Spiritual Direction

The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation is God’s ever present font of Mercy.  Through it we experience His love and healing.  We are unburdened of our guilt and unshackled from our past.  Sometimes though, the wounds of our past, self-inflicted or not, go deep and need uncovering before they can be fully washed and healed.  Sometimes we need more of our priest’s time and special gifts than can be allowed with a long line waiting outside the confessional door.  Sometimes our spirits are confused, depressed, darkened or deceived and need a wise outside observer to reach in and pull us out back into the light. 

Since the time of St. Paul, the Church has offered another, less structured font of mercy and healing in addition to Confession.  Spiritual Direction has been well defined by Kevin Knight of New Advent as, “That function of the sacred ministry by which the Church guides the faithful to the attainment of eternal happiness.  She exercises this function both in her public teaching, whether in word or writing, and in the private guidance of souls according to their individual needs; but it is the private guidance that is generally understood by the term spiritual direction.”  A spiritual director is a priest, religious or trained lay person who, “Assists a directee to recognize and integrate God's presence and direction in all aspects of life. The director is a listener who helps one notice, discern and respond to God's action.”*

What can spiritual direction mean to an individual soul?  I can’t speak for anyone other than myself, but to me it has meant healing, truth, liberation and joy.  I am what is often called a “re-vert”.  I was brought up in the Sacraments of the Church, but fell away as a young adult not to return until I was 33.  God was able to use a time of trial in my life to finally get my attention and ultimately bring me home.  My first confession after returning was one of the most beautiful days of my life.  I felt one hundred pounds lighter upon leaving that blessed priest’s office.   I could have flown home.  In the months and years to come I realized I had to resolve many issues from my past sins and the wounds of youth.  I knew I was forgiven, but I still needed healing.

Through spiritual direction, I was shown the root wounds and root sins which led me further and further away from Jesus and His Church.  Under a priest, the directee can receive both the sacraments of the sick, for emotional and spiritual healing, and confession, concurrent with direction.  This is a great blessing because Father then knows you so well; he knows your weaknesses, your failings and your goodness too.  Direction with a priest has given me a far deeper understanding of why we call priests “Father”.  Even though I am older than my director, I truly feel he is my spiritual father and I, his daughter. 

Some people relate spiritual direction to psychological counseling, and there is certainly some common ground.  However the goal is not simply to “feel better”, but to be better.  I do not mean to be superior, but rather to make progress along the path towards Christlikeness.  In direction there is much talk of practicing virtues and uncovering hidden or denied vices.  It is about getting to really know and see ourselves as God does.  That may sound somewhat scary, but what we discover is that God sees us as His beloved children whom He loves just as we are, and to whom He will grant every grace to grow in truth and beauty each day of our lives.  He desires Heaven for us.  Spiritual direction is one more way the Church hopes to help us attain our loving Father’s desire. 


*Sisters of St. Joseph website:  http://www.ssjbuffalo.org

Can't find a good spiritual director?  Pray.  In the meantime, read St. Francis de Sales, "Introduction to the Devout Life" in a spirit of prayer, reflection and openness.  

Directly Related to Yesterday's Post - the APA and Child Molestation

Predators with Ph.D.s

By Chris Banescu

See also: Tiberius Redux
The latest offensive against morality, decency, and sanity in America has been launched by a pro-pedophilia group and several academics who openly advocate for the normalization and legalization of pedophilia.  Referring to Judeo-Christian moral principles and values as "cultural baggage of wrongfulness" and an adult's desire to sexually molest a child as "normative," these predators with Ph.D.s are hell-bent on destroying key moral boundaries and critical societal norms that protect innocent children from pathological and dangerous adults.
On August 17 of this year, the pro-pedophilia group B4U-ACT sponsored an event in Baltimore attended by researchers, professors, mental health professionals, and "minor-attracted persons" (MAP, a euphemism for "adults who crave sex with children").  These individuals endorse the adult molestation of children, consider this sexual perversion as normal, and advocate for the declassification of pedophilia as a mental illness by the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
The academic panelists who presented at this "pedophilia-friendly" scientific symposium came from such distinguished institutions as Johns Hopkins University, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and the London School of Economics and Political Science.
According to a press release issued by Matt Barber, vice president of Liberty Counsel Action, and Dr. Judith Reisman, visiting law professor at Liberty University School of Law, who attended the event, several admitted pedophiles were in attendance, in addition to many academics and university professors.  The keynote address was given by Dr. Fred Berlin of Johns Hopkins University, who proclaimed that he wants to "completely support the goal of B4U-ACT."
Key highlights from the conference include these disturbing assertions (more disturbing excerpts available at the end of this article):

