Practice of Spiritual Advancement,
Evaluation and Management
In each of the three stages of spiritual advancement: purgative, illuminative, and unitive, our primary guide is the interior voice of God, in our moral conscience. Many lists of moral action exist, but we carry the most important guide with us always.{92}
In spiritual advancement a rule for activity is much more effective than a list of activities, here is the rule:
Any activity, be it action, thought or will, must be stripped of illegitimate selfish content. Those wishing perfection must strip it even of legitimate self interest. What remains of the action must have its origin and end in Christ.
The standard for our spiritual advancement is Christ. Christ is not only the rule, but the end which we seek. The rule which we live by, manage our actions toward, and evaluate them against is spoken by Jesus himself in Matthew 22:37;
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
Again Jesus lays out this teaching, but in a bit more detail to Blessed Anna Maria Taigi. Anna was a mother of seven children, three of who died in infancy. Anna was unmatched in her prophetic knowledge, she was given miraculous knowledge of any topic, future events, afterlife status, location of lost items; her healing powers were extensive and well documented. She deeply participated in Christ, including the attributes and abilities of Christ, which we term miracles. She made this participation by living the rule for spiritual perfection told to her by Jesus himself.
“The greatest merit consists in being in the midst of the world and yet holding the world under one’s feet, serving God in the state of life to which it has pleased him to call you. Remember it is far more meritorious to renounce one’s own will and submit to the will of God, than to perform the greatest bodily mortifications…you must not in the future use language such as ‘I want this; this is pleasant, but this other is not’. Do what you do not wish to do, leave undone what you wish to do. One such act is much more pleasing to me than an entire year of penance. The soul that suffers patiently the tribulations from people is greater than that of a penitent.”
Again, Jesus explained this principle of participation to Saint Henry (Heinrich) Suso. {93}
“The truest and most effective teaching that you can receive is this. Keep yourself apart from all men, if not in body, then in spirit. Keep yourself free from all unneeded images and words. Free yourself from everything that is accidental, binding or that brings worry. Always direct your spirit to the intimate contemplation of God, keeping me constantly present before your eyes and never turning them away from me.”
“Direct all other exercises, be it poverty, fasting, vigils and all other types of chastisement toward this goal and make use of them to the extent that they advance this end. Do all this and you shall attain the summit of perfection that not one person in a thousand comprehends because they make these exercises their goal and therefore wander about for years.”
These three prior rules for spiritual perfection — all given by Jesus to his disciples — is the finest wisdom available in the universe; anyone can do it, and the payoff is beyond imagination. Let us further examine the principles set forth in these three instruction sets.
The advice that Jesus Christ gave to friar Suso, would fit into his life as a monk, his job in life was fasting and prayer. Recall that the mother of seven, Anna Maria Taigi also attained the highest perfection, and Christ guided Anna in her moral consciousness all the way. She never neglected her children or husband in preference to prayer, she did not fast through family meals, she sat and ate. But all of Anna’s discretionary moments and decisions were dedicated to participation in Christ, and this was how she attained perfection.
The student himself is the best judge of his actions, but he must be honest and attentive to the inner promptings of the Holy Spirit who is our immediate guide. At its core, spiritual advancement is the cultivation of the three theological virtues and the twelve moral virtues. Our intellect may not have these memorized, but our will does, and our living moral conscious will prompt us toward the good, and away from the evil.
Can a person evaluate his spiritual advancement and attainment? {94} The measure of Christian spirituality is love of Christ, and Christ told us what this love is, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” The apostle John confirms this, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and is commandments are not burdensome.”, (1Jn 5:3).
“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” The measure of our soul is the quality of our actions. We often fill out some form, which grades some action we received, we should not neglect to evaluate the quality of our own actions.
All of our actions become more perfect, according to the depth of our participation in Christ, and practice in selflessness improves all our moral actions. Our “big” actions, are not our only important actions, actions we might consider as small also form and reinforce our soul, and affect all of creation. Patience on the road, or in a line, immediate forgiveness for a sharp remark, moderation at table and more are not optional. Such actions actually constitute who we are; virtues are not mere words or ideas they really compose the unseen fabric of our person and the entire universe.
