Army of Heaven
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Lust obsession, the charged state of mental fixation, is often described as an experience like being under water. Wickedly patient toward our resistance and diabolically cruel where there is slightest complicity, well-worn lust obsession is the escalating of intoxication by an invisible constrictor and can feel like 'no way out' once it initiates. The solution logically follows: don't ever enter into a state of arousal! But this may not yet be possible for most. If humanity is endowed with a reliable fecundation rhythm (common sense would immediately conclude 'of course', how can all of nature's creatures have an annual reproduction rite but not human beings?) then no one escapes arousal.
For the addict, hormonal action and arousal are made unholy by years of unholy association. Under the repeated desire to become drunk in them, consciously or subconsciously, sexual arousal becomes self-gratification. Arousal itself becomes disordered by blind choices and events, ruinously steered by demonic influence, at the most critical of times - early puberty. This is Satan's dark moment to effect a lifetime of suffering for a human soul, and surely he hovers close by the most vulnerable - the already traumatized or 'wounded'.
At the heart of lust addiction remains the tyranny of intoxication; a certain insidious preference that establishes the physiological basis for drunkenness in dopamine escalation, goaded always by unclean spirits. For those made lust addicts from the beginning of sexual formation, the fundamental states of consciousness in life can reduce eventually to just two: arousal and non-arousal. For the awakened addict, all non-arousal brings the relieving happiness of freedom, and arousal brings darkness, dread, helplessness and suffering. What is the remedy out of this oppressive double bind, the seeming impossibility of exterminating all arousal from all sources, especially the clearly unchosen ones, as when for example triggered by dreams?
For a decades-exhausted lust drunk, it is most crucial to remember several things at all times: God is the Father of infinite mercies and there is no sin, no matter how many times committed that is not forgivable when confessed even imperfectly. The second: there is no human event that does not unfold without His watchfulness or permission. Which is to say, everything is happening for a divine reason, as vexing as that may seem in the hour of darkness.
If in the twenty ways, we have implemented all of the self exclusions from certain environments and situations, yet still experience unchosen arousal, do not despair. Ever! Demonic spirits always accompany unholy arousal for an unhealed lust addict, and the fact of still obvious susceptibility suggests a not-yet-exposed entryway by which an unclean spirit continues to haunt our soul's 'house'. Obsession can represent 'control' over a substitutionary 'something' as a response to a biographical event over which we had no original control. God is always with us. Like St. Paul, (who was not promised perfect deliverance from the violent 'angel from Satan'), we will be shown what we must do.
Whether we seek counsel, therapy, a confessor or spiritual director, this is a good time to contemplate baptism. In the waters of baptism, we remember all of the meaning of the first saving sacrament, of all that Jesus Christ labored and accomplished for us. We were washed clean in that immersion under water, making us eternally 'eligible' for any re-purification needed. What do we do when the storm knocks on our door yet again? Have Faith in Christ, go to the sacrament and keep continuous prayer.
"Salt has been employed liturgically since pre-Christian times. All of the Old Testament offerings of first-fruits had to be seasoned with salt. It serves as a symbol of preservation from the corruption of sin, of the savor for holy things. In the rite of Baptism it is a token of wisdom. Both in holy water and in Baptism, the blessed salt is a symbol of exorcism:
In making holy water, the priest separately exorcises and then blesses the salt and then the water. Finally a mixture of the two is made "in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." A final prayer speaks to the use of the blessed water "that, through the invocation of [God's] holy name, wherever this water and salt is sprinkled, it may turn aside every attack of the unclean spirit and dispel the terror of the poisonous serpent."
No one can avoid sin simply by willing it. The only way to avoid sin is to love, to have our lives formed by acts of charity that overflow into the lives of others. In accomplishing this, we need Jesus, who is the promise of the love and holiness coming to us, to live within us and to be poured out through us.
The Blessed Mother speaking to Valentine Nyiramukiza, a Catholic Rwandan prophet, in May 1982:
"My children, there are many who want to pray, who try to pray, but do not know how to pray. You must ask for the strength and knowledge to understand what is expected of you. My love goes out to you all, for there are many here who want to reach the road to heaven but do not have the strength or knowledge to ask for God's help. My dear children, listen to my words, for I will teach you how to pray from the bottom of your hearts.
You must begin your prayers by offering God all you conceal in your soul. God sees your every action and knows your every thought; you can hide nothing from Him. But you must tell Him yourself - you must be willing and strong enough to confess all of your transgressions of body, mind, and spirit to Him. Hold back nothing; admit all your bad deeds and thoughts.
Then you must ask for God's forgiveness from the bottom of your heart. Rest assured that if you confess and seek forgiveness sincerely, He will forgive you. By beginning this way, the sins you carried will not distract you from praying sincerely. You can speak to Him knowing that your heart is clean and your conscience is clear. Pray to Him fervently, make a petition, beg His favor, ask for His blessing; God sees into your soul and knows you seek His help with a repentant heart.
Then my children, you too must offer forgiveness by asking God to forgive all those who have trespassed against you, all who have caused you suffering or given you insult or injury. Forgive them in prayer and ask God to bless and help them. Then pray for the spiritual and physical welfare of your relatives, for all of your brothers and sisters, that God may bless them. Then give thanks to Him for having received and answered your prayers. Most important, you must ask God for the strength you need to do His will; ask for strength not to stray from His light. Pray for courage and wisdom to walk only the road leading to heaven.
And never forget, my children, to pray for the strength to be humble. Your prayers have no meaning if they do not come from the depths of your heart, and you cannot open your heart to the Lord without humility. I love you, my children. When you lack the strength to pray, ask for my help. Pray for my intercession, and I will strengthen you and bring you to my son and to the Father through your prayer.
Our meditation focuses on the mystery of affliction and the strange and sometimes almost laughable choice between the dull, puny flesh world of lust drunkenness and the endless light and glory of the infinite Kingdom of God. Our Mother teaches us very simply: We must stop treating our bodies as playthings and instruments of pleasure. Women must make their bodies instruments that will glorify Him, not as objects of pleasure for the lust of men. Men must seek to satisfy the hunger of their spirit, not feed the desires of the flesh. We must not ruin our lives; the wrong way of living can weigh heavily on the future.
The choice ever remains for those on the road to Heaven:Spirit or flesh, blessing or curse, life or death, fulfillment or emptiness, Everything or nothing.
O Blessed Mother intercede for us that we will always select the True and renounce the false, all our days. In Jesus name, we lift our request to our Father, through your intercession. Amen.