Worried About Continuing Spiritual Dedication

[JadeHand]

Recently I found the strength to put away some of the more secular things in my life, such as popular inappropriate music, harmful TV shows, and websites with jokes and funny things that could sometimes contain material of an inappropriate or offensive nature. I can credit my desire to become more holy and live a more faith-filled life to Theology of the Body, particularly the book Theology of Her Body by Jason Evert- this has brought me into a better understanding of men and women’s purposes in this world as God intended, and the beauty of the person, body and soul. I want to make myself into a virtuous and faithful woman for God, and so that I will be deserving of the virtuous and faithful husband that He intends for me

I have been replacing my TV show watching habit with listening to podcasts of Catholic Answers Live (I enjoy apologetics so this was a great new habit for me), and this has led to deeper desires to attend daily Mass, have a better and steady prayer life, research more on the faith, and has overall just kept the faith and Jesus present with me throughout the day.

My worry is this: I don’t want to get burned-out on the faith by being overzealous in my efforts, and then tiring of them. It is as if I am on what I call ‘retreat high’- where you go on a retreat and then feel renewed in your faith and and increase in spirituality, and will make more effort to pray, attend mass, and go to confession. But then the ‘retreat high’ eventually subsides and you continue on in your same old patterns. I have kept up my efforts for a week now, and to me it seems they are increasing and becoming easier. But I am one of those people who will go through obsessions with a new book series or movie for example, and be really interested in it and look up lots of extra stuff on it, and I just don’t want my newly increased devotion to the faith and God to be like that, a passing obsession. I am especially worried because I have a friend who went through much the same experience- however he says that everything he did- weekly confession, holy hours, and extra rosaries- were centered on overcoming sin (I know he was suffering from a pornography addiction). I am hoping that my spiritual dedication will not subside as his did, to the point where he now feels exhausted from his efforts and has a hard time bringing himself to care anymore (I definitely recognize that our situations are very different though due to the completely different motivations we each have in our efforts).

I cannot help worrying about this situation, and I am wondering if anyone has gone through the same thing or anything similar?? Does anyone have any advice that could help me in maintaining a steady increased spiritual life rather than going through stages of increased faith and then a regular flat-line of merely doing the bare minimum that faithful Catholics would (attending sunday Mass, daily prayer, confession ever couple of months, and living my life according to church teachings- that is, I am definitely not in the habit of committing any mortal sins)?

 

[JadeHand]

Oh, also God Bless, and thank you for taking the time to read!!

 

[JRKH]

What a wonderful post - and welcome to the forums.

Yes - I have experienced these things as well - the highs and lows. It can be tough to keep on track keep growing - heck sometimes it’s all I can do just to maintain the gains that (by the Grace of God) I have achieved.

Based on what you have written above, My very first suggestion would be to obtain the book mentioned in my signature. It will answer - directly or indirectly - many of the concerns you have. it’s a pretty big book, but very “readable” and full of the “Wisdom of the Saints”.

Now - for some more immediate and personal advice.

Before I list some suggestions I wish to make the most important one - and the one that will a) smooth out some of the highs and lows and b) will become the foundation for every other thing that you do.

Build your Life on Godly Love, Agape in the Greek meaning “brotherly love”.
Jesus spends much of the Gospels teaching about this Love by parable, by direct teaching, and ultimately by His very example. It is the foundation of all the Law and the Prophets. (Mt 22:36-40). It is greater than either faith or hope (1 Cor 13:1-13) It is the primary command that Jesus gave to the Apostles (John 13:34-35). It is the very essence of the God Himself (1John 4:7-8).
It is vital that any path we choose has Love, Godly Love, as both the goal and the primary tool we use for growth. St Therese of Lisieux, in her “Little way” calls Love the “elevator to Heaven” and this is so very true.
So Build your spiritual life on Love of God and Love of neighbor and you cannot go wrong for - even when you feel spiritually dry, you will still be able to DO that which is Loving.

Some other ideas:

1. Don’t “go it alone”. Discuss this with someone who you trust and can help to guide you - your confessor or Spiritual director/councilor. We at CAF can be of some help in this but there are bound to be issues and details that are far better handled face to face, and also, issues might come up that you’d rather not talk about on a public board…
2. Recognize and accept that there WILL be ups and downs. This is quite normal and to be expected. This is why it is best to have someone you can talk to who understands these things and help you through the arid times.
3. Everyone is different. There are no “cookie cutter” methods to Holiness. There are however many “guides” and “exercises” available to start with. Just do not be afraid to modify them somewhat as time goes on.
   I know that you already recognize this by the reference you make to your friend and his struggles. Hopefully as you begin to grow you will be able to help him as well.
4. Take time to pray throughout the day - nothing “heavy” - just thoughts of God and short ejaculatory prayers like the one I have in my signature. This helps to keep God in front of you so that you can keep your actions focused and pleasing to Him

Hope this is of some help.

Peace
James

 

[Luvtosew]

Recently I found the strength to put away some of the more secular things in my life, such as popular inappropriate music, harmful TV shows, and websites with jokes and funny things that could sometimes contain material of an inappropriate or offensive nature. I can credit my desire to become more holy and live a more faith-filled life to Theology of the Body, particularly the book Theology of Her Body by Jason Evert- this has brought me into a better understanding of men and women’s purposes in this world as God intended, and the beauty of the person, body and soul. I want to make myself into a virtuous and faithful woman for God, and so that I will be deserving of the virtuous and faithful husband that He intends for me

I have been replacing my TV show watching habit with listening to podcasts of Catholic Answers Live (I enjoy apologetics so this was a great new habit for me), and this has led to deeper desires to attend daily Mass, have a better and steady prayer life, research more on the faith, and has overall just kept the faith and Jesus present with me throughout the day.