A useful indicator of spiritual progress is the observation of our idle thoughts and day dreams. As the soul purges self and advances in union with Christ. We may expect a general upgrade in the quality of our idle thoughts. Our conscious thoughts are our intellect, but our idle, undirected thoughts are our will being manifest.
The most important question concerning spiritual advancement is, “May I ask for and attain, the opportunity for spiritual perfection?” The answer is generally, ‘Yes.’ No one knows how long life will be, and someone asking late in life may need to take the accelerated course. An accelerated course is preferable, it cuts out the years of wandering, St. Francis did this, he cut out all discretional selfishness in his life, and so can anyone; the accidents of life (rich, poor, working, retired, nun, married) remain accidents.
Volumes could be written on other topics in spiritual advancement: discernment of spirits, spiritual directors, religious orders, third orders and associations, prayer groups, solitude and community, individual charisms and much more, but the foundation of spiritual advancement is daily doing and not doing, and our attention is most profitably directed at identifying selfishness in any action and purging it. What remains of the action should in some way be directed at union with God, via Jesus Christ.
Do not worry so much about the spiritual attainment of others, remember if you look after Christ’s interest, he will look after yours. Regular prayer for others is our most productive action in this regard.
Specific actions
The following suggested forms of action are more general rule than itemized list. It is easier to quit any behavior cold turkey, than by degrees. If we quit by degrees, we feed the behavior in the meantime. Perhaps pick one activity to purge of selfishness, each quarter. In a year four major spiritual activities will be perfected or at least improved.
Completely forgiving those who have done you wrong. Yes, completely forgive the great injustices made against you…no reservation, no conditions, no portion of just punishment saved, no memory of the injustice.
The experienced saints have let Christ decide all the accidents of life: time and manner of death, poverty or wealth, freedom or oppression. Each life is custom constructed to perfect the body of Christ, which all are intended to join.
Simplify your life. Anything that is acquired, or any activity done is usually a distraction from God, who we should “love with all our heart, all our mind and all our soul.”, (Mt 22:37). Be selective about what you allow into your life, and what we are attached to.
If there is no value in asserting an opinion, then withhold it. This advances the essential virtue of humility. If you are done a minor injustice, reply with “Pardon me.” One incident in a thousand requires police response, all others should be disregarded as an unnecessary detour. If your opponent holds that “Pardon me.” Is an admission of guilt, don’t worry Christ is an even better lawyer than the Devil. Driving and family are especially productive training grounds is this area.
Review your reasons for spiritual advancement. Recall that one’s spiritual growth is the very reason God creates a person. We are to advance past our failings and bring our virtue which is hard won in this fallen world, to union with Christ. The entire body of Christ will benefit.
Make this project your primary goal in life, all else is secondary or supports this primary goal of spiritual advancement. Keep your big vision, but live your virtue each moment only, do not worry about tomorrows challenges. Virtue is not something to be stored for tomorrow. It goes with us everywhere and increases as we give it away.
In every act eliminate selfishness and increase perfection. Do everything with less self satisfaction attached to it — eating, sex, work. What we avoid is self satisfaction, not joy or community. Do not half heartedly celebrate a birthday or play a softball game.
To spend four hours a day learning an instrument is a form of human perfection, to listen to four hours of your favorite song is a form of masturbation.{95} To celebrate a birthday is an act of charitable love, to eat six pieces of birthday cake is an act of selfish satisfaction. Replace emotional highs and lows, with constant joy of purpose.
Advance in ones understanding of the gospel, Catholic theology, moral law and spiritual advancement. This is simply spiritual reading, and the library is free, and most have an interlibrary loan program. Many Catholic classics are available free online.
Remember that reading is not the vital element in spiritual advancement. Most who have attained perfection were not even literate.
Make use of the sacraments. Attend one additional Mass or online Mass each week. Sacramental confession makes a difference.
Do not attempt to bypass the obstacles in your path, remediate them into virtue. We may be able to exit the arena of spiritual battle, but if do, we fail to make the required spiritual advancement.
Remember your time frame for spiritual advancement is your entire life, and unlimited retries are available. But at some point our lives will end, we will then see the absolute value of incorporation into Christ and the futility of the many varieties of self satisfaction.
Make prayer when you are sitting on the couch or in the car. No time excuses here. Build your prayer life from this foundation.
