Scripture for
meditation: Psalm 63:1
O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My
soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where
there is no water.
Christ tells us:
Matthew 7:7
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will
find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
Continuing with
Fr. Michael Gaitley, MIC, in his book Consoling
the Heart of Jesus (Marian Press, 2010)
Three main response rules should direct us during times
of desolation. In other words, we should strive to do three things when we have
little or no peace and joy, when praise and thanks are far from our lips, and when
it seems we’re in a dark dry desert far from God: (1) Ask “Why?” (2) Fight. (3)
Don’t listen. (1) Ask “Why?” After identifying that we are in a time of
desolation, our first move for winning the battle for spiritual joy is to try
to discover why the desolation happened. A good starting point is to ask
ourselves, “When did this desolation begin?” Often we can think of a specific
moment or period when the fountain of our peace and joy began to dry up….While
desolation is a spiritual reality, it’s closely linked to our natural feelings
and moods….Factors such as an unhealthy diet, extraordinary or prolonged
stress, disappointments…can contribute to emotional lows that, in turn, can
easily lead to spiritual desolation…. Supernatural causes of desolation are not
as easy to discover as the natural causes of emotional lows. Still, with the help
of the Holy Spirit, we can get light on them. One cause of desolation might be
our sins, especially neglect of prayer, lack of humility during times of consolation,
and being uncharitable to our neighbor. Another cause might be that God wants
to train us in virtues such as patience, perseverance and trust. A third cause
might be that God wants to give us the valuable (humbling) self-knowledge of
who we are without his grace…. To receive training in virtues is not a
punishment…. If God didn’t allow desolation because of our sins, that would be punishment, for then he’d
be “giving us up” to sin in our lives…. If it becomes clear that there’s some
specific thing you’ve done to bring on the desolation, then deal with it…. However,
if it’s not clear to you that there’s some specific thing you did to bring on
the desolation, don’t torture yourself trying to figure it out…. As for any
lingering fears…give them to our merciful Lord, and trust that he’ll reveal to
you what you need to see when you need to see it.
Prayer: Jesus,
I accept everything that You wish to send me; I trust in your goodness. (The Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska,
190)
My thoughts: Don’t
you long to know what I had to cut out of this section to reduce it to a paragraph?
That is why I highly recommend Fr. Gaitley’s book. Desolation need not get us
down or cause us to give up the spiritual resolutions we worked so hard to make
just a few short weeks ago. We know we can overcome this. So we begin by trying
to find the source. If that dead-ends, then we turn it over to God, and get
ready for step two: we fight!!! (tomorrow’s blog)
Our prayer to God:
Tonight is a good night to examine our consciences and ask ourselves if we
have, in any way, sinned against our neighbor, suffered pride, or neglected
prayer. Then let us pray, “I love you Jesus, my love. I love you with all my
heart. I repent of ever having offended you. Grant that I may love you always,
and then do with me as you will.” (St. Alphonsus Liguori)
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