Jacinta: Hello and Welcome! This is Two Hearts True Healing! I am here with Angela and we are journeying together through Season 4 The Battleground of the Mind and the 14 rules of St. Ignatius. Last episode we talked about the tactics of the devil to keep a soul in mortal sin sinning by pleasures and how God uses guilt (not shame) to catch our attention and prick us so that we become aware of our wrongdoing and possibly turn back to him. In this episode we will talk about how the enemy uses pricking to stop GOOD. And to keep us from growing in further virtue. I’ll share with you some scriptural encouragement as well as practical tips for discerning whether you’re dealing with the natural or spiritual realm. Next episode we will talk about God’s Action to keep us going. This is episode 2. Bitten on rule 2. Take it away Angela.
Angela: Hello! Here is the Second Rule: “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.”
A smidge of humor here, for those who have seen the Disney movie “The Emperor’s New Groove”, you may remember the character Kronk and his “shoulder angels”. A couple of times they “drop down” and start giving him advice, only to end up having a petty argument. The bad angel, though, is spot on with our actual Enemy, at one point claiming Kronk should listen to him simply because the good angel isn’t cool and he, well, can do acrobatics with his muscular physique. This is basically how ridiculous the “bad spirit” is in real life. The specific tactic here is suggesting “false reasons” to stop doing good.
As Jacinta said, Rule 2, and the remaining twelve for that matter, are for when we’re generally moving towards God. St. Ignatius says the tactics of the bad spirit are “a biting that unsettles”, “sadness”, “obstacles”, and “false reasons” that “disquiet.” We’ll take a look at each of these, starting with “a biting that unsettles.” You may have heard the saying “if the Devil can’t take you out, he’ll try to wear you out.” If he can’t keep you in a state of mortal sin by luring you with pleasure, he will try to distract and discourage you from the pursuit of holiness instead. St. Ignatius tells us that the bad spirit “tries rather to upset you and interfere with your service of God and your peace of mind.” On page 40 of Fr. Timothy Gallagher’s “The Discernment of Sprits” he calls it “undermining delight in God’s service.”
I think this one is best described with the word “anxiety.” It’s when something, spiritually, isn’t sitting well with us. As human beings, it’s in our nature to try to make sense of the world within and around us, and so we can wind up spending our time worrying and overthinking so much that we are distracted from holy choices. I’ll explain the “sadness” Ignatius mentions, and then I have an example that is kind of a mix of both that and “biting.”
This type of sadness is for Godly things in particular– prayer, learning about God, pursuing God’s will, etc. There is often no other apparent reason for it. We’re not sad because something happened, and it’s not “the dark night of the soul”. A quick distinction– the dark night of the soul is a gift from God rather than a trap set by the enemy. So, experiencing this sadness can be confusing, especially if we mistakenly attribute it to something else– The bad spirit then goes undetected and can continue effectively.
A real-life example of this might be if I’m feeling low, out of the blue. Something’s just not right. I’m deeply weighed down. For me, feeling the “biting” or “sadness” in doing God’s will could pop up while parenting because God’s will for me is my vocation as a wife and mother. I have at times mistakenly attributed this agitation with annoyance towards my “daily grind”– for anyone, the cause can be mistaken as anything that is immediate and seems obvious, instead of treating it as spiritual warfare. (Remember here that the psychological, moral, and spiritual can all overlap, but they are not all the same. Jacinta will speak in a bit on the interplay between our nonspiritual needs and spiritual discernment.) While I may feel sad or anxious when carrying out these duties, the duties themselves are not the cause of the sadness. If I don’t see this for what it is, I may try to avoid my work. I might choose to “numb out” with an unhealthy snack or do some “doom scrolling” when it’s not really time for a break.
