Spiritual Freedom
How free do you think you are?
What is freedom?
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a. The condition of not being in prison or captivity.
b. The condition of being free of restraints, especially the ability to act without control or interference by another or by circumstance. -
a. Political independence.
b. Civil liberty.
c. The condition of not being constrained or restricted in a specific aspect of life by a government or other power: freedom of assembly.
d. The condition of not being a slave.
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a. The condition of not being affected or restricted by a given circumstance or condition.
b. The condition of not being bound by established conventions or rules.
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The capacity to act by choice rather than by determination, as from fate or a deity; free will.
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The right to unrestricted use; full access.
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Ease or facility of movement.
What is freedom?
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Freedom from…
- Slavery; Bias; Disorder; …
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Freedom for…
- Evangelical choices; Service; Love; Fulfilled Life; …
Obstacles to Spiritual Freedom
- False Images of God
- Fears
- Disordered attachments
- Lack of Truth
- A Lack of Purpose
False Images of God
… just as taking a walk, traveling on foot, and running are physical exercises, so is the name of spiritual exercises given to any means of preparing and disposing our soul to rid itself of all its disordered affections… [Sp Ex 1]
Man is ordered when he allows himself to be guided in everything by the divine will. When this is his nourishment (Jn 4:34), when he lives the filial life, in the likeness of Jesus, the Son.
«ordenar su vida»
Disordered affections…
Despite the seriousness with which he speaks of sin, St. Ignatius never believed in the “wickedness” of mankind, in the manner of so many ecclesiastical discourses. He knew rather that the vast majority of our evil reactions are caused by false slavery: unjustified fears, disproportionate anxieties, needs, lack of security, anxious anticipations, entrenchment in relative ways and vertigo to get out of them…
All this makes human beings react aggressively or ungenerously.
Disordered affections…
It is worth noting that, in the text of the Principle and Foundation, indifference does not arise from the annulment of desire, but from its force: “we ought to desire and choose only that…”.
The crux of the argument lies precisely here:
- the person has an end (the goal of desire);
- and because he/she has an end he/she can be free:
- for freedom is only the suitability for one’s own end and one’s own identity.
What frees you?
- Having a purpose
- A good sense of reality
- Limitations
- Strengths
- Desires
- Connection with the world
- Love
“Man can be free. He can be free because he has a guiding light. And only a guiding light can unify the constitutive plurality of the human being, preventing one of its dimensions from enslaving the others (e.g. the material dimension to the spiritual, or vice versa; the individual dimension to the community dimension, or vice versa; immediacy to the long term; or efficiency to gratuitousness and vice versa…)”
Can we be free?
Magis… More… Más…
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Can anyone claim to be totally free?
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Then how do we become freer?
- we ought to desire and choose only that which is more conducive to the end for which we are created.
- Our only desire and our one choice should be this: I want and I choose what better leads to God’s deepening life in me.
What does Ignatius say?
Desire
Discovering my Desire
- Outside-In
- Look inside… what do you really wish?
- Inside-Out
- Look outside… Who do you admire? What stories inspire you?
- Desire for God
- For what is greater, truer, more, better, lasting
In Dialogue…
- What is it you desire?
- Are your desires unified or all over the place?
- Is your desire God-oriented, evangelical, loving?
Discernment
Every human person aspires to lead his or her life to a certain fullness, towards a horizon of meaning and plenitude to which he or she directs his or her steps and decisions, taking the route that he or she thinks is the most suitable for walking towards it.
“Biblically speaking, the service of God is the cause of the Kingdom, the praise of God is the full life of man (St. Irenaeus), and the ultimate reverence for God is our respect for his preference for the poor”.
“Human beings are created to
- praise,
- reverence,
- and serve God our Lord,
and by means of doing this to save their souls.”
Horizon of meaning
“Man therefore has a purpose, in which a divine and an human dimension coincide. The reality of this purpose is the only thing that can set man free with regard to things”.
Horizon of meaning
“Simple good intentions can pave many hells in the search for the Kingdom. Utopia will therefore only be able to make its way through mediations which are always slow and insufficient, but which are the only ones possible”.
Coherence between convictions and decisions
Discernment
Discernment is an instrument that allows us to walk effectively “where we want”,
without being led, dragged, more or less consciously or unconsciously,
passively or consensually,
neither from the outside nor from the inside.
From the outside, by people, dynamics or social mechanisms external to us;
or from within, by impulses, hesitations, fears...
that can come to condition in a decisive way or even crush our freedom.
Evangelical “contributions” to the human process of discernment
Three callings of the Gospel:
- The Call of Love
- The Call to Attention
- The Call to Vigilance
What is Discernment?
Not finding God’s will but loving what God loves.
…desire and choose only that which is more conducive to the end for which we are created (that is love of God and brothers.)
“Criteria” for Discernment
Spiritual Discernment
- Which spirit will guide us?
- Whose Spirit will lead us to Life?
- Ignatian Discernment is Christological.
- Jesus Christ is our guide to discernment.
Discernment: the Ignatian Way
Discern…
…while contemplating the Gospel.
Discernment…
While I continue to contemplate Jesus’ life, let me begin to examine myself and ask to what state of life or to what style of living is our loving, provident God leading me. [Sp. Ex. 135]
Discern while Contemplating
Why?
Discernment is done together with contemplation, because our values and style are different from those of our master.
The Grammar of the Spirit
Spiritual Consolation & Desolation
How do we navigate in our spiritual journey?
Spiritual Consolation (1)
This term describes our interior life:
(a) When we find ourselves so on fire with the love of God that we can freely give ourselves over to God and there is no competition with any human person or any created thing. Rather, we begin to see everything and everyone in the context of God, the Creator and Giver of all good gifts.
Spiritual Consolation (2)
(b) When we are saddened, even to the point of tears, for our infidelity to God but at the same time thankful to know God as Savior. Such consolation often comes in a deep realization of ourselves as sinner before a loving and compassionate God, or in the face of Jesus’s Passion when we see that Jesus loves and entrusts himself to God his Father and to us without limit, or for any other reason which leads us to praise and thank and serve God all the better.
Spiritual Consolation (3)
(c) when we find our life of faith, hope, and love so strengthened and emboldened that the joy of serving God is foremost in our life. More simply said, consolation can be identified with any increase of our faith, our hope, and our love. A deep-down peace comes in just our living life as “being in our Father’s house.”
Spiritual Desolation (1)
4. Spiritual Desolation: This term describes our interior life:
(a) when we find ourselves enmeshed in a certain turmoil of spirit or feel ourselves weighed down by a heavy darkness or weight;
Spiritual Desolation (2)
(b) when we experience a lack of faith or hope or love in the distaste for prayer or for any spiritual activity and we know a certain restlessness or tepidity in our carrying on in the service of God;
Spiritual Desolation (3)
(c) when we experience just the opposite effect of what has been described as spiritual consolation. For we will notice that the thoughts of rebelliousness, despair, or selfishness which arise at the time of desolation are in absolute contrast with the thoughts of the praise and service of God which flow during the time of consolation.
What do you do in Desolation?
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Don’t change decisions taken during consolation.
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Examine your life more accurately.
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Have the courage to stop doing what your doing that is causing desolation.
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Seek help. Example: Pray MORE (when you feel like not praying at all).
Spiritual Freedom
By Christopher Vella
