Word to the Wise
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - Tuesday in the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Corinthians 2:10b-16 and Luke 4:31-37]The Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God. Among men, who know what pertains to the man except his spirit that is within? Similarly, no one knows what pertains to God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand the things freely given us by God.
One of the great challenges of "spiritual life" is to integrate the spirit that is our own unique constellation of faith, physical and psychological gifts/traits - our "personality" - with the Spirit that is given to us at baptism and confirmation in a way that will enable us to see things from a truly Christian perspective. St. Paul speaks to this in today's first scripture. Those who minister in the field of "spiritual direction," especially those trained in the "Spiritual Exercises" of St. Ignatius of Loyola, are aware of the challenge of "discernment of spirits" in the lives of those who come to them for "direction." The process is not simple! Getting to know one's own "spirit" is hard enough, and St. Paul points out that it is this "spirit" that enables us to know ourselves, to begin with! The hope is that we can work with the gifts that God's Spirit brings to enable us to come to grips with those aspects of our "spirit" that can lead us either down the right path or away from that path. Yes, there is a fair amount of psychology involved in this, and one has to avoid getting too tangled up in the maze of human motivations. On retreats, I challenge the participants to do a simple "history" of various elements of Christian faith and practice in their lives. For example, where and how did they learn to pray? What has been their personal "history of prayer?" This can help a person to recognize those moments when God's Spirit may have been most "active." Formal spiritual direction is not something most people undertake. However, if we are serious and intentional about our faith, we need to bring all that we have and are to the task of discerning life from the perspective of Christ. St. Paul reminds us that we have "the mind of Christ" and this should enable us to see things from a new perspective. But if we do not know ourselves very well, there are other "spirits" that can distract us. St. Catherine of Siena speaks of "dwelling in the cell of self-knowledge." This may require us to "stay home" instead of chasing all the various rainbows that offer false promises! AMEN
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