FIVE PILLARS

OF THE
SPIRITUAL LIFE

Session# 2
November 20, 2008
FIVE PILLARS OF THE
SPIRITUAL LIFE
 FIVE PILLARS OF THE
SPIRITUAL LIFE
THE FIRST THREE PILLARS:
1. The Eucharist - center of
Catholic spirituality . The source
and
summit of the Christian life
2. Spontaneous Prayer - conduits
of
grace in times of need
3. The Beatitudes – the way Jesus
loves. Using the Examen prayer
to
The Fourth Pillar: Partnership with
the Holy Spirit (Peace, Inspiration,
Transformation)
We are not so much praying here as being
attentive to the Holy Spirit’s urgings,
inspiration, and guidance in our lives
We need to know what to look for as the Holy
Spirit moves in our lives, so we might notice it,
follow it, stay with it, allowing it to transform us
Attention to the apostolic opportunities has a
multiplicity effect causing an intoxicating joy
when we participate in the adventures of grace
The Fourth Pillar: Partnership with
the Holy Spirit (Peace, Inspiration,
Transformation)
The Lord has given us a most remarkable gift –
the gift of His Holy Spirit who is filled with
peace, love, protection, unity, inspiration, truth,
and life

Jesus said he would send the Paraclete Who

would remind us of everything. He said he
would give us a wisdom that would confound
our enemies
The Fourth Pillar: Partnership
with
the
Ø St. Paul says the Spirit will enable us o cry out
Abba. Our awareness will enable us to work in
tandem with His wisdom and love.

Ø We will discuss five general points about the

Spirit’s workings and how we might coordinate
our efforts toward love & the common good
The Fourth Pillar: Partnership
with
 A peace beyond all the
understanding
 Inspiration and guidance
 Transformation in the heart of
Christ
 Working with the Holy Spirit
 Consolation, desolation, and
spiritual discernment
A Peace Beyond All
Understanding
The peace from the Holy Spirit is more than
relief from suffering, a sense of well being or a
sense of equanimity. It is rooted in a deep
sense of home. Home in the cosmos, home
with God
The signature of the Holy Spirit is a sense of
having a place in the “totality” – holiness,
unity, joy and peace through the eyes of
thousands of saints who have embraced the
life of holiness throughout history
It is the complete opposite of alienation
Being at home, being a part of the mystical
A Peace Beyond All
Understanding
You may have experienced this unity while
hearing a bird singing, hearing the truths about
the kingdom of God, walking in a 13thcentury
monastery, or celebrating the Eucharist
(affective consolations).
There are multiple fruits of this peace – we will
talk about three specifically
3.Peace in times of suffering
4.Peace in times of persecution
5.The peace necessary for good judgment
A Peace Beyond All
Understanding
• Peace during suffering – have you ever
experienced a calm during a tragedy or
troubling events? In the midst of a troubling
event you experience a sense of calm and
assurance that ”everything is going to be all
right ” The Holy Spirit is intervening, even if
you not aware . Take that peace and follow it.
• Peace in times of persecution. Have you ever
had the experience of being marginalized,
embarrassed or even threatened because of
your faith? The Holy Spirit will guide you and
give you confidence.
A Peace Beyond All
Understanding
When these situations occur you may feel a
deep dejection, emptiness and even a sense of
foreboding or evil. You may be debilitated for a
moment or even cause disturbance of sleep
Prayer “The will be Done” is useful in this time
surrendering to God knowing that this
persecution may result in better conditions for
others, the community and even yourself.
Matthew 10:19, Mark 13:11, Luke 21:14-15 all
speak of the need not to worry or be anxious
for the Holy Spirit will speak for you.
A Peace Beyond All
Understanding
The Peace Necessary for Good Judgment
Good judgment – decisions can’t always be
decided by mathematical or analytical
processes. They require an intuition about the
right thing to do
Without peace of mind our judgment can lead
us astray and cause harm to people,
organizations and even communities.
Ego gets in the way – we can go on an ego-trip
which is detrimental to our good judgment. The
Holy Spirits grace can weave its way into our
hearts. Sometime its time for Him to “drive our
car”
A Peace Beyond All
Understanding
Your rational mind will be telling you that “I
should not be feeling this peace” but instead of
rejecting it, accept it. It will be an underlying
tone during all the confusion and change going
on.
Pray to the Holy Spirit:
3. “Lord, I accept this peace”
4. “Lord, push back the darkness that I may see
clearly
I want to feel this peace definitively “
A Peace Beyond All
Understanding
Take the peace – keep you ears attentive to the
peace

