SPIRITUAL LIFE: DYING OF OLD SELF IN FAVOR OF THE LIFE OF THE NEW SELF(TRUE SELF)

“Let it be known that what the soul calls death is all that goes to make up the old self: the entire engagement of the faculties (memory, intellect, and will) in the things of the world, and the indulgence of the appetites in the pleasures of creatures. All this is the activity of the old life, which is the death of the new spiritual life. The soul is unable to live perfectly in this new life if the old self does not die completely. The Apostle warns: Take off the old self and put on the new self who according to God is created in justice and holiness [Eph. 4:22-24]. In this new life that the soul lives when it has arrived at the perfect union with God here being discussed, all the inclinations and activity of the appetites and faculties - of their own the operation of death and the privation of the spiritual life - become divine.”(St John of the Cross, Living Flame of Love, stanza 2, para 33)

"I believed that continence lay within a man's own powers, and such powers I was not conscious of within myself. I was so foolish that I did not know that, as it is written, no man can be continent unless you grant it to him."(St Augustine)

-

We are all born into this world in the fallen state inherited from Adam by each member in the human race. And if, today, we are still in the non-believing state in which we were born, our spirit has no knowledge of any other dimension of existence, and is forced to live a life centered around bodily, ego-lust and desire. As we all know from movies, magazines, and television, it is the life lived by most human beings in the world today.

It is a life of spiritual ignorance, a life of impurity and spiritual darkness, a life which enslaves the human spirit in the heaviness of the bodily-centered ego. At this stage, the ego sees reality in terms of my needs, my desires, my opinion, my pleasures, and my worldview. It is a life lived from the commonly held, angst-creating point-of-view that man is no better than a trapped animal, caught in a potentially dangerous world of impermanence, which is fading away, and in which he is destined to die. However, when God taps such an individual on the shoulder with a loving faith in Jesus Christ, through Baptism and His grace, and the individual decides to undertake the discipline of a true "spiritual life," including detachment from sin and spiritual purification, he finds liberation from fear in the experiential knowledge that he is part of a spiritual dimension which is permanent, and in which there is no death. At this level, normally, he begins by saying vocal and meditative prayers without any deep understanding of what true spirituality is all about. His "spiritual life," and transformation toward union with God in Charity, remains in low gear, and primarily in the natural order of the self-centered ego.

Gradually, however, under the further influence of God's grace, the true spiritual seeker, lay or religious, spends several years in spiritual discipline, controlling his runaway appetites, detaching himself from the selfishness of the bodily-centered ego, and learning the spiritual obedience that will curb his tendency to sin and his pride in himself. By such discipline, under grace, he lightens his spirit of the dross and accretions of impurity which have kept him spiritually dark and heavy, and functioning at the natural level of the self-centered ego. As his purification moves forward, his ego becomes less carnal and more and more centered in the dimension of the purified human spirit. He moves toward ego-transparency, and lightness, a state in which his ego begins to break its bondage to bodily desires and come under the control of reason and the spirit. In the process, the small, bodily-oriented ego gains spiritual understanding, and stands in awe at the vast dimensions, and the grandeur of the uncluttered human spirit.

In other words, as the noise and clamor in our consciousness coming from the constant cravings connected with bodily desires, pleasures, pains, and relatied activity subsides through our efforts at dispassion, detachment, and prayer, we experience, for the first time, the reality of the existence of the spirit which animates our body. We experience the awesome dimensions of the height, length, and depth of its being, as we see beyond the limitations of its bodily connections with images, memories, passions, desires, concepts, and mental representations. We experience the full dimensions of our greatly expanded True Self, a spiritual universe in fact, where our ego, or sense of "I am," has moved from its center in the bodily aspect of our being, to its center in the spirit aspect of our being. It is also the experience of "freedom" from bodily heaviness, which is replaced with the subtlety and lightness of being of the spirit. And this stage the spiritual life is still primarily within the natural order, under the influence of grace, and centering around prayers based on meditation of the truths of the Faith.

Then, after our spirit has reached a certain level of purification from attachments, out of nowhere one day, the individual feels something new in his spiritual life. While at natural meditative prayer, he finds himself being consciously drawn to "let go" of his meditation and attachment to mental religious representations, in favor of a loving response of the heart, and the will, to the Transcendent "pull" that is subtlely calling him to a loving, supernatural relationship of "surrender" to the Divine Person, Jesus Christ. Now his human spirit, purified and empty of many gross bodily and spiritual possessions, becomes the "empty vessel," manifesting the truth of the image of God it reflects. Now his soul is prepared for the dark spiritual fire of the Holy Spirit Whose mission is the establishment of complete freedom from attachment in this soul.

