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Ignatian Retreat Conferences

IntroductionVeni Creator, Ave Maris Stella! Invoke St. Joseph, your angel guardian, and your patron saints.

Spiritual Exercises for learning to conquer ones self and regulating thewhole of ones life, without taking counsel of any disordered affection

St. IgnatiusWHATHAS GODPREPAREDFORYOUINRETREAT?A retreat is a time for extra graces, an opportunity to gain great graces from God, graces, which

are not available at any other time. God reserves His greatest graces for times when we are more avail-able and responsive to them. Some are reserved for special feasts and solemnities, when Holy MotherChurch celebrates the great mysteries of Our Lords life on earth. Some are reserved for special places.Holy Mary is our mother and great benefactress; but she has special sanctuaries, e.g., Lourdes orFatima, to which she attaches her greatest blessings and miracles. The privilege of a retreat is to drawdown upon us all the graces of God in their greatest plenitude. Behold now is the acceptable time: be-hold now is the day of salvation [2 Cor. 6, 2].

St. Bernard informs us that it is in retreat that God is always pleased to show His greatest mer-

cies toward men. It was in retreat on Mt. Sinai that Moses received the tables of the law; it was in theretreat of Carmel that Elias received the double spirit which animated him; it was in the retreat of thedesert that St. John the Baptist received the fullness of the Spirit of God; it was in retreat that theApostles received the gifts of the Holy Ghost; it was in retreat that God converted the most illustriouspenitents, that He raised up the most fervent apostles of the new law, that He inspired the founders ofreligious societies; it was in the retreat of Nazareth that Holy Mary became the Mother of God; and itmay be said that all the life of Jesus Christ was a retreat.

Be assured that all the graces of God await you on this retreat.Souls established in virtue need renewing. Your grace will be a renovation of your spiritual life

and a rekindling of your fervour.Souls divided in the service of God. You have now to detach your heart from creatures. How

long do you halt between two sides. If the Lord be God follow Him [3 Kings 18, 21]. Your grace ofretreat will be a grace of detachment.

Souls given to worldly pleasures. One who does not pray, or prays badly? You must return toyourself and to God. For you the grace of retreat will be one of recollection and prayer.

Souls struggling with long and violent temptations. You need strength to resist. If you returnand be quiet you shall be saved: in silence and hope shall your strength be [Isaiah 30, 15]. For you thegrace of retreat will be one of firmness and perseverance.

Are you a soul hardened in sin? Impenitent? A soul struck with blindness and harshness? Yourequire all the graces of God, nothing less will do. This retreat offers them to you, the grace of light onyour state, the enormity of your faults, on the greatness of your loss for eternity. A realisation of thejudgements of God which await you. The grace of compunction. The grace of a firm resolution. Thegrace of a real and solid conversion.

THISISWHAT GODOFFERSYOU.

WHATDOES GODASKFROMYOUINTHISRETREAT?He demands two things of you, upon which depend all the graces of the retreat. Recollection

of Spiritand Perfect docility of heart. If you give God these to the very best of your ability you willbenefit greatly from this retreat.

Recollection of Spirit. You are in retreat to listen to God. I will hear what the Lord God willspeak within me [Ps 84, 9]. But the voice of God only makes itself heard in the repose and silence ofthe soul. It is true that the voice of God, once it has penetrated the heart, becomes strong as the tempest

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and as loud as the thunder; but before that it is as weak as a light breath which scarcely agitates the air.It shrinks from noise and is silent amid agitation. God speaks softly, almost imperceptibly to souls.

Fly the tumult of the world as much as you can; for treating of worldlyaffairs hinders very much, even if they are discoursed of with a simpleintention. For we are quickly defiled and ensnared with vanity.

Imitation of Christ

Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord; and behold the Lord passeth, anda great and strong wind before the Lord overthrowing the mountains, and breaking therocks in pieces. The Lord is not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake. The Lordis not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire. The Lord is not in the fire. Andafter the fire a whistling of gentle air and behold a voice [3 Kings 19, 11 13].

The modern world drowns out this voice and who can hear it. We are retreating from the worldprecisely so that we can hear the voice of God. This week you are giving time only for your soul. Thatis why you are here. Retire into your heart with God, to meditate, to pray, to weep, to speak to the Lordand to listen to Him. You will not be alone when you are with Him. If you are deprived of the conver-sation of family and friends, you will enjoy that of the saints, of the angels, of Jesus Christ.

If you have brought a telephone, a word processor, a computer or anything of the sort with you,

shut them off. Better, give them to me to remove the temptation. I will return them to you at the end ofthe retreat. We want both interior silence and exterior silence this week. You are away from the distrac-tions of the world. Put them out of your mind. Do not worry about your home, your family, or yourwork. There is a time to worry about those things. This is not it. Now, you are going to worry onlyabout your soul.

Perfect docility of heart. This comprises three things: fidelity to the rules, especially that ofsilence; application to the exercises; and obedience to all the movements of grace. Be afraid of refusinganything to God; however small the sacrifice may be, your conversion, your salvation may dependupon that little co-operation with God. A single word of the gospel converted St. Anthony; a word froma sermon converted St. Nicholas Tolentino; a fact of history, a reading a conversation, began the con-version of St. Augustine, of St. Ignatius, of St. Francis Xavier. God wants to change your heart. Most

likely He will not do so until you make the proper sacrifice. We do not know which sacrifice this is, itmay be a great sacrifice, or it may be a small sacrifice. Therefore, be generous and make every sacri-fice God demands of you during this retreat.

Do not be afraid of being too generous with God. Do not be afraid of the sacrifices He may askof you. Offer God what you can.

You are dust in the hand of God. During this retreat you want to see what kind of dust you are!Your soul at Baptism was spotless and pure, filled with grace and virtues. Now it is covered with sinsand scars. Ask God to cure it and restore it to its former beauty.ASKFORGRACES!

Understanding: Ask enlightenment.Memory: Ask God to blot out the memory of the world. He will leave the memory of His mer-

cies that you might bless Him and thank Him. Ask Him to leave the memory of your sins so that youmay weep for them.Heart: Lord, I offer thee my heart; change it by thy grace. Create a clean heart in me, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me [Psalm 1, 12].

This is the time for essentials. How far are you from that relative perfection you should have?Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. The permanent eternal truths are what we are inter-ested in now. We do not care about things that pass with time. The problems of today, the situation inthe world, the crisis in the Church, these things will pass. We are not interested in them now.

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Any exercise or use of your intellect, will, memory or imagination is a spiritual exercise. ) Ridourselves of all inordinate attachments; ) seek and find the will of God in the disposition of our life. Work at the meditations yourself! The retreat master cannot meditate for you! Great reverence and respect with God. God is God. He is not your buddy. The exercises have been shortened to five days.** Dont hold back. Do not be afraid of giving God too much. It is impossible. You belong to God,give yourself to Him. If you are like a block of ice, something is wrong. Dont go blindfolded, you need feedback.

See one of the directors.11** Mind your own business! Obtain the grace of the meditation. The grace might come during thecoffee break. Whenever it comes you must be ready for it. All that is important is the present exercise.12 Dont cheat! Each meditation is a full 25 minutes. If you are tempted to cheat, do 26 or 27minutes. You dont have to succeed. God doesnt ask that. He only asks that you do what you can.13 Dont let the devil talk you out of working. If he tempts you, after the meditation say a decade

of the rosary.14 Ask the director before making any vows. They are serious things.15 A vocation is a calling from God. We cannot dictate them to each other.16** Agere contra. We must fight against all inordinate attachments. If inordinately attracted to broc-coli, we should have biscuits instead. Strive oppositely to your disordered affections. That is how youwill conquer yourself.17** See one of the priests each day. It is required.20** SILENCE! Both interior and exterior silence is required. Do not ruin someone elses retreat.21** Spiritual Exercises for learning to conquer ones self and regulating thewhole of ones life, without taking counsel of any disordered affection.

Spiritual Exercises means it is work. As bodily exercise takes work, spiritual exercise also takeswork. As athletes who train regularly can make great physical efforts with relative ease, so those whohave developed their powers of soul can with greater ease exercise them. However, the souls of all ofus are capable of great things. Every activity of the soul is a spiritual exercise. The powers of the soul,the memory, the intellect, the will, and the imagination will be exercised. During the retreat you needto use them all.

To conquer ones self. That is why you are here. Today people do not want to conquer them-selves: SHUTOFFTHE TV! You cannot. CONTROLYOURANGER! You cannot. CONTROLYOURDIET! You cannot.There are many other things where we lack control. The first battle is against yourself. Once you con-quer yourself, you are free. The heart goes one way; the head goes the other. You are divided. It is ex-actly the same when the wife, the heart of the family, and the husband, the head of the family are in op- position. Heart Head Wife Husband this is no good. The Intellect mustcontrol. The head must govern.

