Connie Rossini's Blog, page 14

Fortnight for Freedom activities for the whole family

The Family of St. Thomas More by Rowland Lockey (Wikipedia).

 

Here are 10 activities you can do as a family to support religious freedom and true marriage in the two weeks between June 21 and July 4. You can do all these even in a diocese with no scheduled events.

1. Pray the family Rosary.

Pray the Luminous Mysteries together for the recognition of marriage as one man and one woman. Pray the glorious mysteries for the protection of our God-given right to religious freedom.

2. Make an extra visit to the Adoration chapel.

This is a great opportunity to introduce your children to Eucharistic Adoration, or bring them back if they haven’t gone for a long time. Make this a special trip for the intentions of the Fortnight for Freedom. Don’t worry if you can only stay ten minutes with all the little ones.

3. Watch and discuss A Man for All Seasons.

June 22 is the feast of Saints Thomas More and John Fischer (also Corpus Christi this year). Learn about the saint who died for his defense of marriage. Memorize the Faith with your child" width="150" height="150" />Contemplative Homeschool.

Fleeing temptations from the world

The Renunciation of Worldly Goods by Ghirlandaio (Wikimedia Commons).

 

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been considering the sources of temptations and how to overcome them. We complete the series today by pondering how to flee temptations coming to us from the world.

As we saw earlier, when we speak of “the world” in the context of temptations, we don’t mean the created world. Everything God created is good if used correctly. The problem is, when we lost our proper relationship with God in Adam’s sin, we also lost our proper relationship with one another and with creation. “The world” is the society that delights in pleasure more than it delights in God.  The world entices us to join in the “fun.”

The world values pleasure, power, violence, wealth, fame, and comfort. It does not stop at tempting us. When we resist, it mocks and persecutes us. The world cannot stand to be rejected, having the fury of the proverbial scorned woman.

The world exalts the lowest things to the highest stature.  Its motto is “sex, drugs, and rock and roll.” It uses crude, vulgar, and blasphemous language without a second thought. It enshrines these values in book, magazines, TV, and movies. Ancient Rome’s coliseums and circuses exemplified the depths the world can sink to.

How can lay people flee from the world?

We may not be able to avoid the flesh and the Devil, but we can avoid the world to some extent. Traditionally, Christians who wished to flee from the world would enter a cloistered monastery or convent. Free of the world’s influence, they could more easily pursue God.

But God does not call most people to the cloister. At the same time, He calls all of us to be holy. So how can we flee from the world and still live in society?

Just as in fighting the temptations of the flesh, the best defense against the world is avoiding the near occasion of sin. We need to recognize that everyone is prone to different types of sin. Activities our brothers or friends might be able to enjoy innocently may pose a problem for us, and vice-versa.

Each temperament is tempted in different ways. Cholerics are particularly tempted towards power and fame. Sanguines are tempted to follow the crowd, wherever it leads. They love to be trendy and fashionable. Phlegmatics hate conflict so much that they might unwillingly join others in sin rather than speak up for the truth. Melancholics are the most retiring of the four temperaments. They are most comfortable at home by themselves. But one way in which a worldly spirit can affect them is in exulting work above God’s will. They are often reluctant to observe proper rest on Sundays and holy days, or to spend time building relationships with family members.

Build up your faith

Fleeing from the world starts with fleeing from its mindset. St. Paul writes:

Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

We renew our minds by reading the Bible and the lives of the saints and meditating on them.We should look for other Catholics who will support and encourage us, and avoid worldly company as much as possible.

“This is the victory that overcomes the world: our faith” (1 John 5:4). We should know the teachings of the Church and understand them at an adult level. We must be able to defend the faith when challenged, for someday our lives may depend on it. More likely, our children or our own hearts will challenge us.

Humility, simplicity, a well-regulated life, and faithfulness in prayer will help us resist the world’s enticement. So will service to the poor and outcasts. We can build a Christian culture within our homes and among our friends and relatives. Above all, we must always put God and His will first.

Connie Rossini

Other posts you may likeContemplative Homeschool.

Spiritual support for Catholic dads

St. Joseph by Reni (Wikimedia Commons).

Are you still looking for a present for Father’s Day? A couple of months ago Randy Hain sent me a copy of his new book, Contemplative Homeschool.

A sad anniversary and a free chapter of Trusting God with St. Therese

This is my family (plus two friends) on June 10, 1974. I’m the one with the braids in the front. Terri is behind me next to our mom.

Here is how our car looked thirty minutes later.

 

Today is the fortieth anniversary of one of the saddest events in my life so far. On June 10, 1974, our family was driving to the annual Catholic Charismatic Conference at the University of Notre Dame. We began our journey in Spokane, Washington, where we had spent a weekend on retreat. Just outside Missoula, Montana, the car rolled over three times, landing in the median of the freeway. I was in the back with the seat down and no seat belt. So were two of my siblings and two friends.

