October 31, 2024 • 33 mins
On this episode of Salve Maria Podcast, we explore SEVEN benefits of dealing with temptations and provide you with essential tips for success.
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Episode Transcript
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Temptations are necessary for spiritual progress.Temptations are the medicine of the soul. Or
like Padre Pio used to say, temptations arelike soap. They seem to soil, but in reality,
they cleanse. So, Fr. Arthur, Salve Maria. SalveMaria. Fr. Justin, Salve Maria. Salve Maria.
If you're here to watch exactly what temptationsare and how to deal with temptations, this
(00:23):
is the best moment. Stay until the end becausewe have not only benefits about the temptation,
but also something very important. how to dealwith them. But we keep that for the end so
people watch the whole episode. Welcome to SalveMaria, the podcast of the Heralds of the Gospel.
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temptations because what happens they are notcomfortable and yet they are always there.
So are always temptations mortal sin? Becausethis is a misconception. Exactly. That's very
important to have it clear that our Lord JesusChrist was tempted and he didn't sin. Therefore
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we can be tempted and not sin. And this is whatwe have to do. There are many definitions of
temptation, but one is very easy to understandis that is when we desire to engage in short
term urges from enjoyment. So we want to enjoysomething now. That is no good for us. It is
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not good for us. And that threatens our longterm goals destroys what we really want to
achieve. So we want something now. But thisis harmful for tomorrow. You're on a diet.
You're tempted to eat your chocolate chip cookie.So it's a pleasure at the moment, but it breaks
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the long-term goal of reaching whatever healthreason you have. And in the end, you end up
with a negative. And the outcome is always negative.Look at Adam and Eve, you know, it's a topic
that we're always talking about, but Adam andEve, what they wanted to be, okay, you're going
to be like God. And in the end, they openedthe door to death. They opened, they lost the
mortal life. They lost the life of grace. Andthis is what happens to us too, if we say yes,
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right? They lost almost everything in orderto enjoy something there at the moment that
they thought that, no, but it was not the willof God. So we need to be very careful. Temptations
are going to happen. So how do we know? Because,okay, here is part of today's topic, right?
I mean, we have mortal sins, but you have threeconditions, and I think it's phenomenal having
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you here in the program we can explain, right?Okay, when a temptation comes. You have three
elements that transform you into, okay, somebodyguilty of mortal sin, but if those three conditions
are not there, we don't sin, correct? Exactly.Or it's venial. It can be venial also. So basically,
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temptation is an invitation for something wrong.This something wrong can be mortal or venial.
So it can be serious or it can be light. Incertain sense, Both are serious because in
any case, you're offending God. It's quite serious.But one is really death, is mortal, because
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it brings the death of what? Of your soul. Sothe first requirement is that it's an act that
involves a serious matter. So it's somethingserious. What would be a serious matter? I
don't know. Something directly against the TenCommandments. Uh-huh. Something. that goes
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very clearly against the Ten Commandments. Aninsult to God, or not going to mass, or being
disrespectful for your father and mother, etcetera. Murder. A question, stealing one cent
versus $10,000. For instance, the matter isthere or the act is the same? because let's
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say, okay, it's a very small amount. Is it enoughto throw a person in hell or when it is something
small? I don't know. Yeah, well, that's kindof swistic, that depends. Of course, when the
amount is small, normally it's not serious.A little boy who takes candy, you know. from
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a place that he was told not to take, et cetera,but something wrong, but it's not serious.
There's also intention. Exactly, but it's alsointention. Let's say a little boy, little nine-year-old
boy is told by his mother, don't go to X storeand don't go there, don't buy anything there.
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Child goes, you know, because she told me notto, I'm going. And I'm not gonna buy, I'm gonna
go steal something. And he goes and steals achocolate bar. He has full intent. He has bad
intention. Precisely, then it doesn't dependon the amount of what he takes. The intention.
And there he is going against another commandmentwhich is to respect father and mother. And
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this also tends to go in a crescendo, right?Tends to go better, sorry, worse and worse.
