spiritual direction

Christian Counseling and Etiology of Psychopathology

Posted on by Mark Moran

Pathology is disease and sickness.  With disease and sickness is the result of suffering and death.  These concepts are all intimately tied to the human condition which begs the question “why must we suffer”?  Different philosophies have different explanations throughout time.  Secular sources recognize pathology as the natural order of evolution.  Psychopathology and any pathology is part of life as organisms live and die within the cosmic struggle of existence.  Pathology is treated in the present moment and its etiology is categorized according to an empirical process of elimination based upon categories of biological causes, psycho-social causes and cultural causes.   Religious traditions also vary.  Buddhism and Hinduism recognize suffering as central to the human condition.  Buddhism seeks to escape the pathologies and resulting suffering of this world through Nirvana or the becoming into nothingness, while Hinduism recognizes this world as a great illusion and suffering as a result of karma.  Monotheistic creeds consider suffering to be a result of deviance from God’s moral law.  Christianity, in particular, recognizes suffering not merely as deviation from God, but also a broken human condition as a result of that deviation.  Individuals are born into this world subject to suffering.  Hence, as a result of sin, humanity experiences a traumatic condition, its consequences and also the continuance of sin itself in actuality (Boerger, et. al., 2023).   Sin, according to St. Thomas Aquinas, is thus a disordered action from God which leads to disastrous consequences that naturally include pathology.

In this blog, we will examine these concepts, but look deeper from a Christian Counseling perspective of an etiology that encompasses sin as the core root of pathology and how integration of modern psychology and pastoral care can emerge to a more holistic and complete care of not just mind and body, but also soul.  Please also review AIHCP’s Christian Counseling Certification, as well as its Christian Grief Program and also its Christian Spiritual Direction Certification.

Theodicy

Since pathology is part of life, humanity experiences suffering and death.  At the core root and etiology of it is sin, yet this suffering and pain seems so unfair.  The death  and gross genocide of a population at the hands of a ruthless regime, the death of an young child to cancer, or the devastation of a storm to a community all point to a horrific world marred by sorrow.  When individuals refuse to acknowledge sin and its corruption of the natural design, it leads to anger towards God.  The question within Christian theodicy is how can a good and all powerful God permit evil? Kelly, 2002) Either God is not all powerful to prevent the evil, or He is not all good to permit it.  This classical attempt to limit one to either/or confuses the reality of human and angelic free will and its part in the cosmic story of temporal reality.   Free will is what guarantees sentience.  God has given sentient creation made in His image the choice to love or hate Him.  When disordered response emerge in free willed creatures, horrible consequences occur.  God was willing in His foresight to permit these evils at the expense of free will.  One can only include that the price of free will is essential to being made in the image and likeness of God.

Unlike other faiths or philosophical explanations of evil in the world, the Christian worldview believes in a God who through Jesus Christ, both God and man, died for His creation to repair the spiritual damage of sin with promise of eternal life free of suffering.  God, through Jesus, did not allow His creation to suffer alone but came as an example to expose the temporal world for its folly, and to suffer with humanity and ultimately die for it.  This is the ultimate act of mercy and justice grounded in infinite love.

Soul Care and Modern Psychology

Care of the soul and mind is essential in treating psychopathologies. Please also review AIHCP’s Christian Counseling Certification

Psychology before the advent of Sigmund Freud was more likened to pastoral care for the mind.  Within it existed not only age old wisdom collected from Scripture, patristic fathers, and medical knowledge of the times, but also an element that acknowledged that beyond the mind existed the soul.   With this metaphysical prerequisite, care of the soul equated to treating many pathologies from a religious and spiritual perspective (McRay, et al., 2016).   This allowed certain conditions of the mind to be seen in correlation with states of the soul.  Concepts of sin, its consequences, the habitual growth of vice in the soul, and the forces of the demonic were all considered when tying things to depression, anxiety, sexual deviations, or even anti-social disorders.  Of course, the primary issue was that pre-scientific minds were limited in the study of pathology.  This led to an over emphasis of explaining everything as a result of the unseen and in some cases superstitious understandings of mental defect.  Modern psychology corrected this but went a step even farther that eliminated any emphasis of soul care.  Empiricism and the scientific method over corrected the imbalance, removing any concepts of metaphysical causes or the need of care of the soul.  Instead, modern science attempted to eradicate metaphysics all together since metaphysics is a non-observable study.

The modern scientific method corrected many superstitious ideals and labeled unknown pathologies to their proper etiologies but in its clean sweep of all metaphysical explanations, it reduced itself to a sterile tool only capable of abstracting data from observable phenomenon.  Concepts of sin or its correlation with mental defect were removed and the idea of the soul was attempted to be completely explained within the physiology of the brain.  Modern and secular science boasted it had mapped the “soul” to the brain and reduced it to a physical origin.   This led to a new imbalance.  Instead of a pre-scientific mindset which over attributed all pathology to the unseen, the post-scientific mindset attributed all pathology only to the observable and natural.

Christian Worldview

A Christian worldview is a religious and metaphysical worldview.  Uniquely different than other religious and metaphysical views, it considers the physical world to be broken with death and suffering.  It considers the temporal world to be a flawed design that was not originally intended by the Creator but marred because of sin or deviation from God.   First, the disobedience the demonic and then followed by the sin of Adam created a disturbance in creation that led to discord.  For humanity in particular, the sin of Adam thrust humanity into the temporal reality.  Genesis states that due to Adam and Eve’s sin, death entered into their world.  St. Augustine coined the term for this as “Original Sin” (Lamoureux & Wadell, 2010).  Original sin corrupted the nature of humanity.  Before, Adam contained great knowledge, control of his passions, and an inclination towards good that was not clouded to disorder, but after his fall, humanity’s nature, albeit not totally corrupted, was disorientated away from God.  With this traumatic state, grace was cut off from the soul and humanity’s body was subject to suffering, pathology and death.  Hence, a new condition, its consequences and continued deviance resulted in the fall of Adam.

A Christian worldview acknowledges the disorder of sin and its consequences as the core and universal starting point for all pathology.

Redemption came through Christ who paid the price of sin.  Through Christ’s death as the perfect priest and perfect victim, the infinite debt and injustice was paid and God’s mercy and reconciliation was granted to humanity.  Through grace earned by Christ and dispensed through the Holy Spirit, the spiritual consequences of sin and its metaphysical wounds were healed, but the the physical broken condition and consequences of Original sin remained.  So while the debt of sin was paid, its lingering consequences of a disordered nature, pathology and death still remained in the temporal reality.

A Christian world view accepts the brokenness of human nature and the role sin has played in marring the world, but also  maintains a hopeful future with God since the spiritual death has been paid in full by Christ for those willing to accept it.

The Importance of Recognizing the Metaphysical In Pathology

As pointed out, when everything in psychopathology is reduced to demons or sin, or the opposite, when everything in pathology is reduced to the observable, there exists an imbalance.  A good balance recognizes that not every illness or mental defect is a direct result of sin, or a devil, but within the norms of the modern psychology has its source in natural and explainable phenomenon.  This balance also acknowledges, however, that many defects are more than physical but also tie directly to the soul and deeper metaphysical realties, such as demonic influence or vice.  When metaphysical realities are neglected or dismissed, then a  more complete care of the total person is lost.

For instance consider these mental disorders.

Depression and anxiety are unsettled emotional states.  Modern science and the DSM-V-TR has given insightful diagnosis to their symptoms and etiologies.  At a biological level, they are tied to imbalance of serotonin for depression and GABA in anxiety.  While there are other neurotransmitters that play key roles, for brevity, just consider these elements tied with multiple psycho-social implications of trauma, abuse, low self-esteem, and behavioral practices.   All of this paints a picture of why melancholy exists within the person but what if there are deeper issues afflicting the person that are beyond the temporal?  What if at a deeper state, the low self-esteem is tied spiritual disorder?  What if despair and rejection of God’s mercy is at play, or even worst, demonic oppressive thoughts tormenting the person (Amorth, 2016). Many times, resistant depression has deeper issues that SSRI’s cannot rebalance because they are not temporal but metaphysical in origin.  The original source is the brokenness and until that original source is recognized, the person may experience physical symptoms or relate to a particular event, but the nature of the underlying issue is not exposed until spiritual issues are addressed.  Whether these issues are self imposed through sinful and destructive habit or encouraged through demonic influence.  It is no wonder that in many cases exorcisms reveal the names of demons by their vice or pain inflicted upon the person (Amorth, 2016).

Another example includes paraphilias or sexual deviations.  Modern psychology identifies disorders as things that cause impairment not based on objective reality of right or wrong but upon cultural and social norms, as well as mental functioning.  Deviations are only considered wrong when impairment occurs or harm to self or others exists.  This differential treatment of morality avoids a particular religious bias but also ignores the source of the disorder which is primarily a rejection of God’s moral law and the natural purpose of the conjugal act.  It ignores the lustful mutation of the sexual act, as well as the underlying demonic sources surrounding this distortion.  How can one truly find healing with these disorders when the actions themselves are not condemned.

Finally, for brevity, one last example includes anti-social personality disorders.  While modern psychology attempts to understand the brain of sociopaths, narcissists and psychopaths, their behavior includes numerous conditions that lack empathy, compassion, and love for others.  Instead, their malignant will chooses themselves over others.  These actions become imposed upon their very character and nature as to be as natural as breathing.  This attempt to explain evil behavior based solely on biological factors, as well as psycho-social and traumatic early childhood events is lacking.  These types of individuals are not just programmed wrong, but their soul is also sick.  They chose at one point actions tied to vice that eventually became habitual to form a sinful character.  Tying together the new neuro processes of their mind with a sick spirituality is a far more complete explanation.

Virtue and Vice are parts of life.  Individuals who cultivate virtue, lead to behaviors and characters that become naturally virtuous and good while those who cultivate selfish, proudful, lustful, or hateful actions lead to be behaviors and characters that are bad.   Modern psychology cannot by itself label these things due to its restricted empirical lens, but when tied with theology and spirituality, one can probe deeper and identify these malignant issues and face them.