Well then I’m not only numbing my awareness of these harmful messages, but I’m also numb to anything spiritually good for me. (Remember, overall with the 14 rules, the 3 overarching steps are first awareness (“Hey, something is happening, here.”), then understanding (“Is this going towards or away from God?”), and finally, taking action (“What do I do about this?”). So then virtue is not what’s chosen; imprudence happens. Less work gets done. I become much less patient, and then kids’ behaviors are more negative. Then I need to discipline more frequently. Then maybe my spouse comes home to this type of atmosphere, etc. What if I had just responded differently to the original attack in the first place?…. St. Ignatius (in future rules) offers us some wise alternatives so that we aren’t knocked off course and can continue serving God.
The next tactics in Rule 2 are “obstacles” and “false reasons that disquiet”. The obstacles that St. Ignatius is referring to are imagined obstacles put before us by the bad spirit. They are often put in the form of the question “How can you…” and suggest that God’s will is going to be too difficult.
“False reasons” are similar, asserting what we ought or ought not do. Both are intended to cause doubt. These can be flat out lies… “This is how you feel.” “That never happened.” “It wasn’t real. It was all in your head.” “Don’t bother that person; they don’t want to help you.” “You should just give up.”
So how do we test for “false reasons”? St. Ignatius tell us to discern by asking 3 questions:
-Is this being done in pursuit of God?
-Am I feeling preoccupied with my spiritual situation?
-Am I experiencing an unsettling feeling that makes it harder to follow God?
What do we do? Stop considering these things at all and just reject them. We will get into how to reject them in later episodes.
It is helpful to note that the enemy (using that term to just mean anything against God) can gain a foothold through exploitation of a childhood wound, a health problem, an interaction with someone, our temperament, events in the world, etc. Satan especially will use any weapon he can as long as it has the potential to bring you down. The good news is, however, that when God allows us to experience these things and strengthen us, we can often see these things coming– if we remain vigilant. If the Evil One is opportunistic and methodical, then we can be prepared.
Jacinta: We often don’t know what to do and can feel attacked on so many different levels. Sometimes it is difficult to even know the level. And let’s be honest sometimes it’s just life and not an attack of the enemy, but he loves if life gets us down and will try to use that too. It’s easy to fall into the discouraged victim mentality. It is so hard to listen to anything when the soul is numbed out. I have fallen prey to the homeschool/life discouragement bug many times. But what does one do when one finds yourself here? This can get so sticky with homeschooling and just living your life. You (plural form here meaning a lot of mammas) have multiple children perhaps a toddler, a middle few, and a teen, and a newborn all at once clamoring for attention and it can be so hard to keep the peace and homeschool from rest and not the shouting version of distraught worn out mamma. This is the most important piece (like a puzzle I mean) that is applicable in life too. How does one find the calm in the tempest?
In stress and in the ups and downs of life where can one find this interior stability to keep on but not just forcing oneself through either. That does not work. Been there and done that. That also causes a lot of damage and brings numbness and fatigue as well. Here is some scripture to start us thinking:
My son, perform your tasks in meekness; then you will be loved more than a giver of gifts. The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself; so you will find favor with God. For great is the might of the Lord; he is glorified by the humble. The affliction of the proud has no healing, for a plant of wickedness has taken root in them, though it will not be perceived. – Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28
And you, who once were estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him, provided that you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which has been preached to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
– Colossians 1:21-23
As therefore you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so live in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
– Colossians 2:6-7
These are all such good little nuggets that each could be broken apart and spent a lot of time on but they are pretty self-explanatory and have fed my heart a lot. When I read them I get little God shivers and feel convicted to heed what they are saying. But what is this sadness that so loves to ravish us? Most often it is either spiritually or physically that we are affected and it is important to know how to deal with both and have an okayness with with how grace builds on nature and nature affects grace…the devil likes to cause a lot of confusion here and will use fear and sadness to paralyze us into inaction or to convince us that what he says is the truth and we’re hopeless causes. Think Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. Where the Demon is teaching his apprentice that one of the most effective ways to paralyze is to keep us stuck in fear of the future.
