Week one - Getting to know yourself - Day 1
The desire of the flesh
Prayer to the Holy Spirit
O Holy Spirit, inspire me. God’s love, engulf me. Holy Mary, my Mother, guide me in the right ways, look at me, and together with Jesus, bless me. Keep me from all evil, from all delusions and all threats. Mary, The Spouse of the Holy Spirit, obtain for me the grace of getting to know myself, repenting, and living according to the Spirit. Amen!
The Word of God
“For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal 5:17‒24).
Meditation
St. Paul, in the Letter to Galatians, speaks of the inner conflict we bear within us: “For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want” (Gal 5:17). And even though the flesh is good in itself, as it is a gift of God, we need to stay alert lest evil aspirations take control of us because these aspirations result from the poisoning of our desires by original sin. Therefore, we are pulled in two different directions, and each leads us the opposite way. Our human nature is inclined more to the flesh, and the supernatural aspect of being God’s children that we received at the holy baptism draws us towards spiritual matters.
At the same time, the Scripture says that those who act according to the flesh won’t inherit the kingdom of God. It is, therefore, necessary to subdue the flesh. There is no other way than the one Christ showed us: to crucify the flesh with its desires. This way of life is a sign of belonging to Christ (cf. Gal 5:24).
The Holy Bible tells us what the works of the flesh are: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing (cf. Gal 5:19‒21). The reasoning behind the desire of the flesh is to bind us with all that is sensual, which leads to seeking comfort and convenience in life, searching for the easiest possible solutions, and everything not to trouble yourself. Furthermore, it leads us to spiritual sluggishness as well as to the cult of the body and all that is related to sexual desire. Yielding to the flesh will cause people not to look for the kingdom of heaven but to attempt to settle in this life in the best possible way, trying to build their kingdom here where they would feel comfortable and enjoyable.
Fighting against the desire of the flesh, we need, on the one hand, to look all the time at Christ and Mary and entrust ourselves and our lives to them. We need to be aware of the victory our Saviour won. On the other hand, we must be vigilant because our inner enemy will lurk at every opportunity to insist that we satisfy these desires. Thus, our victorious weapon in this fight is a total consecration to Christ through Mary, which is not only a one-time act but a choice repeated daily and sustained in different circumstances by our willpower. Also, we need to get to know ourselves to know how to fight with the one who deceives us. Everyone has their weaknesses that become the target of the opponent. St. Ignatius of Loyola said that the evil spirit is like a conquering robber seeking to take our castle who, before attacking, circles the walls and looks for the weak points where he could attack. These weak points are our desires. We must know ourselves to be aware of how to repel enemy attacks. The evil spirit will exploit our desires to delude us. He will tempt a mean man differently than a pious man. Once we learn where these spots of struggle are, we will need systematic work on ourselves to control our sensuality and emotions, fight against addictions, and train in perseverance.
An invaluable attitude here is humility and self-renunciation, which is an act of rejecting self-love for the sake of God’s love. In all of this, God’s grace will guide us so that we trust ourselves, our judgements and feelings less and instead trust God more. Eventually, crucifying one’s flesh means always choosing God’s will—not the things that are easier for us but those which are harder; not what is more enjoyable but what is good. Often, it means choosing against our selfish desires.
God’s working in Mary: in the Creed, we confess that God was born of the Virgin Mary. Mary was taken to the heavens with her body. This fact helps us to look at her body like God looks at it—that this is something good. The Blessed Virgin was immaculately conceived, i.e., without original sin. She is God’s masterpiece, a new creation and prophetic harbinger of what God prepared for us when He will lead us out of the captivity of the flesh. Modern desecration of the body, which is a gift of God, really needs this Marian antidote and restoration of the proper boundaries to our physical self so that salvation may touch every space of our humanity.
Spiritual struggle: what does it consist in? Not to give in to the temptation of seeking comfort, indulging the flesh, and searching for what is easier and more convenient.
Spiritual reading
“It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (Jn 6:63).
“The Holy Spirit tells us that Wisdom is not found in the hearts of those who live in comfort, (Job 28:13) gratifying their passions and bodily desires, because ‘they who are of the flesh cannot please God,’ and ‘the wisdom of the flesh is an enemy to God’ (Rom 8:8‒7). ‘My spirit will not remain in man, because he is flesh’ (Gen 6.3). All those who belong to Christ, incarnate Wisdom, have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. They always bear about in their bodies the dying of Jesus. They continually do violence to themselves, carry their cross daily. They are dead and indeed buried with Christ (Gal 5:24; 2 Cor 4:10; Lk 9:23; Rom 6:4,8). These words of the Holy Spirit show us more clearly than the light of day that, if we are to possess incarnate Wisdom, Jesus Christ, we must practice self-denial and renounce the world and self.”
St. Louis de Montfort, The Love of Eternal Wisdom, 194
Homework
I will think about whether there is really an “inner spiritual man” in me who lives by faith and follows God’s ways, in every situation searching for what comes from God.
Prayer of consecration
I am all Yours, and all that I have is Yours, O most loving Christ, through Mary, Your most holy Mother. Amen!