Only after the purifications are complete, in terms of sensual and spiritual cravings, can the Holy Spirit bring about the radical transformation in Charity in union with God, through the soul's surrender in contemplative prayer. For generous souls, this leads the perfect union called spiritual marriage, and the permanent Indwelling of the Holy Trinity. Now the purified ego, which began its spiritual pilgrimage in a divided weakened state, centered in the body, with its numberless bodily desires, has found its proper center within the Spirit-filled human spirit, free from bondage to sin, and with all its strength unified in One Desire, to surrender all that it has to its Beloved, the Transcendent Spirit of God,

So, the spiritual life in Jesus Christ is the only life worth living; it is the life for which we were created, and which feeds our spirits from moment to moment. It is the life of ultimate happiness, full measure, pressed down, running over. It is the "Life" which gives joy and purpose to every other relationship and purpose under the sun. It is a strait and narrow highway leading ever upward. It is the abundant life for those with a journey to make. Courageous spirits, once having recognized it, seize it, and press ever forward.

The spiritual life, in addition to the wonder, joy, and abundance of life we find therein, is also an ongoing struggle against forces leading us into misery, sin, and despair. These are the forces of materialism, selfishness, and evil. Because the spiritual life invovles daily spiritual warfare, there will be times when we want to give it all up and to wallow in physical pleasures. There will be times when we are overcome by failure, when we seem to have no hope of making it. But fortunately, we are not alone in our spiritual struggle. And during times of failure and weakness, we exercise "overcoming" through the "humility" of depending on the Power of Another to see us through. For His strength, say St Paul, is made perfect in our weakness. And the overcomers, who are never surprised at their weakness and need of God, refuse to be defeated and, having fallen seven, or seventy times seven, confess their sins, pick themselves up and, like the brave Admiral in the poem below, sail on, sail on, and on!

Behind him lay the gray Azores,
Behind the Gates of Hercules;
Before him not the ghost of shores,
Before him only shoreless seas.
The good mate said: "Now we must pray,
For lo! the very stars are gone.
Brave Admiral, speak, what shall I say?"
"Why, say, 'Sail on! sail on! and on!' "

"My men grow mutinous day by day;
My men grow ghastly wan and weak."
The stout mate thought of home; a spray
Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek.
"What shall I say, brave Admiral, say,
If we sight naught but seas at dawn?"
"Why, you shall say at break of day,
'Sail on! sail on! and on!' "

They sailed and sailed, as winds might blow,
Until at last the blanched mate said:
"Why, now not even God would know
Should I and all my men fall dead.
These very winds forget their way,
For God from these dead seas is gone.
Now speak, brave Admiral, speak and say" --
He said, "Sail on! sail on! and on!"

They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the mate:
"This mad sea shows his teeth tonight.
He curls his lip, he lies in wait,
With lifted teeth, as if to bite!
Brave Admiral, say but one good word:
What shall we do when hope is gone?"
The words leapt like a leaping sword:
"Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!"

Then pale and worn, he kept his deck,
And peered through darkness. Ah, that night
Of all dark nights! And then a speck --
A light! a light! at last a light!
It grew, a starlit flag unfurled!
It grew to be Time's burst of dawn.
He gained a world; he gave that world
Its grandest lesson: "On! sail on!"

Columbus
by Joaquin Miller

The biggest hoax by which modern man deceives himself is the belief that organized religion is somehow at odds with true spirituality. This attitude has infected Catholicism through New Age influences, as well as the rest of the world since the Roaring, Rock and Roll Sixties. Much of it comes from an exaggerated Ecumenism, and the belief of Eastern Religion that all roads lead to Nirvana, regardless of belief system. People talk about love and spiritual bliss and the wonders of God-Consciousness for hours on end. These are the blind leading the blind that the Gospel speaks about. These are the "lukewarm" that are vomited forth into darkness because they were neither hot nor cold. As Christ warned us, "Not all those who cry Lord, Lord, shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but those who do the Will of My Father!"

Unfortunately this is the case with the majority of those seeking to be "spiritual" through the New Age auspices today. Their credo is that one must never make a negative judgment about anyone's behaviour or lifestyle. All lifestyles are equally spiritual, and there is no difference between them. Do not suggest that they need to change their behavior and purify themselves of selfish attachments because then you would be suggesting that there is something better than the way they are living. They hate judgments of any kind, for they cause guilt which can only be assuaged by a positive change in behavior.

