<\/p>\n
Dear Joanne,<\/p>\n
I am sorry, but I disagree with you.\u00a0 You say you are doing everything within your power to grow in faith, put order in your life, and discover God\u2019s will.\u00a0 But that\u2019s not true. \u00a0You have neglected the most practical and one of the most ancient Catholic tactics: you have not sought out a trustworthy spiritual director.\u00a0 In that vein, I think you need to reflect a bit on today\u2019s saint.<\/p>\n
John of \u00c1vila was born to a wealthy family and went to the famous University of Salamanca to study law.\u00a0 He did well, but felt called to the religious life.\u00a0 Wealth and abstract knowledge simply didn\u2019t satisfy him.\u00a0 He went off to learn how to pray and sacrifice.\u00a0 Three years later he went on to study philosophy and theology and was eventually ordained a priest.\u00a0 He longed to travel to the New World on a mission of evangelization, but the archbishop of Seville convinced him to stay in Spain and evangelize the southern province of Andalusia, which was still recovering from centuries of Moslem rule.<\/p>\n
Thus St John found his vocation.\u00a0 For the next forty years he preached tirelessly.\u00a0 He went from town to down, spreading the Good News, serving the poor, and denouncing sin wherever he found it \u2013 even (especially, perhaps) among the rich and powerful.\u00a0 He was so effective that at one point he was imprisoned by the Inquisition for teaching that the rich couldn\u2019t get into heaven (the rich were purposely misinterpreting him because he was waking up their consciences).\u00a0 The charges were dropped, however, after investigation.\u00a0 His brief sojourn as a religious criminal only increased his popularity.<\/p>\n
Among his many gifts was that of being a wise and effective spiritual director.\u00a0 In fact, he served as such for five of the most influential saints of the sixteenth century: St Teresa of \u00c1vila, St John of the Cross, St Peter of Alcantar\u00e1, St John of God, and St Francis Borgia.<\/p>\n
And that, my precocious young niece, is my point.\u00a0 God likes to work through human instruments.\u00a0 That\u2019s one of the reasons behind the Incarnation.\u00a0 And so, if you are trying to pursue the path of holiness and meaning all by yourself, you are not doing it God\u2019s way.\u00a0 The history of the Church is a history of saints passing on sanctity from one generation to the next.\u00a0 Don\u2019t think you\u2019ll be able to catch it without catching it from someone.<\/p>\n
Pray for a trustworthy spiritual director (and that doesn\u2019t mean it has to be someone who floats around in ecstasy all the time, just someone you can trust \u2013 remember, the director is just an instrument of God\u2019s grace), and start LOOKING for one too.<\/p>\n
Your concerned uncle,<\/p>\n
Eddy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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