is[i] The Soul of the Apostolate[/i].
[/quote]

Me too, Lisa. Thank you for the book suggestion.

Amazon Review and book:
[url="http://www.amazon.com/Soul-Apostolate-Jean-Baptiste-Chautard/dp/0895550318"]http://www.amazon.co...d/dp/0895550318[/url]

Audio Book [url="http://www.amazon.com/Soul-Apostolate-Dom-Chautard/dp/1570584893"]http://www.amazon.co...d/dp/1570584893[/url]

Amazon review states that it was a favourite of Pope St. Pius X.

St Pius X was the Pope that allowed us to receive Holy Communion at 7yrs. A book to get!

[BarbTherese]

I once asked a priest what an A+ for effort anyway would rate. He replied that God loves any grade in the effort stakes.

Even when I fail to make an effort methinks. God never ever stops loving us and there is nothing - absolutely nothing - we can do that will stop Him loving us. You just have to love heaps a heart like that!