• Pedophiles are "unfairly stigmatized and demonized" by society.
• "The majority of pedophiles are gentle and rational."
• There was concern about "vice-laden diagnostic criteria" and "cultural baggage of wrongfulness."
• "We are not required to interfere with or inhibit our child's sexuality."
• "Children are not inherently unable to consent" to sex with an adult.
• An adult's desire to have sex with children is "normative."
• Our society should "maximize individual liberty. ... We have a highly moralistic society that is not consistent with liberty."
• "In Western culture sex is taken too seriously."
• "Anglo-American standard on age of consent is new [and 'Puritanical'].  In Europe it was always set at 10 or 12. Ages of consent beyond that are relatively new and very strange, especially for boys. They've always been able to have sex at any age."
•  "Assuming children are unable to consent lends itself to criminalization and stigmatization."
• A consensus belief by both speakers and pedophiles in attendance was that, because it vilifies MAPs, pedophilia should be removed as a mental disorder from the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), in the same manner homosexuality was removed in 1973.

There is no greater moral imperative than the protection of the innocent, and especially defenseless children.  These timeless and universal truths are embedded in the Judeo-Christian principles and moral precepts upon which American society and legal system are based.  Any adult -- especially a university professor or medical doctor -- who cannot grasp such elementary morality has no business teaching, counseling, or treating anyone, especially dangerous predators with an appetite for children.
What these academics are doing -- i.e., providing comfort and support for child-rapists and molesters  -- is unconscionable and unethical.  Instead of helping to suppress these abusers' sick desires, correct their delusional attractions, and moderate (or hopefully cure) their mental illness, these professionals sympathize with these monsters and minimize the evil they perpetrate.  Rather than work to suppress the abomination in these pedophiles' minds and souls, these academics stoke these warped passions with the fuel of justification, rationalization, and normalization.
And their treachery doesn't stop there.  Academics like Fred Berlin, M.D., Ph.D.; Nancy Nyquist Potter, Ph.D.; and others are also attempting to destroy societal protections of children by pushing to declassify this dangerous perversion as a mental illness and decriminalize the behavior.  In essence, they advocate the elimination of statutory rape and sexual offender registration laws designed to protect minors from being sexually exploited by adults, thus removing the ability of the state to punish and incarcerate these monsters.  How many other potential predators -- who previously suppressed their lusts for fear of incarceration, societal rebuke, and sexual predator registration laws -- will now be encouraged to succumb to their perverse impulses, cheered on and defended by credentialed academics and fully protected by a neutered legal system? 
What do the leadership of John Hopkins University, Harvard Medical School, and the University of Louisville have to say about their professors attending a pro-pedophile conference and advocating for the "normalization" of adults having sex with children?  What about the donors, supporters, and alumni who support these institutions?  Are they aware that their donations pay for these professors' salaries and help promote these kinds of "academic" activities?  Is this an indication of the level of "scholarship" and "intellectual discourse" we expect to see in the future from these acclaimed institutions?  What's next?  A conference on how to de-stigmatize and normalize producers, distributors, and users of child porn?
Chris Banescu is an attorney, entrepreneur, and university professor.  He regularly blogs at www.chrisbanescu.com and www.orthodoxnet.com/blog.

Page Printed from: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/../2011/09/predators_with_phds.html at September 03, 2011 - 09:18:11 AM CDT

What do they have against innocence and childhood?

Today's most disturbing and distressing story for any person of good will is this one:

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/sex-box-for-swiss-kindergarteners-has-genitalia-toys-will-teach-sexuality-i

Anyone who can actually believe this is for the children's sake and not for the sake of the exploding "adult" market in children's flesh and souls, is beyond naive.  If doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity, then it appears the Swiss education elite have gone insane.  Let's take away more and more of our children's time to be pre-sexual, expose them to more and more of what we used to shield them from and expect to produce appropriately developed sexual adults.  If these many decades of sexual license have only produced more and more dysfunction, abuse, trafficking and murder, WHY would increasing this license have the opposite effect?  Insanity.