An integrated Christian view with modern psychology represents a stronger balance in meeting the etiologies of pathology from both a scientific and metaphysical team that does not look to under or over emphasize each other (Johnson, 2010).

A Psychological and Spiritual Treatment

Healing through proper orientation is key in pastoral care.  The vice tied to a mental pathology is identified and the pastoral work involves cultivating the opposing virtue.  Individuals dealing with paraphilias receive spiritual direction and moral support in cultivating temperance and the virtue of purity in conjunction with various proven behavioral therapies that help reframe and rewire the neuropathways.  Those facing depression, would focus on God’s mercy and love, as well as the virtue of hope and faith to counter the vice of despair, but the psychological and pharmaceutical treatments would concur with them.  Or again, individuals facing personality disorders would focus on humility and charity to counter pride and envy and anger but still receive the critical psychological guidance needed to form better habits and curb certain impulses.

Christian professionals are tied to ethical standards but also sometimes ostracized by secular peers for beliefs or mistrusted by the faithful for their adherence empirical methods of study

These are all examples of uniting psychological and spiritual treatments.  There has existed a grave mistrust between mental health professionals who are secular and those who are religious.  Many religious communities mistrust empirical methods due to the dismissal of God, while many secular communities doubt the professionalism of many religious due to extremism and excessive superstitious beliefs.  There is a place where reason, the scientific method and faith can coexist when properly balanced.  This is well seen in the Catholic Church which has thoroughly integrated the process of exorcism.  Unlike the Middle Ages, where any mental defect that was misunderstood was considered demonic or a hex, modern science has afforded the faith to utilize its tools to rule out mental defect before proceeding into the rite of exorcism (Amorth, 2016).  It is only logical when treating mental pathology to follow the critique of science before assuming the metaphysical to rule out hysteria and superstitious belief.  This is not a sin against faith, but a logical narrowing of mental defect from true metaphysical occurances.

The religious professional faces a twofold mission.  First to convince their fellow secular colleagues of their qualifications and empirical knowledge, so as not to become ostracized and secondly to convince the local church to understand the importance of the scientific method as a tool that is when used properly is not hostile to the faith (Johnson, 2010).

In addition, the religious professional is sometimes tied to ethical standards.  Their role as a counselor in a secular setting demands the creation of a therapeutic atmosphere that encompasses empathy, unconditional regard and safety to speak without judgement or be viewed with bias.  Their role in a religious setting changes when it becomes pastoral and the need to guide with moral clarity manifests.  This can be conflicting and sometimes difficult but the key is to identify the particular role and function at a particular time and the service being rendered (Johnson, 2010).

Conclusion

It is important to identify a proper etiology of mental psychopathology.  This involves balancing spiritual and empirical causes of mental defect without causing an imbalance or extreme in other direction.  The Christian worldview presents a view that sin is the ultimate cause of pathology in the world and that care involves pastoral as well as clinical guidance.  The care of the person must not just include body and mind, but also soul.  Prior times over-emphasized the spiritual causes of mental defect and pathology, but when properly balanced, one can find an effective and integrated way that addresses all the needs of the totality of the person.

Please also review AIHCP’s Christian Counseling and Spiritual Direction Programs

Please also review AIHCP’s Christian Counseling Certification, as well as its Spiritual Direction Program.

References

Amorth, G. (2016). An exorcist explains the demonic: The antics of Satan and his army of fallen angels. Sophia Institute Press.

Boerger, J. (2023). The original wound: Considering sin as trauma and psychopathology as the disintegration of human personhood. Journal of Psychology and Christianity.  42(4). 307-321

Collins, G. (2007). Christian counseling: A comprehensive guide (3rd ed). Thomas Nelson.

Johnson, E (ed) (2010). Psychology and Christianity: Five Views (2nd ed). IVP Academic

Kelly, J. (2002). The problem of evil in the western tradition: From the book of Job to modern genetics. The Liturgical Press

Lamoureux, P. & Wadel, P. (2010). The Christian moral life: Faithful discipleship for a global society. Orbis Books

McRay, B, Yarhouse, M. & Butman, R. (2016). Modern psychopathologies: A comprehensive Christian appraisal (2nd ed). IVP Academic

 

Additional AIHCP Blogs

Diagnosing Psychopathology.  Access here

What is Psychopathology.  Access here

Additional Resources

Psychology and Christianity: Exploring the Five Views of Integration. (2024).  NeuroLaunch.  Access here

Abercrombie, W.P. (2013). Psychopathology or Sin? BSI. Access here

Tarrent, J. (2025). “Spiritual Awakening or Psychopathology?”. Psychology Today.  Access here

 

 

 

Christian Spiritual Direction Video Blog on Spiritual Discontent

Posted on by Mark Moran

Spiritual Directors can help individuals see happiness in a different light from spiritual perspectives.  This in turn can lead others away from discontent and a better understanding of thie relationship with God.  Please also review AIHCP’s Christian Spiritual Direction program

Christian Counseling and Spiritual Direction: Balancing Psychological Self-Esteem with Spiritual Humility

Posted on by Mark Moran

Christian Counselors and Spiritual Directors help many individuals coming from deeper issues of loss, trauma, pain, and spiritual darkness that are searching for healing and love in the presence of God.  The dichotomy of Christian theology that expresses the human soul as a child of God but at the same time notates the nothingness of self compared to God is a striking polar opposite.  Obviously, a person in need cannot be declared as nothing and stripped of all goodness that innately exists within their personhood.  With an awakening of self, the spiritual journey and crosses have life has injured many elements of self image and concept, so it is important to elevate self esteem but also eliminate pride.  There lays the delicate balance of understanding and communicating the value of humility but also the praise of self in the healing process.

Humility ironically leads to greatness because it recognizes our dependency upon God

Please also review AIHCP’s Christian Counseling Certification, as well as its Spiritual Direction program

As Creatures

God the Creator, chose to create humanity from nothing due to His infinite love.  As a creatures, it is an essential truth to acknowledge two things.  First, creatures are nothing in comparison to the Creator and second, creatures owe the Creator everything.  God does not wish to force servitude on His creatures, but He is the source of their creation and hence it is only natural and right that creatures worship and adore Him.   This is not due to a sense of entitlement by God, or self-interest and pride in His greatness but a true reality of existence.  When creatures cease to worship and serve the Creator, then their end becomes unnatural.  This unnatural end results in corruption.  Lucifer and his minions rejected this law of nature and instead chose their own will and attempted to alter the natural reality of existence by refusing worship and obedience to the Creator.   The choice did not liberate them from worship but forever corrupted them in pain and suffering.  Since God is infinite love, when one abandons self and seeks God, the act of worship is likened to breathing.  It is natural and just.

As creatures, justice alone suffices to acknowledge the creature’s obligation to serve and worship.  It also clearly points out the dependency and imperfections of the creature in relationship to the Creator.  It would be a delusion of grandeur to glorify one’s stature, talents, appearance, or works as one’s own accomplishments without reflecting the design and influence of the Creator.  This is not a false humility but a reality that every creature must accept as natural.  When a creature attempts to glorify self, it leads to delusion and corruption, but when a creature understands its relation to the Creator, it lives in truth.  Mary, the greatest and most magnificent creature ever created by God, teaches others one’s own nothingness.  At the Annunciation. she responds to the Angel Gabriel’s salutation with a statement of her graceful state as a reflection of God and not of her own doing.

As Children

God transformed creation with His infinite love.  He transformed creatures to His children, from something to someone and ultimately nothing to everything.  God’s love elevates His creatures to children of God.  It is in that relationship that individuals have true identity, self-image, value, and beauty.   God created humanity in His own image and likeness according to Genesis.  In this way, He infused intellect and will.  This permitted His creation to possess a true image of the Divine that possessed sentience and freedom of choice.  It permitted the relationship to be a mutual relationship of love as between parent and child.  In this way, humanity became a prized possession of God, so much, that even after its fall, He was willing to become human, suffer, die and rise to save them from their own folly.  It is through this additional act of love, beyond creation, but also redemption and sanctification that one sees the great value of one single human soul.  The ransom price for each soul at the cross was a heavy price and God gladly paid it through Jesus Christ.

From this, one can see a balance of creature and child.  Nothing and everything.  It is within reflection and acknowledged dependence of the Divine that humanity’s nothingness becomes everything and it is through that a true Christian self esteem can emerge in a directee and spiritual child.  It involves anchoring self-esteem and self-image to the connection with the Divine.

Christian Humility

Since pride corrupts and distorts reality between creature and Creator, then it is important to flee it and foster humility.  Ironically, Scripture points out, the last will become first, and the one who destroys his own life will save it.  These phrases in Christianity all point to a deeper mystery.  It points to the truth that for one to truly find value in self, it is dependent upon complete rejection of self.  This is clearly the opposite message of Lucifer and his fallen temporal world.  The world whispers success at all costs, elevation of self, collection of riches, and exaltation of achievements.   In modern psychology, congruence is seen as self-fulfillment and finding happiness in what one deems to be good.  So many false images of happiness are sought to fulfill one’s own ego and desire in the mirage of temporal happiness only to be illusions that lead to chaos, loss, dissatisfaction, and moral degeneration.  As Lucifer looked to idolize self, and how Adam sought self actualization without God, the temporal and secular man seeks self approval, pleasure and acknowledgement of others.  The demand and adoration of the narcissistic self distorts the reality of creature and attempts to worship self as Creator.  While this may seem subtle and maybe not as dramatic as Lucifer or Adam, the continuation of actions and their temporal gratification and glorification of self create narcissistic qualities that through habit become one’s own deification.  Whether its through social media, fame and fortune or power, the creature becomes intoxicated with self and loses its identity.  This in turn leads to corruption as pride, the source of all sin, leads to further deformity in greed, avarice, lust and envy for more.  It is of no wonder then that creatures then attempt to define their own laws of moral conduct since they have become their own god.

