An outline of spiritual growth

Monday, September 16, 2024

*Fr. Eduardo Barrios, SJ

BLOGGER PROFILE

There are many people who want to grow in the knowledge and love of God, but do not know how to achieve it. In this fascinating itinerary, we are going to propose the steps to follow.

1. Predisposition

It is necessary to be convinced that God, who is all Love, manifests Himself and wants to relate to us. He calls us, but often finds the doors of our hearts hermetically closed.

We cannot perceive the call of God if we live in the dispersion and superficiality of purely earthly interests. The first step would be to be predisposed to listen to God's call.

We predispose ourselves when we stop to reflect and open ourselves to the transcendent. This first step is already the fruit of God's discreet grace.

2. Foundational experience

Those who feel dissatisfied with the life they lead and begin to exercise self-mastery and reflection, place themselves within reach of the divine touch.

When this person contemplates a landscape, listen to soothing music, or read a penetrating text, or seek refuge in the shadows of a solitary church, they receive a “tomb-like” grace that some authors call a “founding experience.” It is an invasion of the Lord that makes us open our eyes and feel the urgently need to reorient our lives.

In the biographies of the great converts, there is always this determining moment that establishes a “before” and an “after” in their lives.

 3. Purification

The founding experience can be as fleeting as a flash of lightning. After this spiritual shock that invites us to begin a new life, there is much work to be done. It is necessary to begin with the purification of the heart.

• The first thing is, of course, to break with mortal sin. God and sin exclude each other like light and darkness. In many cases, it is necessary to make a good heartfelt confession of one's whole life.
• One should not only break with grave sin, but also try to lose the taste for sin. There are people who abstain from the immoral, but maintain a hidden complicity with sin. They wish that certain actions were not forbidden so that they could continue to practice them.
• Purification must extend to the struggle against venial sins. Those who knowingly commit minor sins make no progress in the way of the Lord. These faults cannot be entirely avoided, because human frailty prevents us from always being on our guard. For example, it is commonly said that “words slip out of our mouths.” We do not want to have said them to our neighbor. With God's help, however, we can avoid venial sins “cold turkey,” that is, entirely deliberate.

4. Penance

We do not make much progress on the path of purification without the accompaniment of penance. Today, fasting is seldom talked about and even less practiced. Voluntary deprivation purifies and creates space for the Spirit of Christ.

• Fasting from food and drink. Its little practice is noted in the rise of obesity. There are those who overindulge in quantity and those who overindulge in quality. There is an excessive rage for the “deli” and for the “gourmet”. Our taste buds have become very demanding and refined in terms of flavors. Beware of gastronomic hedonism!
• Fasting of words. We must be silent in order to listen more to God and to our neighbor. The next time we meet someone, let us make an effort not to monopolize the conversation. Let us listen with sincere interest and without interrupting the other person.
• Fasting of thoughts. We must avoid not only bad thoughts, but also useless thoughts. It is necessary to cut off thoughts that keep us in the past or project us into a future of fantasies. By cutting off idle thoughts, we concentrate better on the present.
• Fasting of information. We want to know everything in all areas. We surf the internet in a hurry and read every publication that falls into our hands. We need to read much slowly in order to assimilate better. Of course, it is necessary to know what is good for us to know. There is a lot of harmful or useless information that we must discard.

 5. Dark night

After a time of living an intense Christian life with much fervor and devotion, the person may fall into a kind of spiritual lethargy. This experience is expressed in terms of dryness and desolation. St. John of the Cross made famous the phrase “dark night of the soul.”

Faced with this unpleasant situation, some people who become discouraged and desist from continuing their ascent towards God. It is often helpful to have a spiritual director who lets us know that there is light at the end of the night. Exercises of piety and good works should not be abandoned for lack of a sensitive disposition.

 6. Christification

Those who increasingly identify themselves with Christ will grow spiritually. This christification cannot be achieved without prayer.

• Liturgical prayer, vocal prayer and group prayer are not enough. Personal and creative prayer with the Lord is necessary for progress. One must pray with our own words on the basis of our own concrete reality.
• What we have designated above as “personal and creative prayer” is often called “mental prayer.” It usually has as its starting point the words and gestures of Jesus. In the light of the Gospel, those who pray become attuned to the divine will and discover more clearly their place in the world and in the Church, that is, their vocation, the mission that the Lord entrusts to them. Good prayer attunes us to God’s will.
• In addition to times dedicated exclusively to prayer, the pilgrim should tend towards what many authors call “continuous prayer.” It consists in cultivating that sense of the presence of God that makes us raise our minds and hearts to Him at all times and in all places. We can say an aspiration, a short prayer, as we walk or drive. We can always turn to the One in Whom we live.

Spiritual growth will be known by its “fruits.” Those who truly live with God and in God, exude peace, do good to all, do no harm to anyone, are centered in their lives, are capable of solitude and companionship, and above all, behave with great humility.