Regulate the whole of ones life without taking account of any disordered affection.Well-orderedmeans that we make use of creatures for the end for which they have been created

and in the measure demanded by this end.Ill-orderedmeans that we make use of creatures for an end for which they have not been made,

or that we use them in a way other than that demanded by the Creators purpose, even though such ause may not be against the nature of the creature itself.

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We want to act in everything according to the end for which God has created us, and in themeasure demanded by Him. In this way, and this is the only way, we will fulfil Gods plan in our re-gard, arrive at the summit of perfection and lead well-ordered lives.This is what makes you free. The intellect, in submission to the law of God judges, this is good or thisis bad. The will naturally wants what is good. You either want or dont want what the intellect providesfor your consideration. Sometimes here there is warfare. The intellect tells me biscuits are bad for me.The will wants them anyway. The will only wants what is good. It is judging the biscuits from a differ-ent point of view than the intellect. I have a disordered affection for biscuits. Can I control myself?Can I regulate my life without taking account of this disordered affection? Can I refuse the biscuits?We are going to conquer ourselves this week! Those who have not conquered themselves are slaves.Today people prefer to be slaves. Once we conquer ourselves we will be truly free, perhaps for the firsttime.

22 We need to have trust and confidence in each other. Be truthful when you speak to thepriests and count on them to speak the truth to you.

Principle and Foundation #1

PRINCIPLE: A fundamental truth or law as the basis for reasoning or action. We need to have

some truths by which we govern our lives. Our generation does not believe this. A truth is somethingabsolute and unchanging. For 200 years mankind has been rebelling against being governed my abso-lute principles. Freedom of speech reduces all truths to opinion. Political correctness is a reaction tofree speech that says some opinions are not tolerable. Opinions are not solid. They cannot be founda-tions by which one can live. Society has become a floating mass. We wait a principle by which we cangovern our lives.

FOUNDATION: Deep and solid. We are not going to build on sand. St. Ignatius received this fromthe Blessed Virgin Mary herself. The end of man. Why did God make me? Everything else depends onthis.

p. 12 Man is created to praise, reverence and serve God our Lord, and by this means to saveHis soul.

We need to be firmly convinced of this truth. This is the first principle for our intellect. Thefoundation is the basis for the whole spiritual edifice. If we are not convinced of this truth we will fail.We must regulate our life by this first principle. All the rest of the retreat is only a consequence of theprinciple and foundation. This first principle is true whether I believe it or not. If we are convinced ofthis truth we will have a successful retreat. If we are not we will be wasting our time.

In this exercise it is necessary to know thoroughly the end for which God created us. To resolvegenerously to make sacrifice of everything which can divert us from this end, and to look with indiffer-ence on everything but that which leads to it. And even to carry our heroism so far as to choosewhatever brings us to it most rapidly and surely, be the cost ever so great.

Why did God make me? Man is created to praise, reverence and serve God! The object of our

meditation today is to understand this truth. Why did God make me? We are not especially concernedwith exciting gratitude to God for our creation. We want to see what our purpose, our end is. We wantto look on the benefits of God as so many means for obtaining that end. Is this the end we have fol-lowed? Have we used creatures to help us to reach this end?

Man is created to praise, reverence and serve God! One hundred years ago you were nothing.Everything else around you existed. You did not! No one except for God thought of you. You werenothing. It is amidst nothingness that you would have had to been sought. You did not happen bychance! You are not an accident of some cosmic burp. Your parents did not give you existence. Mrs.Maccabee wisely told her sons: No, it was not I who gave you mind and soul; it was the creator of the

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world [2 Mach. 7, 22]. Did you cause yourself? When you were nothing, you were capable of noth-ing. Of course you did not cause yourself. Now you exist. You, exactly as you are. God planned everydetail of you. He thought of you eternally! He created you at a particular time. He continually keepsyou in existence. You have a body and a soul. Only God gave you existence.

The body we care for that always. It demands care. You eat, drink, sleep, and wash. The bodywill decompose. It will return to dust.Remember, man that thou art dust and onto dust thou shalt re-

turn! Your soul is eternal. It has no parts. It is not composed. It cannot decompose. The soul is capableof knowing many things. We can even know God, who is . Thus, your soul has an capacity to know.You can know God! It is a great gift. The soul is both finite and . Finite in itself, infinite in its depthsto know God! The animals cannot know God.

FIRST TRUTH: GOD MADE ME!

CONSIDERTHECIRCUMSTANCESOFYOURCREATION!

1. God created you out of His pure love. He had no need of you. You are not necessary to Hishappiness.I have loved thee with an everlasting love (Jer. 31, 3).

2. God determined from eternity to create you. You were nothing and God thought of you.

3. God could have created millions of other creatures instead of you. They will forever remain in

nothingness, because He chose you.4. God made you the noblest creature of the material creation. Your soul is in His image. You are

different from the lower creatures. They are pre-programmed robots. They cannot choose whatthey are going to do. God gave you a free will. This is a dangerous thing. Liberty is nottheright to choose between good and evil. This is a terrible abuse. God punishes evil. God re-wards good. Therefore, we are not at liberty to choose evil.

God created you for one reason: That you might be happy with Him forever. However, Goddoes not force heaven upon us. He did not create your free will uselessly. He must give you a chance touse it.

5. He continues His creation of you. Existence is a gift from God. He chose to give it to you, and

now must continue to give it to you lest you return to nothingness.SECOND TRUTH: I BELONGTO GOD

I come from God; therefore I belong to God. God is my Creator therefore He is my Lord andMaster. The workman has dominion over his product. God has dominion over me. Creation is a whole.We are different parts of a whole; we must each do our own duty to make creation work. We must doOUR duty. God loves each and every person differently. God is a racist. He is a sexist. He discrimin-ates. Each of us must be malleable in the hands of God. Gods grace is always to do the duty that Hehas given you. You will be happiest by doing what God wants you to do. Either heaven or hell will bethe result.

God will never replace you. We are not mass-produced! You have a role to fulfil in creation thatno one else can do. If you fail, God changes the program and Creation as a whole works better. He

only allows evil for a greater good. It turns out better for creation, but not better for the one whobrought about the evil. Judas betrayal was not good for Judas. He sinned. He did not do his duty. Godhad a different plan. Judas betrayal brought about the Redemption of mankind. Where sin did aboundgrace did more abound.

LORD, WHATDOYOUWANTMETODO?

Praise, Reverence and Serve God!

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The purpose of our life is to be happy here on earth doing the will of our Creator, and to behappy in heaven united to the one who satisfies all of our desires. We come from God, we are for God,and we go to God. God is in the beginning; God is in the middle, God at the end.

PRAISE: Praise God, not merely in words. This consists in offering ourselves completely, totallyand without limits to the One who created us and Who is our Father. To give God homage, to adoreHim and to praise Him: We do this especially by prayer. The first purpose of our prayer must be to

praise the Holy Trinity. To give glory to God. To recognise His wisdom and infinite power. This is thework of the saints and angels in heaven. When you say the Glory Be, or when you genuflect, do youpraise God?

REVERENCE: This is not the same as praise. To reverence is to recognise Gods supreme excel-lence. That God is above everything and everyone. To reverence God we must put ourselves in a posi-tion where we recognise that God has a supreme influence in our lives. We acknowledge that He is thebeginning and end of all things. We submit to Him. We order our actions toward God. What I do isdone for God.

SERVE: This is more difficult. God has absolute dominion over us. That is why we serve Him. Toserve Him with joy. To serve God with dedication. To serve God without complaining. To serve Godmy making yours His holy will.

These dispositions must be in every single man. Not only pious souls, not only Christians,every single man in history is created to praise, reverence and serve God. This must be done in Godsway, not your way. This is the only explanation for your existence. Men who refuse to accept this truth,which is the majority of mankind, cannot explain their existence. They dont know why they are here!We have the answer. Do we put it into practice? How much of your life do you spend in praising, rev-erencing and serving God? Is your life an act of praise; of reverence; and of service of the Holy Trin-ity? This is the only work really worthy of us. How great is our soul! We will only realise in eternitywhat great gift God gave us by making us in His image. We are called to know God in a supernaturalfashion, to love Him as He loves Himself.

Most Catholics do not have a spiritual life. They only go through the motions. Most pious

Catholics only have a superficial spiritual life. We only scratch the surface of the depths of our soul.How miserable we our.

Man is created to praise, reverence and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.

Our beginning: God, Who has created us.

Our time on earth: praising, reverencing and serving God.In the end: to save our soul.