To help conquer an obstinate behavior, perfect your ‘small’ actions. Remember the virtues do affect each other, and they have much in common. To conquer obstinate anger, make every possible act of humility, patience and kindness in all other areas. It really makes a difference.
Keep going after failure. Recover and continue. Trust in God. The only real mortal sin is refusal to participate in God. Faith in all its varieties including repentance is a real participation in Christ. The best schedule for confession is once a month or once a quarter.
Make a 30 day effort and evaluation of increased virtue. Twelve times a year you can commit to a small behavioral improvement. You might choose to go out of your way in respect and consideration using ‘sir ‘ and ‘ma’am’, withholding optional criticism, and so on. When any variety of selfishness is purged, the entire soul benefits, and thirty days of it is enough to observe a difference in one’s soul. Food, marital relations, work, entertainment are all plentiful areas to purge self.
Ongoing Sacrifice: Jesus describes this as “pruning” in John 15:2;
“He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
Many have ambition to be an instant martyr, but fewer will make daily sacrifice. Yet this is the primary way that vice is made into virtue, and all of creation benefits.
Mental discipline: no metal wandering, no inadvertent entry into thoughts harmful to one’s moral makeup. Do not simply avoid idle thoughts, replace it with a better thought, prayer is a reliable substitute.
Moral discipline: Avoid or correct all addiction, obsession and illegitimate action, and hold at arm’s length any legitimate action, be able to take it or leave it.
Ask God for the grace of advancement and perfection. Beginners should first try out the discipline of spiritual advancement. When committed to, it requires absolute dedication. God is of course grateful for any advancement we make, but if we attempt perfection, major elements of our life may (or may not) be rearranged for us.
Evaluation of Spiritual Advancement Make this practical rather than academic; what should I have don’t better this day, and how can I do better tomorrow, or the next time my particular imperfection arises? Make a mental scenario in which you see yourself making the correct choices and actions in challenging circumstances.
Review your shortcomings, your particular vices, but now hold them at arm’s length, in a more detached fashion, do not make mental images of these vices. Make a detached observation of their worthlessness, they are worse than useless, they impede one’s spiritual growth.
Monitor your idle thoughts and daydreams. Idle thoughts will always occur in our state of being that is less than divine union, and they usually arise from our wandering soul, but even our wanderings are of a better or lesser quality. We should attempt to prevent such wandering, and make note of the quality of idle thoughts which will be of a better quality as we advance is soul. Our thoughts will be less critical and self seeking. By directing our thoughts at all times we create good habits or virtue.
Do my former satisfactions hold less appeal now, than a year ago. If we are advancing, we will sense this difference.
Be especially observant in routine, known situations. The daily commute or daily interaction with an individual is a useful place to measure our improving quality of action. Down time is another, do we drift, or do we cultivate peace, prayer or meditation.
Maintenance of spiritual advancement From CCC 2088, “The first commandment requires us to nourish and protect our faith with prudence and vigilance, and to reject everything that is opposed to it.”
The Christian, or any person of faith or virtue must expect attacks upon their faith and virtue, and should consider how to deal with these assaults. The ongoing acts of sin in our world affect all of creation, and according to their common attributes.{96} This trait of commonality in creation, was meant to be a blessing to share goodness, but with the onset of sin, it too was shared.
Overreliance on emotions is perhaps the greatest challenge to faith. When the joy or satisfaction in faith is no longer sensed it is discarded to some degree great or small. Acedia is the term for this.
Presumption or despair both relegate faith to the category of unneeded. Presumption of salvation, or predestination of actions or outcome reduces faith, to nothing more than frictional energy loss occurring in the moral realm. Despair leads to the mistaken belief that evil is greater than God.
Spiritual advancement and maintenance in extreme circumstances is not easy, but it has been attested to by Christ himself. Jesus lived his entire life under military occupation by Rome; his advice was to give unconditional love, even if crucifixion was received in return.
The saints who were advanced in spiritual attainment closely monitored what they fed their soul. Spiritual junk food in the forms of impure day dreams, conversations, images had a real effect on their soul, and they felt it. Spiritual junk food, produced junk thoughts, and encouraged junk actions. We are truly what we choose to be; “as a man thinks, so he becomes”, Proverbs, 23:7.