Don't buy into it!  Protect your children.  Give them as many years, months, weeks, days and hours of purity and pre-sexuality as is humanly possible for you to give!  Their true maturity and adulthood will be far more blessed and healthy because of it.  Be a parent!  Don't let the schools tell you what is appropriate and when.  Trust your instinct.  You know your children best.  Teach them as they present questions.  Neither give them too much nor too little information.  Love them.  Show them the context of your loving marriage.  Save the world, one child's soul at a time.

Everything hinges on these: The Cardinal Virtues

I imagine the Cardinal Virtues as the trunk and main branches of our Tree.    The Latin word from which cardinal is derived means hinge; the remaining virtues turn, or are hinged, by our practice of these four:   

Prudence - Look before you leap.  Prudence disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it (CCC 1806).  By this virtue we apply all the Truth we have learned, with the Wisdom God has given us, through prayer, to discern the best course of action.   

Justice – Right relationship.  Justice consists in a person’s constant and firm will to give their due to God (religion) and to neighbor (respecting civil rights) (CCC 1807).  Thinking of the artistic rendition of “Lady Justice”, she is blindfolded and holds a scale.  Justice therefore, shows no preference for persons, but weighs the truths involved in a situation and acts accordingly.  

Fortitude – Perseverance.  Fortitude ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of good.  It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life…even to fear of trials, persecutions and death (CCC 1808).  Fortitude is the “good cheer” we have in the tribulation of the world, knowing God has overcome it.  This virtue is epitomized by the martyrs, those saints who gave their very lives rather than deny Christ. 

Temperance – Not too much of a good thing.  Temperance moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods.  It ensures the will’s mastery over instincts and keeps desires within the limits of what is honorable.  (CCC 1809).  God has given us a beautiful created world full of things to delight our sensory appetites.  With temperance, we put our delight and love of God first, and balance our appetites for everything else after.  We give Him honor, and grant ourselves peace, when we enjoy the fruits of this world in the order He desires. 

Through our efforts and by Divine grace, the practice of these virtues will enable us to draw ever nearer to Our Lord, who personifies all virtue.  Let us endeavor to practice doing good.  This good will bless us, our families, our friends, our world and our Lord.  Our Lady, Queen of all Virtue, please pray for us.

Virtue versus Vice

When I think about the Virtues, I picture a tree.  Its roots go wide and deep, supporting a large trunk which branches off into strong limbs that bear much foliage, flowers and fruit.  In this image, the roots and base of the tree are the Theological Virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity.  They are “theological” because, by engaging them, we interact directly with God.  Faith is the virtue by which we believe in God and all that He has said and revealed to us (CCC 1814).  Hope is how we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ and not our own strength (CCC 1817).  Finally, Charity is how we love God above all things for His own sake and love our neighbor as ourselves (CCC1822).  We see that charity, known simply as Love, has two parts:  love of God and love of neighbor.  These three foundational virtues inform the way we live with God and behave in the world.  Our morality must be based in them or it will not be moral.  For any of the subsequent virtues to be true, they must flow out of Faith, Hope and Love. 

The Theological virtues are infused into our souls through Baptism allowing the Holy Spirit to be present and act through our lives.  There is a reason that the names Faith, Hope and Charity have always been popular choices.  As Christians, indeed as humans made in the likeness of God, these names reflect our very nature.   To become more truly human, we must walk in the virtues as the saints do, by acting as if we have already been perfected in them.  Lord I believe; help my unbelief!  Let us accept the daily challenge to behave each day in a way which reflects the Faith we have received, the Hope we aspire to and the Love of the Father without which we could not exist.

Sin and the Receiving Eucharist

“Whoever knows what is right to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” James 4:17

Don’t read this article!  If you do, you’ll know what is right to do and will have to do it!    There is much confusion among Catholics about what is required in order to receive Holy Communion.  The Baltimore Catechism states, “To receive worthily it is necessary to be free from mortal sin, to have a right intention and to obey the Church’s laws on the fast required out of reverence for the body and blood of Our Divine Lord.”  The question thus arises:  what is mortal sin? 