We come from God, we belong to God, we will go back to God. Worldly souls cannot under-stand this. We have the answer to the most important question that can be asked and no one wants tohear. We should thank God that we are willing to hear these words. Thank God for giving us the graceof our Holy Catholic Faith, which enlightens the whole way of our life. Thank God for our baptism,

which turned on the life of our soul. Our Faith and our Baptism enable us to understand these truthsand see how to apply them to our lives. We can never be grateful enough for our baptism. Grateful thatwe are keeping our faith in this present storm. The Church was made by this God Who created us. Thework of the Church is to preserve the work of God. Its work is to teach every man to praise, rev-erence and serve God, so that they might save their souls.

God is eternal and does not change. The Church of God cannot change in fulfilling Her mis-sion. The way that our ancestors praised, reverenced and served God is that same way that we mustpraise, reverence and serve Him. No one can change this.

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If we can save our soul, then we can also lose it. How important is your soul? Hell exists, there-fore your soul is very important. The reward for praising, reverencing and serving God on earth isheaven. God Himself is our reward. The alternative is Hell. Union with God or separation from Godforever. Joy or suffering. These are the alternatives. Your soul is very important. Your whole life mustbe lived in a manner so that you might save your soul.

This truth, that man is created to praise, reverence and serve God, is the one that must govern

your life. Are you convinced of this? You are dust in the hand of God. We want to see what kind ofdust you are.

Principle and Foundation #2 [23, nos. 3-5]

I. Introductiona. Welcome Congratulations for coming. A great grace. God has called you here. He

wants to speak to you here. It is an occasion for incredible graces, if you cooperate. It islike an insurance policy for eternity.

b. Condition You mustfollow the rules of the game!i. Silence lips, mind, eyes (Johnny & blind man story?)

ii. Attend conferences, do meditations

iii. Consult priest/deacon daily

c. Recap We have not chosen our parents, our physical features, etc. It has all been de-termined by God. He too has determined our end, the reason for our existence. He cre-ated us for a purpose our happiness in Heaven for all eternity.Nothing else matters.

II. Preludesa. Mental image = the rat race. Look at the world from 10,000 ft. There is incessant mo-

tion, like an anthill. But where are people going, what are they doing? Unlike ants, theyhave been given free will and the opportunity to possess God in Heaven. Of all their ac-tions, the only ones that count for anything are the ones that move them toward their

goal. (Christopher Reeve story?)b. Grace = holy detachment & indifference, a willingness to accept any means that will

bring me to my goal.III. Point 1 Everything comes from God. God is infinitely good and created us to attain Heav-

en.Everything on this earth was created to help us get to Heaven. Man is the crown ofcreation. Everything is for him. Everything is a Means. A means is like a bridge to help meprogress from one point to another en route to my goal. Things can be means in three ways:a) Revealing Gods glory; b) Usefulness, need, pleasure; c) Occasion of sacrifice.What a consolation it is that God has created all to help us get to Heaven. There is only onegoal that is important in life, yet everything in life can help us accomplish that goal! Salva-tion is easy!

IV. Point 2 Proper use of means: Our only interest is to get to Heaven. Everything else doesnot matter. Hence, all of these means are only useful insofar as they help us to this end, nomore, no less.Problem: God has established an order, the proper way of doing things. The means Heprovides us to save our souls are only good insofar as we use them for that end. Our tend-ency is use and appreciate the means only when they prove pleasing to us, not as they giveglory to God. Otherwise, we avoid them, despise them, complain, etc. Also, we abusemeans, causing them to lead us away from God and to damnation rather than salvation.Example: If we are on a decathlon, we do not continue to take the rope with us after we

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have climbed the mountain, or the canoe after we have crossed the river, etc. They slow usdown, they are a burden, they hinder us from reaching our goal. So, too, if our food goesbeyond nourishing our body so as to fixate our attention and interest, then it is getting in theway of us reaching heaven. Same with a woman, a drinking habit, etc. Men especially eas-ily become attached to creatures and give them a value out of proportion with their realworth. We must learn to let go.

V. Point 3 Indifference: If we are serious about reaching our goal, if it means more to us thananything else, then we will welcome any and every means to reach that goal. Even more,we will want to use the best means available. e.g. A man in a hurry to reach Alaska, if givenchoice among boat, train, car, airplane, walking, etc. will choose quickest and best way, re-gardless of inconvenience. e.g. Merchant in Gospel wants the pearl of great price, salvation,and sells everything to obtain it. Martyrs gave up honor, family, house, & life itself.How valuable is the salvation of your soul? Are you willing to take the means, to pay theprice necessary, to sell what you have? Which means are you going to choose to reach yourend? They must be the best! Which are the best means? Those God has chosen for us. He isin control of all things and His Providence is directing our lives. We must be indifferent:Health vs. Sickness Riches vs. Poverty

Honor vs. Dishonor Long life vs. Short LifeWould I be willing to be blinded? to stub my toe? etc.Key: Trust in God. Thank Him for everything that happens to you. e.g. weather. Everyonemust endure crosses in this vale of tears. Either we accept them gladly this makes ushappy and draws us closer to God or we fight them and God at the same time. Be in con-trol. We must have dominion over ourselves, deciding issues according to our intellect, notaccording to our passions and senses. That is how animals behave.

VI. Colloquy 1) Humble yourself and acknowledge your blindness in fighting trials. ThankGod for His goodness toward you, in giving you all of these means, crosses and blessings.2) Resolve to fight against ourselves, to overcome self-love & sensuality, to do whatever ittakes to draw close to God, to attain salvation, to use violence even. 3) Write down yourthoughts and resolutions, inspirations and graces.

Principle and Foundation #3

Indifference

This principle and foundation has two principles and four conclusions. We have seen the twoprinciples, now we need to be convinced of the conclusions following therefrom. Together they formthe foundation for our spiritual life.Conclusions:

1) Man is to make use of creatures insofar as they help him to attain his end2) He must rid himself of them insofar as they are a hindrance to him

3) Therefore, we must make ourselves indifferent to all created things4) We should not prefer health to sickness, riches to poverty, honour to dishonour, etc.Our one desire and choice should be what is more conducive to the end for which we are created.

Why is it difficult to praise, reverence and serve God? We have a fallen nature. Baptism doesnot take away all of the effects of Original Sin. Owing to our concupiscence we will always experiencereal difficulty in attaining our end. Our fallen nature has small attraction for the supernatural. Our sen-suality continually urges us to use creatures in an ill-ordered way.

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Indifference pertains to the will. It does not mean apathy. It is not an attitude that:I dont care.It is the willed determination to use in every instance only that which is most conducive to our end.Itimplies an effective renunciation of all that is not God or that does not lead to God.

Ignatian Indifference does not mean to will nothing. Like a coiled spring the will retains all ofits energy and waits to spring into action. It means deliberately not to will anything as long as Godsapproval is not evident. It excludes preferences based on reasons other than the will of God.

You are created for God! All other things are created for you, to help you to return to God.

Therefore, nature is a tool for you. You must find God in the contemplation of othercreatures. Everything can be used for your salvation, to help you to praise, reverence and serve God.Even the enemies of our soul, the world, the flesh and the devil are tools for our salvation.

Motives for indifference as regards GodI belong to God and He has absolute dominion over me. He created me for a purpose. I am ob-

liged to fulfil the purpose of my creation. Without this indifference I will act contrary to the will ofGod and withdraw myself from the dominion that He by rights has over me. I dispose of my affectionsaccording to my will, not according to His adorable will. I usurp the rights of God by deciding for my-self what I want.

My faith and my reason teach me that God is so perfect that He ought to be loved above allthings, and that nothing ought to be loved except for His sake. Without this indifference, how should Ilove God? How should I love creatures? I would love creatures for themselves, for the pleasures that Iderive from them; soon, perhaps, I should love them above God Himself. Is not this the great disorderof my past life? Is it not the lack of this indifference that has almost destroyed the love of God in myheart?

God is my infinitely wise, infinitely good, infinitely powerful Father. He provides for me. Hecreated me for Himself and never ceases to direct me toward my end. Can I fear that this providence isunwilling or unable to procure my good? Absolutely not! Without this indifference I upset the wholeplan of this providence. Perhaps God has deprived me of health, honour, fortune, and pleasure; perhapsHe has sent me sickness, poverty or tribulation. Is not what God wants best? God wants me to behappy forever with Him. He knows how I can most easily achieve that happiness.

Motives for Ignatian Indifference as regards myselfThis indifference is required for me to acquire solid virtue. What is virtue, but the spirit of sac-

rifice? If any man will come after me, let Him deny himselfand take up his cross daily, and followMe (Luke 9, 23). If there is not indifference there can be no spirit of sacrifice. There will not be anysupernatural virtues. Natural virtues are not sufficient to merit salvation.

Without this indifference there is no true peace of heart. With this indifference, how content weare. The Lord rules me, I shall want nothing. (Psalm 22, 1). This indifference brings true joy, even inthe midst of tribulations.