Christian humility is the answer to this disastrous corruption of self.  It is not a degradation of self but is a truthful mirror of a creature in dependence of a Creator.  Like new born babies and infants, Christian humility acknowledges the need of a parent and the inability to exist or succeed without the Divine.  It acknowledges that all accomplishments, successes, fortunes, riches, blessings, talents, virtues, and spiritual progress are God’s grace.  It acknowledges that the creature cannot walk without the gentle guidance of the Creator.   Likening the fallen world to a baby’s crib or playground, the great empires that are built in the creature’s mind are merely tall Lego blocks as compared to omnipotent and eternal presence of God.  To exalt such feeble success to infinite greatness is a folly that Christian humility illuminates.  Christian humility in spiritual direction does not look to tear the person’s success down, or make the person feel insignificant, it seeks to awaken the person from the illusion of the Matrix and to embrace the truth that all good comes from God and not self.  Humility protects the creature from corruption and aligns the creature to reality and truth so that it can grow and become fulfilled as a child of God.  Humility teaches a far greater self value then the self can ever afford for it is supported by a Divine enterprise and loving Father.

When the God, via the Second Person, became incarnated in Jesus Christ, He taught creation these truths.  Jesus highlighted the folly of self adoration and the foolishness of seeking the world before the soul.  Jesus refused the powers afforded to Him by a mere creature, namely Lucifer.  Who in his delusions sought as a creature to afford the Creator power and wealth in a fallen world.  Jesus rejected the pride of Lucifer in the desert and revealed the truth that humility over pride is reality.  Jesus did not grant Himself a rich palace, but instead chose to be born in a stable.  He lived for 30 years under moderate means as a carpenter supporting His mother.  He enjoyed life in its simplicity as a testament to truth of reality.  In His ultimate act of humility, as both God and man, the omnipotent and eternal God, hid Himself in His humanity and permitted the profane hands of creatures to mock and crucify Him.  He stood before the pompus pride of Pilate and permitted this execution to take place, although as Creator, He could at any moment smite the entire Roman legion.  In this humility, He surrendered Himself willing out of love for all His creation to be openly executed.  He never reprimanded them, or exposed His Creatorship but with humility accepted the will of the Father. Christ said to His apostles regarding this fallen world, that if this place rejected Himself, the Creator, it will reject His followers.  He taught them to seek these injustices, these rebukes, and embarrassments and to offer them to God.  These slights should be seen as opportunities to suffer with Jesus and for Him to offer our imperfect deeds to the Father in His name.

In the text, “The Spiritual Combat” by Dom Scupoli, like many writers of his time, there was a great emphasis to acknowledge the nothingness of self.  One sees this in the writings of Avila, as well as Loyola.  Scupoli states that one should completely distrust self and place all trust in the Creator.  In doing so, one accepts the reality that without God, one is truly nothing.  One cannot do a single good deed without the merits of grace earned for oneself by Jesus Christ.  In addition, one should honestly realize that without the gift of love from God, one deserves nothing from God, but nonetheless owes Him everything.  Scupoli points out that pride corrupts the soul and breaks one from the reality of a creature’s true status.   One should then seek the opportunity to be humbled by others and to always reflect one’s accomplishments to God.  In this way, one experiences the truth of reality and avoids the destruction of self glorification.

Self Esteem in Counseling Vs Christian Humility

Christian humility acknowledges God as Creator and source of all our gifts and virtues. Please also review AIHCP’s Christian Counseling Certification and Spiritual Direction Program

While many humanistic counselors may see the degradation of self and one’s inability to do good without the external source of God as undignified, the reality is it prevents the disastrous lies that lead to vice and ultimate maladaptive coping.  Self-esteem is critical for the depressed and broken.  Individuals need to be taught to respect themselves, to love themselves, and to find joy in success.  Counselors help them cultivate the tools to create and meet goals.  It is healthy to find “pride” in accomplishments.    It is also not sinful to accumulate temporal goods and find joy in temporal successes.  However, when the source of one’s self esteem is rooted in self-glorification and one’s own morality and laws, then it becomes untruthful to reality and can cause degradation and misery.  One’s self-esteem must be tied to God.  When tied to God, it is more than it can ever be alone.  One whose self-esteem is tied to God values and loves oneself because God loved oneself first.  One whose self-esteem is tied to God is placed on an objective and unbreakable foundation of Divinity rather than  shaky subjective weak foundation of frail humanity.  Finally, humility with God grants a calm sense of peace in the presence.  Unlike pride which is always moving and self serving, seeking and never content, humility grants peace about the past and security about the future.  Depression of the past or anxiety of the future is tied to pride and not humility.  The humble soul is content and secure in the grace of God because it submits to His will and serves Him.

It is natural than that true self-esteem correlates not with humanistic pride and narcissism, but with Christian humility.  The acknowledgement of weakness and dependency does not weaken self-esteem, but grants it the source of its power through the Creator.  Humility grants to the Creator His reflection and image in the creature.  This humility then elevates the creature beyond any limits imaginable.  This may not translate in this valley of tears as success but it does translate in eternity with Christ by emulating Christ on earth.  Christ’s message of truth was humility because it frees oneself from the illusions of Lucifer.   A great saint once said, the greatest weapon against the devil is humility because he does not know it.

Humility and Psychology

Since humility is so critical to salvation, it is no wonder then that is critical to temporal existence as well.  While counselors help navigate individuals through issues of depression and low self-esteem there needs to remain a balance that does not transgress into narcissistic behavior.  While even secular psychology looks to free the self to find happiness, even it recognizes the dangers of extremes in behavior.  When self esteem becomes narcissistic pride it becomes dysfunctional and socially impedes a person’s mental and emotional progress in life.  In the article, “What Is Humility & Why Is It Important?, Schaffner points out various critical elements of humility in psychology and social interaction.  She points out that humility is key accurate self portrayal, modesty and awareness of others (2020).  In addition, Schaffner lists other key elements of humility which include a willingness to see one’s true self, an understanding of one’s appropriate place in the world, an understanding of one’s faults, limitations and mistakes, a true openness to change, a focus on others, and an ability to appreciate other things outside ourselves (2020).

Like the spiritual benefits, the emotional and psychological benefits seem to both open oneself to others, service, and truth.  Pride that becomes malignant is detrimental to self, growth and society.  Pride becomes an injustice to reality, self and others.   It makes sense than that a Christian perspective on humility is far from detrimental to self-esteem but in reality beneficial.

The Devil and Spiritual Pride

Pride becomes narcissism and creates the illusion of greatness which leads to corruption.

For those who seek God, spirituality opens many doors of illumination and unity with Him.  However, like the souls who seek power in secular venues, spiritual people can befall pride in spiritual endeavors.   Instead of riches and money and fame, the soul boasts of virtue and sanctity and holiness.  Scupoli notes that this is one of the traps of the devil.  Individuals exposed to the world are ensnared differently than individuals seeking spiritual perfection.  Like the Pharisees, spiritual virtue becomes source of power over others.  It becomes their own cultivating gifts instead of a grace given by the Creator.   These souls then find pleasure in their own virtue as a end in itself.  In this pride begins to rot within the soul.   Instead of thanksgiving, gratefulness and humility for grace, the individual gravitates towards holy deeds as their own.  In turn, instead of empathy for others in sin, they find judgement.  Instead of reflection of their own failures and past falls, they only condemn those committing the same offenses.  They feel a sense of entitlement and status and wish for their spiritual sanctity or message to be seen and heard.  They fall into disobedience to spiritual authority and envy others of spiritual status, as well as seek ways to overcome spiritual rivals.  This is the corruption instilled by Satan in spiritual pride.  It utilizes the same schema but unlike utilization in a secular setting, it finds its use in a spiritual one.  This is why Christ was so abrupt with the Pharisees because He understood their rottenness and pride.

Scupoli recommends that individuals flee all vanity in the spiritual life and to recall one’s own distrust of self and complete reliance of God.  While thankful and happy to receive graces from God as any child, he also reminds one to never believe that these gifts are a result of sanctity or worthiness.   He warns one to never find disgust in another’s faults but to remember the same faults that exist in oneself and if not for God’s grace, how one would be no better.  He reminds one that one fails God or sins to not scrupulously over analyze the fall but to seek immediate forgiveness.  When one over analyzes failure, one tends to oppositely attribute success or failure as to one’s own means.  One can never reach perfection.  One is never worthy.  Only through blood of Christ and the ransom paid is one made worthy.  A humble soul participates with Christ but no works or deeds can ever save himself but only through the faith of Christ which produces a living faith of works energized by His grace.  So, no matter how hard one may try to reach Christian perfection, no creature of himself or herself can ever be perfect.  Many sincere souls rightfully fear offending God and seek each day to avoid sin at all costs.  While this is important, it is equally important to understand that one when fails, it is due to our one’s own brokenness and one cannot allow pride to seep in the crevices of thinking one cannot sin.  Humility since it is based in truth is also aware of brokenness and sin as a part of an imperfect nature due to Original Sin.  Hence when sin occurs, one should humbly acknowledge the brokenness and pray harder to God for future graces.  Humility constantly re-directs oneself to God after sin because it acknowledges that oneself cannot live a good life without God’s grace.

Scupoli reminds individuals that sin and suffering and crosses are tools God utilizes to foster humility.  Through failures, the soul realizes even more so its utter dependence upon God.  The moment the soul falsely feels it can move forward of its own devices and virtue, then it is destined for failure via the vice of pride.  In this way, God reminds His children that they need Him, not out of arrogance but out of necessity of reality.

Conclusion 

Work hard, stay humble and reflect all greatness to God in your life. Please also review AIHCP’s Christian Counseling Certification and also its Spiritual Direction Program

Christian humility is not meant to deface self-esteem, or identity.  It is meant to strengthen it through connection with God.  It is based in reality and not the false assumptions and illusions of the world that celebrate arrogance, power, and success over piety, reliance and thanksgiving.  Pride is the great illusion of self where one puts self on a pedestal as god.  It corrupts and destroys like it did to Lucifer.  The great deceiver hopes to trick humanity into being prideful about self and elevating the creature to the level of Creator.  It is not depraving or neglectful to rightfully and truthfully understand one’s nature of dependence upon God.  It does not depress self-esteem but permits self-esteem to actualize itself through the connection of grace with God.  Humility is the tool for this relationship because it, unlike pride, acknowledges the reality between Creator and creation.

