Why should we pray for priests?

In 2009 Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed the Year of Priests, with St John Vianney as the patron.

But one might ask, out of all the holy priests who are saints, why this simple little parish priest from backwater 18th century France? Why not a great missionary priest? Or a famous preacher? 

St John Vianney was a simple humble priest who loved God and did all he could to help people understand this. He was parish priest in a small village in rural France where people had no interest in God or Church. However, through his kindness and personal example, he started to bring people back to God and the Sacraments. 

He stuck to the basics - personal prayer, preaching, catechesis, making confession regularly available, encouraging attendance at Mass and frequent Holy Communion, visiting the sick and helping the poor.

Today more than ever we need our priests. Not because of false ideas about clericalism or because of taking away the dignity of all the baptised. But we need priests more than ever, solely because we need Jesus in the Eucharist! Without a priest, we cannot have Mass and therefore we no longer have the wonderful gift of the Eucharist which is Jesus himself.

There are many preachers around, many online theologians, many good teachers of scripture, different prayer ministries and support networks. But none of these can replace the priesthood - because none of them can offer the Mass. 

The most liberal priest who illicitly celebrates Mass on a coffee table without any vestments whilst sitting on the floor, still is able to offer a valid Mass and consecrate the bread and wine that becomes the Eucharist. He is only able to do this because of the Sacrament of Holy Orders he has received. His ministry as a priest is all oriented for what he can do for others - but he can’t do any of it for himself. 

As St John Vianney says, a priest cannot baptism himself, a priest cannot absolve himself in confession. He is able to give you the sacraments of the Church, but he can’t give them to himself. 

The most beautiful liturgy with exquisite vestments, incense and glorious music is empty and meaningless without having a priest to offer the sacrifice of the Eucharist. We don’t need social workers, we don’t need counsellors, we don’t need great speakers - we need priests. Everything else can be done, and shoud be done by us the laity. That is our role in building up the Church and living out our baptismal priesthood. 

But none of that means anything without the Eucharist. Only the Eucharist is the true and Real Presence of Jesus Christ with us. But without priests, we will not have the Eucharist anymore. 

So today I ask and encourage you to pray for priests. Pray for the bad priests, the liberal ones, the ones that can’t preach, the ones who don’t uphold their own sacerdotal dignity, the ones who don’t seem to have much faith at all. Pray for the stressed priests, the grumpy ones, the busy ones who never have time, the one who may be a secret alcoholic or have a pornography addiction. Pray for the sick and elderly priests, pray for the ones who feel lonely or isolated, pray for the ones struggling with temptation to leave the priesthood all together. Pray for the priests who you’ve heard gossip about, or who you think is arrogant and full of himself, pray for the weak one who you don’t feel any respect for. Pray for these weak sinful men, because they were chosen by Christ. Not because of their personal worthiness, but because Jesus loves them and called them. Jesus also asks you to love them and support them through your prayers. 

Please try today to practice praying regularly for the priest who baptised you, the priest who hears your confessions, and your parish priest. Those 3, are the most important in your life and God has given you love and mercy through their ministry. So please pray for them, because without priests there is no Mass and no Eucharist.

St Dominic - Apostolic preacher, Light of the Church and Man of Prayer

Today in Australia is the memorial of St Dominic. For us in Australia his feast day has been transferred to the 3rd August because on the 8th August we celebrate here our national saint, Mary MacKillop. 

St Dominic is famous for founding the Order of Preachers, commonly known as the Dominicans. After accompanying his bishop on a journey through France, he was exposed to the heresy of Albigensianism also known as the Cathars. They were dualistic heretics influenced by gnosticism who saw the body as evil and only the spiritual was good. This meant that all the physical world including our bodies was seen as evil and ruled by Satan, whereas the spiritual world was the only “true” and pure reality made by God, and not contaminated by sin. They also denied the humanity of Jesus and said that he was a spiritual being who only appeared to be human, but he wasn’t an actual physical person. This denies the foundations of our faith - the Incarnation, God made flesh, and the Resurrection, the same God made flesh who was killed and came back to life conquering death. 

While encountering these heretics and their beliefs, St Dominic quickly noticed that they lived holier, more ascetic lives than the majority of monks and priests at the time. He realised that this was one of the stumbling blocks preventing the effectiveness of the missionaries who were trying to convert the Carthars but without success. This was because they were often going about with large retinues of servants accompanying them and dressed in fine clothing, whilst the Cathars themselves repudiated this as decadent luxury. This is why when St Dominic established his Order of Preachers, that he instilled in them and practiced it himself, to live “apostolic poverty” that validated the truth of what they were preaching. They were itinerary missionary preachers who were to practice what they preached, bringing the light of saving truth to all who are trapped in the darkness of heresy, so that the Gospel could set people free. 