Many perils threaten your salvation perils from the world, perils from the devil, perils fromyourself from the imagination, the heart, the memory, the senses; perils from without from friends,from business, from pleasure, from work, from solitude, from society.All these perils can be reducedto one to the making a bad use of creatures. Force thyself to arrive at a perfect indifference and yoursalvation is assured. St. Paul gives us the example of the clay, which allows the potter to makewhatever he wants out of it. Are you like clay in the hands of God? Or do you rebel against Hisdesigns? Raise your eyes higher. The angels take their delight in standing by the throne of God singingHoly, Holy, Holy, without end, or they will leave heaven to watch over one of us, and guide us throughthis life. Take the example of Jesus Christ, whose only nourishment was to do the will of God. Mymeat is to do the will of Him that sent me (John 4, 34).

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Man is at the certain of the material creation. The ancients considered the universe as a systemof concentric circles, with man at the centre and God above all.

Natural World = the creation of GodArtificial World = the creation of man using the creation of GodSocial World = areas where we relate with other people, e.g., family, work, school, the clubCultural World = whatever makes up our own civilisation, i.e., language, music, dance

Supernatural World = prayer, the sacramentsThe whole universe is here, not so that we can praise, reverence and serve it, but so that we canuse it to praise, reverence and serve God. All other things on the face of the earth are created formans sake; to help him achieve the purpose for which he is created.

We cannot do anything without being in one of these worlds. They help us to go to God, or theymake such a journey difficult or impossible, i.e., they help us to praise, reverence and serve God, orhinder us from doing so. This leads us directly to the first two conclusions of St. Ignatius. These con-clusions necessarily follow from the principals.

1. Man is to make use of creatures insofar as they help him to attain his end2. He must rid himself of them insofar as they are a hindrance to himThese are the rules for the use of creatures. Everything is a step that can lead us to God or that

can separate us from Him. A healthy spiritual life, the advice of our confessor; and the spiritual prac-tices of a daily examination of conscience and an annual retreat will help us to understand which stepswe should take and which persons, circumstances, etc., are obstacles. We will save our soul by doingGods will. Everything, without exception, must be used in a way in which it helps us to be closer toGod.

Some things are good in themselves: to go to Mass, to say a prayer, an act of Charity or vir-tue. These lead to God. We must take these steps when we have an opportunity.

Other things are obstacles: a lie, impiety, gluttony, impurity, impatience, etc. These we mustavoid.

There is a grey area of indifferent things. By themselves they do not have any positive ornegative value. We may turn them to good or bad depending upon our intention and the use we makeof them. Here we have very many opportunities of honouring God or offending God.

God hates every disorder. He hates every abuse of His creatures, but He has forbidden thosewhich are obviously an offence to Him. This does not mean that what is not a sin is good. We can ab-use creatures. For example: I decide to wear my good Sunday suit to paint the house. I need to changethe oil in my motorcycle. It is raining so I bring it in the house, into the living room, on my mothersnew carpet. These things are not sins, but something is definitely wrong. They are serious disorders.Everyday we find ourselves in circumstances in which a small disorder happens. God hates all dis-orders, even those He hasnt forbidden. God dislikes everything that is against His intention. Those thatare against reason He forbids. Every use of creatures must be ordained to the purpose of our existence.We must understand the value of everything under the light of eternity. This does not mean look atthings and say: This is forbidden, that is not forbidden. This is a sin, that is not a sin. Rather, we wantto think:Is this what God wants? Is this what God likes? Is this pleasing to God? Is this going to helpbe fulfil Gods goal for me?Is it for this that I have been created, or for greater things?

Sursum Corda!

3. Therefore, we must make ourselves indifferent to all created things4. We should not prefer health to sickness, riches to poverty, honour to dishonour, a long life

to a short life. The same holds for all other things.Our one desire and choice should be what is more conducive (i.e., best suited) to the end forwhich we are created.

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This is what the saints do. They choose what is best for their salvation. Before every decision istaken, every time we face a choice let us ask ourselves: What is this for my eternity? How does thishelp my eternity?

This company, is it helping me spiritually or hindering me? It may not be sinful, but it can stillbe an obstacle to my salvation. This attachment to this PERSON, orPLACE, orTHING, orJOB, orSITUATION, orACTIVITY, is it a help or an obstacle to my salvation.

These few sentences explain everything that is deep and important.The main business is to save your soul. Therefore St. Ignatius teaches us that we must desireonly that which is more conducive to our salvation. Right now, am I doing what is best suited to enableme to praise, reverence and serve God? This is the logical conclusion of the principles, which areclearly true, that St. Ignatius has given us. Clearly, this principle and foundation, must be the guide forour whole life.

However, we can make another conclusion: Because of our concupiscence we shall al-ways experience real difficulty in attaining our end. Our fallen nature has small attrac-tion for the supernatural. It is not the creatures fault, but our sensuality continuallyurges us to use them in an ill-ordered manner.

Indifference pertains to the will. It is the willed determination to use in every instance

only that which is most conducive to our end. It implies an effective renunciation of allthat is not God or that does not lead to God. It means that we deliberately do not will anything as long as Gods approval is not evid-

ent. Preferences based on reasons other than the will of God are excluded. Indifference is compatible with adverse feelings and sensible repugnance. But St. Igna-

tius wishes our indifference to overflow into our sensibility also. Nothing violent canendure. A soul that is continually battling against adverse feelings will not long per-severe. This does not mean that the soul cannot react and perform isolated acts in theface of the most violent repugnance. But is impossible to remain long indifferent in suchconditions. Hence, the effort by St. Ignatius to eliminate all ill-ordered affections, or atleast their active expression. The affections must support the will. That is why St. Igna-tius says, desiring only. The will must bring the feelings into line.

Ignatian Indifference presupposes that we know the norm of order, and are firmly con-vinced of its necessity, i.e., we know the catechism and what we are supposed to be do-ing. We are not indifferent as to the end for which we were created. Indifference onlyconcerns the use of creatures.

St. Ignatius notes:a) We must become indifferent, implying that it is difficult to be so.b) We must be indifferent to all created things, therefore it is a most general principle.c) We must incline toward what is most repugnant, in order to achieve a balance.

To resolve before hand to choose on every occasion that which most conduces to our end, isthe only truly effective disposition of mind. It is the disposition of men who are consistent, promptand successful in their enterprises. This is the way we normally act when we intend to achievesomething: we turn to the means at hand which lead us most efficaciously and rapidly to our goal.

If we are attracted by this and make it our highest ideal, we will strive after it in the most effect-ive way.

We want also returned to us thegift of integrity. We want to regain that integrity that Adam and Evelost in the garden of paradise. The bible teaches that when God made Adam and Eve, they werevery good. Adam was subject to God, in his higher faculties. His lower faculties were subject tohis higher faculties. Original Sin caused a universal rebellion. Our goal is to put this rebelliondown.

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GodIntellectWill

Adam Heart a hierarchyPassionsSenses

Preparatory prayer: Offer yourself to GodFirst Prelude:Second Prelude: Ask for the grace to understand the truths of the principle and foundation. You want to

be firmly convinced of these truths so that you will have the courage to put them into practice.This is what the entire retreat is about. Dear God make me indifferent to all creatures, so that Imay only will what you will.

First Point: Gods dominion, His perfection, and His providence demand this indifferenceSecond Point: I need this indifference to acquire solid virtue, to ensure peace of heart, to ensure my

salvation.Rules for the practice of Ignatian Indifference

a) In the use of creatures, only esteem and desire what leads to God, all the rest is useless forGods glory and my salvation.b) In the use of creatures firmly resolve to fly from all that God forbids mortal sin, venial sin

and all the occasions of sin. Fear God and keep His commandments.c) In the case of indifferent creatures, we must cease to feel indifference toward them only as

it accords with the rule of the Will of God, and His good pleasure.EXAMPLESOF INDIFFERENCE

Our LordsAgony in the Garden with its conquered repugnance is an excellent example ofIgnatian Indifference. Matt. 26, 36-46; Mark 14, 32-42; Luke 22, 40-46; John 18, 1-2

The attitude of the Blessed Virgin Mary, when Gabriel announce the Incarnation to her is anexample of the Indifference that we want to have. Luke 1, 26-38

End by reciting the Our Father

St. Anthony Mary Clarets Instructions on how to make a Meditation

Preparatory Prayer before each MeditationMy Lord and my God, I believe most firmly that Thou art here present.I adore Thee, my God, with complete surrender and affection of my heart, and I humbly be-

seech Thee to pardon all my sins.I offer Thee, my Lord and Father, this meditation, and I hope that Thou will grant me the graces

necessary for making a good meditation. For this same purpose, I turn to Thee, Most Holy Virgin, tothe angels and saints, so that Thou wilt intercede for me and obtain for me what I need in order tomake this meditation fruitfully. Amen.