Some tactics of the devil are using unmet needs of any kind to draw them too much to the forefront to distract us from the root of the issue to heal us. How do we discern? We question the fear and see where it comes from (spiritual want or a physical deficit) and what it leads to: action versus inaction or anger or further fear. Basically what is the fruit and is there a specific cause?
There is a difference between the fruit of the Holy Spirit fear and holy awe (wonder) versus anxiety. It is the same with guilt versus shame. They are not interchangeable. Anxiety has to do with worry and inaction because you are worried whereas wonder and awe (fear of the Lord) moves us to greater devotion and deeper action and strength. Even natural fear is to move us. This natural fear of something can be a great thing but it is what we do with it. It is to move us to greater action not paralyze. Spiritual warfare is very different from just having a hard mental health situation and there needs to be some clear distinctions here. Awareness of the three areas of health is most important. Body, mind, spirit.
We all have needs…And sometimes this can be very triggering for people due to psychological trauma. Where do they come from? Either an unmet need from our childhood or a legitimate physical or social need like being tired, hungry, in need of a shower or a hug or an affirmation. These are our responsibility to fill with God’s help and sometimes the help of others. There is both a hierarchy of physical needs and spiritual needs. And where God calls us to fill them. We need to make clear distinctions because Ignatius is talking about the spiritual and they cannot be applied in the natural realm. That is in fact dangerous. But what do we do? Because we need harmony and wholeness across the board. We’ll be exploring this: how the spiritual can direct the human and physical? All of it is interrelated and can be hard to draw the line or know the difference. This is where clear boundaries and formation is necessary. Discernment is multi-faceted.
Recognizing feelings and happenings around us and thought processes is a huge step in the spiritual life. We can then learn “Am I under attack or is it me or am I just headed in the right direction?” We begin to see life through a new lens and can learn a lot about God and ourselves and others. When we begin to have obstacles then we begin to learn a new principle. Discernment. This is all about what happens in the mind and in our bodies and in our spirits. St. Ignatius calls it…Be aware. Everything is based on this truth and we can’t do anything until we are.
On the natural level, our senses were given to us by God and are good. The problem is when we look at them inordinately, putting them above God’s command and our obligation. God loves to fill us with a deeper abiding joy than passing pleasure but it is okay to relish blessings and to thank God for them. It usually is in fact the little things that get us through and help fill our cup. But pleasure in and of itself is not bad. It is where our heart is. God loves fun but He has pure (unadulterated) fun and asks us to imitate His. Don’t believe me? Ask Him to show you and you will be pretty surprised at His sense of humor. (Hint wedding feast at Cana…)
Werein lies the problem? If we are filling up our hearts above God and for the good of only ourselves or for the wrong reasons or if a different good would have been best to fulfill our obligations or love better. For example, I give my daughters chores to do at their level. Sometimes they need help. Now would my refusing to help be loving? Would it help or hinder them to learn by this experience? What if I was in the middle of something that really needed my concentration (an opportunity for patience) and it would be really hard to stop or if a friend was over? Or if their personality needed a little more direction or guidance than perhaps one of my other daughters…or if they are trying to sluff off or maybe they do really need me to teach them something. See how that kinda changes the context? What if I was just choosing to scroll YouTube or Facebook and ignored either my children or the chores completely? See the difference? There are varying levels of need and they have to be prioritized. Joy acronym JESUS OTHERS YOU. Our culture tends to flip that even though self care is still important. We are also to love ourselves because God gave us the gift and created us pure and good…
When we find ourselves down we need to ask:
- Do I have an unmet need?
- Am I afraid of something?
- Am I angry about something?
- Am I sad and how? (Spiritually or physically)
- Am I hungry thirsty tired?
- What is happening around me? Is this contributing to the feelings I have
- Is this in the natural level or is it in the spiritual realm?