I ended up with stitches in my leg and a bump on my head. My sister Terri, who had been sitting next to me, was thrown from the car and died. She was ten years old.

Why did God let this happen? Didn’t He know where we had come from and where we were going? Hadn’t He heard Terri’s voice, when she had volunteered that morning to pray for a safe trip?

Trust in the midst of tragedy

How can we trust God when tragedy hits us? How can we live without fear of something like this happening again?

I have spent the past eighteen months delving into these and other questions. For years I had read that I needed to trust God in order to draw closer to Him, but nobody showed me how to go about it. I wanted to trust God. I wanted to live a life of joy and peace. Instead, I was angry, frustrated, fearful, and distraught. I was beginning to doubt God’s promises.

Then something I read about St. Therese woke me up. Instead of trying to live her high level of spirituality all at once, I began asking how she arrived there. How did she move from a sad little girl, devastated at losing her mother, to total confidence in God? As I dug deeper into her life and teaching, I reflected on specific actions I could take to follow her way of trust. Those reflections started as blog posts. They eventually became the basis of my book, Trusting God with St. Therese.

A free chapter, exclusively for subscribers

Trusting God with St. Therese tells the story of St. Therese’s life in dramatic form. At each stage of the story, I delve into the challenges to trust the saint faced. How did she overcome them? I place my story of struggling with trust alongside St. Therese’s, and show that it is possible for average, sinful people to follow St. Therese in trusting God completely.

Today, I am giving away chapter 3 to my current subscribers and anyone new who signs up to receive my posts by email. “Dealing with Childhood Tragedies” tells how St. Therese fared after her mother died. It also tells the story of our family’s car accident in detail.

Drawing on St. Paul, Victor Frankl, and my experience, I help you move beyond the question why?  I give you practical suggestions to begin forming habits of trust.

You can move beyond your fears and frustrations through the grace of Christ. I am doing it. And I am not much different from you.

Trusting God with St. Therese" width="150" height="150" />Contemplative Homeschool.

Report from the homeschool conference

Painting by Albert Anker (Wikimedia Commons).

As you know, I attended the Minnesota Catholic Home Education Conference last weekend. Last Friday I wrote that I was advertising my book there. One of my readers saw that and asked a friend to get her an autographed copy of my book. That was flattering. Unfortunately, my book isn’t published yet. So what was I doing at the conference and what did I learn?

MCHEC is the biggest homeschool conference in the upper Midwest. Since I am a Catholic homeschooling mom from Minnesota, I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to let others know about my book. But my pre-order date is July 16. Instead of having a table this year, I made bookmarks to go into attendee bags–400 of them. I included my blog address and hoped for lots of traffic from people looking for more information or a copy of Contemplative Homeschool.

Battling the temptations of the flesh

 

Allegory of the Virtues and Vices by Pietro Mauro (Wikimedia Commons).

We’ve been delving into temptations coming from the world, the flesh, and the Devil. Last week we discussed demonic temptations in detail. Today, we’ll examine temptations of the flesh and how to combat them.

We saw that people with melancholic or choleric temperaments tend to be more prone to the temptations that come directly from the Devil: pride, envy, and anger. Temptations of the flesh particularly plague the other two temperaments. More specifically, sanguines often struggle with gluttony and sins against chastity. Phlegmatics  struggle with sloth. (I will be writing more about the four classic temperaments throughout this year. I am creating a spiritual growth plan for you to use with your children of each temperament.)

As I have said before, the flesh can be the most relentless of the three sources of temptation. While the Devil may leave us alone for a time, and we can shut out the world to a certain extent, we can never get away from our own flesh. It remains with us every moment until the end of our life, but we can learn to resist it.

Gluttony, lust, and sloth

The Catechism defines concupiscence as “the movement of the sensitive appetite contrary to the operation of the human reason… Concupiscence stems from the disobedience of the first sin. It unsettles man’s moral faculties and, without being in itself an offense, inclines man to commit sins” (2515).

Sanguines are easily moved by what they experience through their exterior senses. Thus, immodest entertainment might lead them into sexual sin. An all-you-can-eat buffet might tempt them towards gluttony. They might start using vulgar and blasphemous language if they listen to the wrong kind of music.

While phlegmatics may be prone to some of the same sins, their particular sin is sloth. In Catholic theology, sloth is more than mere physical laziness. Fr. John Hardon defined sloth as

sluggishness of soul or boredom because of the exertion necessary for the performance of a good work. The good work may be a corporal task, such as walking; or a mental exercise, such as writing; or a spiritual duty, such as prayer” (Pocket Catholic Dictionary).