Here, Padre Pio, there is a phrase that says,the devil is like a rabid dog tied by a chain.
Beyond the length of the chain, he cannot catchhold of anyone and you. keep at a distance,
otherwise if you approach too near, you willbe caught. I love his images, it's very parochial
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in that sense. They're great. But just for anote, that's what happened when he was small.
He used to be persecuted by rabid dogs thatwere the devil. No, just a minute. Anyway.
So that's the- So grave matter, yes. So that'sone of the conditions. It has to be a serious
matter. Secondly- You have to know that thisis serious. You have to have full knowledge.
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A child, let's say a four year old child who'sin the store, who sees chocolate, grabs chocolate,
eats chocolate. That child, he stole it. Yeah.But he has no intent. He has no idea what he
did. Let's say, let's say he didn't. Well, he'sfour years old. Right. And he doesn't know
to whom it belongs. So, I mean, he doesn't understandthe significance, doesn't understand the. the
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gravity of it, and it's just nothing. So hedoesn't commit any. You know, people in the
school, I remember, I don't know, this is something,but remember, because there was machines, right,
that you would put five cents or whatever, or10 cents, and then you get some juice back.
And then I remember one person there in theschool coming and saying, Gustavo, you know
what happened? No, no, the machine, well, themachine was all open. So, you know, just took
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the juice. Because, you know, you didn't haveto put the coin. I mean. Honestly, the person
didn't know. So in that case, there's no fullknowledge. Yes, knowledge is not so clear,
but be careful because the lack of knowledgecan be also voluntary. Coppable and ignorant.
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Don't open the catechism because you may findthe reasons by which you have to change your
life, right? At a certain age, you know, theperson already needs to know more and more
as he progresses in age, what is wrong and whatis right. He has the obligation to know. But
here comes the tricky part, Father. And deliberate.Exactly.
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prove it. He has to freely have the desire ofdoing something that he knows that is wrong
and that is seriously wrong. Even if it's notseriously wrong, but still, you know, he can
be committing a venial sin because he is givinghis full consent. And venial
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grave sin tomorrow. So that's why we need toavoid venial sin because sooner or later we
are going to fall in the immortal sin. The classicpictures that you would see in a catechism
for children is that venial sins make our soulssick so they're under bed rest or in a sick
situation. So a lack of health and immortalsin is death. So it's like a natural progression
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from deep sickness to... death. It isn't justa little wound or a little scratch on your
leg, right? Some people have the image of venialsin being like a little nothing. It's something
serious. It brings you, it puts into jeopardythe friendship with God. And then it prepares
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us for mortal sin. It's the path opening. Soit is not... not serious. Maybe the image of
the immune system, right? You have immune system,you're always, I don't know, catching a cold
and catching a cold and catching a cold. Oneof these days you get TB and then, right? Because
your immune system is always weak, you know?And the devil is smart enough to start tempting
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you by venial sins, by small sins, in orderto get used to, for you to get used to it,
and little by little, getting closer to themortal sin. kinds of temptations. Because,
okay, so let's say, Father, we receive a temptation,but it's not going always to finish into a
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mortal sin. No, that's something misconceptionpeople have that is completely false. No, exactly.