First Prelude The composition of place, which varies with each meditation.

Second Prelude consists in asking for the grace, not in general, as in the preparatory prayer, but forthe special grace, according to the matter of the meditation. This prayer is given at the begin-ning of each meditation.

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We need a method for our meditation because we are weak. If we are having distractions or dif-ficulties we must fall back on the method so as not to waste our time.

1) Preludes of Meditation

a) Presence of God

i) Take the space of an Our Fatherii) Special presence if we our in the state of graceiii) Real presence in the chapel

b) General Offering

i) Ourselves to Godii) In particular the next 20 minutes

c) Composition of place

i) The imagination makes a picture of the subject of meditationd) Particular petition

i) Ask for the particular grace that I am looking for.

2) Body of the Meditation

a) Memory recalls what are the pointsb) Intellect turns it over and reflectsc) Will forms affections

i) Can be a petition (make lots of petitions)ii) Adorationiii) Contritioniv) Thanksgiving

3) Colloquy

a) Talk to God, Jesus Christ or His Blessed Mother

b) End with a Hail Mary or an Our Father

4) Write some notes, write what you what to remember

5) Examination of the meditation

Triple Sin (45 54)

Preparatory Prayer = short and quick, but very important1st, 2nd, and 3rd sins. There is a God; we have a soul made for God. We must be indifferent to

things so they help me to save my soul.

First Prelude: Make a mental image of the place. This is a means to avoid distractions, the back-ground of the meditation. We are mortal beings, therefore we will die. Sin is the death of thesoul, a corruption of the soul. My immortal soul is in this corruptible body. Adam was destinedto live forever. By one man sin entered the world, and by sin death. Now we will all die. We

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are on this earth, rightly called a valley of tears. Ecne is in the Rhone River valley. It beginsas a trickle and becomes a raging torrent. We are in the valley of tears. The cause of the tearswas one little tear, and now because of our sins it is a valley of tears.Among brutes, i.e., ignorant, irrational animals. Sin is a brutal, irrational action.

Second Prelude: Ask for shame and confusion for my sins. An ever increasing and intense sorrow andtears for our sins. Sin is the big obstacle to the salvation of my soul. Sin is the only

obstacle to sanctity.We want to have some understanding of what sin is. The Catholic Church alone has the proper

picture of things. Only the Catholic Church understands mans purpose in the world. Almighty God hasa plan for creation. You are part of that plan. We are free. God doesnt force us to follow His plan. Wetry to tell Almighty God a better way. Men trying to tell Almighty God the rules. We cannot do a betterjob then God does.

What is sin? Modern man teaches that there is no sin. The concept of sin that the Saints, theBlessed Virgin Mary and Our Lord had is incomprehensible to our generation. Men do not understand.Sin is an offence against Almighty God. It is a disorder against Almighty God and it will be punishedwith an eternal hell. Sin has eternal consequences.

First Point The sin of the fallen angels. St. Ignatius wants us to apply our memory, our intellect andour will to each of the points of the meditation. We use the powers of our soul. These are spir-itual exercises.

Angels are pure spirits, free from the bonds of a body. They have no needs of the body to worryabout. They do not need to provide themselves with food, clothing or shelter. They are the most perfectworks of Gods creation. Their intelligence is far more powerful than human intelligence. We are ob-liged to reason, angels know thinks intuitively and instantly. They were made good. God gave them in-nocent upright wills, with a powerful inclination toward good. On the contrary, because of OriginalSin, we have an inclination toward evil. They were created with sanctifying grace and capable ofknowing and loving God. Lucifer was their chief. Lucifer had the greatest and most perfect nature thatGod created. The prophet Ezechiel describes him: Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day of thy

creation until iniquity was found in thee.These noble spirits had liberty. God gave them a trial. The reward was to be the beatific vision.To know and love God as He is in Himself. What the trial was is disputed. St. Bonaventure says thatthey became dazzled by their own perfection, and that their sin was a kind of idolatry of themselves.St. Thomas teaches that God revealed to them the future grandeur of the Incarnation, and had com-manded them to adore the God-Man; and their crime was a resistance to this command of God.

Lucifer was the first to raise the standard of rebellion; he declared himself a rival of God, andhe drew a third of the angels into his rebellion. Consider the circumstances of his rebellion.

1. A sin of revolt against God. Your sins are also rebellions against God.2. A sin committed in Heaven. Thou wert in the delights of paradise, and thou did sin (Exech. 28,

13-16). You are in the land of the saints on earth, in the Church of God, how many times have youcommitted sin.

3. A sin committed against great lights. He was full of wisdom, perfect in beauty and he sinned. Andyou have sinned against the brightest lights of faith.

4. A sin committed after great benefits received. Your sins are against your greatest benefactor. Howungrateful are you.

5. A sin of scandal. How many souls have your sins drawn down?

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Was this sin serious? Look at the reaction. The punishment was instantaneous. The justice of Godstrikes them like a thunderbolt. God created hell because of this sin! The cause is greater than the ef-fect. How terrible is sin? Sin is a serious business. They were cast into the depths of hell and in themidst of flames to be punished for eternity for the crime of a moment. A terrible revolution took placein their whole being. In their intelligence no thoughts except for those of crime. In their will, a desireonly for evil. Their only work is now to pervert or torment souls. Their destiny is supreme misery for

eternity. How far did the fallen angels fall. Reflect on the justice of God. He has no regard for the num-ber of the guilty. Millions of millions of angels were condemned to the fires of hell forever. God doesnot respect persons. Lucifers great dignity did not prevent him from being punished. Gods justicedoes not regard the love He formerly had for Lucifer and his angels. His justice strikes without pity, yetit is the first sin of the angels and their only sin.

SINISAGREATEREVILTHAN HELL! ITISMORETERRIBLETHAN HELL!

Second Point Adam and Eve. They were given at least the one commandment. Do not eat the fruit ofthe tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat it you will die the death. God is God.

Eve is tempted. She discusses with the devil. This is imprudence. Why did she listen to his lies?She sins. It was a sin of pride. You will be as gods. It was of course a lie. We will know everything and

we will not need anyone. We can be independent. No, dad I dont need you. I dont need you AlmightyGod.

Adam commits an ordinary kind of sin. He puts first things second and second things first. Eveis a better friend than Almighty God is. I love my wife more than I love you Almighty God. It was anordinary simple kind of sin, of pride and of human respect. Adam did not want to correct Eve. Con-tempt of God was also involved. Adam knew that he was breaking Gods commandment and he did itanyway. It was a deliberate sin. He was not deceived by the devil. He knew that God had said, Theday you eat that fruit you will die the death. He knew it was true. Yet he still ate the forbidden fruit.

The torrent that flowed from this sin shows how horrible it was. 6000 years later we still sufferfrom it. The majority of mankind have died and gone to Hell because of this sin.

This commandment of God was not difficult. Adam and Eve also had great intelligence; theywere given great graces. They did not suffer from concupiscence or an inclination to evil. All these dif-ficulties we have with spiritual things are a consequence of this sin. Adam was blind to the knowntruth. When you sin, are you not also blind? How many deliberate sins do we commit?

Adam was deprived of grace and original justice. He had been a child of God; he became achild of wrath. The wounds of Original Sin struck his soul. His mind, which had been filled with greatknowledge and lights, was now given up to doubts and uncertainty. His heart lost its inclination togood and was now obliged to struggle against his passions. His conscience had lost its innocence andits peace and is now tormented by remorse. These are the fruits of sin.

The rebellion in nature: freezing cold, excessive heat, storms, the revolt of the animals, the ster-

ility of the earth, which of itself produces only thorns and thistles. These are the fruits of sin.Gods anger poured vengeance for this sin on all of Adams descendants. Pestilence, famine,

wars, crime, murders, violence, social miseries. These are the fruits of sin. Sickness and death are thefruits of sin.

All this is the consequence of Adams sin! It doesnt seem like that serious of a sin to us. Adamwas told not to eat some fruit. He et it. How many times are children told not to eat something and theyeat it? We consider it a little sin. Look at the consequences of Adams sin! Was it serious? It was most

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serious. Adam and Eve were obliged to do penance for 900 years for their sin. Adam sinned beforeChrist died on the cross for Him.

Jesus Christ has proven His love for you. He became man for you. Are your sins serious? Theymost definitely are. All sin is serious. Sin is an offence against Almighty God. It is a misuse ofcreatures that is especially forbidden by Him. It is a great disorder in creation.

SIN = a thought, word, deed or omission contrary to the law of God. God considers sin to bevery serious indeed.

3rd Point Consider a person who was condemned to Hell for one mortal sin.

