By their fruits you will know the source

If the choices we make are respectable ones, ones that lead us to virtue, then, of course, the spirit directing us is also good. Any desire from God will lead to godliness, a noble, virtuous end, one that delights us.   Inner promptings that lead to an evil end, even if our first impression is that what is happening is good, the spirit moving us is not of God.  So we need to look at the results of an action. If the results are evil, degrading, malevolent, sinful, obviously the inner movement that led us toward that end is also evil.  The spirit guiding us to sin is not the Spirit of God.

Let’s say that the choices we are making lead us more into selfishness than altruism, more deeply into self-centeredness than being other-centered, more toward avarice than generosity, further into deceitfulness rather than the truth of who we are,  then the spirit directing us is not of God. The good spirit always leads to unselfishness, concern for others, charity and truth.

The spirits involved in our lives

Discernment:  Back to St. Ignatius’ teaching on the two kinds of spirits involved in our lives: those that encourage us to carry out the will of God and those that put whatever obstacle possible in our paths. When following the urges of the Holy Spirit, one’s being is filled with joy, peace, and contentment.  There is an upsurge of confidence that one is able to overcome whatever obstacles one comes upon in doing what is perceived as God’s will.  Nothing is too much for the person who is determined to follow God’s will, as God’s help is abundant. Think of David slaying the Phillistine or Moses going to Pharaoh or parting the Red Sea. Think of Mary and Joseph. Think of the apostles who immediately left their boats and followed Jesus.   For the person being called to religious life and following that call, the Holy Spirit offers encouragement and provides the necessary strength. The discerner is consoled as he/she encounters opposition.

 The evil spirit, on the other hand, will put doubts in the mind of the discerner, do whatever possible to discourage the person from taking the necessary steps, and will surface all kinds of fears. Think of Moses telling God that he is not an eloquent speaker (Ex. 4: 10-12), Jeremiah telling God that he is too young (Jer. 1:4), Gideon telling God that he is unimportant (Judges 6:15), and Isaiah telling God that he comes from a people of unclean lips(Is 6:5). Or think of the people Jesus invited to the banquet and all of them had excuses: I just got married, I just bought some oxen, I have to bury the dead; in short, I’m too busy with other things.

Which spirit is guiding you?

Mother Frances Streitel: Strong in the storms of life

Amalia Frances Rose Streitel aka Mother Frances Streitel, Foundress of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, and, as a Maria Stern Franciscan, known as Sister Angela. As you probably surmised from the entries above, Father Beckert repented of his actions and begged for Sister Angela to be reassigned to the Marian Institute. In one of his correspondences or by word of mouth, he says: “Tell Sister Angela I will entrust the direction to her with utmost confidence, and not only shall I keep Father Braun entirely away but myself shall also keep out of the way….”   That statement certainly must have meant a lot to Sister Angela, at least it would have been a welcomed message to my ears. One of the most difficult situations to be in, humanly speaking, for me is to be given a position and then have another person micromanage that position or interfere in its operation. Confidence is eroded, to say the least; creativity is then stretched to the hilt!  Sister Angela reveals her strength in her prayers for Father Braun, begging the Lord to “preserve him from grief such as He permitted me to have”  (May 9, 1879 Letter to Mother Salesia Ellersdorfer, her Superior General). In that same letter she prays that God’s holy will be done concerning the Marian Institute and thanks the Lord for the humiliations she endured. That she has been blessed throughout this ordeal is obvious in the following statements: “May the Lord extol me in eternity. Oh, how good the Lord is to the soul who loves Him. It will be strong in the storms of this life….In spite of insomnia and lack of appetite, I am, God be praised, well and cheerful. Never before have I felt, as I do this time, the power of sufferings borne for the love of God” (Ibid.).  Wow! What a testimony to grace working within her.  Definitely she did not get in God’s way but let God be God in working through the messiness of this situation.

Feast of All Saints

November 1, 2011:  Today is the feast of All Saints! We are celebrating the people in heaven from   every nationality, every culture, every language, every race upon the earth—too many to count, we read in the book of Revelation—who stand “before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They cry out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb.’”  I believe, that the fullness of salvation—the gift of life with God in heaven--has come to  my deceased grandparents, parents, siblings, Aunts and Uncles, cousins, and every deceased Sister of the Sorrowful Mother, SSM Associate, and their family members. They are, I believe, among the huge, uncountable number of saints in heaven. And I know that is our inheritance, as well, as Peter praises God on our behalf in 1 Peter: 1: 3-5: Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into a heritage that can never be spoilt or soiled and never fade away. It is reserved in heaven for you who are being kept safe by God’s power through faith until the salvation which has been prepared is revealed at the final point of time.”

Mother Frances Streitel: A period of darkness

Amalia Frances Rose Streitel aka Mother Frances Streitel, Foundress of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, and, as a Maria Stern Franciscan, known as Sister Angela.  Life is never simple, as we follow Jesus to Calvary and, with Him, go through a dying, a death, a resurrection and a Pentecost in our own lives.  We are reviewing an experience of these events in the life of Sister Angela prior to the actual assignment to take over the administrative position of the Marian Institute in Wuerzburg, Germany.  The pastor is in agony in not having followed through with the Board’s request to assign Sister Angela to that position.  Letters flowed between individuals involved. A couple of those letter were derogatory toward Sister Angela, the one referred to above written by a Sister Elizabeth and another by a Reverend Father Braun, whom Sister Angela described as one who is “hot-headed” and “makes ado about everything.”  Father Berkert learns that the directress of the Institute (perhaps the woman he assigned in Sister Angela’s place) is “someone to be feared.”   His reply is “Oh, why do I first learn of this now?”   Certainly, this is a period of darkness for all involved. We know from the Scriptures that darkness is not darkness to the Lord and that no darkness will destroy the Light.  Sister Angela, I believe, lived in that Light and relied upon the Lord in the situations of her life that were far from ideal and that led her to the foot of the cross.  How do you deal with the dark periods of your life?

How do I know that I am following the Holy Spirit

Discernment:  We are discussing how the Holy Spirit and evil spirit operate in our lives.  The fruits of the Holy Spirit are opposite those that flow from decisions prompted by an evil spirit, that is, a spirit that tries to block us from carrying out the will of our Father, the will of God, our Creator and Sanctifier, our Redeemer and Lord.  The Holy Spirit “strengthens, encourages, consoles, inspires, and gives inner peace to the person striving to follow the path of God” (Discernment of Spirits by Warren Sazama, SJ, National Religious Vocation Conference, Chicago, IL 60615, p. 15).  The evil spirit, on the contrary, fills our being with despondency, frustration, and a discomfort.  Sometimes we are aware of where the agitation is coming from, as God uses all of our feelings as messengers of His will.  If we pay attention, going apart to reflect on our lives and get in touch with our deeper selves, we will come to realize when we are making choices contrary to what God is asking of us. God is always there to help us turn around and embrace His will with courage!

Members of God's household

Today’s first Scripture reading (Eph 2: 19-22) tells us that we are no longer “strangers or sojourners”, but are “fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.”  Think of times  when you felt like a stranger—you knew nobody and were unable to connect with anybody.  It’s an awful feeling. We want to feel connected. We want to belong. And Paul tells us that, not only do we belong, but that we are members of “the holy ones and of the household of God.”  Ever envy children of another family—“oh, I wish I belonged to her/his family. They have everything. They are not poor. They are popular. They don't have they problems we do, etc.”  And here we are members of the most envious households of all: God’s household. There is not any household here on this earth that compares to it, no matter how loving, how well off, how endearing, how envious to others.  We are members of the household of God, by God’s choice. “I have chosen you!”