Please also review AIHCP’s Christian Counseling Certification as well as its Spiritual Christian Direction program

Additional Blogs

Christian Happiness and God.  Access here

Christian Suffering.  Access here

Reference

Scupoli, D. (1589).  Spiritual Combat (2024 edition). Holy Water Books.

Additional Resouces

Schaffner, A. (2020). “What Is Humility & Why Is It Important? (Incl. Examples)”. Psychology Today.  Access here

“4 things everyone should know about humility”. Active Christianity.  Access here

Johnson, S. “The Vice of Pride”.  Access here

Christian Spiritual Direction and Counseling: Analysis on Ignatian Discernment of Spirits and Election

Posted on by Mark Moran

This is a short blog that will analyze and clarify St. Ignatius’ concept and semantics regarding desolation and consolation and their use in discernment of spirits and election or choice.  This is a general blog for any interested reader as well as a synopsis for those in AIHCP’s Christian Counseling or Spiritual Direction courses, as well as those enrolled in Ignatian Spirituality.

Please also review AIHCP’s Christian Counseling Certification.

Introduction

Desolation and Consolation are spiritual phases and states that come and go throughout the spiritual life. Please also review AIHCP’s Spiritual Direction Certification

For those in the Spiritual Direction Program, consolation and desolation are universal Christian terms but primarily stemming from the Catholic tradition.  So for those who are Protestant or from non-denominational faith traditions, do not feel intimidated.  These concepts can be applied and should be applied in spiritual direction regardless of Christian denomination.  None of these concepts deal with any dogmatic dispute between denominations of Christianity and can be universally applied to Catholic/Orthodox and Protestant traditions.  These concepts are extremely helpful in guiding souls as well as helping alleviate spiritual times of suffering.

I would like to point out that the terms desolation as well as consolation can be utilized more generic in sense regarding mood of the soul.  St Ignatius points out that in consolation, the soul’s interior is aroused with spiritual sweetness from the Creator and inclined to the will of God via this good spirit.  In contrast, he states that desolation is a time of inner turmoil and restlessness of the soul when it is inclined away from God and influenced by a false spirit.

This may seem confusing when we hear the term consolation and desolation its pure emotional semantic meaning.  In cases of other mystics, such as St Teresa of Avila, consolations are times when the soul feels God’s presence and desolations are when the soul does not feel God’s presence.  I myself in a video reference the term in this more simple format.   Ignatius would refer to desolation in this sense as difficult consolation because the soul is still inclined towards God and pushing forward while in Ignatius’ concept of true desolation, the soul is falling away from God, albeit not necessarily in a state of sin but one of spiritual apathy.   St Teresa of Avila refers to simple desolation as more spiritual aridity, while Ignatius seems to refer to it more as spiritual apathy.  These are big differences but I wanted to notate this when reading the Ignatian texts.  Again for Avila, it is a simple emotional state, for Ignatius it is more than just mood but also a disposition of the soul that comes and goes in different phases and periods of times.  So there is a distinction between Avila and Ignatius between an emotional state and a spiritual state in regards to the word.  Again, desolation is not in itself sinful but it can lead to sin and bad habits because it is guided by false spirits and interior dispositions.

What are Consolations and Desolations?

Consolation

A soul in consolation is in sync with God. While some saints use the word semantically to explain emotional states, Ignatius broadens it to also mean states of being.

A consolation can be considered an emotional state of intense union with God but also a spiritual state of union with God that is in sync with God’s will and laws.  According to Thibodeaux, it can be dramatic as well as placid in nature (2020). In a dramatic state, the soul experiences a moment with God that is overwhelming and exciting to the soul and the body’s senses.  It is uplifting and warm.  One in a state of placid consolation is not a in a current state of intense excitement but a consistent balance.  In comparison, consider dopamine and serotonin.  Dopamine as a neurotransmitter produces an intense edge, while serotonin as a neurotransmitter produces stability of mood.  I think this best explains this balance between dramatic and placid consolation.

It is important to remember that consolation itself is gift.  It cannot be earned by praying a certain way or meditating but is a gift from God.  He grants it to whoever He desires.  We should then be grateful and thankful to God when He chooses to gift the soul with more intense presences.   St Teresa of Avila expresses different states of reward in prayer, namely the Prayer of the Quiet when God reveals Himself without effort on the part of the person, as well as Prayer of the Union, when the soul also receives an unexpected and unearned gift of a deep unitive gift with the Divine.  These are all greater examples of consolations.  Ignatius also speaks of unexpected and memorable spiritual experiences and refers to them as Consolations without Previous Cause (Thibodeaux, M., 2020).   This is similar to extraordinary spiritual experiences that the soul is granted by God.

Strangely enough, even during consolation, the soul can feel what St Teresa of Avila would refer to aridity.  St. Ignatius does not refer to this state of aridity as a desolation but a Difficult Consolation (Thibodeaux, M., 2020).  In this, Ignatius points out that the soul is still directed toward God and is not facing a desolation that puts the soul out of sync with God.  Instead, while still experiencing aridity, the soul still is orientated toward God.

Desolation

In contrast, desolations, according to St. Ignatius, are darker moments of the soul’s spiritual phases.  It is time associated with anxiety, depression, and inclination towards false spirits and bad habits.  The soul is not in sync with God.  These false spirits can but are not necessarily even demonic in nature but more natural inclinations of humanity’s fallen nature.  Energies or inclinations towards the world, or particular vices that bring the soul downward away from God towards other sources of “completeness”.   This state does not designate sin in itself but can lead to sinful situations and sinful aspirations.

Like consolations, the desolation can be dramatic or placid in nature.  They can be an intense anxiety or merely a tiresome and gradual decay of the soul’s spiritual life with God.  In other cases, there can be False Consolations, where the soul feels it is following God’s calling but in reality is fulfilling one’s own desires and needs (Thibodeaux, M., 2020).

The Spiritual Life: A Spiritual Rollercoaster

Spiritual life is filled with waves of consolation and desolation, as well as emotional “consolation” and “desolation”.  Life happens and things can occur that make us very happy or very sad or angry.  These life events can steer us closer or away from God through certain phases of life.  The loss of a child, or a parent, or any loved one can lead some individuals into a desolation against God which includes anger and resentment.  Likewise, individuals can go through numerous loses and pains in life, but still remain in sync with God, but feel truly empty and sad over such losses.  These are natural bio-rhythms.  Like the body, the soul also goes through natural ups and downs.  What is important is to orientate one’s self to never lose sight of God even in the rough times, even in times we do not feel His presence.

It is also crucial to understand the psychological components of desolation as well as consolation.  Psychotherapy tends to separate soul care and mental health but both are uniquely tied together.  This does not mean clinical depression should only receive spiritual advice but it does mean within all melancholy, there is also a saddening of the soul.  States of depression can distort thinking and value of self as well as one’s relationship with God.  Desolation can make one doubt one’s love from God, as well, as to hate oneself for past sins and feel a lack of forgiveness.  These deeper states of desolation leave the soul out of sync with the Divine and can lead it to other maladaptive practices to find solutions from the pain.  So, spiritual desolation itself can be a dark time, but it is even darker when tied to mental health issues.  Spiritual Directors, while understanding the union between soul and mind, but also understand the need to refer individuals for psychological help when signs and symptoms of clinical depression emerge.

Guiding others through Spiritual States

The Spiritual Director is trained to help souls through consolation and desolation and also in helping them in discernment

Thibodeaux discusses multiple applications of spiritual direction through different states of consolation and desolation.

In consolation, he lists numerous points but importantly, one needs to remember to encourage humility and thankfulness in these states, but also to prepare one for future desolation.  In times of consolation, he recommends that individuals journal the good times so when tougher times arrive, they can fall back on these emotions and feelings as a spiritual anchor.  He also points out that it is during these times that one has the most clear head to make elections or decisions (2022).  Ignatius believed during consolation, the soul is able to understand God most and be able to make decisions.  Decision making is difficult enough.  Life decisions are not easy mathematical equations but require our whole being partaking in it.  When one’s conscious and subconscious –mind and soul–find God’s presence and can hear His voice, then elections can be made.   However, like any dopamine affect, it is important to reflect also on these decisions which are indeed well-founded, but once a more stable mood is restored, one can reflect on the extraordinary insight God has given.   This is why Ignatius, while dictating the validity of election in this state, does think it is wise for immediate action on it until it is reflected upon.  Ignatius teaches that discernment also involves feeling the spirits of the movement.  In consolation, these are genuine, but one must be certain of the genuine experience.   This is especially true if one experiences an extraordinary spiritual state, as as Ignatius would refer “Consolation Without Previous Cause”.  In this state, the soul, as well as the body feeling in the intake of dopamine and happiness, should wait a short period to stabilize mood wise.  In this way, the intellect can share in the evaluation of the message before acting in  haste (Thibodeaux, M., 2022).  Spiritual Director help souls recognize true consolation over false consolation and also help souls discern the messages and movements of the soul during them.  They help the soul understand when it is good to make a choice or election when sound mind exists that correlates with the valid message of a consolation.

In regards to desolation, it is a time for even more renewed prayer and  to remind the directee that acting on any impulses or changes during this time is dangerous.  A soul in desolation, even in troubled consolation, should not act due to the variety of emotional blinders.  Until the blinders are removed, the soul could be influenced to poor decisions.  For instance, many depressed individuals turn to maladaptive coping or choices for a quick fix.  They will try to feel good by merely making a move in life to alleviate the desolation.  Spiritual Directors must utilize empathy, patience, and unconditional positive regard to these souls.  They need to help them cognitively reframe false assumptions or low images of self that have influenced them via the false spirit.  Psychology gives many tools to help people rethink about themselves.  Cognitive Behavioral Therapy teaches individuals that bad thoughts create bad self image and behaviors associated with those thoughts.  It is important to reframe these thoughts or images and help the directee re-evaluate in a different light.