St. Ignatius is not making this up. There are souls in Hell who have committed only one serioussin. St. John Bosco in a vision saw a boy go to hell for one mortal sin. He never repented. There areother such stories in the lives of the saints. There is a story of a five year old boy who was condemnedto hell after one mortal sin. Today they dont have first confession before first communion, they claimthat children cannot sin. This is not true. Any parent knows that their children can sin. Two and threeyear olds know when they have done something wrong. You can see the guilt in their cute little faces.

There is a story of a very good boy. He committed one mortal sin, but was ashamed to confess

it to his parish priest. He had a very good reputation. All of the people considered him to be a saint. Hedecided to join a monastery. He thought, when I join the monastery I will be asked to make a generalconfession. I will confess this sin then. However, his reputation preceded him to the monastery and hewas never asked to make a general confession. He lived for years as a model monk and died. Themonks considered him to have been a saint. Out of custom they were praying for him. He appeared tothe abbot and said, dont pray for me. I am condemned to hell. Out of pride he never confessed theone serious sin of his life. Years of being a model monk in a monastery did him no good. Why? Hecontinually refused the grace of repentance.

There are many souls in hell after only one mortal sin committed against God. People, whocommit sin after sin, do not realise that one sin will be their last. Once a mortal sin is committed we donot know if we will ever return to the state of grace. I dont want to even discuss the possibility of

committing mortal sin. Eve considered the possibility. She discussed it with the serpent and she sinned.To discuss or consider committing sin is an evil. You just do not do that!

We are not atheists. We do not mock God. We dont judge Almighty God. The judgements ofGod are just, equitable and merciful. He punishes sinners less than they deserve. Lucifers sin wasmore evil than his punishment. He deserved worse. Adams sin was greater than the consequences thatflowed from it.

Colloquy with Our Lord on the Cross

What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What ought I to do for Christ?

PRINCIPLE & FOUNDATION I

On the End of Man

After the introductory conference that you had a while ago, we are to consider in this confer-

ence a most important truth which he calls principle and foundation. He calls it principle because just

as sciences have their basic principles which are undeniable truths from which other truths are inferred,

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so too in the science of salvation the first truth proposed by St. Ignatius, is a principle from which one

reaches conclusions and resolutions that plan a life that is good.

He also calls this truth a foundation, because just as in the construction of a building, the first

thing to do, is pour the cement which supports the building; similarly, on this underlying basictruth, is built not only the structure of the Exercises, but also the whole moral and spiritual life

of the Christian who strives to save his soul. Hence one easily discovers how important is the

attentive, careful consideration of this great truth; for if a science is not understood without

well-established principles, and as a building is not constructed without a firm cement founda-

tion, neither will this Spiritual Exercises be made with lasting fruit if we do not provide and

firmly lay this very solid foundation

Let us, then, examine carefully and penetrate it; for the more deeply we think on it and instill itinto our souls, the more abundant and lasting will be the fruit we will obtain.

So, in this conference, I am going to speak to you about the End of Man --- Man's true

purpose of his life here on earth. We will consider here the very reason of our exist-

ence on earth: Why do we live on earth? Why do we exist?

St. Ignatius tells us that we are created, and live on this earth for a sole purpose, namely, topraise, reverence and serve God and by this means to save our souls.

But before I start to develop this very important truth, let me tell you a short story of how St.

Ignatius came to realize it. Know that God works in a mysterious way; because of His Infinite

Power and Goodness, He is able to draw something good out of evil.

Before his conversion, St. Ignatius was an ambitious, brave soldier, proud of his noble lin-

eage in the house of Loyola. // When a war broke out in Pamplona, Spain, the splinters of a

canon ball seriously hit him. // So, he was taken into a hospital. // There he stayed for sever-

al months. // During his stay in the hospital, he lay bored to death, one day. // So, he called

for the latest popular romance stories, which he liked so much. // But, there were none on

hand. // When learning this, Ignatius spoke angrily: "Give me anything you have then." A

nurse gave him two books--A life of Christ andthe Lives of Saints. // At first, Ignatius threw

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these books aside, since he was then a worldly man. // But eventually in a

Desperate attempt to conquer his boredom and take his mind off the pain in his wounded

leg, he reluctantly began to read.As he read, a wonderful change took place in the soul of Ignatius of Loyola. He compared

the magnificent lives of Christ and the saints with his own life, thus, thus far miserably and

selfishly spent in the pursuit of the empty military glory of a professional soldier.@ Ignatius

thought of his boredom over his confinement in this hospital with nothing to do and no place

to go." And suddenly with the inward light of grace, he saw how much he really had to do to

save his soul and how, whether he liked it or not, he was going somewhere. It all depended

on which place he chose. For the first time in his life, Ignatius realized to the depth of his

soul , a most important truth that explained to him the real meaning of life. He calls this truth

later on, principle and foundation. What is this fundamental truth that he understood (He

realized that) Man is a pilgrim and is created only to praise, reverence and serve God and

by this means to save his soul. What was he, Ignatius doing about it now that he learnt that

truth; what was he going to do about it in the future? We know what he did about it. The sick

soldier rose from his bed a sinner, but began a life that made him a great saint.

Now lets consider these words,

FIRST POINT: "God created me."

Have you ever thought of the love, power and goodness of God which is shown forth in

those three words: "God created me?" @ Not many years ago, certainly less than a hun-

dred, all here present in this room were nothing. @ We did not exist, we just were not, we

were no thing! @ Yet here we are tonight alive and sitting in this room. We are enjoying ex-

istence and know we will continue to exist forever! I say.forever", since by death, life is only

changed. We will still continue to exist, but in a new way i.e. after our death, well still live but

without a body.

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Besides enjoying existence, we have been also given minds that can soar beyond the condition of

space and time. Our soul is restless and unsatisfied and hungers for eternal happiness, reaching out

to possess God Himself. # Some men run and rule this earth, with millions of creatures obeying

their commands.

Let us reflect.

Why was there nothing and then suddenly something?

Why was there nothing and then magnificent man?

Why was there nothing and then lucky I, lucky you?

Did God have to make something?No, God is, was and always will be supremely and infin-

itely happy all alone. God doesn't need us at all. Having created and owned everything and

being infinitely content in Himself, God needs nothing. He is all and is happiness Himself.

Was God perhaps lonely that He sought the company of men when He said: "Let us make

man to our image and likeness"? From all eternity God lives in the Blessed Company of the

Three divine Persons: a Father of infinite power, a Son of infinite wisdom, a Holy Ghost of

infinite love--- three infinitely lovable Persons in the family of the Holy Trinity. It is absolutely

impossible to find loneliness in that glorious family!

What then, could God want from me to make Him create me? That's just it! God does not

create to get; He creates in order to give! St. Augustine says, "Because God is good, we

exist." God created us to share His infinite goodness with us, to communicate His divine per-

fections to us.@ Because goodness is diffusive of itself and tends to pour itself out, on oth-

ers.@ God, Who is infinite goodness Himself, created other beings to pour His goodness

into them so that they could in some degree share His happiness with Him.

So it is the goodness of God is the reason why He created us. (Now lets us pose another

question)

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[Man was created out of nothing & Because of God's love for us] (Now lets us pose another

question) (Now lets us pose another question)

But how did God create all things? From nothing. @ There was first a void, then at God'swill there was something. Know that we cannot explain the mystery of creation, for we have

no experience of creation in our lives; everything we make, we make out of something.@

Creation is a truth beyond and above the power of our human intellects. @ (No wonder why)

Infinite power alone can create; our limited minds cannot understand infinite power.@ Yet

God used His infinite power to create me. @ Yes, but why me? we ask ourselves .@ It is be-

cause God loved me. @ This is the mystery of infinite love of God for me. @ He alone

knows why He chose us. @ Yet God gives testimony that His divine love made Him choose

me: "Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore have I drawn thee", Our

Lord said. @ Isn't it wonderful! God drew us out of the black abyss of nothingness simply

because He loved us. For all eternity He has loved us.

Now, since we were nothing, certainly we had nothing in us to make God love us. @ Why,

then, did He love us ? His infinite goodness alone can solve this mystery. All we can do is

repeat with St. Augustine; "Because He is good we exist." You see how completely we de-

pend from our very first beginnings on the power, the love and the goodness of God! "God

created me" means that I exist because God has infinite power over me, infinite love to-

wards me, and infinite goodness to share with me. I came

from God; I am proceeding from Him continually as a ray of being from an infinite fountain

of being. As St. Paul says; "In Him we live and move and have our being." On Him we de-

pend , for our existence, for our life, for every one of our vital activities. Hence, we belong toGod, to God solely, to God always, completely to God.

