THE WILL APPETITES, PASSIONS AND LOVE | WICP 47 | Fr Rudolf V. Dsouza OCD скачать в хорошем качестве

THE WILL APPETITES, PASSIONS AND LOVE | WICP 47 | Fr Rudolf V. Dsouza OCD

#whenicannotpray #frrudolf #carmelradience #prayer #popefrancis #cannotpray #prayermeaning #reflection #series #popular Dear Friends, here I present to you the 47th episode of When I cannot pray" talks on prayer. In the last episode we introduced the faculty of WILL. This is the core of our soul, where true union with God really takes place. That the will is closely associated with the appetites and passions is clear through our daily experiences. When we see something very attractive, we try to possess it. When we desire a thing our will is gradually moved towards that particular object. Appetites are closely related to passions. In certain passages John elaborates on the main passions and considers them as four in number: joy, hope, sorrow, fear (cf. Ascent II,21,viii; III,16,vi; Night I,13,xv; Canticle 20 & 21,iv; ix-x; 26,xxviii). These four passions are strictly in relationship with one another. In their operation they can exert dominion over the faculties (memory, intellect and will) and keep them prisoners: “the entire soul, the will, and other faculties the Intellect, Memory and the imagination and Fantasy also go whenever one of these passions (joy, hope, fear, sorrow) goes, and live as its prisoners”(Ascent III,16,vi). It is evident through this text that the passions and for that matter even the inordinate appetites can grossly impoverish the freedom and liberty of the will mediated through other spiritual faculties. Referring directly to the inordinate appetites, John affirms that they arrest the soul’s growth towards God. “The inordinate appetites cause twofold damage to the soul: first of all they weary, torment, darken, defile and weaken; then they deprive the soul of God’s Spirit (cf. Ascent I,6,i). For example: if one is attached to wealth, money, or lust or sex, then these appetites cause torment, darkness, defilement, and gradually we become weak in our reasoning and determination. The only way out of these passions and appetites is the role of the WILL, which can begin to tame these passions and appetites. Therefore, without the active collaboration of the will, passions and inordinate appetites can impede the whole process of spiritual growth. Some of these habitual imperfections are: the common habit of being very talkative; a small attachment one never really desires to conquer, for example, to a person, to clothing, to a book or a cell, or to the way food is prepared, and to other trifling conversations and little satisfactions in tasting, knowing, and hearing things, and so on, being curious about others’ achievements, their work, their relationship etc. In this modern world we can enumerate a number of inordinate appetites like: being victim of pornography, the modern day problem as its availability is so easy through mass media. Then we can speak of slavery to alcohol, substance abuse etc. These appetites need to be reined in to make progress in our spiritual life. Any of these habitual imperfections to which there is attachment is as harmful to progress in virtue as the daily commission of many other imperfections and sporadic venial sins that do not result from a bad habit. As long as these attachments remain, it is impossible to make progress in prayer, even though the imperfections may be very small. According to St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila, the effort at overcoming all attachments is stimulated also through the positive effort at imitating Christ and his teaching. In order to be successful in this imitation (of Christ), we need to renounce and remain empty of any sensory satisfaction and joy that is not purely for the honour and glory of God. This renunciation is nothing but orienting our will towards God no matter what we see, experience and feel. Doing this out of pure love for Jesus Christ enables us to arrive at a state of constant unperturbed peace. In His life, Christ had no other gratification nor did He have any other desire except to fulfil His Father’s will, which He called His meat and food. At times when people are desperate to come out of their deep attachments they try to begin a spiritual renewal through a retreat. Well, this is a good beginning. This step can greatly contribute to stopping the unruly march of the appetites. But this step requires a follow up in the following days after the spiritual renewal retreat. The active and detached functioning of the will necessarily brings order and unity of purpose into the whole human person, with consequent peace, tranquility and integration. This order in the very core of the soul helps it to love Him with all its might.