Another important thing to consider in desolation is the movement of the enemy within the soul.  A soul that begins to change itself will be met with loud noise and anger from the enemy.  Those looking to re-orientate themselves will face stiff resistance that can produce anxiety and depression.   It is not only a spiritual battle, but also a psychological rewiring of neuropathways that are tied to bad habits of the past.  Likewise, the soul who is muddied and stuck in desolation quietly acquiring bad habits of spiritual sloth, or any other vice, will form habits but the approach of the enemy will be far more quiet and less disturbing.  Only till the soul pulls away, will the enemy become loud again with persistence in pushing bad habit and vice.

It is of no wonder then that Ignatius emphasizes the danger of making an election or drastic decision in this state of being.  Only until balance or equilibrium is restored with God can the soul regain composure to make healthy and good decisions that are aligned with God.  Spiritual Directors who work with souls in deep and acute desolation need to help the soul again find balance and then exhibit extreme patience with the individual as he or she again looks to hear God and answer Him.

Desolation is obviously a natural part of life.  It can be caused by life itself and the sorrows of this world.  It can be deep and disorientating but it does not necessarily mean the soul needs to lose sight of God.  Those in desolation, or even simple aridity, are called even more so to daily prayer, even if there is no warmth or sense of happiness.  Eventually, the soul will come out of desolation, but again, those with psychological issues, with also require professional mental health providers to help them.

Why would God permit this?  First, it is the natural state of humanity.  In regards to abandonment, Christ Himself felt alone or desolate, albeit, never out of align or not in sync with God, since He is God incarnate, but this does not mean He did not sense or feel within His human nature, the fear, anxiety and angst of life.  In the Garden, He wept blood, and on the cross, He felt forsaken.  So, whether in desolation, aridity, or troubled consolation, the emotions and feelings associated with it are part of the natural world.  Jesus teaches us how to fight them.

God also uses these moments as teaching moments to train the soul on its dependence on God.  St. Ignatius points out that the soul can become proudful of its own accomplishments in false consolations, or may feel consolations of intense proportion are earned or deserved.  A soul that continues to fight, sees its own humility and dependence upon God can learn much through desolation and aridity.

Conclusion

Please also review AIHCP’s Christian Counseling as well as Spiritual Direction Certifications

I hope this clarifies some of the semantics regarding desolation and consolation that we hear in spiritual states of life.  Obviously this is more so focusing on St. Ignatius and the Thibodeaux text in understanding consolation and desolations in Spiritual Direction and how to guide souls through these states to make better choices.

Please also review AIHCP’s Spiritual Direction Program as well as its Christian Counseling Program

Reference

Thibodeaux, M, SJ. (2022). Ignatian Discernment of Spirits for Spiritual Direction and Pastoral Care: Going Deeper. Loyola Press.

Additional AIHCP Blogs

Vocation and Discernment: Access here

Desolation and Affliction.  Access here

Additional Resources

Peoples, I. (2022). “Jesuit 101: Consolation and Desolation”.  The Jesuit Post.  Access here

“Consolation and Desolation”. Ignatian Discernment Institute.  Access here

“Discernment: Consolation and Desolation”. Loyola Press.  Access here

 

 

Christian Spiritual Direction: Spiritual Discontent

Posted on by Mark Moran

Within the realm of spiritual combat and spiritual warfare, Satan looks to cause discontent within a soul and stir it into anxiety and upheaval.  Various souls at different levels of spiritual formation can experience this at different levels and varying degrees.  Ultimately, spiritual discontent leads to discontent in life which then leads to lack of peace and calm.  The focus of Christ who grants peace is less focal as the person looks to find satisfaction to the illusion of discontent within the world.  As the soul distances itself from Christ and embraces physical comforts, it then becomes more vulnerable to sin, vice and demonic influence.  Spiritual Directors, as well as Christian Counselors, can help direct and re-orientate clients/directees to the causing source of why they feel a certain a way, expose it and redirect them to Christ.  This blog will examine discontent, tools that lead to it and re-calibration of the soul to God.

(Please also review AIHCP’s Spiritual Direction Certification, as well as AIHCP’s Christian Counseling Program.  The Spiritual Direction Program is a Christian based program to help train directors in helping individuals enhance their relationship with God and cultivate a holier interior life, while the Christian Counseling Program is an integrated program of counseling with a Christian world view.  Programs are open to both clinical as well as only pastoral counselors, but bear in mind, all professionals must retain their services within the scope of their professional and legal practice.  This means pastoral counselors, as well as spiritual directors who are not licensed counselors are limited in care beyond pathology, cannot diagnose, and cannot prescribe.  However, Spiritual Direction, unlike Christian Counseling, is more concerned with spirituality than psychological and secular issues.)

Christ Calls Us to Peace and Calm

When one takes their eyes off Christ, the storm of reality can overtake oneself.  Like Peter, when he removed his eyes from the Lord during the storm, he no longer walked on water, but began to sink.  One must constantly focus on Christ amidst the storm.   Christ also compared individuals to the birds of the air.  He stated that even the birds of the air and their requirements are met by the Father, and if so, why would human beings who are more important receive less?  Yet, when individuals take their eyes off Christ, His peace and  calm can easily be replaced with chaos and anxiety.  A soul in the state of anxiety, depression, or discontent looses focus of the present.  The soul then becomes distracted by other illusions of happiness that meet immediate needs that distract it from the truth.  It is the opposite call of the peace and calm of Christ which promises long and sustaining happiness.

Happiness and Discontent

Finding calmness and peace in God and aligning one’s will with His leads to true happiness here and in the next life. Please also review AIHCP’s Spiritual Direction Program

Happiness and being content are essential drives in the human will.  Souls can fall into a holy discontent of lostness while other souls can fall into a state of discontent that looks to find happiness in temporal things of this world  Unfortunately, the human will numerous times is attracted to false idols of happiness that is mistakes for truth and beauty.  Individuals instead of fostering virtue which promises long term peace, calm, and joy, individuals reach out for the quick and easy fix of many vices that lead to immediate satisfaction and pleasure, but ultimately chaos, suffering and despair.  Individuals who are suffering or in despair or discontent will many times turn to maladaptive coping strategies to find this illusion of happiness.  They will turn to addictions, drugs, and practices that harm the body and soul over the long term, despite the temporary respite of illusionary happiness.  Human beings will grasp at tangible, temporary,  secular goods, objects or money that do not grant true happiness but only temporary distraction.  All of these things can fade and fail to give the person true deep sense of self and happiness.  Even, when individuals throw themselves into work, or hobbies, or other secular activities, once the noise is gone and one finds oneself alone to self, does the true discontent and lack of fulfillment manifest.  Chasing other gods in the secular world leads to misery.  These images, ideals, or relationships cannot ensure or sustain the true calm, peace and happiness found in God.  Yet, the discontent seek things that give the temporary relief.  They seek the dopamine effect instead of the serotonin effect.  Instead of long term stability, they seek the thrill of the moment to mask the pain.

Like all gifts from the world, they are temporary and when secular gifts are dominated through the vices of avarice, greed and envy, then they lead to pathways of greater discontent.  Satan never grants something without future suffering attached.   The moment a soul engages in vices that demand more and disregard simple poverty of spirit, as well as justice in attainment of gifts, then the soul is open to manipulation to utilize any means to reach any ends.  At the source leading to these greater vices of avarice, greed and envy is the spirit of discontent.  It is the seed Satan sows to break down a soul and lead a soul to ruin.

Discontent is cultivated through three ways.  Satan induces into the soul regret over the past, anxiety over the future and ingratitude for the present.  Ironically, within the field of psychology and counseling, depression, anxiety and discontent are some of the top things that are dealt with, prescribed for and counseled.  The need and drive for happiness is so great that it can lead to a multitude of sorrows when not properly directed.  A calibrated and orientated soul to God, lets go of the regret of the past.  It is not haunted by guilt but knows their sins have been forgiven and paid for at a high price.  A soul in daily prayer with God is promised of hope for the future and given a grace of calm and peace when presented with uncertainty.  A soul that understands lasting happiness is in God, properly understands the hierarchy of needs and wants.  It is grateful for what is present, but can differentiate between secular needs and secular wants.  It recognizes the humility and spiritual poverty of Christ while on earth and the lavish lies of the world.  It further grasps the importance of eternal salvation and spiritual graces over the fading riches of the world. Yet, the soul of discontent is blinded.  The blindness may be due to a loss and a discontent with God over it.  It may be due to a past trauma that has pushed the soul to maladaptive practices to ease the pain at all costs.  It may be due to a poorly orientated conscience that finds value in material goods, being consumed by avarice, greed and envy.  Whatever the reason, the source of the discontent needs to be addressed in order to properly realign the soul to God.

Tools of Satan to Spread Discord and Discontent

Any gift given by God to humanity, or for that matter any advancement in science and society can be twisted by Satan for his own purpose.  The freedom of human will to love God was distorted to reject God, the gift of sex in marriage for procreation and love was distorted for pleasure, control and manipulation, and the list goes on and on.  The same is true of invention and social advancement.   Communication through radio, television, the internet, as well as social media are gifts to a modern society when properly utilized to spread God’s word, to communicate needs of others and share news of disaster, to allow one’s mind to rest with innocent entertainment and to share and greet other friends and loved ones but when things are used in excess or directed towards selfish ends, then gifts quickly become curses.   These curses can also become addictions that steal from one’s prayer life and communication with God.  They can take away from physical exercise, work, family time, and academic pursuits.

Like any drug, or addiction, things can become excessive, chip away from duty, and cause ultimate distress and discontent.  The devil has moved on to modernity with new tools to cause discontent.  Yes, the classics still exist, drugs, sex, material goods and greed are still staples of his plan, but he has utilized modern tools to spread even faster the 7 capital sins to the world through mass media, television and social media.   News on demand, social media posts, twitter comments, and opinions of someone never met can know harbor within the soul great frustration and daily anger.  Instead of focusing on good things and one’s daily duty, individuals are more angry than ever and even more so, more manipulated into anger than ever.  In addition, life styles that were rarely seen are now on constant display through TikTok and other media platforms that display rich lifestyles, immoral behavior and perfect bodies.   Children addicted to their phones find themselves hypnotized by influencers.  Others see a life on social media they can never attain or have and feel immense envy or discontent in their own life.  They begin to question if their looks are good enough, their car, their clothes, or home, or money in the account.  Instead of grateful, they become ungrateful.  Instead of seeing how much they are blessed with, they see how much they do not have in comparison to others.  Envy, greed and avarice then grows.  No longer is one focused on Christ and His simplicity, but one is focused on how to get more of this world.  This pushed a greater wedge in life between the person and God, preventing grace, and allowing seeds of the evil one to corrupt.