OUR DEPENDENCE AND BELONGING TO GOD

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Let us always keep in mind that we are the handiwork of God. Our bodies are formed

through those powers and processes of generation with which God endowed living mat-

ter when He called the world and the things in it out of nothingness.@ Our souls, when

there body was once prepared, came into existence by an immediate "fiat", an act ofGod's will. @ Hence we belong to God far more than a slave does to his master, a subject

to his king, a child to hisfather. @ This explains why we owe God the greatest loyalty in all

the world. @ For God, besides being our owner, our king and our father, is also our maker.

We owe Him a loyalty of a creature to its Creator, a loyalty in harmony with the intelligent

nature given to us by our Creator.

St. John Marie Vainer was walking one day in a field visiting some of his parishioners who

were tilling their farms. @ There, he heard the birds singing and he was quite pleased

with their songs. @ He remarked to his companions: "All nature blesses God and the

birds singing his praises".@ Then he sadly shook his head, adding, "Only man refuses

to love God."

Just as the whole realm of nature and the birds praise God by using their powers and per-

fections, so we too must praise God with the powers He has given us. Irrational creatures

like dogs, birds etc. necessarily praise God, for they have no spiritual soul or free will to

choose to act against their God-given nature.@ But we humans are much higher

creatures. @ The Psalmist ask, "What is man that Thou, 0 Lord, are mindful to him? And

the answer given is: "Thou hast made him a little less than the angels; Thou hast crowned

him with the glory and hast set him over the works of Thy hands."

So, we are "little less than the angels." That means we have an animal nature; we have ve-getative and sensitive life in common with the other living things on the earth. @ Yet we are

also made to the image and likeness of God. That means that like God we are spirits; wepossess an intellect and free will. Hence when we praise God we must use our faculties ofsoul and body in His service. @ We are the only creatures on this earth who are capableof reading the book of creation, of interpreting how God has revealed Himself in it and ofactively and freely proclaiming in thought, word and deed the perfections and good-ness which their Creator wished to show forth.

We praise God when we freely acknowledge Him as Our Lord and Creator. @ We

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praise Him when we use our minds to learn more about Him, when we use our free wills to

love Him and to follow His laws. @ We praise God when we use other creature to help us in

our journey to Him, and when we subordinate our love of these creatures to our love of God.

@ We praise God when we adore Him, when we thank Him for all He has given us, when

we ask Him for favors in our prayer. @ We praise God when we offer sacrifice or gifts to Himto show Him we love Him and wish to serve Him. @ We Catholics praise God when we live

good Christian lives every day. @ When we use our faculties to praise, reverence, and

serve God we saves our souls. For to do all these things is to follow after the most import-

ant law of God: "Thou shall love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and with thy whole

soul and with thy whole mind and with thy whole strength." This is indeed the first and the

greatest commandment because it expresses the primary purpose of our creation.

We must all be awakened to this fundamental purpose of our existence. We are not to

live on this earth forever. This is a place of a pilgrimage; we are on trial. We can either ac-

cept God's invitation to love and serve Him in this life, and thus ensure eternal happiness for

ourselves in the next, or, since we are free creatures, we can reject this invitation. But re-

member, God, Who has poured His blessing upon us, is not mocked. He desires our welfare

and salvation, and He does all HE can to make our path sweet and easy unto it. @ But woe

betide those who scorn His vast mercies! If we do not accept His love, we will have to en-

dure His justice. @ If we fail to fulfill the purpose of our existence, we shall show forth the

perfection of God in a way that will cause us sorrow for all eternity. For instead of taking the

intimate life and love of God for which we were created, we will be separated from God

with terrible pain for all eternity. We will mirror in ourselves that divine justice who cannot ap-

prove evil, for since evil freely rejects God, it cannot find a place in the presence of the di-

vine goodness or in the kingdom of heaven.

Remember this : God created all men for HImself and heaven; He never wills any man to be

condemned independently of that man's own free will. Because men are free, they can and

do reject God's love. Yet God gives all men, even the wicked, and the graces and helps ne-

cessary to save their souls. Men must freely accept these graces. Men lose their souls be-

cause they reject God , not because God rejects them. God who has made us without our

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consent, will not save us without our cooperation. God does not sentence us to hell as

much as we sentence ourselves. Just as when the cage is open, the bird flies out into the

open air, which it loves, so also when the body dies, the soul flies out into eternity for which

it was made. But the soul in the state of sin at the moment of death flies out into the place of

sin that it loves, just as naturally as a stone released from my hand falls to the ground. @ Itdoes this freely, for it has freely chosen sin. God has not different mood for those who go to

hell and for those who go to heaven. The difference is in us, not in Him. It is like the Sun

when it shines on wax it softens it and when it shines on mud it hardens it. There is no differ-

ence in the sun, but only in that upon which it shines.

Hence we must follow God in doing what is good and avoiding what is evil. Like our Lord, we

must wish that all men be saved, detesting sin whether in ourselves or in our neighbor. We must try

to root out all evil in ourselves that we may be bettering conformed to God's holiness. In proportion

as we do this we shall also be working well in others. We Catholics are called to be the outward

expression, the very embodiment of God's goodness to

man, that through us and in us, all outside the Church may come to know and love God Who has

loved them first. And the crown of this holiness that we all have to strive is salvation.

Every one of us, especially those who are living in this rich country must realize the truth of

why we are on this earth. We learned from experience that material success and even good

health often- more readily persuade us to live as if we were not pilgrims traveling on to re-

ward or punishment. This false sense of security is common to many in this country. Be-

cause they have their own position, their own home and car, and trust that their insurance

and other investments will take care of the future, many men live as if this life were the ulti-mate end of their existence. The truth is that a man's whole life, from birth to death in this

planet, is but a very small fraction of his future, which is eternity. That is why Our Blessed

Lord warns us in these words: "What does it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, but

suffer the loss of his own soul?" It is an undeniable fact that so many people today are

guilty of the sin of indifference ; they don't deny God as much as ignore Him. They are

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secularists, immersed in the things of the earth to the exclusion of God. They are too busy to

find time for God and the things of God. They have little time to take sides with God against

the forces of evil. The tension of the hurried world leave the workingman exhausted and with

little time and energy to devote to the care of his soul. Yet we stop and reflect on how short

and transitory this life is. We realize with St. Paul that we have not here a lasting city, butwe seek for that city which is to come. ( Heb.13 : 14)

Today, at the start of our retreat, is a good time to check up our lives.

Are we living such that we realize where we are going?

Is the place we are headed for, the right one ?

Are we bored with life because we dont understand the wonderful destiny for which

we have been made?

So many people today, with secular education behind them that ignores God, know nothing at all

about the purpose of life. Is it not a foolishness to sail into an awful void, not knowing where one is

going, or, whether there is another shore?

People without purpose in life suffer from anxiety, frustration, and psychoses. They often try

to satisfy the infinite longing of their hearts by feeding on sinful pleasures. They do not know

the true explanation of the purpose of life; or if they do, they ignore it to their own destruc-

tion. When will they realize that man is composed of soul and body, and that he has to work

to save his soul? When will he realize that the mind is meant to know all truth; that the body

is meant to enjoy its pleasures for the sake of the soul; and that the world is made to serve

the body and soul for the sake of God?

This is the only true order that banishes boredom, anxieties and fears.

This is the only order that gives peace, the peace of being a friend and a child of God. This

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is the peace , which St. Ignatius found when he realized and began to live for the sublime

destiny for which God created man.

Dont expect perfect happiness in this world, because creatures cannot and will never satisfy

the infinite longings of our soul. Only God can do that . Hence dont waste time chasing theimpossible wealth or passing pleasures. I assure you, you cannot take them with you into

eternity. You should never allow creatures or any person to prevent you from attaining

eternal happiness ? A moderate use of creatures as stepping-stones to God is in accord-

ance with our end of life. Our friends, the joys of marriage, the thrill of possessions, magnifi-

cent sunsets, masterpieces of music and art, our industries and the comfort they give us--

all these and millions of other creatures are giftsof God. @ If we have them God has given

them to us for a single purpose i.e., to help us attain the infinite Beauty who draws us to

Himself through the beauty he has placed in them. All these are bridges over which we

must cross to God. We can confidently say that the only conceivable reason why God could

create us men and all things, is to diffuse His own inexhaustible perfections upon us, to

shower upon us from His bosom , ( as St. Paul says ) the depths of the riches of the wis-

dom and knowledge of God, the depths of the riches of His goodness and love.

Let us always keep in mind that we were created for God, we belong to no one but God

alone; and that in order to save our souls, we have to praise, honor and serve Him until the

last breathe of our lives.

JMJOccasions ofSin / Sin / Purity / Commandments

Sins are offences against God that are particularly displeasing to Him. The four main gates toHell are blasphemy, hatred, avarice, i.e., a love of money, and impurity.

