Carmel and the devil's disguises

In the Virtual (Zoom) Carmel meeting last night we were looking at Chapter 38 of Teresa’s Way of Perfection.  She talks there about how the devil likes to disguise himself as an Angel of Light (2 Corinthians 11, 14) and she comments on his subtleties.  He can even make you feel you are growing in the spiritual life while you are actually pursuing an unhealthy path.  My thought was that this illustrates the importance of listening to good Catholic friends who can warn you when you are going astray, while at the same time sticking as closely as you can to the core teachings of the Church.  You can so easily be carried away by a particularly charismatic figure who seems to be prophetic, to the extent that you actually become distracted from the basic demands of the Gospel.  I learned the lesson a while ago when I was involved for a period with a Catholic movement founded by just such a charismatic person who eventually had to be removed from leadership by Rome.  Young people are particularly vulnerable to the seductions of hero figures who are not what they seem.  Discernment of spirits is a grace given particularly through experience.         

Intercessions:

Cancer: Brian Davis, Bernard (and wife Angela caring for him), Jacqui, Theresa K, Fr Jon B

Siena, Elara – sick children

Matthew – six-year old boy dying of bladder cancer

Wojtek – massive heart attack leaving him incapacitated

David OCDS – housebound

Sophia – blind infant

Joy Smith OCDS – seriously ill

Grace – troubling ailments, job difficulties, family (deceased mother and health of father)

Lucia – Overwhelmed by weariness

 Defence of the unborn and the elderly

 RIP Martin Gilham, Sue Burton