Push back the darkness and the foreboding

Watch for the Holy Spirit – keep your eyes fixed

on where the Holy Spirit is leading you
Inspiration and Guidance
• Three aspects of His inspiration

3. Words of help and edification

5. The Sensus Fidei

7. Guidance on our way

Inspiration and Guidance
Do not worry about what you are about to say,
say whatever is given you through the Holy
Spirit
The Holy Spirit of love likes to operate that
way…words of wisdom will tumble
out...beautiful prosaic or poetic words
Our job is to follow the sense of being drawn,
the Holy Spirit will do the rest
 Inspiration and Guidance
The Sensus Fidei (Latin for feeling faithful or
sense of faith”- The Second Vatican Council
Dogmatic Constitution declares: “ For by this
sense of faith which is aroused and sustained
by the Spirit of truth, God’s people accepts not
the word of men, but the very word of God…It
clings without fail to faith once delivered to the
saints… penetrates it more deeply by accurate
insights…
 Inspiration and Guidance
The Senus Fidei – when we loyally defer to the
teaching authority of the Church the Holy Spirit
grants us deep insight into the truth of faith,
which has the capacity to move, transform, and
deepen our love and lives.
You hear something in a lecture or a
presentation and you acknowledge that what
you heard is not right or it’s disquieting.
Sometime later you read an article on the
Church’s teaching on the matter and you say to
yourself “I knew that, but I just didn’t know
why”
Inspiration and Guidance
 The laity are likewise responsible for the faithful
transmission of the Church's faith. They are not
merely passive recipients of the deposit of faith,
but they also participate in its development
through the Sensu Fidei, and they have a serious
responsibility to hand on faithfully what they have
received to their children. “
 The Sensus Fidei is given to us by the Holy Spirit
 We know the truth…we recognize falsehoods
 Our subconscious mind becomes suspicious.
 We have a wisdom of our faith beyond our natural
ability
 Guidance on Our Way
 The Acts of the Apostles are filled with instances of
guidance by the Holy Spirit. He guided them to and
from towns and circumstances. One gets the sense
of the direct experience of the Holy Spirit guiding
the Church was commonplace (Acts:8:28-30; 10:18-
20; 11:12; 13:4; 16:6-8; 19:20-22; 20:21-23; 21:3-
5)
 As one moves through a decision pertaining to faith
we may first feel disquiet -then disturbance of the
soul-then foreboding-begin to question. This can be
indicative of the Spirit’s guidance
 How do we know this disquiet is from the Holy
Spirit? By keeping both lights on – the light of
reason/judgment and a sense of spiritual
disturbance(the light of the Holy Spirit’s peace)
 Reason & Prudence are guided by the Spirit
 Guidance on Our Way
The Holy Spirit can move one toward action
through peace, excitement and zeal
The Holy Spirit can guide us in our long term
plans, vocations, and elections in life
St. Ignatius tried to show us how we may best
discern the Spirit’s guidance in his rules for
discernment in his Spiritual Exercises
Transformation into the Heart of
Christ
 The Holy Spirit does not merely help us, He
transforms us. The Spirit does not merely help us
in times of suffering but transforms us. The Spirit
does not only gives us the words in times of
persecution but transforms our capacity for love.
The Spirit gives us not only opportunities but
helps us with zeal, love of kingdom and service
to grow in faith wisdom and love

