Hey — at least you recognize tempation. Most people don’t.
This is just one of the spiritual stages of practicing Catholicism. We say “practice” because Catholicism takes practice. You repeat things over and over and over again, and then when you “get it” you advance to the next stage.
Repenting sometimes take works because our human nature is sinful, and it takes time to learn the difference between what is good and what is not, etc…
Don’t worry about it. Just keep practicing.
I’ve been there, too, and occasionally I slip back into old habits and later kick myself for not recognizing tempation.
With practice, this will happen less and less. The stages to come after this period of purification are somewhat different, but similar, too.
Just wait until you have your first interior vision and you’re left wondering if it’s from God or from the devil. It really is HARD to tell the difference! Some of the stages to come get somewhat difficult, and if you advance far enough, you’ll need a spiritual director.
Oh, and just wait until the devil gets so mad at you that light bulbs start blowing in your house. That means he can’t find a way in your so, and so he takes it out on stuff around you. That gets interesting.
There are some interesting stages to come. But you know, I think the purification stuff was — for me — the hardest, simply because I had some addictions to get rid of. The purification also took very long in my case, because I’m a great sinner.
And each stage is so different — it’s hard to compare them. Like comparing an apple to an orange.
Anyway, just keep going! God has ways of surprising your soul!
God Bless you!