. Above all else, they want to "accept themselves" and everyone else "just as they are," drowning in a sea of complacency and self-constructed narcissism. You must never suggest that "just as they are," as comfortable as it might seem to be, is leagues removed from the true spirituality of God's self-giving love. Nor can one suggest where they need to be in order to prepare the groundwork for true spiritual transformation. For they don't want to hear of differences between sin and virtue, nor of high and low, as it wounds their narcissism, and suggests that they are not already perfect, and that there is good and bad, right and wrong, and a Personal, Intelligent Being behind the Universe Who cares about the difference.

In fact, these belong to the religion that will believe anything and love anyone except those who belong to "organized religion." They're happy to be free from obedience to any authority, and from guilt issues which divide society over such matters as abortion, euthanasia, murder, homosexuality, suicide, adultery, and divorce. And the only problem they have is that they are lost in a moral wasteland. And they don't know, don't want, and they never find, the correct road leading to the Living God through unselfish obedience to the Commandments, and the strait and narrow way of spiritual transformation He provided for our welfare.

For one can only live these Commandments through participation in organized religion and the grace coming through the Church He provided for that purpose. So those who refuse what God has ordained, in the name of a higher love, are never at peace because they are in opposition to the "Way" God has provided for His peace.

C.S. Lewis tells us:

"One reason why people find "The Force" religion so attractive is it gives one much of the emotional comfort of believing in God and none of the less pleasant consequences. When you are feeling fit and the sun is shining and you do not want to believe that the whole universe is a mere mechanical dance of atoms, it is nice to be able to think of this great mysterious Force rolling on through the centuries and carrying you on its crest. If, on the other hand, you want to do something rather shabby, the Force, being only a blind force, with no morals and no mind, will never interfere with you like that troublesome God we learned about when we were children. The Life-Force is a sort of tame God. You can switch it on when you want, but it will not bother you. All the thrills of religion and none of the cost. Is the Force the greatest achievement of wishful thinking the world has yet seen? (C.S. Lewis, "Mere Christianity")

Spirituality is a gradual process of shifting one's center from a selfish to an unselfish center of gravity, and from the external world that comes to us through the body and the senses, to the inner-world which is our spirit. For as Christ said, "The kingdom of heaven is within you." You say, how can that be. My inner-world, at the present time, is too changeable or boring for me to base my life on it. Also, my family and the people and things I love are in the outer-world. The good things in life all happen in the outer-world. Am I supposed to go about my life in a self-absorbed trance, like a spiritualized robot, hoping for something to happen within? I've always put my trust in the outer world, even though its a struggle to get and keep the things that seem to cause happiness, and even in spite of its unreliability and sudden changes that cause me a good deal of stress and anxiety. "Reality" for me is the outer world, I'm hardly aware of this so-called inner-world of spirit. How can I trust my life to something that modern science can't find?

Science doesn't deal with , or draw conclusions about, a reality that can't be measured and translated into some sort of statistical or mathematical understanding. And we, ourselves, are unaware of our own spirit because we are born into the world separated from the Unlimited Spiritual Food which feeds our spirit in a manner that, while nourishing it, supernaturally and simultaneously gives us its conscious, natural dimensions. However, through actual grace, from the time of birth, God begins spiritual missions into our life to awaken us to the reality of this other dimension of our being. And the exercises of the spiritual life, prayer and meditation, assisted by grace, also make us conscious of this inner-spiritual dimension. And through asceticism and the practice of virtue, we further highlight the reality of our spirit as we break it free from its attachments, bonding, and complete identification with the material dimension, alone.

The spiritual shift to the inner-world does not abolish one's connection with the outer-world, it just changes it, and frees one's spirit from domination by it. By this shift, over time, the inner-world, instead of the outer world, becomes the primary Source from which one receives life's sustenance. The inner-world is the world of spirit, and God's Spirit directly feeds us through our spiritual inner-world as we cooperate with His grace in conforming our will to the Will of His Son, Jesus Christ. The outer world becomes a secondary source of sustenance. God indirectly nourishes our bodily life through the secondary source, the outer world.