1. Blasphemy a revolt against God, a sin of impiety, a sin against the 2nd commandment anda sin against the faith. Our Lady of Loncelot (sp?) reproached mankind for a) non-attend-ance at Mass and b) blasphemy and cursing. In the modern world it is always God to blame.Blasphemy is everywhere.

2. Hatred leads to killing, grave physical sins, scandal and a spirit of revenge. Blessed arethe merciful, for they shall inherit the earth, because they will win the hearts of men. It is asin against Charity.

3. Avarice Money gives the means to everything. It gives license, it opens all doors, and itleads to theft, lies and injustice.

4. Impurity 97% of people in Hell are guilty of sins of impurity and immodesty. Jacinta ofFatima said, The sins which cause the most souls to go to hell are the sins of the flesh.

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Probably many of them are guilty of other sins as well. If we are guilty of these sins wemust also confess the causes of them, e.g., idleness, bad company, bad entertainment

Immodesty is related to and causes impurity. Our Blessed Mother said that fashions would beintroduced that would Our Lord very much. Women are often slaves to fashion. Only recently havemen been caught by the fashions, so primarily immodesty is a sin that women commit. Christian wo-men cannot follow fashions. You must meet Marylike standards of modesty in your dress.

Pope Pius XI, on September 24, 1928 issued the following: A dress cannot be called decentwhich is cut deeper than two fingers breadth under the pit of the throat, which does not cover the armsat least to the elbows; and scarcely reaches a bit beyond the knees. Furthermore, dresses of transparentmaterials are improper. No short skirts. Skirts should at the very least touch the floor when you kneel down. Padre Pio set

a stricter standard. He refused to hear the confession of women whose skirts were not at least eightinches below their knees. This is more in keeping with the Popes teaching.

No low necklines. Two fingers breadth below the throat. No trousers. Trousers are against the nature of women. It is a worse sin than the wearing of short

skirts. Short skirts are merely immodest. Trousers are unnatural. Bishop de Castro Meyer said,Trousers on women are worse than miniskirts because they attack mans highest spiritual faculty,

the mind. Cardinal Siri: When we see a woman in trousers, we should think not so much of her asof all mankind, of what it will be when women will have masculinized themselves for good.Nobody stands to gain by helping to bring about a future age of vagueness, ambiguity, imperfectionand in a word monstrosities.

Women who wear trousers are properly termed transvestites. Transvestite means a person who wearsclothes proper to the opposite gender. Such women have been causes of the monstrosities we havetoday, those that were prophesied by Cardinal Siri. They caused firstly, what was called unisex, andsecondly what is now called androgyny (androgynous: andro male: gynous female), i.e., of an am-biguous gender. This is considered desirable in some circles. It is no longer condemned by anyone. Itis, as Cardinal Siri termed it, monstrous. No one can imagine the Blessed Virgin Mary ever wearingtrousers. Holy Mary sets the standard for modesty that all Christian women must strive to reach.

Head coverings. St. Paul teaches, Therefore, ought the woman to have a covering over her headbecause of the angels. Canon 1262 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law: While assisting at sacredrites, whether in Church or outside, women should have their heads covered and should be dressedmodestly, especially when they approach the holy altar. The head should be covered before enter-ing the Church.Canon 340 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law required all bishops to make a report to the Holy See

every five years concerning the state of his diocese in four areas. The fourth was modesty in dress.Do you not know that you are a temple of the God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If

anyone destroys the temple of God, him will God destroy; for holy is the temple of God, and thistemple you are (I Cor. 3, 16). You must dress to please God. It is a sin to dress to please the fash-ions, or to dress to please yourself if your standards differ from the Marylike standards. Catholic hus-

bands and fathers sin grievously by permitting their wives and daughters to violate Marylike standardsof dress.

When Jacinta was in the hospital dying, her sufferings were increased by the immodest attire of at-tendants and visitors. This sight was terrible in view of the recent words of our Blessed Mother. Jacintasaid, Fools, who know so little of what awaits them in eternity. If they could only understand, howmuch they would do to change their lives while there is still time.

Immodesty is one of the main gates to hell, resolve to dress to please only Our Lord and HisBlessed Mother.

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Against Faith and Holy Purity. There is no slight matter. For sins against these virtues the matteris always grave. There may be a lack of advertance or of consent, but the matter is grave.

If you consent to a doubt against the faith, you are faithless. A blush concerning the faith or adenial of the faith is a mortal sin. Some teachings of our faith are universally doubted today, e.g., Re-garding the respective roles of women and men. Who believes the Church teaching? The dogma thatthere is no salvation outside the Church. Who believes that in our ecumenical age? It is a mortal sin to

consent to a doubt about any teaching of the Church.To not want to study the faith is a sin against the faith. We believe everything that the Churchteaches. We must make an effort to learn what that is.

Reading books on religion written by non-Catholics is a sin. It puts you in danger to your faith. Inthe past, when our Church was a good mother, these books would have been on the index and forbid-den to Catholics.

Mixing with non-Catholics was discouraged when the Church was a good mother. Sins against theFaith are the basis of the present apostasy. Against Hope. Despair and presumption are the two main ways to sin against hope. To think that it

is impossible to lead a good Christian life is a sin against the virtue of hope. To think it is im-possible to resist temptation is a sin against hope. To think I can sin and then go to confession and

be forgiven is a sin against hope. Against Charity. We must put God first.To encourage people in wrong is a sin against Charity.To see wrong done and not correct it, is a sin against charity.Scandal is anything that will tempt our neighbour to sin.Bad example can lead others to sin, bad example is a sin against charity.Bad example, or encouragement to sin, or cowardice in correcting others, or scandal are much

graver sins in those in authority. Fathers of families, and mothers, sin seriously by not correcting theirchildren. Against Religion. Profanation of anything holy, especially the Sacraments. Going to Confession

and withholding a sin, receiving the other sacraments in the state of sin. These are sacrileges.

Fourth Commandment. In our youth did we obey our parents and teachers? Now we have an ob-ligation to help them and to pray for them. Now and after their death. The duties of parents, i.e.,educate children as good Catholics, ensure that they learn the catechism, receive the Sacraments,and are formed in a good moral life, e.g., companions, entertainment, school

Fifth Commandment. Fighting, bullying, brawling. These are more serious as we get older. Graveimprudence while driving. Driving while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs, or driving tooquickly. Advising another to have an abortion.

Sixth and Ninth Commandments. The sixth commandment forbids any thoughts, words, deeds oromissions against the holy virtue of purity. The ninth commandment forbids us to desire to do any-thing forbidden by the sixth commandment. Whatever you are not allowed to do, you are not al-lowed to think about doing or desire to do. What you are allowed to do you may think about doingand you may desire to do it. The rules are different for married persons, they may think about anddesire to be with their spouse.

Seventh and Tenth Commandments. The seventh commandment forbids stealing, vandalism,cheating, borrowing without the intention of returning, abusing property, even if it is property ofthe state. Restitution is a serious responsibility. If we do not want to make restitution the sin cannotbe forgiven. The tenth commandment forbids us to desire whatever property we cannot lawfullyhave.

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Eighth Commandment. Lies, calumnies, destroying the reputation of another, gossiping, reveal-ing without just cause the sin of another. St. Paul teaches that the tongue causes great evils. Wemust be careful when we speak. It is easy to get into the habit of sin against the eighth command-ment. If your telephone scandalises you, tear it of the wall and throw it out. Long conversations areusually sinful.

The Capital Sins. These are not really sins, but evil tendencies which cause sins.

Pride. This is involved in every sin. It is too vast to examine yourself on. Gluttony. A very common sin. The abuse of food and drink. In food, the matter is per se light, but

it can be a grave sin if we give scandal or break the laws of fast and abstinence. Drunkenness anddrugs are serious sins.

Envy. The cause of the envy determines the gravity of this sin. To be envious of the material goodsof another is not serious. To be envious of the virtues of another is serious. To be envious of thestate of grace of another is a sin against the Holy Ghost. It is diabolical. To imitate someone is notenvy. To try to acquire something lawful by just means is lawful. Envy is when we want somethingthat we cannot have or without making the effort to again it lawfully.

Sloth. Sins of omission. The annual confession and the Easter Communion, Sunday Mass obligeunder pain of Mortal sin.

Triple Colloquy

1) Our Blessed Mother: I will ask her to obtain grace from her Son for three favours.

a) A deep knowledge of my sins and a feeling of abhorrence for them;

b) An understanding of the disorder of my actions that filled with horror of them, I mayamend my life and put it in order;

c) A knowledge of the world, that filled with horror, I may put away from me all that isworldly and vain.

i) Then I will say a Hail Mary

2) I will make the same petitions to her Son, that he may obtain these graces from the Fath-er for me.

i) I will say Soul of Christ

3) I will make the same requests ofthe Father, that He Himself, the eternal Lord, may grantthem to me.

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