The Spiritual Life Is and functions as an Organic Whole

With His infinite knowledge God sees the entire human race from Adam to the last person on earth as being either in heaven or hell. That will be accomplished fully at the end of the world. However, before the end of the world God knows who among the living will die in sanctifying grace and who will die in original or mortal sin. Hence, God sees on earth at all times all those who are His elect and all those who will be numbered among the damned.

It is most profitable towards salvation for us to think along with God, as far as possible, on this all-important matter. Of the dead we should consider that right now all of the dead are either in hell or in heaven or on the certain committed path to heaven by being in purgatory.

It is likewise profitable to think of those around us on earth today, as being either without sanctifying grace or with sanctifying grace. If God should slam the door of salvation shut at this moment there would be only two columns of men, those on God’s right and those on God’s left, those in heaven and those in hell forever. There is no escape from this reality.

It is important that we keep this important reality in mind. We are either in mortal sin or we are in sanctifying grace. Unbaptized infants are in original sin, and that state is one, of being without sanctifying grace.

By God’s justice hell is composed of two parts. The condition of infants with original sin is no personal fault, so these infants have no punishment of pain in their part of hell. Those with mortal sin are punished in all justice in their part of hell. All their conditions will continue forever.

Internal Qualifications

On judgment day all persons are placed in heaven or in hell more for internal qualifications than for good or bad conduct. We shall put it this way. No matter how well one obeys all of God’s commandments he will not for that reason alone go to heaven. The proof of that statement is found in the words of St. Paul in (I Corinthians, 13, 3):

The only thing in the soul that will get one into heaven is sanctifying grace, also called charity. By sanctifying grace the soul has a supernatural life, which is necessary in order to have and enjoy the beatific vision. The only thing that will get one into hell is the lack of sanctifying grace. All those in original sin and mortal sin are lacking sanctifying grace. That lack takes them to one of two places in hell: the hell of those in original sin called limbo, and the hell of those in mortal sin simply called hell. Cruel as it may seem to some, that terrible punishment will continue forever, without any hope of ever ending or changing. The damned curse God, and God punishes them with the degree of punishment that they deserve.

Internal Conditions and Functions of the Soul

Since the fall of Adam, God creates all souls (at the moment of conception) sort of as a computer without any working software. Take another example; the soul is as a tractor without any attached equipment. Both the computer and tractor become useful for many functions only after they are united with some equipment.

The first equipments that are planted in the soul at the time of baptism (together with sanctifying grace) are the infused virtues of faith, hope and charity (known as theological virtues), and prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude (known as moral or cardinal virtues).

Every one of these infused supernatural virtues (all seven enumerated above) give powers for action that cannot be performed without them. A detailed explanation of those functions is given in well-developed catechisms.

Briefly, faith enables one to believe in God and believe everything that God teaches through His Church. Hope enables one to hope for forgiveness upon repentance and heaven when one dies in sanctifying grace. Charity enables one to love God with a supernatural love because He is all good in Himself and deserving of all our love. After death, faith (seeing God in a blurred way) and hope (wishing for heaven that he does not possess) are useless, but charity continues forever.

Prudence is a supernatural right judgment. Justice is supernatural correct dealing with man. Temperance is a supernatural control of self. Fortitude is a supernatural strength. All these infused moral virtues also exist in the natural order. They are gained and perfected by practice, while the supernatural infused virtues are given in an instant when baptism is received. For example, in pagan lands, parents and children do not judge that young people can make a right judgment in the choice of a marriage partner, so the parents pick the marriage partners of their children.

Mortal sin drives out the infused virtue of charity, sanctifying grace, from the soul, and all the other infused virtues are damaged, and their functions are impaired. Hope is lost by presumption and despair. Faith is lost by the denial or doubt of God in His revealed word. In adult catechisms these doctrines are developed.

It must be noted that the infused virtues are weak without the assistance of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost. Those gifts of the Holy Ghost are enumerated in Isaias 11, 2:

Catechisms enumerate them as follows: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord. Once again, this newsletter does not have the space to give a full explanation of how the gifts of the Holy Ghost work in the soul upon the infused virtues. For Our English speaking peoples there is a fine booklet entitled Novena to the Holy Ghost by the Holy Ghost Fathers. The book is out of print, and the Holy Ghost Fathers will not reprint it. Although they list themselves as publishers of the booklet, they claim no copyright. That being the case, We made copies of the Novena for the devotional lives of all those We serve. It makes no difference where you get those teachings or where you get the devotions to the Holy Ghost. Nevertheless, getting those teachings is a must for all those who want to understand and live the fundamentals of a holy life.

