St. Teresa’s Interior Castle

I find the First Mansions St. Teresa talks about interesting because I believe they are the most difficult to enter as one begins a spiritual life, with all the distractions in the world that keep us from fully entering into a life with God.  St. Teresa describes snakes, vipers and poisonous creatures, which could be analogous with technology, secularism, and the constant barrage of noise created by television and radio.

It is heartening to know that God has created within us, this beautiful castle that is ours to explore if we make the conscious choice to do so.  It does not come without being vigilant to our own failures and constantly striving to do good so as not to offend God.  He created us in his image and so we have the ability, love and support we need to become One with Him.  Why then, do we not do what we need to do in order to obey him?

We have fallen short of the task God has set before us – to know ourselves through Him.  We don’t take the time to understand and know God, so we do not understand ourselves.  We are like zombies walking through life – without life.  We don’t understand that God is an ever-lasting river flowing through us.  We thirst for Him, but through our own ineptness, we don’t know that we thirst and we wouldn’t know how to quench that thirst even if we did.  Only through Him can we hope to have life.

In our darkness we cannot see the beauty that lies within us.  We look outside of ourselves to satisfy the need that resides within us, but it cannot be filled by outside influences, people or things.  Only God can feed our souls and nourish us.  The food of which I am speaking is in Scripture and in praising God for his goodness, for the blessings He grants us, and for the mercy He shows us.

By understanding ourselves, through God’s eyes, we see where we fall short and are able to enter the Mansion with hope and a will to succeed.  Through prayer and meditation and an understanding of who we are praying to, we come to know God’s will for us and we strive to release ourselves from the ways of the world in order to please Him.  This is not a one-time event.  We must continually come into communion with Him so we are prepared as we move through the First Mansion and into the other mansions.

Unless we have the understanding that our soul belongs to God, and we always strive to please Him, we can, through our ignorance, fall into the darkness of mortal sin.  We believe we are separated from God and because we are distant from Him, it gives the devil pleasure to do evil works through us.  We must be constantly vigilant and discerning that our thoughts and actions are pleasing to God, and in all humility realize that He is our one and only source of good.

Through self-knowledge and our desire to know God, we realize our true nature and strive more every day to be in alignment with that.  We put aside worldly concerns, even for just a little while, and commune with God.  We come back to our true source and we live better lives in accordance with God’s will for us.

By Teresa Martens

“It is necessary in every state of life for our help to come from God.

May His Majesty grant us this through His mercy.  Amen.”

~ St. Teresa of Avila ~

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Ministry presents a multitude of challenges.  Pastoral care from caring for the sick, dying, as well as the grieving can strain any minister.  The time and energy it also takes to spiritually guide a flock can be demanding.

The article, “10 common pastoral care challenges” by Thom Rainer explores ten common challenges in pastoral care and ministry.  He states,

“So, for the most part, the challenges are not the members themselves, but the capacity to meet all the pastoral needs members have. Here are how the pastors expressed ten of their greatest pastoral care challenges.”

To read the entire article, please click here

Please also review our Christian Counseling Certification and see if it meets your goals.

Discipline and a good Christian upbringing for children is difficult in this secular society.  Christian parents must work hard to preserve the faith and also raise good, moral, and respectful children.  Discipline is important

The article, “Christian parents, you’re not alone in discipling your kids” by Lyndsey Koh states,

“In America’s post-Christian society, it can be daunting to make sure your kids have a strong foundation of faith. Today’s Generation Z kids tend to be less religious and more relativistic than the generations before them.”

To read the entire article, please click here

Please also review our Christian Counseling Certification and see if it matches your academic and professional needs.

Suicide is a very stigmatizing act.  Fortunately, it is being more and more seen from a pastoral way than a condemning way.  While it can contain elements of the sin of despair, modern psychology is showing more than not, it is a mental issue revolving around a deep depression.  In essence, it is a sickness.

The article, “What does the Bible say about suicide?” by Jim Denison takes a closer and theological look at the sinful history and nature it can have but also its inherent relation to pathological state of mind.  In this, Christianity is less harsh on this “unforgivable” sin as maybe in the past.  This is not only good news for the deceased but also for the state of the mind of the family who endures this horrible cross.  The article states,

“More people die from suicide than from homicide in America. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for those aged fifteen to twenty-four and is most common among those aged sixty-five and older. Suicide rates among the elderly are highest for those who are divorced or widowed. In the last half-century, the suicide rate among adolescents and young adults has nearly tripled.”