So the shift is from a life totally dependent on the food that perishes to one which places the food that perishes in secondary, and proper relation to the Non-Perishable Food of the Spirit. Instead of a body-centered life, we now have a spirit-centered life. In the process, as we break the attachments which bind us up in identification with our exeriences of our flesh and the outer-world, we become more and more aware of our own inner-consciousness as a principle of permanence, a spiritual observer underlying all the changeable thoughts, phantasms, images, and emotions that come and go. This change in priorities develops a spiritual "distancing" from incoming stimuli, and plays a large role in the spiritual man's growing freedom from, and power over, temptations of the flesh and the world. This distancing becomes a desensitizing factor which also gives one's "will" more time to act, before one's flesh is overwhelmed by such incoming stimuli.

Over the years, as one practices the spiritual life, God will become a Major Force in breaking the spirit free from its material bonding and attachment. He does this in the practices of the ascetic life through sanctifying grace and assistance by actual graces. He is responding to our free-will decision to seek His Help by our efforts at prayer and asceticism. And when He grants us the Gift of Contemplative Prayer, He becomes the primary source divinely motivating, with our cooperation, our charity and practice of virtue. And as we become more and more free from the outer world and the flesh, we consciously center more and more on the inner-world for direct sustenance from Him. We become centered in our "self," an unselfish self united with God, rather than centered in things outside our self.

And so, in the eyes of the world, through the practice of the spiritual life, spiritual people become too other-worldy and withdrawn from the realities of the flesh and the world of outer reality. And worldly people sometimes say that such spiritual types are no-good for dealing with the problems of this world. For the "children of this world" keep better track of what's going on, and have a better understanding of things of the world than do the "children of light." But don't use this as an excuse. Your happiness in "this" world depends on giving yourself, in whatever vocation, totally to God. You must absolutely, albeit gradually, give everything you are and have to Him. Then, the things he gives back, including your vocation, or marriage, family, and career, and the other things of this world, will serve to enhance your Love for Him. And in the process, you will love them all, including all of Creation, with a far, far, better love than you could ever have been capable of without God. Remember, your spiritual life will never take wings until you consciously offer, or renew your total dedication to God.

Moreover, the really spiritual man has lost a great deal of his former interest in worldly things. For the spiritual man has become de-sensitized to the things and problems of the flesh and this world. They no longer excite him. His interest in now in the inner-world whose center is in the Sun and the changes in the planets no longer interest or upset him as they did formerly. The things that get his attentiion now are those connected with supporting or endangering his life in the Sun.

The worldly centered life is a constant, rat-race search for excitement and pleasure and ego-enhancing experiences to fill the empty inner-void. And along with ego-trips, the greatest fleshly pleasures are found in food,sex, drugs, and addictions. And they, therefore, become the most desirable commodities, and saturate the worldly centered lifestyle. And the highest suicide rate is always among those who live for these pleasures, because life always ends in despair for those who choose to live without God.

Its a competitive battle with others for money and the good things of the world, a life of anxiety and fear from the constant threat of losing everything. And this includes a large portion of Catholics who refuse to follow some of the Church's teaching, and who hold out on God over homosexuality, abortion, divorce, artificial birth-control, pornography, masturbation, and so on. These sins have always been condemned by God through the prophets because they lead to spiritual death, and perhaps permanent separation from Him. And God has made it very clear, that he who rejects the Church's teaching on only one thing, i.e., a grave matter, rejects God.

Moreover, if there is one thing that, due to its overwhelming power , must be seriously restrained if one's will, the empowering force of the spiritual life, is going to break free from slavery to the flesh, and allow the rule of reason to run one's life, that one thing is the pleasure connected with reproduction and survival of the race, the "sex drive," and the images that excite it. Whether you're married or single, it's an ongoing, and sometimes monumental battle to be chaste. That's why those who are "lukewarm" about the need for sexual restraint and chastity, and think it's ok to break the rules and the Church's teaching, and teach others this spiritual tepidity, end up victims of their sexual drive, a scandal to themselves and others, and back in slavery.

You must respect the power of sex and wage serious battle with your lifestyle and the images you allow in, if you are to have any chance of spiritual victory in this matter. For when you practice true Catholicism, and you follow all the Church's rules on sex, you're practicing "heavyweight" spirituality, which will greatly intensify the power of God in your life. And if you're like most of the human race, you're going to need to use "the Sacrament of Confession" regularly to help you along the way. But don't forget, God knows full well the dimensions of this battle for you, and for all of us. And it's absolutely critical that you fight this battle, and free your will for Loving God in a true spiritual life. So don't waste any time worrying over your failures, or listen to those whose lives are a scandal to the Church, just continue with the battle, taking whatever steps are necessary, and be assured, with God's help, you will achieve ultimate spiritual victory.