It's interesting because temptation come frombasically original sin. Our nature has been
deteriorated, and our nature has therefore aninclination to bad. to go down instead of going
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up. Concupiscence. Concupiscence of the flesh.Now, it also can be provoked by others. Others
can be the agent of the devil and bring a temptation.Like bring a dirty magazine to a little boy,
to corrupt a boy, et cetera. So it's not hisnature. the cause, but it is that somebody
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else is being the occasion of a temptation forhim. And thirdly, it can be directly the devil
in your mind. He can put some ideas or someimaginations or some images, etc., in your
mind in order to be at the occasion of temptationin your mind. Some temptations could be very
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impressive, right? Could be actually, yeah,in the impressive side. But if we do not say
yes to them, there is no harm, correct? Absolutely.We have to consent fully. If not, there is
no sin, even if it can come back again. Becauseour imagination has a memory. So once we see
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something wrong, it can come back again. Andwe need to be very careful to try to avoid
to see bad things, because they can come back.in a moment in which we are more weakened,
we are more fragile, etc. And it can be moredifficult to fight against it. Father, there
are benefits and temptations. And this is somethingthat is part of the program, how to deal with
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them, and eventually how to use the temptationsfor our own benefit. But maybe it's a case
to go over a little bit what kinds of temptationsare there in general. So I say, and then maybe,
of course, you can illustrate this, but thetemptations of the flesh, the temptations of
power and pride, and the temptations of doubtor despair. So can we touch on those because
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I think it's important to, the more we knowthey exist, maybe our audience can incorporate
some systems of defense, right? I would saythat the amount of temptations is almost impossible
to count because there are all sorts of temptationsand it also will depend on the person. For
some persons, some type of thing is more a temptationthan for others. For example, for pride, to
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be willing to show up, etc. with somebody whois more or less calm, and he's not exactly
about himself in the wrong way. So he wouldbe not so much tempted by pride, but he can
be tempted by laziness, or by gluttony, or byother things, by sensual desires, or whatever.
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So there are many, many temptations. And thetemptation is, therefore, anything that can
take you away from God, away from your vocation,away from what God wants from you, away from
the responsibilities that you have, et cetera.Anything can be a temptation. So even sometimes,
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good things can be a temptation. Somebody hasto go to work. So. and at the same time he
has a friend who comes to visit with whom heenjoys conversation. Well this friend has been
an temptation for him not to go to work, thisis his obligation. Nevertheless the friend
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never thought that he was going to be an
an occasion. There is something that actuallydefines the thought of Professor Plinio Correado
Oliveira, and that is the tendencies. Now, he'salways saying, right, that the tendential field
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is one of the most important in our spirituallife. He wrote this book, Revolution and Counter-Revolution,
which is, above all, a book on spiritual life,and he says that, right? He says, tendencies
are, at the end of the story, the ones thatare going to lead us towards a holy life, or
if we don't take care of them, they are goingto bring us down to big sins. Your nature in
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disorder, the center of your will, where thetendencies originated, that you have to control
them, for them to take it to what is good. Soyou have good tendencies. Or if you don't control
them, those tendencies will take you to whatis bad, the bad tendencies. And the beginning
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of sin is in the tendency. This is very, veryimportant to understand. Let's go to an infomercial,
like for some announcements. And then if youare there and you are still thinking, okay,
but what are the benefits of temptation, ifthere are any, and how do I deal with temptations?
Stay with us until the end, because we haveall the benefits that we need. And at the same
time, how to deal in particular with this questionof temptations. Salve Maria, I'm Fr. Ryan Murphy
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of the Heralds of the Gospel and I'm delightedto extend an invitation to each and every one
of you. In the midst of our busy lives, it'scrucial to take a moment of reflection, of
soulless end of prayer. That's why I would liketo personally invite you to join us every day
at 3 pm for a special and powerful devotion,the Divine Mercy Chaplet. The Divine Mercy
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Chaplet is a beautiful prayer that embodiesthe boundless compassion of our Lord. It's
a time to come together as a community, regardlessof where we are and lift up our intentions,
our hopes, and even our burdens to the heartof Jesus. Imagine all around the world, countless
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voices, uniting in prayer at this very hour.It's a moment of connection, of spiritual unity,
and of seeking God's mercy in a troubled world.So mark your calendars, set your alarms, and
make a commitment to join us each day at 3 p.m.Tune in and experience the transformative power
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of the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Let this be a sanctuaryof peace amidst the noise of life. Thank you
for being a part of our Herald's Canada YouTubechannel. Let's embark on this journey of faith,
hope, and mercy. I'm looking forward to prayingwith you every day at 3 p.m. May God's love
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and mercy shine upon you always. And until wemeet again, may Almighty God bless you, the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen.So here we are back at the topic of temptations,
how to deal with them. And amazingly, temptationshave benefits that can... help you to strengthen
your spiritual life. Father, we have here someseven benefits of temptations. I don't know,
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St. Paul has something very beautiful aboutit, right? Because he asked our Lord to take
away this sting of temptations that he was sufferingfrom the flesh, and our Lord did not want to.