This is why Dominican spiritually can be said to be specifically Incarnational, emphasising the goodness and beauty of creation as coming from God - all coming from God and all leading back to God. This is the famous theological theme of exitus and reditus (exit and return). God is the source, cause and origin of all reality, and creation is the overflow of the goodness of God. Although corrupted by sin, creation is still intrinsically good. Humanity and all creation is redeemed and sanctified by Jesus, then united in him it returns back to God.  

This doctrine of the goodness of creation is obviously standard orthodox theology, however it is also a unique particular theme in Dominican spirituality. The truth is not merely intellectual, but the mind and person is brought up to God through contemplating reality and encountering the Supreme Truth, the Holy Trinity. Truth is experienced through divine revelation and the context of Liturgy, as well as through human reasoning and through nature, because they all express Ave lead back to Ultimate Truth. This truth fully unites in the person of Jesus Christ, all of spiritual and physical reality who is the centre and apex of everything. 

The simplest, most popular and most effective expression of Dominican spirituality and evangelisation was the devotion of the Rosary. This consisted of 150 Hail Mary’s daily, in imitation of the monastic practice of  praying 150 psalms everyday, going back to the Desert Fathers. Repeating and proclaiming the angelic salutation (Luke 1:28) again and again, announcing the beginning of our salvation in this prayer. Then meditating on the mysteries of the life of Jesus Christ  as historical events, but also mystical truths that all Christians are invited to share in together with Jesus through faith. 

Regular meditation on the life of Christ in order to be united to Christ to so he becomes alive in us, and lives in us - this is Incarnational spirituality! Honouring Mary the Mother of God, who gave birth to the God-made-man, the Word-made-flesh, and entering into the moment of her yes as all creation held its breath in anticipation for her response. This is the beautiful, precious heritage of the rosary that was developed by the children of St Dominic, the man of prayer. Although historically it was not exclusive to the Dominicans, what most Catholics know as the devotional prayer practice of rosary is actually the Dominican Rosary, their style of prayer has become the norm for most Catholics today. 

St Dominic needed to be able to bring the goodness of the world and the truth of the faith to the heretics who rejected both. To do this he needed to gain their respect as a man who lived ascetically and was not corrupted by luxury. Hence the creative solution he developed in his friars of itinerant monastic preachers who were true men of prayer and of God. This was part of the movement to reclaim “apostolic simplicity” in a time when the perception was that monastic life was more interested in luxury than in God and people. Previously movements had been initiated by St Bernard and the Cistercians, as well as St Norbert and his Canons. The most famous contemporary of St Dominic is St Francis of Assisi himself, the Poverello - the poor one of Christ who in receiving the stigmata was seen not only as the perfect imitator of Jesus Christ, but totally confirmed through the manifesto of the stigmata. 

Unlike these other saints and founders we do not have any writings of St Dominic himself unfortunately. However, we do have a very beautiful but little known testimony of his spiritual life, known as his 9 ways of prayer. This is a collected testimony of specific ways that St Dominic was regularly seen to pray. 

In today’s age of interest in yoga and other non Christian forms of spirituality, the ways of St Dominic can be a helpful alternative and effective antidote to this. For many Catholics, their faith is exclusively an intellectual exercise, or a series of truths that they accept and believe - but it has no impact on their day to day life. Or for other Catholics, they find comfort in particular external devotions and sacramentals that can at times learn towards superstition and error without the truth of the Gospel. But most Catholics do not really think much about physical postures and ways of praying in a fully embodied way other than kneeling. In Byzantine Christianity, they have retained the practice among laity and monastics, of partial and full prostrations known as metania. But in Western Christianity we have lost the practice of prostrations and it has become associated with how Muslims pray. 

The beautiful illustration and example of St Dominic’s 9 ways of prayer, show us that prayer is not something static. Prayer should always be dynamic and life giving, because it is a relationship with the Living God. So all our prayer, whether formal or personal, liturgical or private, should always have as it’s goal to become prayer of the heart - pure prayer from our entire being. Not just lip service or empty words, not just ritual without emotion or understanding, not just emotional sensationalism without spiritual reasoning. Prayer should aim towards expressing the fullness of our being, symbolised by what we often call the “heart” - as reaching out to God, while simultaneously being open and receptive to God. A true encounter that is transformative, something that changes us and makes us somehow more alive, more real. This is deep, true, pure contemplative and mystical prayer. Union with God so that we are so full of God, that God shines through us, that people can feel the Presence of Christ in our way of speaking and being. That our whole life becomes a living witness of God and the aroma of Christ in us will draw all people back to God (2 Corinthians 2:15). 