In order for a sin, an offense against God, to be considered mortal, three conditions need be met.  “Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent.”  (CCC 1857).  For a sin to be of “grave matter” it must violate one of the Ten Commandments (murder, stealing, lying which will destroy a person’s reputation, etc.).  “Full knowledge and deliberate consent” means that you know what you are about to do is wrong, but you intentionally do it anyway.  The remedy for mortal sin, which is spiritual death, is sacramental confession to a priest.  If you know you are in a state of mortal sin, you must receive the Sacrament of Penance before receiving the Eucharist.  To paraphrase the Baltimore Catechism, a dead man cannot eat, and souls in mortal sin cannot receive Eucharist.  Receiving outside of the state of grace heaps sacrilege on top of our other mortal sins. 

To continue the analogy, sick people have a harder time eating than the healthy.  Venial sin does not break our friendship with God, but it does injure it and lessens the amount of grace we receive from the Eucharist.  A venial sin is committed when we do not live charity or observe God’s law in less serious matters.   A sin can also be considered venial when the matter is grave but when we are somehow ignorant of the truth or do not give our full consent to the sin.  Confession brings down grace in our lives to help us to turn away from venial sins, especially those we have constant trouble with.   

An elderly woman once told me, “You don’t hang clean curtains in a dirty kitchen,” which was why she always took her venial sins to confession before receiving our Lord in Holy Communion.  This is a beautiful and pious practice; however the Church does not require it.  Because frequent confession is not possible for everyone, the Church in her wisdom and generosity gives us the Penitential Rite at the beginning of each mass.  According to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, number 51:

"Then the priest invites those present to take part in the Act of Penitence, which, after a brief pause for silence, the entire community carries out through a formula of general confession. The rite concludes with the priest's absolution, which, however, lacks the efficacy of the Sacrament of Penance."

In this prayer, and indeed in the acts of listening to the Liturgy of the Word and of receiving the Eucharist itself, we are cleansed from all venial sins.  All of this is to ensure that when we say, “Amen” (so be it) before receiving Jesus, we are open to all of the graces and gifts He wants to give us.   Because the Eucharist is a gift and not something we take, let us remember to open and cup our hands or open our mouths and our hearts, to receive our Lord. 

For those of us who are “minimalists”, we can look to the canonical precepts of the church.  The second precept states, “You shall confess your sins at least once a year.”  The Church does not ask this to set an arbitrary rule, but because she knows that God desires that we receive all of the graces He gives.  God won’t take control of our lives; He wants us to give Him control that we may receive His order.  As we accept His order over all aspects of our lives, we will see His plan for us unfold mercifully and beautifully.  The ultimate fruit of His plan is never some sort of dictatorial control, the kind we often try to have over our own lives, but instead, is a loving union with Him. 

Subsidiarity and Catholic Social Teaching

With Federalized Health Care being a continued hot topic, many are confused about what the Catholic faith has to say regarding this and other government involvement in our lives.  Even when we set aside the overarching issue of Respect for all Human Life, another large principle is violated by our Government expanding into managing our Health Care.  That issue is “subsidiarity”.  In #1883-1884 the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains subsidiarity in the following way:

“…The teaching of the Church has elaborated the principle of subsidiarity, according to which "a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to co-ordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good.”
God has not willed to reserve to himself all exercise of power. He entrusts to every creature the functions it is capable of performing, according to the capacities of its own nature. This mode of governance ought to be followed in social life. The way God acts in governing the world, which bears witness to such great regard for human freedom, should inspire the wisdom of those who govern human communities. They should behave as ministers of divine providence.”


Subsidiarity teaches us that all functions, from health care, to industry to education should be performed at the “most local” level possible to avoid interfering with each individual’s God given free will and to preserve each individual’s dignity.  In the end, violating subsidiarity will lead to violating the sanctity of each Human Life.  When the society as a whole is valued at the expense of the rights of the individual, individual humans become dispensable.  Our bishops clearly spoke out against this double-edged danger prior to the Health Care Law’s passage.  We thank them and pray for their continued fortitude in standing up for the Truth of Jesus’ teachings on the value of each of our lives.  We also thank and pray for all of the Catholic doctors, nurses and staff who have historically brought so much health care and blessing to our nation, and who will continue to do so as long as they are able. 

From “God Is Love” n. 29, Pope Benedict XVI

The State which would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself, would ultimately become a mere bureaucracy incapable of guaranteeing the very thing which the suffering person—every person—needs: namely, loving personal concern. We do not need a State which regulates and controls everything, but a State which, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, generously acknowledges and supports initiatives arising from the different social forces and combines spontaneity with closeness to those in need.