Hush Your Mouth

"Falling is inevitable" is what I heard whispered in my heart and mind during Mass this morning after struggling to avoid leaping into sexual temptation. I renounce this lie and offer the pain it causes me for the conversion of my family. I remember a friend once saying, "I think it is unrealistic to expect to live chastely all the time". I was repulsed by that statement then, and I am now by this one.

"He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief." - Matthew 13:58

Belief matters. These negative thoughts, whether self-imposed, whispered by demons, or a combination of both, must not cross our own lips as they will be reinforced. We must not listen to ourselves, and we certainly must not repeat them to others, becoming the demon on the shoulder to others that the demon whispering in our ears is to us.

Psychology has become this demon for many, unfortunately. Despite the good intentions of its practitioners and significant benefits to many people, including myself, many have become the mouthpieces of the devil for the laity and the clergy. Though there are psychological wounds that allow the demons access to us and chemical reactions occurring in our brains that add to our temptation to sin, this does not mean the sin that may arise from these sources is inevitable. Through the psychological sciences, we have, in many cases, lost our faith. And with little faith comes little of the miraculous.

By this, I do not mean to say that we should expect to be sinless and that if we do fall, we are to flog ourselves for it, though a bit of flogging might not hurt. There is a difference between accepting that we may fall into sin and expecting it or seeing it as inevitable. We know that significant change is possible through Christ, and many great Saints reflect this reality. St. Mary of Egypt. St. Augustine. St. Francis of Assisi and many other known and unknown Saints have lived this truth. For this to be the truth for us, we must have faith that it is a possibility.

So when you hear these lies whispered in your ears or spoken by clergy, psychologists, or friends, renounce them, and if the temptation arises to repeat them to others, tell yourself as many southern grandmothers have told themselves and their children. Hush your mouth!

Many in the Church no longer believe the lives of the Saints are possible for themselves or anyone else. So, they encourage acceptance of mediocrity. They discourage the discipline, self-awareness, and critical thinking that allow us to participate in the change of life Jesus wants for us. There is a darkness at the center of this attitude, which has permeated the minds and teachings of the Church that must be rooted out. We can not root it out of others, but we can participate in its rooting out from ourselves and hold our clergy's feet to the fire when they are inadvertently guilty of being mouthpieces for the enemy.

1 Kings 8:51-53 "... you have set us apart among all the peoples of the earth..."

Why would He set us apart but leave us to live lives as full of sin as those of unbelievers? He wouldn't. So, since we know He has set us apart, we may also know He will give us what is necessary to live lives set apart. However, we must believe, encourage one another to believe, and be silent when it comes to discouragement through repeating the lies of the enemy.

Responsory: "God himself will set me free, from the hunter's snare.

From those who would trap me with lying words..."

We trap each other when we, with good intentions, repeat the enemy's lies to ourselves and to others. Help us, Lord, to hush our mouths.

Written 2/18/21 AD

Human-written, AI spell-checked

Image by Pexels at Pixaby.com