The Spirit has a two-fold agenda

4. The advancement of the human community (in
peace, justice, love, the common goods, and the
kingdom of God)
5. The personal growth and transformation of the
individuals advancing the kingdom
 Transformation into the Heart of
Christ
How can we cooperate with this two-fold
agenda of the Spirit?
By attending His “game plan” for bringing
personal transformation out of life’s successes
and suffering
This marked by a 6 part cycle
 Transformation into the Heart of
Christ
 Six Part Cycle
2. Following the opportunities provided by the
Spirit
3. Sense of inspiration, enthusiasm, zeal,
contribution & love
4. Increase in confidence, trust, and faith in the
Spirit
5. Reliance upon the Spirit in times of suffering
6. Increase in agape (ends virtue), detachment,
humility, and other means virtues through
grace & suffering.
7. Greater sense of peace and home in the God
of unconditional love
 Transformation into the Heart of
Christ
The Holy Spirit does not cause pain – pain
comes from a natural cause or human agency
We must not look inward but look for the grace
of the Holy Spirit operating through the pain
Trust built on the history of partnership in
building the kingdom will become a conduit of
grace in times of suffering. To the extent that I
trust the Spirit, I will also be able to believe in
His providential action working in and through
suffering
Grace in suffering leads to personal
transformation
 Transformation into the Heart of
Christ
 Grace in suffering leads to personal
transformation in three ways related to
living the Beatitudes
2. Leveraging pain to break bad habits
3. Leveraging pain to give deeper
perspective into other’s needs –
deeper empathy
4. Leveraging pain to produce greater
humility
 Transformation into the Heart of
Christ
The job of the suffering person is
threefold :
2. Not to become bitter, self-pitying and
closed off, but rather to remain open to
the adventure of grace
3. To look for the “self-justified”,
destructive belief system that is being
challenged
4. To allow oneself to seriously doubt that
self-justified destructive belief system
 Transformation into the Heart of
Christ
The Holy Spirit will present the wisdom of a
counter position (the position of the
Beatitudes)
We begin to dialogue what may have been
previously unintelligible what Jesus really
meant and how serious He was. He was about
the Beatitudes, they were not intended to be
merely a metaphorical way; they really are the
meaning of life and truly beautiful.
Finally we must replace negative motivations
with positive ones. This comes best from prayer
or more deeply in reading Scripture. I desire to
imitate God’s love
 Working With the Holy Spirit
 How can we cooperate with the grace of the
Holy Spirit?
2. Follow the opportunity manifest in the
inspiration of the Spirit
3. Pray. “Come Holy Spirit enter the hearts of
the faithful and enkindle in them the fire of
your wisdom and love.
 Working With the Holy Spirit
 Remember the Holy Spirit’s favorite tactic.
Ø Draw us into opportunity…open doors in the
opportunity…then further the opportunity
through a sense of peace, excitement &
zeal…then open more doors
• Follow the conspiracy of grace…unless it
causes interior disturbance
• Beware of “false leads” that may be cause of
egotistical motivation
Consolation, Desolation and Spiritual
Discernment
Saint Ignatius Loyola’s rules for discernment in
his Spiritual Exercises.
He uses the terms consolation and desolation
to reveal the workings of the Holy Spirit or the
evil spirit
It is important to note the difference between
discernment and prudential judgment
Consolation, Desolation and Spiritual
Discernment
Discernment concerns life decisions (such as a
career path, potential partner in marriage, a
vocation, a membership in a group, a belief
pattern or a significant change of heart)
Prudential judgment concerns every day
decisions ( should we infuse more resources in
this project, should we close this division,
should we buy a Chevrolet, should we have
lamb chops for dinner)
Consolation, Desolation and Spiritual
Discernment
Prudential judgments generally do not require-
discernment of the spirits. is not necessary to
scrutinize affective consolations or desolations
to determine if it is the work of the Holy Spirit
or the evil spirits
Life decisions, on the other hand do require ,
discernment for they concern one’s journey
with God, attitudes toward God and one’s
disposition to trust, hope, and love
 Spiritual Consolation and
Desolation
SPRITUAL CONSOLATION - decisions,
resolutions, patterns of action that in the long
term increase trust in God (faith), hope in one’s
salvation and love(Paul’s love in Corinthians)
are consistent with the workings of the Holy
Spirit can be described as spiritual
consolations.
SPIRITUAL DESOLATION – Decisions,
resolutions, patterns of actions that conversely
