Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church

The Catechism, in teaching about the 8th commandment has some interesting things to say about our vocation to bear witness to God who is truth and wills the truth. We can often identify the sin of detraction (disclosing another’s faults without good reason) and of calumny (harming another with false accusations). Notice in detraction, what we share is true; while in calumny it is false. Gossip can be in either one of these species of sins.

However, there is another sin, that I believe is in the top five of modern day sins: rash judgment. One is guilty of rash judgment “who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor…”

This is what we do all day on the internet. If this sin were to be eradicated, facebook and twitter would go out of business! Or be radically transformed!

So what can one do to avoid this sin? One should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbor’s thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way. This takes practice. Lots of practice. The Catechism quotes the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius on this point:

“Every good Christian ought to be more ready to give a favorable interpretation to another’s statement than to condemn it. But if he cannot do so, let him ask how the other understands it. And if the latter understands it badly, let the former correct him with love. If that does not suffice, let the Christian try all suitable ways to bring the other to a correct interpretation so that he may be saved.”

Please take one person who annoyed you today. And looking back, remembering their words and/or deeds, find a way to give the most favorable possible interpretation to them.

Or to quote Our Lord, “The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, and still more will be given to you.” (Mk 4:25)

pax,

Father John Mosimann

Tuesday is the last day to sign up for the Unbound conference that we are hosting this coming Friday/Saturday!

I have received a few puzzled inquiries, “is this Catholic?” Absolutely.

Understanding spiritual warfare is just something that is a gap in the formation of many Catholics. I recall a movie where
the devil says mockingly, “if you never see me coming, I have already won the battle.” But we also can grossly overestimate his power and influence, as he is ultimately a weak bully, deceiver, and confuser. Sometimes I derisively call him sparky, to take away even the dignity of a scary name.

Jesus taught us to pray every day “Deliver us from evil.” As Catholics, we believe that there are evil spirits who are trying
to destroy God’s plans for us. St. Paul warns us that the “devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your fellow believers throughout the world undergo the same sufferings.”

When we were baptized, when we are a godparents, when parents baptize their children, and every single Easter we promise, by one formula or another, to “renounce Satan and all of his works.” All of sparky’s works attempt to deceive us, enslave us, and separate us from Our Loving Father. But he can not do this without our consent, and so he must lie, confuse, and obfuscate.

The Unbound conference, and the 5-keys methodology are a tool to help you see how you may have opened doors that allow evil sprits to have greater power over you than just through temptation. We can open doors through repeated unconfessed mortal sin, addictions, self protective mechanisms like manipulation and control, and especially unforgiveness and sexual sin. Our holding onto these, can give evil spirits access to our imaginations and memories, to use them against us.

Through confession and renunciation of those particular spirits and forgiveness of those who have hurt you, you will be able to exercise your baptismal authority to command them to leave. This renunciation is consciously exercising the promise and power of Baptism, restoring our hearts, minds, and memories to the Kingdom of God!

The Unbound prayer model has been used in the Diocese for over 13 years to help people gain the freedom Christ died to bring them. It has been used across the world, and is a fitting way to live more fully our Catholic life.

As Jesus went into the wilderness, Lent is a great time to face our own isolation, fear and attachment to sin. Only God can fulfill all of our needs and the deepest desires of our heart. The Unbound deliverance model is a gentle, logical prayer tool that can help you to pull together what you have been taught in scripture and the teachings of the Church to help set you free and keep you free to do the good that God asks of you.

Consider if Jesus is inviting you to greater freedom: “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir” (Galatians 4:6-7).

pax et bonum,

Father John Mosimann