There is no specific or set “method” to pray. Because prayer is personal, it is relationship with God. We raise our minds and heart to God in love, speaking and listening in trust and faith. Everyone is unique. 

However I have found great benefit personally in incorporating physical aspects in prayer. Although we stand, sit and kneel in Mass - how many of us pray this way outside of Mass? Some people when at home may kneel, some people might close their eyes, some put their hands together, some raise their hands with palms facing up, some stand up etc.. 

For myself I have I have personally found it helpful to stand the entire time while praying the Divine Office at home as a hermit. I like to chant it in plain recto tono style, and to make a profound bound during the “Glory be” at the end of each psalm. That way I’m chanting the psalms and singing the Word of God to myself, simultaneously proclaiming it and hearing it so that the words become my own words. Then through bowing, my body is participating in adoring God together with my spirit so they are in sync,  and to use a modern term - my prayer life becomes “holistic” and integrated.  

Another helpful posture for he has been while at adoration in my parish to lay prostrate face down on the floor before the Blessed Sacrament. This helps me to not be distracted, to focus on completely laying myself and my life before Jesus and just spend time with him, resting with him without any expectations other than to spend time with him. Some of these postures are also found in the 9 Ways of Prayer of St Dominic. 

I highly recommend looking at the different postures that he would pray in, and see if there are any you may already do. You may find one that inspires you to try it really speaks to your heart as a new way to help you deepen your prayer life. All these different ways are just exactly that, they are ways or suggestions of styles of prayer. If you find one of them helps you and inspires you like I have, then Praise God! 

If you find that they trigger a negative response in you and you find them disagreeable, then Praise God! Listen to whatever the Holy Spirit is speaking to you or saying to you, take time to listen, but also talk back and respond. That is authentic personal prayer! Whether we eat or sleep, drink and walk (1 Corinthians 10:31), whether we talk or are silent, ok the company of others or alone at home - every moment of our life can become a continuous moment of prayer, so that we pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17 ) and our life becomes a living sacrifice acceptable to God (Romans 12:1)! 

May St Dominic help inspire you today, to pray with your entire being - body, mind, heart  and soul (Matthew 22:37). May you desire and learn to imitate his example to only ever to speak to God or about God, and to become fully alive in Christ as a person of prayer. 

Like Our Lady, may you desire and learn to live the truth in love (Ephesians 4:-5), so that God lives, moves and sustains your whole being (Acts 17:28), and you can rejoice in God your saviour (Luke 1:46) with leaps of joy (Luke 1:41). 

St Peter Julian Eymard - Apostle of the Eucharist

St Peter Julian Eymard is known as the Apostle of the Eucharist. This is because of his own intense personal devotion to the Eucharist and especially his promotion of the practice of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, as well as the benefits of frequent reception of Holy Communion. At his canonisation, Pope St John XXIII said of him that: “His characteristic distinction, the guiding thought of all his priestly activities, one may say, was the Eucharist: eucharistic worship and apostolate.” 

As noted in my other post regarding St Alphonsus, the heresy of Jansenism infected the Church and emphasised God as distant, angry, and ever ready to punish us. You can still find traces of this today among many of us in our understanding of God. This unbalanced emphasis is a scourge in the spiritual life that has turned many people away from the faith due to this misunderstanding and misrepresentation of God. 

While it is true that many people today no longer believe in sin or the need for grace to be saved, so long as you are a “good person” - there is also an issue among many Catholics who love God, but are so fearful of punishment and scared of God that they forget the love God has for us and his mercy ever offered for us. So the focus for prayer and the spiritual life is to avoid hell and not sin, rather than to love God and experience the intimacy God wants with us and the fullness of life that is possible for us with the help of grace and the Holy Spirit. Our focus should be on the revelation of the Fatherhood of God who loves us and wants us to be saved, rather than living in a state of fear that God is waiting for us to make a mistake and punish us out of his wrathful righteousness. 