Facebook too celebrates false illusions.  While like all social media tools, it is beneficial to spread information, share life events (hopefully not too personal), it still responsible when misused to create an altar to oneself.  While sense of pride in self is good and pictures are sometimes more taken due to low self-esteem, the vice of pride and vanity can quickly take power if one is not proportionate in one’s relationship with God and others.  One can be proud of one’s achievements and share them but they must always be done in a sense of humility attributing success, physical looks or talents, or material possessions as gifts from God.

Within itself, the modern cell phone, whether Android or Iphone has given individuals instant accessibility to so many things that others have never had before.  The mere invention of the internet, was equally as powerful as the dawn of the radio and television.  It opened so many venues for business, communication and entertainment but for new generations who are growing up immersed within it, there is lack of appreciate for patience, work, and research.   Information can be quickly accessed instead of laboriously researched or sought out.  This is not a bad thing but when appreciation is lost in the process for this great marvel, then human defect can emerge.   This defect expects instant gratification instead of endurance and enduring fortitude.  This instant gratification has also enabled immoral resources to be more ready available to the consumer.  Television when misused could grant options for porn but with federal restrictions, one had to order special prescriptions for late night programs, or rent pornographic material from a store with all the labeling of shame and embarrassment accompanied with it.  With the mobile handheld phone, any website of illicit and immoral behavior became available.  Without the communal nature of a television or family computer, one can quickly and without hesitation discover immoral material simply via search within one’s privacy of a bedroom.   These conveniences for sin and instant gratification have presented serious problems for the spiritual life.  In some ways, it has afforded one forbidden knowledge which ironically is displayed upon an Iphone with a bitten apple!

Treating Discontent in Spiritual Direction

As pointed out discontent is the tool of the enemy to drive a wedge between God and the soul.  The role of the Spiritual Director to help repair that wedge by helping the soul receive God’s grace to realign itself.  This involves not only a spiritual movement of the soul but also a cognitive reframing of one’s life.  The Spiritual Director needs to help the soul identify needs and wants and create a hierarchy of goods.  The Spiritual Director needs to address the differences between pleasure and happiness.   He or she needs to help the directee see the false idols of happiness and how they may grant temporary pleasure but fail to give the soul true happiness in peace with God.  Ultimately, the director needs to express to the directee, that one must have faith in Christ and allow for God to unfold what plans He has.  Seeking out the world, prevents and blinds the soul from finding God’s plan which will lead to contentment.  So many times, individuals resist and resist God’s design for them, and they wonder why they suffer from discontent.  Like a child who thinks he or she knows best, many push one’s own agenda over God’s agenda.  The agenda of God is not meant to imprison a soul, but to free a soul to true happiness.  This step of faith, this acceptance of what God has designed for an individual is the true source of happiness.  This is why Satan seeks to distract everyone from this path.  Instead one must trust in God’s plan, open oneself to discern it, and trust the outcome.  The director can help one see everyone has a plan that is tied to one’s true peace and happiness.

A Spiritual Director can help a directee align one’s need and wants with God and His ultimate will. Too many times souls are misled by worldly things and seduced by the devil through avarice, greed and envy

The Spiritual Director can also point to the simplicity of Christ.   He or she can compare and contrast the life of Christ as compared to so many s0-called influencers, stars, socially elite, wealthy individuals and powerful politicians.   Jesus, Mary and Joseph never were rich or powerful in this world by its standards.  The powers of Satan and his world, as the Gospel of John states, knew Him not.  The same world rejected the life of the world.  Christ could have by His own decree, riches and power, but instead He chose a stable to be born.  His mother and foster-father lived in simplicity, while all knowing, the King of Kings was their Son, yet they accepted this simplicity.   Spiritual Directors can ask directees how much more, does Christ even bless them in this world  than He did His own life and family?  The powerful image of the Holy Family represents an important image to content and discontent and the lies of the world that brew this depression, anxiety, and ingratitude.

Cognitively reframing one’s life as a blessing, as a glass half full, and appreciating the many gifts granted by God is important, but many have far less.  Many are disturbed by depression, or face severe trauma and intense addictions.  Obviously Spiritual Direction approaches these issues from a spiritual perspective, but unless a clinical professional, many of these issues need also addressed by other clinical professionals to help heal the fullness of the person.  Working in conjunction with clinical professionals, upon approval of directee, can help heal the person at all level of his or her self.

Spiritually, the director can point out that the past pains, addictions and maladaptive coping, or whatever vices present are results of horrible things.  Sometimes, spiritual discontent is tied to emotional trauma, extreme loss, and heavy crosses.  It may be very difficult to see the glass as half full.  Neither should these complaints be ignored in spiritual direction.   The spiritual director approaches the vulnerability of each directee with empathy, unconditional positive regard and a genuine concern in agape love of neighbor.  The director wishes to share in this pain and help the person find oneself out of this spiritual darkness.  Through acknowledgement of the evils and losses, then one can begin to face them and to weed out the misconceptions planted by the enemy to use these horrible things as wedges from God. Instead, one can acknowledge the hard and horrible nature of life, but also find the love and peace God offers.

One must recall, that Christ not only through the Holy Family serves as an example for most souls who express ingratitude when life has not been that horrible, but the Holy Family also serves as an example for souls who have suffered unjustly.   The Holy Family fled to Egypt because King Herod sough to kill the Christ Child.  The Holy Family experienced loss, the death of St Joseph.  Christ wept at the tragic and traumatic beheading of His cousin, St John the Baptist and He wept over the death of Lazarus.   Mary, herself, experienced the most painful spiritual martyrdom of watching the execution and crucifixion of her Son.   So, the Holy Family, as a source of calm and peace and gratitude in simplicity illustrates examples for those suffering basic spiritual discontent and traumatic emotional discontent.

Through this reframing and education about gratitude and life, the director can then re-introduce one to giving oneself to Christ.  By simply saying “Jesus, I trust in You”, the soul can re-orientate itself to Christ.  One can then realign needs, and desires with what matters most.  Does this mean, one is called to live a vow of poverty?  Does it mean, one is to wear sackcloth, or never want or desire a nice new pair of shoes, or maybe buy a nice new car?  For some, maybe, if their calling, but for most, absolutely not.  God does grant one physical gifts within His will, but they must be understood as means to an end on this earth.  The director helps one understand the nature of temporal goods in relationship to spiritual salvation and human relationship.  The director helps one to find joy in the temporal goods, or talents, one possesses as gifts from God.  One’s material possessions are understood as good but also as fleeting and not permanent.  They are made to be seen as not ends in themselves, or things to obsess over, or envy, or become emotional over.  Is it natural to lose one’s temper or feel frustration, if one stains a new shirt, or an car is nicked in the parking lot?  Of course, but to what extent?  What extent does one feel discontent over mishaps over these physical gifts?

Again, some souls are called to a more absolute material poverty, while others are not, but the important thing for the director in regards to the majority of the population is to properly attune one’s  connection with those goods, as well as one’s desires to attain future goods in relationship and proportionately to God’s will, salvation and the relationship with others.

Conclusion

Please also review AIHCP’s Spiritual Direction and also its Christian Counseling Programs

Spiritual Directors need to understand the nature of discontent and how it sows within the soul depression, anxiety and ingratitude.  The evil one hopes to steal the focus of Christ for other material goods or achievements and destroy peace, calm, and contentment.   He primarily pushes one to regret the past, worry about the future and be discontent with the present.  Some individuals suffer greater losses or traumas to be pushed to these extents and require both spiritual and also psychological aid but for many, the discontent finds its place in illusionary idols of happiness which grant immediate pleasure with future discontent over sustained happiness with calm and peace.  Satan never grants gifts without future suffering!  All gifts from God, whether spiritual, physical or temporal are distorted by the evil one to cause discontent.  Satan uses many modern conveniences to cause discontent when these things should be used for the greater honor and glory of God and the betterment of humanity.  Despite this, many souls fall victim to avarice, greed, pride and envy.  Spiritual Directors need to help souls understand the hierarchy of needs and wants.  While some may be called to absolute poverty, most individuals are not and they must be shown the value of material goods as gifts and means to an end as opposed to the end itself.  They must be taught that temporal gifts are temporary and not permanent and not as important as salvation.  They must be taught to emulate the Holy Family in simplicity to better find true peace and happiness.  Spiritual Directors can help individuals reframe desires and needs and attune them with the Will of God and the peace and calm that comes with that.

Please also review AIHCP’s Spiritual Direction Program as well as its Christian Counseling Program!

Additional Blogs

Spiritual Planning.  Access here

Spiritual Desolation.  Access here

Additional Resources

Fr. Reheel “On  Problems of Social Media”.  Access here

Rev. Oganlade. “What the Bible Says About Discontent: Understanding Its Definition and Implications”. God’s Blessing.  Access here

“6 Steps to Handling Holy Discontent”. CrossWalk.  Access here

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spiritual Direction: Spiritual Planning Strategies

Posted on by Mark Moran

The secular world voices concerns over many types of planning.  Financial planning dominates most venues as critical to one’s security and future retirement.  Commercials flood the television with various firms that can assure oneself and one’s family’s future through the guidance of financial advisors.  One also sees the shift of importance to health and dieting, as well as intense workout plans.  Life coaches, personal trainers all help create unique physical and dietary plans to the needs of one’s personal goals and health number parameters.   Such concern over health and financial security is important and should be on the top of everyone’s list but in the secular world, seldom does one hear of spiritual planning.  If one’s bodily health, or financial security or stability of one’s retirement in the temporal realm is important, where is the more pressing concern of one’s spiritual health, spiritual security or heavenly retirement?  In the secular world, as St Teresa of Avila points out, so many exist outside the interior castle of the soul and its inner monologue and relationship with God.  The soul is so blinded by the needs of the body that it forgets itself.  Instead it ONLY sees the needs of the body, its health, its security and its future at the expense of the soul’s eternal salvation.  When imbalance of such exists, then these physical goals and planning become illusions and false idols that detract from one’s final end.   This is a very perilous life style.