To read the entire article, please click here

Hence a theological as well as a pastoral standard are needed when dealing with suicide and the family.  Grief Counseling, Crisis Counseling, as well as Christian Counseling are all important disciplines in helping those facing suicide or families who have been hurt by the act itself

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Lent is a time of renewal and rebirth.  We enter into the desert with Christ for forty days and hope to re-emerge stronger and ready.   We die with Christ in hopes of resurrecting with him.

Part of this rebirth is fasting and prayer.  Prayer is the first step because it directs our fasting and begs for the graces to fulfill the tasks of Lent.   We commit acts of goodness and self sacrifice during Lent to strengthen our souls in our reshaping of our spiritual lives.

Fasting helps one to curb inclinations and passions.  Fasting that is self imposed has benefits in this but the greatest fasting is from above.  This is why the Church provides general fasting and days of abstinence.   The first day of Lent is a full day of fasting, while Friday, in the West, and Wednesday and Friday in the East are days of abstinence throughout the Lenten calendar.

It is critical when targeting vices in our spiritual life to utilize prayer and fasting as a way to overcome our human weaknesses.  Prayer and fasting strengthens the soul against the inclinations of the flesh and reinforces spiritual discipline.   Both personal and social fasting is key.  This is why we not only observe the Church’s Lenten rules, but also offer our own small sacrifices during Lent.

Ultimately our sacrifices are not just for the sole purpose of spiritual rebirth but also as an offering to Christ.  Christ gave us his life as an example of how to live the good life in a fallen world.  Lent helps us to show Christ our love and thankfulness in emulating and imitating his ways.  Through the grace of the Holy Spirit through prayer, we are able to fulfill our Lenten goals.  We must remember, our own works are fruitless before the Lord, unless done in His name and through His grace.

Please have a blessed Lent and find strength and growth in Christ through the Holy Spirit.  May this Lent also bring us not only closer to Christ, but also to our other Christian brothers and sisters through the variety of Lenten services.

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Good article on sin.  Obviously we are all generally broken by sin, but just because we sin does not mean we are terrible people.  We sin, we fail, but that does not mean we are utterly disgusting to God.  We are simply existing as we were born, with the stain of Original Sin.  Through Christ, we are again made beautiful and we are able to find merit before God through Christ.  Hence, yes we will fall from time to time, but through Christ, we overcome all brokenness.  Please also review our Christian Counseling Certification

The article, I’m not ‘broken’, thanks – I’m just an ordinary sinner, by Mark Woods states,

“Every so often something catches your eye on social media and makes you think, ‘I wonder.’

Today it was the word ‘brokenness’. I’m not sure it was occurring more frequently than usual, but I Googled it. It’s almost always used in Christian circles, and always approvingly.”

To read the entire article, please click here

Semantically misusing broken can cause misunderstandings with our relation with God.  Please also review our Christian Counseling Certification

Good article on spiritual discernment. Pope Francis as a Jesuit has a unique Ignatian training on discernment that can help many understand their role and how to interpret things in their spiritual life. Please also review our Christian Counseling Certification

The article, Pope Francis teaches discernment for coping with spiritual battles, by Thomas Reese states,

“For Francis, the devil is not a mythical figure but real. “It is precisely the conviction that this malign power is present in our midst that enables us to understand how evil can at times have so much destructive force,” he writes. “We should not think of the devil as a myth, a representation, a symbol, a figure of speech or an idea. This mistake would lead us to let down our guard, to grow careless and end up more vulnerable.”

To read the entire article, please click here

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Christian Counseling Certification: The Ascension of Christ and How Christians Perceive it

For the longest time, Christians believed Christ would return soon.  After his departure, the perscutions of Rome waged on without mercy.  Christ did not come.  Then the fall of Rome and the barbarian invasions which led to the dark ages in the West befell Christendom, still Christ did not come.   Famous dates have come and gone, still Christ has not returned.  What does the Ascension mean to us as we await his return?  How should Christian Counseling address it when someone is always talking about the future instead of focusing on the present?

Does it mean we are to continually await doomsday prophesies of supposed “prophets” like in the recent year?  How many actually feared the date 2012 or felt our Lord would return?  Christ was quite clear that only the Father knows the day and hour.

When Christ gloriously ascended into heaven, body and soul, he left the pilgrim Church with leadership and on Pentacost, the Holy Spirit.  The last two-thousand years have not been about Christ rescuing us from the world but teaching us patience to exist in it.

The patriarchs of old waited eras for the Messiah to come, so shall many of us await his return.  Whether it is tomorrow or another thousand years, we as Christians know he will return, but in the meantime, we must live our faith and care for the issues that plague us today instead of window watching in a hope of his return that we may not see in this life time.

Ultimately let us take consolation in the Ascension, for Christ has given us a chance to mend his garden and expects us to show great returns–for the day the master returns to it, he will expect great things.  Will we have great things to show him?

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