As a remedy against the influence of Jansenism on authentic Catholic spirituality, St Peter Julian Eymard promoted the reception of frequent Holy Communion and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Both of these were uncommon at his time in 19th century France and the Catholic Church. This was before the time of Pope St Pius X who approved and promoted frequent Holy Communion in recognition of the damage that Jansenism had done to the understanding of many Catholics regarding sin, and their worthiness to receive Holy Communion. 

St Peter Julian Eymard powerfully understood that the Eucharist is the proof or the evidence of God’s love for us. The passionate love that Jesus has for us is not in the past, but he still loves us and continues to love us so much that he gives us physical evidence of this in the Blessed Sacrament. His love is not just symbolised in the Eucharist, but the reality of His love for us is available and present to us here and now in the Blessed Sacrament. The reality of His love present for us is so strong, that Jesus Himself is fully but mysteriously present in the Eucharist. This was the conviction of St Peter Julian Eymard that was the central feature of his entire spirituality and  mission as a priest. The connection between Jesus in the flesh and Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament is why his particular devotion to Mary was under the title of “Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament”. 

With this background, it helps is to understand what motivated St Peter Julian so powerfully in his ministry as a priest. When we understand and realise the love of Jesus present for us and to us in the Eucharist, then how can we not respond to this in wonder and awe! This should impel to want to go to Mass often, not out of a sense of guilt, but out of  love for Jesus who loves us first and is there waiting for us! This is what inspired his tireless promotion of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, he wanted people to experience this love of Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament and inflame their hearts to them reciprocate this love back in attending Mass and regularly receiving Jesus in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is Jesus Himself present, loving us, strengthening us and encouraging us to grow on holiness. The Eucharist is the remedy for our weak wills and our sinfulness, it is our food that strengthens and nourishes is to love Jesus with His own passionate love that He gives to us and shares with us. 

Holy Communion not only unites us to Jesus, but it also purifies us, sanctifies us and strengthens us. It becomes the preeminent means of grace from which our spiritual life should flow, and to goal to which all our prayer should aim towards. This gives us courage in prayers and confidence in the Blessed Sacrament as the guarantee and proof of Jesus’ love for us. 

How can this not inspire us and fill us with joy? This is the genius and the legacy of St Peter Julian Eymard to Catholic spirituality and continues for us today. When the Eucharist becomes our delight and our nourishment, then we naturally grow deeper in love with Jesus who unites Himself to us in Holy Communion. Our union with Jesus makes us appreciate Mary His mother, who as Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament brings us her son, upholding Him for us to inimtate and follow, and in turn she brings us and our prayers to her beloved son. She was and remains a living monstrance who brings us and shows us the presence of the love God made flesh for us in Jesus Christ, present in the Blessed Sacrament waiting for us to respond to His open heart and outstretched arms offering His love to us. 

May we grow in our devotion to the Eucharist and increase our love for Jesus Present in the Blessed Sacrament loving us from all eternity. May he who loves us first, inflame is with His love and help us to spread this love to others to transform the world. 

Patron of confessors and moral theology

St Alphonsus Ligouri is a Doctor of the Church, founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists), patron saint of confessors and moral theology. 

Online it is easy to come across many quotes from St Alphonsus about the reality of sin, people going to hell through carelessness and lack of repentance, along with a lot of high emotional prayers to Jesus and Mary. However it is important to understand his writings in the greater context of all his writings, as well as the theological issues in his day which lead to him being declared a Doctor of the Church. That is a teacher of the faith, someone so theological reliable and influential to our understanding of theology that they are upheld as a standard for the Church. 

In his time there was widespread ignorance of the faith among many of the peasants and poor people, especially in rural Naples. He saw the lack of catechesis as a huge deficiency for these people on their spiritual life, and so that’s why he founded the Redemptorists. He wanted his Religious Congregation to provide retreats to people in parishes through passionate preaching and devotions to help stir up the faith of people, so they would understand the love of God for them, the reality of sin, and the redemptive power of Jesus. His spirituality was very Christocentric and focused on Jesus the infant in the crib, Jesus crucified on the Cross, and Jesus filled with love present in the Eucharist. 

So you can see that spiritual retreats providing powerful sermons for people to understand the reality of sin, the love of Christ, and his redemption for us are all linked. This required good confessors who could pastorally minister to the people to help them repent from sin, and live devout lives of holiness. 

However there was a serious lack of formation among the clergy regarding moral theology and the ministry of priests in the Sacrament of Confession. Some priests would only hear the confessions of rich and influential people, while refusing to fear the confessors of poor people. Other priests were so strict in the confessional that they would refuse absolution to many people and berate them for their sins without providing guidance on how to change their lives and detach from sin. Whilst others were so carefree and blasé about confession that they minimised sin so much to the point of making it nothing more than an empty ritual without spiritual conversion. 