Spiritual planning based upon God’s will is key. Spiritual planning should be as primary a concern as any financial planning. Please also review AIHCP’s Christian Counseling Program

In this blog, we will look at Spiritual Planning and how to implement some the most basic elements of it to provide spiritual growth and stability and a closer relationship with God.  In this blog, our financial planning is interest in grace not money, growth in virtue not assets, security in God not bonds, and retirement in heaven not Florida.  This blog in itself could be a long manuscript on such a broad subject, but will attempt to keep the subject as compact as possible with also consideration to other blogs and concepts, as well as texts, within AIHCP Christian Counseling as well as Spiritual Direction resources that have already touched on similar concepts found in this blog.

Please also review AIHCP’s Spiritual Direction Program, as well as its Christian Counseling Certification.

A Christian Mindset in Spiritual Planning

It is imperative for Christians to remember that salvation is not an accounting book of one’s own good deeds versus bad deeds.  One cannot live a sinless life.  The fall of Adam has prevented such endeavors and as broken human beings, we need the grace of God, earned through His Son on Calvary for salvation.   One’s faith in Christ is essential for salvation, for one cannot find salvation in one’s own works.  Pelagius, an early Church heretic, attempted to heretically teach that one’s human nature was not completely corrupted and that one, albeit rare, could imitate Christ and possibly live a sinless life.  Pelagius believed works could save oneself.  This was condemned by the Church at the Council of Carthage, and equally rebuked by the great saint, St. Augustine.  St Paul indeed teaches that it is through Christ and His death and one’s faith in Christ that souls are saved, but it is important to understand that faith is more than a formal assent, but is a cooperation with the graces earned by Christ at Calvary.  Christians are not saved by faith “alone” which was never included in the original translation but through faith which encompasses a working nature. Scripture emphasizes a working faith in Christ that balances the assent of faith with its fruits and works, for St James emphasizes the balance of spiritual works in faith.   Christ, Himself, commands His followers to keep His commandments.

Hence as Christians believe that one cannot earn heaven by oneself, as if balancing a ledger, but one must completely rely on the grace earned by Christ, at such a high cost for each of us, for one’s salvation.  The fruits of the working faith, the cooperation with the grace earned by Christ for one’s salvation, does not belong to oneself but a when connected to Christ, and under the grace of the Holy Spirit, become salvific.  Spiritual Directors, as well as Christians who attempt to better themselves in spiritual life, must first come to this ultimate surrender that their salvation is not their own but a gift from Christ and applied through the Holy Spirit.  The Blood of Christ cleanses one of sin and pays the price for that Original Sin of Adam as well as the actual sins committed by oneself.  Alone, no matter what one does, like the past sacrifices of patriarchs, are insufficient, but when aligned with Christ and His death, where one’s cross becomes tied to Christ’s cross, then they become pleasing to God.   Christians are not activators of their salvation, nor are they passive recipients of it, but are cooperators with what was earned at the cross, motivated by grace to the gift of salvation.

The Spiritual Planning strategies in this blog do not replace Christ’s gift of salvation, but are grace motivated gifts of the Holy Spirit to participate in that redemption at a more efficient way.  While the soul participates, it is the grace of the Holy Spirit that encourages it, strengthens it and molds it.  Unlike physical fitness and planning, where one plays a key role in physical transformation-albeit guided and trained by another, the spiritual transformation of a soul is the work and grace of the Holy Spirit.

It is important then to find humility upon any spiritual transformation-for all virtue and grace come from the Holy Spirit that was earned by Christ at the cross.  One must come and apply the Blood of Christ and Grace of the Holy Spirit, but it is not one’s own deeds and actions but the work of God existing within one’s faith that permits such a cooperation.   So, like all endeavors, one must be mindful of pride.   Like financial planning, or physical training, pride can easily corrupt a healthy self image with vanity.  Likewise, in spiritual transformation, pride can create the illusion that one has made oneself holy and that one is more holy than other people.  Like the Pharisees, one can have one’s own spirituality become a weapon and tool for one’s own damnation.  It is so important as one enters into a deeper relationship with God to be mindful of spiritual pride and to pray daily for continued spiritual humility and complete reliance on the grace of God.  Salvation and faith is a gift from God and something earned by Christ.  We are merely partakers of this gift and must always give honor and glory to God for any spiritual gifts or insights.  With this understanding, the remainder of this blog will look at some helpful techniques in spiritual planning and growth.

Spiritual Planning

Supplied with the grace of the Holy Spirit to transform purely human thoughts and deeds into something more, one can work with those graces to better obey the commandments, submit to God’s will, grow in virtue, and enter into a deeper and more healthy relationship with God.   This direction and progression towards God is a life long process with pitfalls, crosses, joys, successes, failures and losses.  However, what it needs to be is a progression and a perfecting of oneself in virtue to have a deeper relationship that translates into the next life with God.  Padre Pio points out that progression is key.  A soul, even one that has sustained growth, that fails to continue in growth or progression becomes stagnant.  The soul, like a plant seeking light, must continue to grow in the direction of that light, guided by the light and nurtured through it.  The moment the soul stops seeking that light, it ceases to grow in communion with God.   One can consider the temporal analogy of financial growth.  If one has grown in wealth and has seen continual growth in the one’s accounts with a health market, then suddenly notices a stagnant level of return, there would be great concern.  Why not for the soul?  If growth has suddenly stopped or become stagnant with relationship with God, this should be a serious concern.  For instance, a soul that regularly attends service in Protestant churches or Mass in Catholic churches, but has no spiritual connection despite obligatory attendance has entered into a state of concern.   This is why Padre Pio reflected the vital importance of continual growth, despite setbacks, but continued renewal.   If a soul falls, does it immediately seek God’s forgiveness?  If one fails, does one immediately identify the issue and rectify it?  As sinners, we all fail, but what is critical in spiritual planning, is not only the “attempt” to limit failure, but one’s quickness to rectify it.  This again stems to one’s insight on humility and pride.  If one understands one’s nature as broken, then one who falls, falls in humility but also seeks forgiveness in humility.  One in pride who falls, has a far harder time seeking forgiveness.

All spiritual planning requires grace for we cannot earn our salvation. Spiritual planning is participating in that grace

Spiritual planning must acknowledge the reality of failure, but it almost acknowledge the life long nature of the journey.  In life, some look for quick investments without securing a solid foundation.  Others in physical training, desire a physique but lack the discipline to attain it.  Some who diet, see a diet as a temporary status to attain a particular weight to fit in that dress, instead of a life long purpose of dietary health.  Spiritual growth is not fast, it is not temporary, but it is a life style.   It not likened to a New  Years resolution, or a Lenten journey.  Lent, for many Christians, is a spiritual diet.  It lasts 40 days and then is suspended after Easter.  The spiritual disciplines of Lent should be intensified in unison with the Church and in memory of Christ’s passion, but it should not be a spiritual diet for 40 days.   The experience of more prayer, Scripture, introspection, fasting, denial, sacramental experience and spiritual growth in virtue should not be a 40 day experience but should represent the base line of all Christian life.   This is not to demean the naive view of Lent by some Christians, for it is far better to sense some need than none at all, but, as Avila points out, these souls represent the utmost basic relationship with God and His grace.  They, like a first level mansion, walk in, walk out, may peek inside its windows, but fail to grasp the greater beauty further inside the interior mansions of relationship with God.  They become distracted by the lures of the world and progression spirituality ends abruptly until a later existential emergency or spiritual feast day.

Spiritual Planning is a life long journey that is about constant growth, humility in that growth, acknowledgement of failures, and complete trust in the grace of God to allow one’s working faith to manifest fruits and a closer relationship with God; A relationship that manifests in its finality in Heaven with God.

Spiritual Planning Ideas

Counseling strategies, life coaching, and physical training plans are quite similar to spiritual training.   As Mark Walberg commonly states, “Are you prayed up”.  Spiritual Directors are Spiritual Trainers in this sense.  They are not just spiritual but also should have a core understanding of counseling techniques based in goal setting and facilitating change.  In previous blogs, we discuss the psychology of change and habit.  We discuss neuro-pathways and how habit takes time to form.  One does not suddenly become a a horrible sinner by one trip  nor a great saint by one wonderful moment, but it is a character and progress of that character that defines both virtue and vice.  As the ancient philosophers noted, character is a continual presence of a particular excellence in action that is unhindered but natural to the nature.  This is natural habit is not something easily gained, or lost.  One merely can look at the horrible nature of sin and its addiction itself.  One who works to rid oneself of vice must work with the grace of the Holy Spirit to heal, change and transform.  God can miraculously change and convert a person, but in most cases, the journey is one of a cross, one where one’s nature learns of the love of God and His continual mercy as change is undertaken and achieved.  So, suffice to say, the process of change involves counseling.  It involves goal setting.  Just like certain financial goals are discussed, set and hoped for, so certain goals spiritually must be discussed and planned.  Like exercise, the goals of a certain weight, or certain amount of reps in a particular weight training, concur with a particular habit or virtue that one aspires for.  As meticulous journals keep weight training numbers, so one may need to keep track of one’s modified behavior in recollection and examination of conscience.  How many times, did I sin today?  How many times, did I accept the grace of God and overcome temptation?  St Ignatius Loyola in his spiritual exercises in week one, challenges the person to almost scrupulously monitor and track one’s failings.  As if tracking calories, St Ignatius asks us to track sin and vice!  A working faith demands such accountability to a God who has paid such a high price for us and has made such graces available to the soul for its salvation.

Goal Planning

Goal planning is part of the counseling paradigm.  This is especially seen in behavioral therapies where behavioral change is based on how one thinks.  Behavior is greatly modified and altered by how one thinks.  Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps individuals think differently so as to feel differently and finally behave differently.  Within the behavioral model, desired changes take time but they are planned changes in behavior starting in how we think about things.   Spiritual Directors can help individuals think differently about life through the prism of grace, God, and virtue.  In doing so, desired behavioral modifications as well as targeted virtual habit can be set in goals.