We then from our awareness take stock of what God may be asking us to do or how obligation dictates to our duties. Our action in this state is crucial and I would say if you are going to do something pray. What does the psalmist do when he finds himself crushed? We aren’t the only ones who deal with either spiritual or physical sadness. This has been around since Adam and Eve. We’ll take Ps 143:
Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my supplications! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness! Enter not into judgment with your servant; for no man living is righteous before you. For the enemy has pursued me; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead. Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled. I remember the days of old, I meditate on all that you have done; I muse on what your hands have wrought. I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Make haste to answer me, O Lord! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the Pit. Let me hear in the morning of your merciful love, for in you I put my trust. Teach me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies! I have fled to you for refuge! Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good spirit lead me on a level path! For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life! In your righteousness bring me out of trouble! And in your steadfast love cut off my enemies, and destroy all my adversaries, for I am your servant. – Psalms 143:1-12
See the honesty of telling God just how it is? We need to not be afraid of stating our mind and our feelings. God can take it. Even if it is steaming anger. The importance is the attitude and method. See how the author praises God for His goodness and righteousness? Our prayer should have both gratitude, praise, our honest feelings about the subject and above all approaching Him in humility, truth, and trust.
Definitely all of this is so hard because sometimes there is no reason for feeling down or discouraged and then we clearly know we are headed in the right direction because the evil one is trying to get us down. If we have been struggling with a specific sin or growing in a specific virtue, the enemy tries to prick us to stop growing and moving forward. If we are doing well the enemy will try to steal our peace. The biggest thing is to keep one’s heart centered on Jesus and keep to the devotions and tasks and duties ahead of us. Rule one relates because in sin, whether mortal or venial, the evil one presents us with ways to keep doing the wrong whereas God points out the truth of the matter and allows the difficulty we receive to practice growing in virtue and being aware of our weakness. The temporary pleasure of mortal sin (rule one) versus God pleasure is very different. (Rule 2) The enemy does not like peace and pure pleasure and tries to stop it. Another question to ask is, “Is this a grave matter?” Meaning is the difficulty I am experiencing a disordered pleasure or something more serious? The enemy tries to get us to put pleasure as the god versus God giving us the pleasure. He tries to shift our eyes to the pleasure versus on the Giver with a capital G.
Unrest, lack of peace, anxiety, unmet needs, and the presence of sin are amongst many obstacles that bar us from feeling the presence of God’s action. It’s not all about feelings though because as Christians we know with certainty that Our Lord is there despite these things. What do we even begin to look for when we find ourselves in this state of anxiety and attack? The little sign posts of God’s presence. It can be either something really profound or a natural blessing or happening or a big spiritual light. Our next episode will show you the action of God to help us grow in virtue and defeat the enemy. He strengthens us for battle and invites us to trust in the storm.
Often the attack is because we are headed in the right direction and we should take it as a boon that God is happy with where we are and the enemy is not and will try to prevent us. But sometimes life just happens and there isn’t a clear reason. We can’t pin it to either the enemy or to a health problem or a need. God permits discord so we can grow and find Him. There are further reasons we will explore later with dryness and all the above mentioned obstacles that give us these feelings. But for now we are exploring what the enemy does when he sees us stop sinning and begin to fervently grow in virtue. When we own up he is not happy. And will try to stop us. Some very clear distinctions need to be made between the natural and spiritual realm.
Angela: If you have questions email them to us at twoheartstruehealing@outlook.com and visit us on our site www.twoheartstruehealing.com. We are also on multiple platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Substack. Stay tuned as we have some exciting plans ahead! We hold you and keep you till next time. We leave you with this:
St. Francis de Sales tells us “Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.” In this way, we guard our hearts.
Resources
- https://youtu.be/qX3tc6jgJjk?si=-U_ZePeUNuuJKY5v Fr. Colomba on unmet needs
- https://readaloudrevival.com/peace/ Sarah Mackenzie on Peace
- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/father-zach-weber-homilies/id1459691323?i=1000728735236 Homily by Fr. Zach Weber on when the wine runs short
- Fr. Timothy Gallagher “The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living”
- C.S. Lewis Screwtape Letters
- Searching for and Maintaining Peace, Father Jacques Philipe