Phlegmatics find it difficult to mature spiritually, because of their lack of motivation. Unlike the very easily moved sanguines, phlegmatics are hardly moved by anything. Although they often mean to work on their spiritual life, they find it difficult to spend the necessary effort.

All of us can fall prey to these temptations, given the right circumstances. How can we combat them?

Flee from temptation

The first defense is avoiding the near occasion of sin. Those sensitive to temptations of the flesh should be careful about what they watch, listen to, eat, drink, and even touch. Fr. Jordan Aumann, O.P.  notes in Spiritual Theology  that pleasures that come through the senses don’t just affect one part of the body. The whole body enjoys the sensation. This explains why saints for centuries have connected gluttony with lust. A man who sinfully overeats is more likely to commit sexual sin than one who only consumes what he needs.

Keeping custody of the senses–that is, keeping them under strict control–keeps temptation at bay. In the concrete, this may mean avoiding looking at magazine covers near the grocery store checkout line. Avoiding surfing the internet and TV channels also helps.

Another way to prevent temptation is to practice asceticism. If you are prone to sins of the flesh, start fasting once a week if possible. If you are in charge of making or choosing your meals, eat plain foods when you can. Weed out luxuries. Exercise regularly if you have a problem with sloth.

Mental activity combats temptations of the flesh. Instead of raiding the refrigerator, complete a crossword puzzle or sudoku. Instead of sitting in front of the TV all evening, join a book club.

It may also help to follow a strict schedule with your free time. This can keep you from both wasting precious time and drifting aimlessly from one activity to another. Spiritual directors often recommend lay people create their own rule of life, similar to the daily schedule of religious.

Make prayer the top priority, praying at the same time and place each day. Then schedule in the duties of your vocation. Leisure time should be spent primarily in serving God or our neighbor, or (especially for introverts) getting the rest we need to be able to serve them better. We should avoid spending too much time pleasing ourselves.

Fighting through prayer and the sacraments

Meditating on the shortness of life, the Final Judgment, the effects of sin, and the Passion of Christ can strengthen a soul against temptations of the flesh. As we grow closer to God in prayer, He will provide supernatural help to overcome concupiscence and attachments.

Frequent confession gives us the grace to fight. People who resist confessing venial sins deprive themselves of the sacramental grace that may keep them from falling into mortal sin.

The Eucharist, our spiritual Food, also strengthens us against the flesh.

The temptations of the flesh are difficult to overcome, but God’s grace is stronger. We can conquer these sins if we are willing to work hard along with Christ.

Connie Rossini

Other posts you may likeContemplative Homeschool.

Advertising my book at the Minnesota Catholic Home Education Conference!

Contemplative Homeschool.

How to overcome the Devil’s temptation

Dante’s Inferno, Canto 8 by Blake (Wikimedia Commons).

 

Last week I wrote about the three sources of temptation. Now let’s look at temptation by the Devil in more detail.

Two Scripture passages show us how the Devil tempts us. Genesis 3 tells how Adam and Eve gave in to temptation and sinned. Matthew 4 tells how Jesus resisted the Devil’s temptation. The two stories contain striking similarities.

The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life

When the Devil tempted Eve, the first thing she noticed was that the forbidden fruit was “good for food” (Gen 3:6).  Similarly, the Devil first tempted Jesus by telling Him to turn stones into bread (Mt 4:3). So we see that the Devil often begins by appealing to our natural appetites. In fact, he tempts us with the desires of the flesh.

Apparently, Eve was not completely swayed by this temptation, for she also noticed that the fruit was “a delight to the eyes.” Catholic tradition equates this delight with greed–the desire to have something that is not rightly ours, or to have it in overabundance, or otherwise outside of God’s will. Matthew’s Gospel sets this as Jesus’ third temptation. The Devil promised Jesus all the kingdoms of the world for the “small” price of worshiping him. It’s easy to see how this corresponds to temptation by the world.

The final temptation is to pride. Eve desired the forbidden fruit in order to be like God, outside of grace. The Devil tempted Jesus to presume on His relationship with God, trying to force God’s hand, rather than submitting humbly to God’s will.

John the Apostle calls these temptations the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 Jn 2:16). These are the three types of concupiscence, according to the Catechism (2514).

Pride is the province of the Devil

While the Devil can tempt us towards any sin, he often lets the world and the flesh tempt us to lust, gluttony, sloth, and greed. He tempts us directly to anger, envy, and pride–especially pride.

Catholic tradition says that pride and envy caused Satan’s downfall. Angels can’t be tempted by lust (of the flesh or the eyes), because they are pure spirits. Having no bodies, they do not desire food, sex, or material possessions. Nor do they desire ease. But some of them wanted to be equal to or above God in authority (pride). They envied man’s future glorification. They became angry that God had different plans for them.

