VOICES of Lent - Part Five

We continue with this series of postings entitled, VOICES of Lent. I have structured these models, for your personal prayer, in the form of a dialogue between the Soul and the Guiding Spirit.

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Good Spirit: Dear Soul, when we spoke last, we gazed upon the glorious transfiguration of Jesus. This is your destiny, God's plan for you and all souls who are redeemed by His sacred passion and glorious resurrection. But I reminded you, that the enemy of Jesus, the Deceiver, has vowed to prevent this from happening. He will use every means possible to scandalize your faith and cause your downfall into his eternal darkness, which is real death. You must learn to discern, to distinguish the voice of deception from the voice of truth, the voice of the Spirit of Light. 

 In the case of a soul who has become ensnared by the deceits of the Deceiver, who has fallen into a pattern of serious sin, it is characteristic of the Deceiver to keep that soul content in its sinful ways; disbelieving and skeptical of any word that comes from the voice of the Spirit of Light, who speaks of God's truth. But to such souls, the voice of Spirit of Light brings confusion and doubt, causing that soul to feel disturb about its sinful ways. The soul is filled with confusion and begins to see through the lies used to deceive it.

In the case of souls who are striving to walk in the light of truth, the Spirit of Light supports them with a certain peace, that enters them from within and not from anything of their own making or any created thing. There grows within them a hunger for truth and a knowledge of God's love. They increase in faith and hope. Their loving is genuine and pure. With such souls the Deceiver grows increasingly impatient, taking full advantage of every opportunity to disturb this peace they have been given.

Soul: Good Spirit, how am I to learn these such important lessons?

Good Spirit: You must be a person of prayer. It is in the school of prayer that  these lessons are taught. This prayer is rooted in the Word of God, in the sacred scriptures, especially the gospels, where Jesus' Voice is heard. Jesus teaches that you tell a good tree from a dying tree by the fruit it bears. Your first lesson in discernment is found at the beginning of the scriptures where you see the Deceiver already at work. In the garden there are TWO TREES, both having an abundance of fruit on them. The fruit of one gives life to all who eat of it. The fruit of the other leads to death to any who eat of it. The first is called, the Tree of  Life, the second is called, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Eating the fruit of this tree is forbidden by God.

Soul: Good Spirit, is this not my goal, to know how to distinguish what is good from what is evil?  

Good Spirit: Dear Soul, listen again to the story of how the first souls were deceived over this very question and all went wrong.

Now the snake was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the LORD God had made. He asked the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat from any of the trees in the garden’?”  The woman answered the snake: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, or else you will die.’” But the snake said to the woman: “You certainly will not die! God knows well that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, who know good and evil.” The woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes and the tree was desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Gen. ch. 3:1

Good Spirit: You must understand, the act of eating this fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil symbolizes that a person chooses for themselves what shall be good and what shall be evil. No one can make such determinations by themselves. God alone is the author of all creation. He alone determines the true nature of all things and how they are to be used, rightly or wrongly. This knowledge can only be revealed by God. As it says in the scriptures, "They all shall be taught by God." (Isaiah 54:13 & John 6:45) 

Consider now your own world, how science and technology have unlocked many of the mysteries of creation; yet how man's independent thinking has corrupted their true purposes.  

Consider how religious thought is discredited and relegated to myth and superstition.  

Consider where and to what degree skepticism now influences the way you view the teachings of the Church.

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Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness,idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ [Jesus] have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit. Let us not be conceited, provoking one another, envious of one another. Gal. 19:

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How Spirits Work  

Some basic patterns are easy to grasp. For instance, as you would anticipate, the good spirit usually brings love, joy, peace, and the like; the evil spirit characteristically brings confusion, doubt, disgust, and the like. Another pattern: when you are leading a seriously sinful life, a good spirit will visit you with desolation to turn you around; an evil spirit will keep you content so that you will keep sinning. Another clear pattern is the opposite of this: when you are seriously serving God, the spirits change roles. The evil spirit clouds your day with desolation to lead you away from God, while the good spirit fills your day with trust and love of God. And a final, easily grasped pattern: a spirit that works in light and openness is good, while a spirit cloaked in secrecy and deception is evil. From Ignatius spirituality.