No words of advice but when one is in Christ, things sinful are repulsive anyway, we just naturally don’t like ungodly things, I’m sure God will send a faithful husband to you, but just wait on the Lord and his timing. Wishing all the best and please don’t burn out by doing, doing and doing, just receive the love of the Lord and and he’ll purify your heart.

I cannot help worrying about this situation, and I am wondering if anyone has gone through the same thing or anything similar?? Does anyone have any advice that could help me in maintaining a steady increased spiritual life rather than going through stages of increased faith and then a regular flat-line of merely doing the bare minimum that faithful Catholics would (attending sunday Mass, daily prayer, confession ever couple of months, and living my life according to church teachings- that is, I am definitely not in the habit of committing any mortal sins)?

 

[JaredR]

“Lord, don’t let my love grow cold.” That could be your prayer every morning when you get up. When the weariness comes - and it will come - you have to be prepared for it. The way I see it, my highs give me the momentum to get through my lows. This is the best use we can make of the times when we feel elated and everything is easy; if we are just savoring the spiritual emotions for their own sake, we are wasting the opportunity. My lows are the days where I get up for work and I don’t feel like praying, and I don’t feel like offering up my actions, and I don’t feel like keeping my mind in the presence of God. Those are the days when I want to console myself with “human consolations” like food, television, and idle chattering. The only way to keep up during these days is to already have the habit of self-denial and doing things for the love of God without regard for your own desires.

I would encourage you in your current zeal to focus on the abandonment of your own will and your own claim to pleasure/comfort/happiness. Do everything principally because God wills it: eat because that’s what He wants, sleep because that’s what He wants, go to your job because that’s what He wants, etc. Even if there are other reasons for doing something, the first motive for any action should be to please God. He made us, He sustains our existence, and we owe Him our whole being.

If you’d like another good resource, I would recommend listening to the homilies at Audio Sancto. These are posted weekly, and they’re always full of solid Catholic teaching. I have been inspired and motivated to seek holiness by listening to them.

I apologize if I seem to be rambling. I love seeing souls that are energetic and zealous, and I always desire to see them persevere. I have gone through the cycle of lost-and-regained zeal too often. I hope that you always pick up yourself when you fall, and never lose sight of your heavenly goal!

 

[JadeHand]

Thank you very much, James! That was great, constructive, advice; I love it all! I will definitely look into getting that book; it sounds like an excellent read. And thank you especially for #2 of your advice, recognizing that there will be ups and downs. I think just recognizing that rather than trying to desperately cling to the ‘ups’ is going to be a huge help.

And also I did give the book I read, Theology of Her Body which takes up one side of a combined book with Theology of His Body, to my friend, and he said he’s already read the His Body part twice now and that he feels somewhat renewed, so at least I have been able to help that much so far.

I should have also remembered to mention in my original post (it was very late when I posted it, I must have been tired) that a lot of my efforts are stemming from a talk I attended by Leah Darrow ( catholic.com/profiles/leah-darrow ) recently, where she mentioned that she had always had the ‘intention’ to be holy, had always ‘planned’ on it ‘someday’, but never did the work. I realized that that’s what I have been doing, and I am trying to make real efforts now to change that. It wasn’t all due to Theology of Her body, although that is an excellent book.

Anyway, thank you so very, very much for all of your help! God Bless, and I’ll keep you in my prayers!

 

[JadeHand]

“Lord, don’t let my love grow cold.” That could be your prayer every morning when you get up. When the weariness comes - and it will come - you have to be prepared for it. The way I see it, my highs give me the momentum to get through my lows. This is the best use we can make of the times when we feel elated and everything is easy; if we are just savoring the spiritual emotions for their own sake, we are wasting the opportunity. My lows are the days where I get up for work and I don’t feel like praying, and I don’t feel like offering up my actions, and I don’t feel like keeping my mind in the presence of God. Those are the days when I want to console myself with “human consolations” like food, television, and idle chattering. The only way to keep up during these days is to already have the habit of self-denial and doing things for the love of God without regard for your own desires.

I would encourage you in your current zeal to focus on the abandonment of your own will and your own claim to pleasure/comfort/happiness. Do everything principally because God wills it: eat because that’s what He wants, sleep because that’s what He wants, go to your job because that’s what He wants, etc. Even if there are other reasons for doing something, the first motive for any action should be to please God. He made us, He sustains our existence, and we owe Him our whole being.

If you’d like another good resource, I would recommend listening to the homilies at Audio Sancto. These are posted weekly, and they’re always full of solid Catholic teaching. I have been inspired and motivated to seek holiness by listening to them.

I apologize if I seem to be rambling. I love seeing souls that are energetic and zealous, and I always desire to see them persevere. I have gone through the cycle of lost-and-regained zeal too often. I hope that you always pick up yourself when you fall, and never lose sight of your heavenly goal!

Thank you so much! I really love the part about having the habit of self-denial and doing things for the love of God rather than my own desires. That is excellent advice for me personally, because one of my bad qualities is thoughtlessness, and I think that advice is something that will help me overcome that as well. It will be a great thing for me to actually get into the habit of having Christ as my motivation and doing all things for Him, rather than doing them for myself.
I really appreciate this good, solid advice, that was very helpful and constructive. I will be sure to check out those homilies as well, thank you for recommending them.
Have a great day, God Bless, and thank you very much! I will keep you in my prayers as well