Pride can easily lead to a refusal to repent, which is the unforgivable sin. Even if we don’t go that far, it can stop us from growing spiritually, because we think we are already holy enough. The Devil will also try to tempt us to despair, which is another form of thinking too much about ourselves and not enough about God.

Everyone is tempted by these sins, but people with Contemplative Homeschool.

Why I don’t let my boys be crude

Christ in St. Joseph’s Workshop by Pagano (Wikimedia Commons). Who wants to bet that no crude talk went on there?

 

Adults seem to take for granted that being crude is part of the nature of boys. “Let boys be boys,” they say. Let them make jokes about body functions and use crass language. We can’t expect them to be careful in their speech. Well, here’s news for all of you: I am raising four masculine boys and I don’t allow them to speak or act crudely. And they don’t!

The other day, D (nearing 12), brought up the subject of crude talk. Some of his friends have always been looser in their talk than we allow here. As he gets older, the tongues of many of his friends are getting worse. Was I being too strict? He wanted to know.

Here are some of the reasons I gave him for our rules against being crude:

1. We are not beasts

Unlike lower animals, humans have reason. We can regulate our behavior. We are not subject to impulses. We should be raising our eyes to Heaven, not lowering them to earth. We should speak about the higher things in life.

2. The saints are not crude

If we’re raising our kids to be saints, why would we allow them to form habits that will hinder them later? If they will later have to overcome bad habits of speech, why not make their way smoother by helping them resist forming such habits in the first place?

3. Controlling our tongues keeps us from sin

A person with a crude tongue as a kid is going to have a hard time not slipping into obscenity and profanity as he grows older. Learning to bite our tongues before we say something crude forces us to think before we speak. That habit can help us avoid gossip, suggestive talk, lies, and backtalk.

Is it a sin to talk crudely? Most of the time it isn’t. But if we want to be holy, we also have to avoid the near occasions of sin. We have to work on our attachments and imperfections as well. Crude talk is certainly an imperfection. So we do our best to avoid it in our house.

For more on a related subject, read my post on Contemplative Homeschool.

The world, the flesh, and the Devil–sources of temptation

An Angel and a Devil Fighting for the Soul of a Child by Gimignani (Wikimedia Commons).

 

Why are we tempted to sin? How can we know when a thought is simply a temptation and when we actually consent to sin? How should we avoid and resist temptation? I’d like to explore these questions over several blog posts, starting with the sources of temptation. Traditionally, the three sources are called the world, the flesh, and the Devil.

The Devil is real and active

All temptation began with the Devil. Before God created the material world, He created the spiritual world, including angels and archangels. God gave angels and archangels a chance to choose to obey or disobey Him. Lucifer led a third of the angels and archangels to rebel against God. Lucifer was transformed into the Devil (Satan). His followers became demons.

After God made man, the Devil tempted Adam and Eve. Hating God, he also hated creatures made in God’s image. Although he cannot experience real joy, he takes a perverse pleasure in seeing man turn away from God.

Jordan Aumann, O.P., in his modern classic Spiritual Theology, cautions us against entering into conversation with the Devil. When the Devil tempts us, we should turn aside to some other activity. Arguing with the tempter only causes trouble. The Devil will twist God’s words. He will lie to and deceive us. He will try to trap us. He is smarter and more powerful than we are on our own.

Sometimes it seems that the Devil is completely ignoring us. We need to be careful not to grow lax. We should use these intervals for prayer, and perhaps fasting. When the Devil leaves us alone, it is never because he is indifferent to our salvation. He is only biding his time and making ready for another attack.

The world also entices us

When we speak of the world in the spiritual life, we don’t mean the created world. Rather, we mean the culture in which we live, especially the culture of unredeemed man. We say that consecrated religious leave the world. Obviously, they still live on earth. They cut themselves off from the culture of unredeemed man to a certain extent. This is especially true of monks, hermits, and cloistered nuns. The rest of us remain in the world. We have to strive daily against it.

Since the world has not submitted to Christ and His reign, it idolizes creation. The world takes the good things God created to reveal Himself to us, and turns them into idols. The world entices us to become attached to creatures and creature comforts.  It thrives on pleasure.

Worldly people often ridicule those who are trying to follow God. They persecute believers. Our fear of rejection and of suffering can tempt us to join the crowd and give in to sin.

The best way to avoid being tempted by the world is to avoid the near occasions of sin. Some people might be easily swayed by their peers. They must choose friends and acquaintances carefully. Others need to stay away from certain places where the pull of the culture is too strong for them, such as bars. Still others might find certain jobs tempt them to give in to the world. They may have to avoid getting involved in political campaigns or working for companies that promote greed.

The flesh never leaves us alone

Unlike the world and the Devil, which we can run away from to a certain extent, the flesh is always with us. We can’t get away from it, but we can tame it. I wrote in detail about Contemplative Homeschool.