Like all behavioral modification, spiritual change shares common counseling goal setting strategies

Again, though, before any planning can be undertaken, unlike temporal planning which relies on the strengths and powers of oneself, spiritual planning must be placed entirely into the grace of God.  Goals and noble desires are attained through grace and normal actions are spiritualized and made perfect when united with Christ.  Hence no spiritual plan can have any value if placed in pride and self or the belief that one’s own works and deeds have value without the guidance and grace of God.  Without God, these works, dreams and aspirations are utterly worthless.  This is why any plan, before undertaken, must be placed within the guidance and protection of God.  Daily prayer, devotion, and commitment to God’s will is essential.  When one rises, all plans, all duties, all vocational assignments, all crosses, and all joys must be given to God.  The morning offering gives to God everything one does in a day before the day starts and unites everything to Christ to be offered to the Father as a perfect sacrifice to be guided by the grace of the Holy Spirit.  One must then relinquish control and unite one’s will with God. One must acknowledge one’s utter dependence on God and again unite one’s will to Him for transformation.  Placing one’s plan under the guidance of God and allowing it to fall under His will is a big differing point between temporal planning and spiritual planning, but for the Christian, why not submit all plans-even temporal- to God’s will!

In counseling, especially behavioral therapies, plans need to be discussed and identified.  The goal need identified but also how to attain the particular goal, the challenges to that goal, possible setbacks and time frames.   Because of the human nature, the counselor needs to curb enthusiasm so as to prevent burnout when goals become difficult.  Great zeal can quickly turn to great despair.  The counselor is trained to set intermediate goals for a person.  Little goals that track progress can help build confidence and lessen despair upon failure.  This can be seen in financial expectations, as well as weight loss expectations, or even behavioral modifications to stop smoking or drinking.  An individual with a spiritual plan to evict a vice from one’s habitual orbit, may find despair if one fails on a particular day.  Like a person who succumbs to a cigarette or donut late at night, one can succumb to a vice.  A good spiritual director can calm the person and identify why and how it occurred but also to remind one that habits take time and goals take time to achieve.  One needs to find mercy in God when one fails and not find complete pride or joy in one’s own accomplishments but to reflect all in God.

Pitfalls are part of all plans.  Individuals attempted to escape habits, fall, but what God cherishes is the choice to change and the direction.  This is why spiritual directors should encourage the soul and point out the importance of gradual change in severity and frequency and the mercy and grace of God.  Intermediate goals do not demand perfection but gradual growth.  Once intermediate goals are met, one can move forward to the next step.  Like weight training, once a certain number of reps are met, or a certain weight is attained, one is able to advance.  Like so in spiritual life.

Like all planning, it is crucial to keep the person focused but also humble and also remind one of one’s nature.  Many times during change,  individuals become obsessed more so with the numbers than the journey and end goal.  One can become scrupulous and focus more on avoiding or worry or fretting over the smallest of actions to the point it causes extreme distress, despair and guilt.  The devil can be very subtle in derailing a soul working towards God.  So it is important that whichever habit, or spiritual goal one has, to not mistaken the goal or new habit as the ultimate end.  Unlike the view of the  ancient philosophers, virtue itself is not the end goal of our worship.  Virtue is a vehicle and intermediate step to the ultimate goal which should be relationship with God.  So when one focusses more on numbers, one begins to focus more on self than God.  God is the ultimate goal in the entire endeavor of spiritual planning.  Unlike physical training, when one only looks at the body and its change, but not the overall health, then derailment can occur to various maladies.  Likewise, when virtue is sought for the sake of virtue, instead of its purpose as a vehicle to God, then it can be turned against oneself.  In this, one needs to see things that are means as means, and clearly in planning contrast it with one’s end.  Counselors help individuals navigate this, as well as spiritual directors.

Spiritual Strategies

With a stronger understanding of the nature of planning, as well as setting goals, and understanding the difference between means and ends, we will quickly review some types of spiritual plans.  In my daily life, I believe in planning.  Calendars are essential but also journals as well as notes to self, as well as self talk to keep one on track.  Life is comprised of professional, academic, family, self, physical and spiritual aspects and we need to balance these in accordance.  We need to structure these vocational duties that we owe to God, self and neighbor.  First and foremost, they must be prioritized.  Certain things on lists are non-negotiable.  They are priorities that must be met before others. Obviously physically, diet, grooming, and sleep are among those.  Spiritually, prayer, worship and communion with God should top that list.  However, in any planning, there are events, assignments, or obligations that are secondary to primary ones.  Some may be flexible and able to be moved, while others may be optional.  It is important to define these when planning.

Spiritual strength involves not only God’s grace but also an active participation of developing spiritual habits. Please also review AIHCP’s Christian Counseling Program

Planning wise, like financial plans, I like to plan by the quarterly year.  While I have daily duties, weekly duties, bi-weekly duties, and monthly duties, that lead to fulfillment of the quarter, I like to see set goals for that period.  Some goals are primary, others may be flexible, but they are listed.  The 3 month period serves as a reminder of what needs done in some cases, but also where I would like to be as a measuring stick.  Obviously one can see where this can be applied financially, physically but also spiritually.

From a spiritual context, how has one’s daily, weekly and monthly habits gradually changed over the 3 month period?  Daily journaling, weekly remarks and monthly checks can keep one on pace with possible goals.  If one is stricken with the vice of drunkenness, one can review the number of drinks a week and its gradual reduction from week to month to quarterly period.  If the goal is to reduce this habit, then one may discover a new trend that one can find solace in as recorded numbers show reduced intoxication as well drinks per week or month.  One can then ascertain if one has met the quarterly goal or not and how to access the next quarter.  Remember, this is a life style, it is a marathon, not a race, so gradual is better than nothing. This again takes one to the importance of daily and weekly monitoring, so that data and change of habit can be documented.  During this examination of conscience, at the end of each day, or week, or month, or every one quarters, one can see the weaknesses, what one can do better, and most importantly remember on one’s complete reliance in God for any change. The spiritual director can encourage the soul in this progress and also help set new intermediate goals, or re-ascertain certain strategies or time tables to help maintain the confidence of the person in this change and ultimate better relationship with God.

The spiritual director also becomes a spiritual coach in this endeavor.  Upon reflection of plans, one’s attainment, progress, or failures, a coach helps develop a person’s skills.  This may consist in different prayers or penances, or fasting that help foster a particular virtue or habit.  Particular spiritual readings of the saints and their writings, as well as Biblical books or chapters that correspond with one’s troubles can be utilized.  Goals within a particular time table may include within a 3 month span to work in charity, or read a certain amount of books, or become more acquainted with a particular book of the Bible that will help one move forward.  In may also include if Catholic, more frequent reception of the Eucharist, as well as confession.  These things not able help the soul in despair, but also give the soul sources of grace to help transform over the spiritual planning time.  Spiritual directors or confessors can become original in their ideas to share with individuals various particular deeds, or readings that meet a person’s needs and direction.

With all planning, one seeks change, and good change agents produce change.  This involves within the spiritual planning, promoting healthier communications and removal of vice associated materials.  These things that promote sin are referred to as occasions of sin.  It can be a person, place or thing.  Spiritual directors need to encourage souls to avoid places associated with particular sins.  If bars are associated with drinking or lewd conduct, then these places should be removed from a person’s habitual visit.  The same holds true for any addict of any vice.  In regards to lust, avoiding imagery or situations that promote lust should be removed from one’s life.  If a cell phone in close proximity calls one to pornographic imagery, turn off the phone or remove it from one’s reach.   Many of the saints practiced far greater mortifications, beyond what I would recommend, but one must, if seeking change, remove the occasions of sin.  Like a person a diet who removes donuts and cakes from the cabinet, one must remove occasions associated with the detrimental behavior.

Like wise positive change agents must be introduced into any spiritual plan promoting change.  Like in a diet, one supplies their refrigerator with wholesome foods, so the soul must supply the daily routine with wholesome content.  Good spiritual reading, better company, prayer, as well as support from other religious persons who share the same ends is crucial.  A clean home promotes change, so does a clean spiritual environment.  One needs to remove the spiritual filth for the soul to change.  Like a dirty body that needs cleaned to become healthy, so does a dirty soul need cleaned to move forward.  Christ’s blood and the grace of the Holy Spirit provides the solution.  One must wash oneself in these things and provide oneself with healthy reminders of those things that promote new spiritual change within oneself.  Healthy and positive change agents replace negative occasions of sin and replace maladaptive coping with healthy spiritual coping founded in prayer and faith in God.

Conclusion

Spiritual planning is a life style change that takes time and is a life change of progress towards God.  One cannot earn this change but it is gift from God that we partake in.  While the grace of God is a gift, one still must work with that grace.  Spiritual change, like any change, or plan in life, is something that one must dedicate oneself to and purposely plan to achieve with commitment and guidance of the Holy Spirit.  There are many ways to promote a better relationship with God and when we find time to plan prayer, worship and submission to Him, He will guide us in all our plans to find better communion with Him.

We should plan ahead spiritually and work on our relationship with God as much as we do with other types of financial planning or health training. Please also review AIHCP’s Spiritual Direction Program

Spiritual planning in itself should be a big part of one’s life.  It should take priority over everything else we do because our ultimate end is God.  Spiritual planning acknowledges the necessity of Christ’s death and the grace for salvation and how to apply it to our lives so when we stand before God, we will know Him well, as we enter into paradise.

Please also review AIHCP’s Spiritual Direction Program, as well as AIHCP’s Christian Counseling Certification.

Other AIHCP Blogs

Behavioral Therapies: Access here

Behavior and Change.  Access here

Theology and Psychology of Moral Actions.  Access here

Recommended Reading

Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius

Interior Castle-Teresa of Avila

Other Resources

Leontis, A. (2025). “Virtue Ethics: What it is and How it Works”. Philosophos.  Access here

“Spiritual Direction”. IgnatianSpirituality.com.  Access here

Moore, M. “Goal Setting in Counseling and Therapy”. Mentalyc.  Access here