Francis said at the general audience that “real consolation is a kind of confirmation that we have fulfilled what God wants of us, that we have walked his ways, that is, on the ways of life, of joy, of peace”.
Mariangela Jaguraba Vatican News
“Real consolation” was the theme of Pope Francis’ catechesis at the general audience this Wednesday (November 30) in St. Peter’s Square.
Continuing his reflection on discernment, the Pope recalled the following passage from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. It goes like this: “If everything is good in the mind, beginning, middle, and end, and everything is aligned for good, that is a sign of the good angel. On the other hand, something bad may arise in the course of the thoughts, or something distracting, or less good than what the soul intended beforehand, or something that weakens the soul, makes it restless, which upsets him , excitement and takes away from him the peace, calm and tranquility he had before: then this is a clear sign that such thoughts come from the evil spirit».
be oriented towards the good
“There is true comfort, but there is comfort that is not true. Therefore it is necessary to understand well the path of consolation, where it leads and where it leads me, if it leads me to something that is not good, it is not a good consolation, it is not a true consolation, it is wrong” , stressed the Pope.
What does it mean that the principle is directed toward good? For example, I think of prayer and I realize that it goes hand in hand with affection for the Lord and for others, it invites us to do acts of generosity, of charity: it’s a good principle. However, it can happen that this thought arises in order to avoid a job or a task entrusted to me: Whenever I have to wash the dishes or clean the house, I have a great desire to start praying! Prayer is not an escape from our duties; on the contrary, it helps us to do the good we are called to do here and now. This is about the beginning.
“Saint Ignatius said that the beginning, middle and end must be good. The beginning is this: I want to pray, so I won’t wash the dishes. So first wash the dishes and then pray,” stressed the Pope.
Examine carefully the course of your own feelings
“Then there is the middle, that is, what comes after such a thought,” stressed Francis. “To continue with the previous example, when I begin to pray and, like the Pharisee in the parable, tend to please myself and despise others, perhaps with a resentful and sour mood, these are signs that the wicked Spirit used this thought as an access key to enter my heart and transmit your feelings to me.” According to the Pope, this type of “prayer ends badly” since “it is a consolation to pray, to pray like a peacock to God to feel. This is a remedy that doesn’t work.”
“Then there is the end. The end is an aspect that we have already encountered, that is: where does this thought take me?” asked Francis, saying that “it can happen that I hard for a good and deserving Work work but It forces me I stop praying I get more and more aggressive and angry I think it all depends on me to the point where I lose faith in God Obviously here is the effect of the evil spirit. I begin to pray, and in prayer I feel almighty. So, whenever I want to do something, examine carefully the path of one’s feelings and the path of good feelings, of comfort.”
learn from experiences
According to the Pope, “the style of the enemy”, the devil, is the style “which consists in presenting oneself in a stealthy and disguised way: starting from what we prefer and then gradually attracting us to himself himself: Evil sneaks in secretly without the person noticing. And over time, softness becomes hardness: this thought reveals itself for what it really is.
“Here lies the importance of that patient but indispensable investigation into the origin and truth of one’s thoughts; It is an invitation to learn from experience, from what happens to us, so as not to make the same mistakes over and over again.”
The more we know each other, the more we sense where the evil spirit is coming in, its “passwords,” the front doors of our hearts where we are most sensitive to watch out for in the future. Each of us has the most sensitive points, the most fragile points of our own personality, and from there evil enters and leads us down the wrong path or takes us astray. I want to pray, but I distance myself from prayer.
It’s important to understand what happened
The Pope stressed that it is important to “perform the daily soulsearching: stop before the end of the day. Are you wondering what happened in my heart? Did it grow or was it a way it all happened? my heart. It is a precious effort to reread the experience from a certain angle. It is important to understand what happened, it is a sign that God’s grace is working in us and helping us to grow in freedom and awareness. We are not alone, the Holy Spirit is with us”.
Authentic comfort is a kind of confirmation that we have fulfilled what God wants of us, that we have walked his ways, that is, the ways of life, of joy, of peace. Indeed, the discernment is not just about what is good, nor about the greatest possible good, but about what is good for me here and now: in it I am called to grow and set limits on other proposals that are attractive , but are unrealistic. not to be deceived in pursuit of true goodness.
It is necessary “Learn to read in the book of the heart what happened during the day. Do it. It’s only two minutes but I assure you it will do you good.”