decrease the above and are inconsistent with
the workings of the Holy Spirit are spiritual
desolation
 Spiritual Consolation and
Desolation
St. Ignatius attributes spiritual desolation to the
workings of “the evil one” or the “enemy of our
human nature”
Remember life decisions- when trust
diminishes, begin having doubts about your
salvation, increase in impatience, unkindness,
anger, boasting, rejoicing in “bad news” then
you to need to re-examine your decision
 Spiritual Consolation and
Desolation
If making adjustments to your life decisions
increase your impressions of trust, hope and
love you are probably correct in your
adjustment
These impressions can lead to deeper
impressions of God and in turn can lead to
deeper impressions of trust, hope and love
However if making an adjustment starts to
erode the spiritual virtues of faith, hope and
love… and thus you begin to think..
 Spiritual Consolation and
Desolation
“God is asking too much”, “God is asking way
too much” “God does not really care” “ God
just wants me to be a pawn in His service” “
God is more concerned with other people than
me” “God is sick and tired of me committing
the same offenses over and over again”, ‘God
hates wimps like me” “God wants me to fear
Him more than he wants me to love Him” “God
is the opposite of the father of the prodigal
son” “God is the opposite of the Good
Shepherd” “God is…
 Spiritual Consolation and
Desolation
These misimpressions of God, which diminish
or restrict His unconditional love and run
contrary to Jesus final commandment “Love
one another as I have loved you”
We could start to avoid God, run away from
Him, hide from Him, and ask Him to stay away.
That is why discernment is vital to life
decisions.
 Spiritual Consolation and
Desolation
The one thought to remember here is this
cannot be the intention of the Holy Spirit
The goal of the Holy Spirit is to transform our
hearts into the heart of Christ (the Beatitudes)
In summary it is helpful to always test the long
term effects of life decisions through the
criteria of trust, hope, and love
Affective Consolation and
Desolation
 Affective refers to feelings
 Affective Consolation – the feeling of God’s
presence may be manifest in three ways
3. Elevated consolation
4. Gentle consolation
5. Ordinary consolation
 Affective Consolation and
Desolation
Elevated Consolation combines feelings of
mystery, awe, joy, home, love, transcendental
unity, elation, and sometimes ecstasy. It may
last for a second or for long periods of time
CS Lewis describes this in his well known work
Surprised by Joy
Profound sense of peace through the removal
of all alienation
 Affective Consolation and
Desolation
It can be a total surprise
St. Teresa of Avila wrote of this rapture and joy
“ The loving exchange that takes place
between the soul and God is so sweet that I
beg Him in his goodness to give a taste of this
love to anyone who thinks I’m lying. On the
days this lasted I went about as though
stupefied. I desired neither to see nor speak…
It seems the Lord carries the soul away and
places it in ecstasy; there is no room for pain or
suffering because joy soon enters in”
 Affective Consolation and
Desolation
Gentle Consolation – more common,
sometimes it is a memory of a more intense
experience
Gentle reassurance that God is present and
guiding us
Subtle hint that the Holy Spirit is nearby
Ignatius deduced that where this consolation is
so it is that God can likely be found
 Affective Consolation and
Desolation
Ordinary Consolation – it may not be obvious to
you. May be a beauty or joy you take for
granted but become recognizable when it is
toned down or terminated
God keeps us bathed in peace. No matter what
life’s ups and downs do to us God’s peace does
not disappear. Our faith and contemplative life
allows us to bring forth His peace
 Affective Desolation
general sense of not being at home in the
totality; of being out of kilter with the totality;
of being in cosmic darkness; of being alone
These feelings can lead to confusion, alienation
and even despondency.
Why would God allow this to happen
(1) desolation from a lack of conversion, (2)
signal for deeper conversion, (3) the desert
experience
 Affective Desolation
Desolation from Lack of Conversion- if we live
predominately in Level 1 or Level 2 we will
have a series of challenges
Emptiness and a lack of efficacy if we are just
satisfying our ego. Jealousy, fear of failure, ego-
sensitivity, blame contempt, resentment
Desolation persists until we move to level 3 –
conversion begins with trust
 Affective Desolation
A Signal for Deeper Conversion – initial
conversion puts us on the road but does not
get us to our goal
Must be deepened through our spiritual
journey. Sometimes it is out of natural
suffering, something goes terribly wrong and
you find yourself having to deepen your faith