It is very important to screen the images you allow into your mind during the day, and to practice "custody of the eyes." For the images you dwell on have the power to "energize" you toward good or evil. Since the Fall of Man, and loss of certain preternatural gifts, concupiscense or "the inclination to evil," is born into each of us. Now this means that otherwise beautiful things, like images of the bodies of persons of the opposite sex, can spiritually destroy us under certain circumstances.

It has nothing to do with the naivete of certain modern psychology types, perhaps influenced by Eastern "if it feels good, do it" spirituality, who react to spiritual warnings in regard to sex with the wisdom of Freud, bringing forth banalities like, "What's wrong with naked human beings, man, I think naked people are beautiful! Don't you like sex man?" Such spiritual "adepts" aren't telling us anything we don't already know. Everybody knows that human bodies are good and beautiful, and that sex powerfully attracts, and is a wonderful gift from God uniting man and woman in marriage and family life. That's hardly an issue. It's rather that the good things, and the beautiful things, become seductions and temptations for Fallen Man. For the Flesh has a life of its own, and it wars against the spirit. In other words, even when your spirit is neutral in regard to sin, the Flesh may be "smoldering," and when you add gasoline to it, namely, the seductive image, you get combustion. So we must be ever vigilant. And that's one reason why the Jesus Prayer is important.

So for those who are afraid to say anything negative about the world's current fixation with "sex," look around at the broken homes, adultery, cheating, broken hearts, love-sick suicides, religious scandal, loss of faith, sexually transmitted disease, baby-murders, the multi-billion dollar pornography business, child sexual abuse, and the unending litany of terrible crimes against humanity committed in the name of "Let's not get uptight about sex, Dude! Remember, Freud and the psychology dudes say the orgasm is right up there with spirituality and Nirvana, man! And what about St Augustine, man? Everyone knows he was uptight about sex... just like St Paul. What good did celibacy ever do for them, man?........... "Yeah!......right!!!"

We live in the world where self-delusion, lies and self-destruction are held in high euphemistic esteem. Whatever people want is, ipso facto, good for them by modern standards. Much of our world is saturated with the runaway greed of big institutions coming at us through the advertising industry. We live in a world where man starts out with "an inclination to evil," through Original Sin, and, not too surprisingly, creates a self-destructive society saturated with everything that destroys any possibility of true happiness. And the wisdom of the world says, if you're a Christian and you comment on these things, you're suffering from over-repressed libido and infantile narcissism. You should really "lighten up man." If you're a Buddhist, or the Dali Lama, and say the same thing, everybody will applaud the marvelous penetration of Eastern wisdom. Why? Because even spirituality can be grist for the adverising mill. You can say anything you like, as long as it has no implications for morality and how we need to stop the behavior by which, through greed, hedonism, and consumerism, we are destroying ourselves.

The real spiritual life, on the other hand, is the God-centered life in which one brings the flesh into submission for the health of the spirit. One trusts Jesus Christ when He warns of the danger of lust and losing control in slavery to the lower faculties. For God is a Good Friend, and He never leads us astray. And it's very pleasant to spend time with such a Friend. And that relationship with Him is only available to those who obey His Commandments, for He cannot Abide with a spirit dedicated to selfish desire. And one's life gets better in direct proportion to the time spent with this Friend, Loving Him directly through prayer, and indirectly through vocation and service. Through the relation with God, one's inner-world of spirit is fed with the food for which it was created, Spiritual Food. Instead of needing a constant "excitement fix," it is a life of the Peace of God which is the very satisfying and fulfilling Abundant Life of the Spirit. And with this life in place, one still enjoys those legitimate pleasures of the flesh and the world in such a way that they contribute to the Life of the Spirit.

The more our life becomes centered in God, the more we learn to trust Him at all times and in all situations, specifically when everything in the world around us seems to be going wrong. Our trust must become strong enough to stand firm in the face of the powerful fears assaulting us when we examine the external data coming at us through the senses. We must believe in miracles, and we must stand for God and hope when the natural world tells us all hope is gone. We must, at all times, maintain our spirits in a positive attitude of supernatural Hope, within which all things are always possible, and within which all things work for our spiritual good. Here's what John of Ruysbroeck had to say about this issue:

"When through love we deny our own will and give ourselves to that of God in such a way that we no longer wish for anything except what God wishes, then, we make a profession of true sanctity to God, whatever our condition, whatever our state in life. However, when we seek to be certain and sure, instead of trusting in God, when our will wants and does not want, it is still not yet united with the divine will...and we cannot profess love but must remain novices."

