May 30, 2021- Ignatian Spirituality Part 2

Last week, we introduced the discernment of spirits by St. Ignatius. Did you know that the name Satan comes from the Hebrew noun meaning “accuser”? In my experience, this seems like the most accurate way to describe the evil one. Just as God knows our hearts, Satan knows us and knows exactly what thoughts to put on our minds to cause us grief, suffering, and turmoil. Compare this to our God who is constantly drawing us to himself through inspiration, love, peace, and joy. Satan, also called “Father of Lies,” accuses us constantly of not being good enough or strong enough to overcome sin, and that we always have been and always will be terrible individuals. If you are prone to greed, Satan will tempt you to cheat on your taxes and then accuse you of being a thief. If you are easily tempted into lust, Satan will lead you to sin and then accuse you of being perverse. If we do not ask God continuously to see ourselves as he sees us and listen for His spirit that leads us to Him, the inner voice of self that we spoke of last week will become indistinguishable from the evil one, and we will become self-accusing and self-defeating individuals. The evil one will put us on a treadmill of self-hate to the point that he will not even need to do the convincing anymore- we will do the work ourselves. Next week, we will continue to explore this topic and how to further discern good and bad spirits. In the meantime, consider praying for the clarity of heart to recognize and reject the lies of the evil one.