Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In this First Week, we go further than simply looking at the world and seeing how we will be opposing God if we love the world. Hopefully we have pondered the Scriptures as Mary did and heard clearly that we cannot serve two masters. If we love the spirit of the world, then we oppose the spirit of Christ.
But this week we go further into our own souls, our own “Interior Castle” to seek the knowledge we need. St. Louis de Montfort helps us, in his treatise on “True Devotion”:
Our best actions are usually tainted and spoiled by the evil that is rooted in us. When pure, clear water is poured into a foul-smelling jug, or wine into an unwashed cask that previously contained another wine, the clear water and the good wine are tainted and readily acquire an unpleasant odour. In the same way when God pours into our soul, infected by original and actual sin, the heavenly waters of his grace or the delicious wines of his love, his gifts are usually spoiled and tainted by the evil sediment left in us by sin. Our actions, even those of the highest virtue, show the effects of it. It is therefore of the utmost importance that, in seeking the perfection that can be attained only by union with Jesus, we rid ourselves of all that is evil in us. Otherwise our infinitely pure Lord, who has an infinite hatred for the slightest stain in our soul, will refuse to unite us to himself and will drive us from his presence.
To rid ourselves of selfishness, we must first become thoroughly aware, by the light of the Holy Spirit, of our tainted nature. Of ourselves we are unable to do anything conducive to our salvation. Our human weakness is evident in everything we do and we are habitually unreliable. We do not deserve any grace from God. Our tendency to sin is always present. The sin of Adam has almost entirely spoiled and soured us, filling us with pride and corrupting every one of us, just as leaven sours, swells and corrupts the dough in which it is placed. The actual sins we have committed, whether mortal or venial, even though forgiven, have intensified our base desires, our weakness, our inconstancy and our evil tendencies, and have left a sediment of evil in our soul.
Let us pray: The Litany of the Holy Spirit - Here Ave Maris Stella - Here and the Litany of the Blessed Virgin - Here
May our dear Mother Mary continue to intercede for all of us that we may be truly open to the Holy Spirit, sent to bring us into ALL Truth. Jesus, You are our Way, our Truth, and our Life. We trust in You!