We shall give a short explanation of the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost. A full explanation requires the reading of books on this study.

Wisdom gives a deep understanding of God, and it gives a relish for the things of God.
Understanding gives an ever-deeper penetration of divine truths. With it, holy doctrines are fresh and new all the time.
Counsel gives a right judgment in all things of salvation, and it takes hesitancy out of the virtue of prudence.
Fortitude imparts powers to the soul to face danger without fear, in even life-long suffering.
Knowledge gives a firm grasp of religious truths, even without studies, as with the Cure of Ars.
Piety makes one give every one his due (wages, respect, titles etc.).
Fear of the Lord is the filial fear of God where one is careful not to offend Him even in small matters (without having in mind punishments).

Every person must have a personal approach to God, just as every child speaks personally to his earthly father and mother.

We shall give Our current approach to the Holy Ghost for His gifts. Of course, once We have asked for an increase in the infused virtues of faith, hope and charity, prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude, We ask that all of them be perfected and bolstered by all the gifts of the Holy Ghost. This is generic, and yet We go for more. We make it so you can also pray it if you are so moved to do so. O Holy Ghost perfect and increase my faith with this gifts of wisdom, understanding and knowledge. Perfect and bolster my prudence with Thy gift of counsel, and perfect and bolster both by wisdom. O Holy Ghost perfect and bolster my fortitude with Thy gift of fortitude, and perfect and bolster both with wisdom. Perfect and bolster my justice with Thy gift of piety. Perfect and bolster my gift of fear of the Lord with wisdom: ‘by which I may replace the cautious dictates of my human intellect with the exigencies of the good pleasure of my heavenly Father.’ Make known to me the good pleasure of the heavenly Father so that with Thy assistance I may do always (as Christ did) the good pleasure of my heavenly Father.

Consider some practical examples of the workings of the gifts of the Holy Ghost. It was through the gift of counsel that Christ had an answer to the “impossible” question: “Is it lawful to pay tithes to Caesar?” A “yes” answer would make Christ hated by the general public, and a “no” answer would put him in violation of the law. What was the right answer? Christ gave that right answer immediately: “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” The Apostles were fearful as to what to say in the time to trial during persecution. They were told not to be concerned about what to say in such a circumstance. Why? It was because the Holy Ghost would give them the answer, even an answer that they had never learned. The early Christians (and may they do the same today) were careful to write down the answers of the martyrs given under questioning.

We instinctively sense that we do not have the strength of the martyrs. However, those who know the working of the gifts of the Holy Ghost are certain that they can stand firm in the time of persecution if they call upon the Holy Ghost for fortitude and above all if fortitude is also fortified with wisdom.

By Their Works Ye Shall Know Them

Generally in catechisms where the infused virtues and the gifts of the Holy Ghost are treated you will also find that the fruits of the Holy Ghost are enumerated and possibly explained. All souls endowed with sanctifying grace have the infused virtues, which are also fortified by the gifts of the Holy Ghost. That being the case there must be signs of that internal reality, plus signs of those internal activities. Those signs are called the fruits of the Holy Ghost. The word “fruit” denotes that the product is delectable to the taste and nourishing to the body. St. Paul enumerates those wonderful fruits in Galatians 5, 22 –23: as follows,

The verb “is,” as St. Paul uses it, leads one to understand that all those elements are united as just one fruit. Thus if a person has one of them he has all of them to some degree. If one of the above is obviously missing then the conclusion is that none of the others, that he may appear to have, are true fruits of the Spirit.

There is another facet of the fruits of the Holy Ghost that We must explain. Father Edward Leen makes the following observation in regard the fruits of the Holy Ghost. We quote Father Leen: “This number (those enumerated above) is not meant to be exhaustive (namely that there are no more), for every good supernatural act that is accomplished with ease and delight merits the name of “fruit” (S. T. I. II. q. 70, a. 2),” As you see he rests this teaching on the Summa Theologia of St. Thomas Aquinas.

We must make two observations in regard to the words of Father Leen. First of all, he takes for granted that all the fruits enumerated by St. Paul presume that they are “accomplished with ease and delight.” His words also imply that all our acts can and should be performed with a certain ease and a certain delight. Hence, if one upon rising in the morning for the honor and glory of God, can do so with ease and delight, he has right then and there a fruit of the Holy Ghost. How wonderful if his whole day could be performed in like manner, for thus he would be making the entire day one continuous fruit of the Holy Ghost.