"When love recovers and burns within us to such an exalted degree that it completely destroys within us all such imperfect love, all pain and fear of losing and hope of gaining, and all that by which we seek our own ends, then there will be a pure , clean and perfect charity. In this , not only is love set in order, but all the other virtues as well, for here is to be found their source, their life, their growth, their sustenance and their conservation, in their proper order and variety of expresson according to the action performed and the habits acquired."

"Charity, however, rests with the beloved in the inner chamber, beyond reason and beyond the exercise of virtue as such; there...the soul has all that she can desire and long for, never having to look outside herself for anthing, for she has God within her and is enraptured in her ascent to God, being stripped of everything. She is made to transcend reason when ordinary means fail and in happy ignorance without hesitation, she is captivated by love."(John of Ruesbroeck, The Seven Guardians of Love, Ch. 13)

So the spiritual life is the complete human life lived in a manner that gives proper recognition, in the correct priority, to both the material and spiritual dimensions of man's overall being. And it greatly increses the power of Charity and Self-Giving Love in one's life so that one lives with greater love for God, family, friends, and the world of creation. It is the only road to happiness there is, in and out of this life. Don't let anyone water it down so it loses its transforming power, and don't let anyone talk you out of it!

Like John Paul II, the world is changed by "one solitary life," time and again. The "power of one" is a great gift of God for good or evil. We have Napoleon, we have Hitler. We have Gandhi. We have Karl Marx. We haver Martin Luther King, Jr., We have Churchill. We have "you!" People watch and learn from you when you least expect it. Have you ever been to a service or a mass where the priest said the words of the consecration in a manner that demonstrated he was absolutely certain that Christ was present on the altar? Have you ever been to a retreat where the speaker's words and manner conveyed the wonder of eternal life into your soul? Are you hiding your gift behind human respect, and pretending your just a non-religious "good guy," not really concerned about religion and eternal life, so you can play at being "one of the boys," and no one will be upset, or dislike you? Are you ashamed of the One Who spoke out knowing they would kill Him... so that you and I might have Eternal Life? Remember this! Almighty God has placed you amongst a world of people who need to see your example.

Look at the impact of the "power of one" on the life of the priest who wrote one of the most edifying spiritual manuels of all time: "The Soul of the Apostolate." Before he became a priest, he lived a life of lukewarm spirituality. Then one day, while walking across the college campus, Jean Baptiste happened upon a priest praying his breviary. This priest was unaware of the impression he was making on the economics student. "His bearing, full of respect and religion, was a revelation to me," said Dom Chautard, "and produced in me an urgent need to pray from then on, and to pray in the way this priest was praying. The Church appeared, concretized, so to speak, in this worthy minister, in communion with his God."

This incident led Jean Baptiste to change his life and become a man of prayer who influenced the contemplative direction of spirituality for active priests in the France of his own time, and on up to our own day. Such is the impact of "one" who truly practices what he believes, and lets his light shine before men.

So when the going gets tough, and you feel like quitting the struggle, just remember that a New World of Abundant Life is really there for you, just over the horizon. But as in the poem above, you must show some real leadership to stay on the spiritual path in these perilous times. You must speak up manfully when those about you join in chorus with your flagging spirit and say " Look about us! It's all falling apart! There's danger everywhere, what shall we do?" And as they turn and look your way, you will answer with the current saint, the Master of St Peter' Barque: "Sail on, sail on, and on!"

So you must decide who you are going to believe. Are you going to follow the modern New Age spirituality taught by those who have chosen to abandon God's saving truth in favor of empty psychologisms, proud atheism, rampant hedonism, and warm, fuzzy feelings? Or are you going to listen to the Eternal Wisdom of the Holy Spirit, diseminating unchanging truth to mankind through thousands of years of prophesy as seen in King David's contemplative wisdom below?

.

Psalm 37(the Prophet David's guide to true Catholic spirituality)

1: Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
2: For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
3: Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
4: Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
5: Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
6: And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
7: Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
8: Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
9: For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.
10: For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.
11: But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
12: The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.
13: The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.
14: The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation.
15: Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.
16: A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.
17: For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the LORD upholdeth the righteous.
18: The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.
19: They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
20: But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.
21: The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.
22: For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.
23: The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
24: Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.
25: I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
26: He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.
27: Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.
28: For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
29: The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.
30: The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.
31: The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.
32: The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.
33: The LORD will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.
34: Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.
35: I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.
36: Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.
37: Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.
38: But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off.
39: But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.
40: And the LORD shall help them and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.