Seeing this issue, St Alphonsus himself wrote volumes on Moral Theology to compare the different schools of thought, analyse the principles and then synthesise or draw his own conclusions. This was his way to address the issue at his time between the “rigorists” who weee often influenced by a heresy known as Jansenism that over emphasised sin and damnation without the love and mercy of God. Whilst on the other end was the “laxists” who overfocused on mercy that it de-emphasised the personal responsibility of the penitent and the reality of sin, and the consequences of sin. It’s always a fine line between both approaches and so he said that a priest in the confessional needed a good foundation in moral theology so that they could function in the roles of a father, a physician, a teacher, and a judge. All 4 of these are required to be a good confessor according to St Alphonsus. 

So when you see quotes online from St Alphonsus on people going to hell for not praying, or invalid confessions, lack of contrition and repentance in the confession, or even worse - refusing absolution to people. It needs to be understood on the context of being against the “laxist” school and mentality that downplayed the reality of sin and minimised the importance of actual amendment of life - to detach from sin, avoid occasions of sin, and understand the danger of sin to help you avoid it and fight against it rather than not bothering at all. It was these situations in which St Alphonsus recommended and advised priests to delay absolution. 

Now we need to be very clear here… St Alphonsus did not teach that priests should carelessly refuse to absolve penitents in the confession. He taught that if the confessor discerned that the person was not sorry for their sins, nor did they care or appear to want to change - then the priest should carefully and lovingly delay absolution and give the person advice to understand sin, pray on and then come back to receive absolution. This is not the same as refusing someone absolution, which unfortunately some priests were doing and even today some still do. The Church does teach that the priest can withhold absolution in certain circumstances to delay it, but not outright refuse absolution. They are two very different things. 

So when you understand the historical and theological context of St Alphonsus teachings, then it is easier to read his quotes without falling into despair. In the same way that Jesus was harsh to the Pharisees and merciful to sinners, so too is the approach of St Alphonsus. The confessor as a father, physician, teacher and judge needs to understand the penitent, make sure they understand the consequences and reality of their sins, give them advice on how to grow in grace and then judge discerningly whether the penitent is truly contrite or not. 

So if a penitent comes in with scruples and a neurotic fear of hell - then the confessor should help them understand the love of God for them and the assurances we have of salvation through living a life of grace. However if on the other hand a person comes in nonchalantly and verbally confesses sins but does not appear to believe they are really sins or bad, then the confessor needs to instil filial fear of God in the person, help then to understand the reality of hell for the unrepentant and the effects of sin - then if needed, delay the absolution to give the penitent time to understand what they have been told. This is still the teaching of the Church, however it is rarely practiced. A good article outlining this within a modern context can be found here. 

It is important to understand that contrition for sin is not the same as being emotional and crying over your sins everytime you go to confession. Many people today have anxiety and scruples that can impact their understanding and experience of the Sacrament of Confession, so it is important that discussions, posts and even quotes from saints need to be done prudently. If we are not priests, then we should focus on ourselves, our own sins, and pray for others in the spiritual journey as Catholics striving for holiness. I feel compelled to highlight this and clarify it, as many people have had negative experiences of confession - from priests who dismiss them and downplay their sins and tell them off for “wasting” their time, to the other extreme of priests making confession into a courtroom and torture chamber (to use the phrase from Pope Francis). Both extremes are dangerous for souls, the priests themselves and for the Church as a whole.  

This is why St Alphonsus has been upheld as a Doctor of the Church and patron of moral theology and confessors. He teaches the authentic Catholic middle way of virtue, that every person needs to be treated as an individual and given the guidance needed to repent and be forgiven. But this repentance is based on the foundation of the love of God for us, and especially in the redemption of Jesus for us on the Cross. St Alphonsus was upholding and reiterating the teachings of the Council of Trent regarding sin, grace and salvation. 

You can further see where St Alphonsus’ approach is highlighted and praised by both Pope Benedict and Pope Francis. My suggestion from my own personal experience is to try and have the same priest you go to for confession, that way they can pastorally guide you between the extremes of scrupulosity and indifference, so then the Sacrament of Confession becomes an encounter of the healing mercy of Jesus for you, to strengthen you and empower you in your relationship with him. 