The fruits of the Holy Ghost are quite easily understood, so an explanation cannot be given in an expose in this short space. We will point out that the fruit called “faith” is not the infused virtue of faith as given above. It means trustworthy, as is meant when one says I have “faith” in my doctor.

We shall explain a few of the fruits of the Holy Ghost so that the reader may apply correct thinking to all the fruits. Charity (the name of this newsletter) means that one is (without giving up justice) good, kind and generous to his fellowmen.

The fruit of joy means that our works are done with a kind of happiness, where one is bubbling over with the sweetness of a child. We remember a holy layman, a businessman, who made the following observation. The topic in progress was recreation. He observed that he always enjoyed his work, and he felt no need to seek out some other recreation to get joy. He could not understand why people labeled work as “drudgery” so they were in misery until they found some other recreational diversion: a trip to Hawaii, swimming, opera, and the like to get joy. In other words their lives were divided into drudgery and tin can joy. He experienced real supernatural (heavenly) joy all the time.

Keep this in mind. In order to possess any fruits of the Holy Ghost one must first be in the state of sanctifying grace, having the supernatural virtues and being bolstered with the gifts of the Holy Ghost as explained above.

If one loses sanctifying grace by mortal sin (the only way it can be lost) he loses the infused virtue of charity. At once the infused virtues of hope and faith are damaged, and easily can be lost by the sin of doubt and by the sin of heresy. With those infused virtues blasted out of existence all the other good things of the spiritual life have no foundation on which to function. All those in mortal sin are truly miserable creatures in this world and in hell. On the other hand those with the infused virtues, the gifts of the Holy Ghost and overflowing with the fruits of the Holy Ghost are marvelous creatures in this world and obvious candidates for the joys of heaven.

The Eight Beatitudes

Some may think that if they have the above qualities and activities they are on top of the spiritual life. That is not so! Christ expanded on the lives of His elect to include the eight beatitudes. They are found in Matthew 5, 3-10. When We visited the holy land We were at the hillside where Christ made this proclamation. The eight beatitudes are as follows:

Having reached this high point some of you may wonder where they can find an explanation of the eight beatitudes? It can be found in The Church Year, by Fr. Leonard Goffine, available from ANGELUS PRESS, 2915 Forest Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri 64109. 1-800-966-7337. In their catalog it is #6720 @ $27.95 plus p/h $6.95. Any person sincere about his getting to heaven should be reading this book every Sunday of the year.

On the feast of All Saints the eight beatitudes are read in the Gospel of the Mass. Father Goffine asks this question: “Why is the Gospel of the Eight Beatitudes read on this day?” His answer is: “Because they form, so to speak, the steps on which the saints courageously ascended to heaven If you desire to be with the saints in heaven, you must also mount patiently and perseveringly these steps, then God’s hand will assuredly aid you.”

We shall copy what Father Goffine writes on the eighth beatitude listed above: “Those suffer persecution for justice’ sake who by their words, writing, or by their life defend the truth, the faith and Christian virtues; who cling firmly to God, and permit nothing to turn them from the duties of the Christian profession, from the practice of their holy religion, but on its account suffer hatred, contempt, disgrace, injury, and injustice from the world. If they endure all this with patience and perseverance, even, like the saints, with joy, then they will become like the saints and like them receive the heavenly crown. If we wish to be crowned with them, we must suffer with them; ‘And all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution.’ II Timothy 3,12.”

Our experience teaches Us that the general run of Christians are well satisfied with anything less than perfection. God gives two kinds of directives. One form of directive is the commandments – do this or be damned, and avoid this or be damned. God also elevated His urgings to what is called the Evangelical Counsels. Those counsels are poverty, chastity and obedience. It is advisable for every Christian to live this mode of life in as far as he can.

Religious Life

Those who are called by God should embrace the religious life where the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience are embraced with the binding force of the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. One who makes those vows in religious life become precious in the eyes of God, and God gives him/her a special reward for his ordinary Christian living. For example, Brother John cuts wood to heat the monastery. Mr. John Brown cuts wood to heat his house. What is the resulting reward for Brother John? Since he is a consecrated person his ordinary actions are as sacred before God as if a layman genuflects or makes the sign of the cross. The religious life is a great profit both for the religious himself/herself and for the entire world. Take this example. Hospitals are a Christian invention. Those who know not Christianity generally do not have hospitals and similar places of charity and mercy.

Here is a suggestion for your prayer life. Address Father, Son and Holy Ghost thus:

 
   Pius, pp. XIII 
   April 20,  2003