Sometimes desolation can emerge from a
natural feeling of emptiness, failure to fulfill a
higher desire or purpose
 Affective Desolation
Ordinary consolation can be “turned off”
This desolate signal may be a “wake-up” call to
a greater appreciation or awareness of the
Beatitudes.
We need to be attentive and try to respond
with a gradual and realistic plan to deepen our
conversion
 Affective Desolation
The Desert Experience – Since the time of the
Old Testament prophets, the experience of
“being led out into the desert” has been well
noted.
This common expression of “dryness” and
“aridity” in prayer refers to a lack of elevated
or gentle consolation
Not linked to a “lack of conversion” or “signal
to a deeper conversion”
 Affective Desolation
This God’s way of inducing trust in and
surrender to Him without the inducement of
affective consolation
Why would God do this to us? Because He
wants our surrender to arise out of our desire
for His heart, for His way, for His love, and His
person. Rather than a desire for consolation,
rapture, and ecstasy.
 Affective Desolation
God in His Mercy and His profound respect for
us and our freedom leads us out into the desert
Our job is to follow Him out into the desert,
trust Him, to surrender ourselves faithfully to
his heart and to wait for the coming of
consolations
Three Rules for the Discernment of
Spirits
Rule number 1: Be attentive to false
consolations (affective consolation that leads to
spiritual desolation) – when this happens it is
better to consult with a person with more
spiritual experience and maturity.
Rule number 2: Never make a “life decision” in
time of affective or spiritual desolation (your
judgment is impaired)
Three Rules for the Discernment of
Spirits
Rule number 3: The evil one can come as an
“angel of light”
The devil likes to dissuade us from good
intentions by trying to discourage us. He uses
temptations (seven capital sins), spiritual
desolation (undermining trust, hope, or love),
nightmares, or by playing to other fears
Three Rules for the Discernment of
Spirits
 The evil one will take perfectly good things
and exaggerate them over the top such as:
2. Inspiring too many tasks of conversion
3. Inspiring you to decrease your timeline
4. Inspiring you toward perfection on your own
5. Inspiring you to impute stoic intentions onto
God when reading Scripture, doctrine or
tradition.
Three Rules for the Discernment
of Spirits
In summary we are being attentive to the Spirit
in a three prong fashion
AWARENESS (noticing how we feel)
UNDERSTAND (are we moving closer to God or
away)
ACT (accept or reject what’s going on)
Fifth Pillar The Contemplative
Life
Contemplative – investigating the Divine,
actuated by love and the desire to increase it.
Not relying on intellect alone but with prayer
and the practice of virtues
The contemplative life is a conduit between
God’s inspiring grace (through the Eucharist
and the Holy Spirit) and our transformation in
the Beatitudes and our graced participation in
action.
Fifth Pillar The Contemplative
Life
We will discuss three areas of the
contemplative life:
2. Building a contemplative base
3. Ignatian Contemplation
4. Contemplation in everyday life
 Our awareness and appreciation of God’s love
frees us to love God and one another
 In being contemplative we open ourselves to
deeper and bigger reality – the infinite reality
of God
 The process of being led to heart of God by
Fifth Pillar The Contemplative
Life
It’s best initiated by a retreat though one can
attain remarkable contemplative insight from
prayer and theological study
It requires some separation from the busyness
of life
Invest in a retreat to build the base – it will
deepen and magnify the peace, home, love
and light hidden within the words of Psalms
and prayers,
Fifth Pillar The Contemplative
Life
 Saint Ignatius recommends four areas in which
God’s love is most acutely manifested. They
provide content for retreats and contemplative
prayer.
2. Creation around us (Penrose number) – the odds
against our universe being able to sustain any life
form is 10 to the 10th to 123rd!
3. Creation of our human souls – the very image of
God is the most wonderful creation in the
universe
4. Redemption in Jesus Christ (the truth of Jesus
Christ)
5. The presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit in
Fifth Pillar The Contemplative
Life
Ignatian Contemplation of the Heart of Jesus.
Ø Put us ourselves in Gospel scenes
Ø Here are a few meditations:
The wedding feast at Cana
The Call of Nathanael
The Samaritan Woman
A Collage of Peter
The Death of Lazarus
The Prodigal Son
Fifth Pillar The Contemplative
Life
Everyday Life
The Word Among Us is a monthly series of
psalms and Mass readings for the day in an
easy-to-follow format
The Magnificat
Christian Prayer – one volume of the Divine
Office
The Examen Prayer – Timothy M. Gallagher,
OMV