But St Alphonsus is also much more than just his moral theology and doctrine regarding confessors. He wrote many meditations, prayers, and devotional works. He heavily promoted the practice of adoration, as well as visits to the Blessed Sacrament and making acts of spiritual communion throughout the day. In all that he wrote and taught, he wanted to teach people the immense love of Jesus for us and available to us in a life of prayer and especially in the Sacraments. This is the basis for all his teachings and devotions. Then he fostered and promoted devotion to Our Lady who as our Queen and Patroness, is our powerful model and ally in the spiritual life. 

Out of all his various meditations and writings, the one that I personally recommend the most is “the Practice of the love of Jesus Christ”. This is his most mature synthesis of all his writings, and the one that I most personally benefitted from. Most of his other writings have a particular style that is not for everyone, and often he has so many quotes from saints that it’s hard to differentiate between what he is saying or what he is quoting. But that is just my personal opinion. Other people throughout the ages have benefitted from, loved and enjoyed his devotional style in his writings. 

The biggest theme you’ll see throughout his writings is the importance and necessity for prayer. He often says that those who persevere in prayer will be saved, but those who stop prayer will be lost. That’s why he can say without any malice, that those who are in hell are there because they stopped praying. For St Alphonsus prayer is what unites us to God, it detaches us from sin, it helps us to confirm our will to God’s Will so that we can embrace all sufferings as a means to be united to God in love. This is why he emphasises prayer so much. 

Prayer is so simple and so fundamental, prayer is how we will be saved - through a living relationship with Jesus participating in the Sacraments. The more we pray, the more our faith deepens and we appreciate the love of Jesus for us in the Sacraments, this inflames our hearts and will to desire union with God more and more, which detaches us from sin because we understand how much sin destroys our union with God. Prayer is the means of our salvation, this is what St Alphonsus taught and continues to teach us today as we follow our Redeemer from the cradle, to the cross, to the tomb and to the altar. 

St Ignatius of Loyola - Master of Spiritual Direction and Exercises

Today is the memorial of St Ignatius of Loyola - teacher and master of the Spiritual Exercises. 

He has a fascinating conversion story after being injured in battle and having a broken leg. While in recovery, he was so bored that he had no other choice than to read some spiritual books. This kindled in him a desire for God and a passion to follow Jesus. Eventually he went on pilgrimage, spent time living in a cave, wrote spiritual meditations and studied for the priesthood. 

He is most famous for founding the Society of Jesus - the Jesuits. He was fundamental in the Counter Reformation in the Church that helped address the influence of Protestantism and heresy. A lot of our spiritual practices, terminology and understanding of Catholic spirituality come from him and are influenced by him. The practice of annual spiritual retreat comes from him, as well as the daily examen, and most importantly - discernment of spirits, which is used by all spiritual directors today. 

St Ignatius wrote a series of meditations and structured them into a 30 say retreat, these are known as his Spiritual Exercises. He teaches that as soldiers in the army of Christ, we are called to the battlefield of holiness and to give glory to God in loving him and in service to others. We can see God in all circumstances of our life and in all things, and as we cultivate this awareness we can use this to discern where God is calling or prompting us in our life. Our emotions are foundational in our spiritual life and can be integrated as we grow in holiness, however our feelings cannot always be trusted. The process of understanding our emotions, how they affect us, any motivations behind them that are good or bad, and how to evaluate what is from God and what is not of God - this is his Discernment of Spirits. The process involves a series of consolations and desolations that regularly need to be discerned, processed and lived out as we progress in the spiritual life and grow on holiness. 

Through seeing God in all things and finding God in all things, as contemplatives in action, we can be instruments of change for God to work in the world for our holiness, salvation and the good of others. The more that we are united to God and in conformity with His Will, the more alive we feel and the more real God becomes for us. All of this brings glory to God and is our ultimate purpose on life. This is one of the most influential and fundamental insights of St Ignatius that he teaches us in the spiritual life. Our deepest desires teach us about God and lead is to him, and can only be fulfilled by God. 

St Ignatius also particularly focused on an individual person centred spirituality, this became the Catholic counterpoint to Protestant individualism. As Catholics we all need to have a personal intimate relationship with Jesus - this is not a Protestant thing. But our personal relationship with Jesus must always express itself for the good of others and change society. As members of the Church, we are not isolated individuals- we are soldiers in the army of Christ, united together under his leadership. We have a common enemy and a common goal, to fight against evil and to win the world for Christ. 

May St Ignatius inspire us and help us to always choose the greater good, to do all things for the glory of God.