No, my grace is enough. So he wanted Paul tofight. So he wanted to give him the privilege.
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of going through those fights and to be victorious.Why? Because then he will be rewarded. If we
don't have any temptations in life, we haven'tdone any progress in our spiritual life. So
number one here, and please leave your commentsbecause those are fundamental. Benefit number
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one is temptation strengthens your will andvirtue. It's like doing physical exercise.
you need to carry heavy things and run, etc.Because that will benefit your physical condition.
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For the soul, it's the same thing. So we needto go through those temptations and fight.
And that will strengthen our soul. So everytime we say no to a temptation, can we affirm
this? Every time you say no, you're going tobe stronger for the next? Of course. And every
time you say yes, you're going to be weakerfor the next. Precisely. Yes. St. James, you
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know, in his letter, he's very, very clear.He has a passage on temptation. And he says
very clear that the temptation is somethingthat we need to go through. And if we persevere,
we are going to be closer to God. But blessesis the man who remains steadfast under trial,
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for when he has stood the test, he will receivethe crown of life, which God had promised to
those who love him." So, to go through a temptation,and to pass through a temptation, and love
of God is the same thing. That's beautiful.Here, Padre Pio, another one, Padre Pio says,
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here, fundamental, he says, where there is nostruggle, there is no virtue. The soul that
doesn't fight is weak. This is the Italian gustohere. Coraggio. El coraggio. But then we have
the second one, temptations increase humilityand awareness of dependence on God. Beautiful,
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beautiful, because we realize that sometimes,without the help of God, or for our guardian
angel, or the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary,St. Joseph, etc. We feel that we are not strong
enough to face this temptation. So we need toask. And this puts us in our right place. We
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acknowledge that we, on our own, are weak. Butwith God, we are strong. Beautiful. St. Paul
mentions that also. it's through that kind ofhumiliation. Well, again, what is humility?
Humility is to be grounded. And that elementof being grounded is being real. Once we're
real, then we can confront these temptationsbecause the temptations most times are illusionary.
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You are God. No, you're not. You know you'renot God, but that's an illusion. It's pride.
It's... It's all these different things whichare imaginary. It's not what you truly are.
Benefit number three, temptations deepen ourprayer life. Exactly, because then we have
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to pray. When we have a difficulty in frontof us,
we feel the need to ask God. And to speak toGod is to pray. So we ask God for his help,
therefore we pray more. Have you, we are reallyconvinced that we cannot do this by ourselves
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as when prayer life flourishes? That's whenit kicks into gear. The prayer life becomes
something real because what is prayer? Prayeris a relationship with God and you begin to
depend on God. And that also goes into yournext point you're gonna go to. It also solves
one of the problems of the soul, which is judgment.We start judging, false judging other people
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because we don't know ourselves. Here we go.Benefit number four. Temptations build empathy
and compassion for others. Because the reversalof that is where the problem lies. A person
who has not tried thinks that they are gods.We go back to the god problem. And then from
the God problem, they think all the rest arejust junk and they treat everyone else like
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garbage. And they judge them harshly. And realityis that they are the, they are the spiritual
leper and the others are saints, but they can'tsee it. They're just, they're, they're so filled
with themselves. They're drinking their ownKool-Aid so much that they're in an illusionary
situation. And it's very sad because those types,the devil doesn't help them. He just keeps
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pumping their tires and lets them. just livein that illusion as they drift onto the horizon,
believing that they're gods, until unfortunatelywhen it comes down, because they're so proud,
they shatter into pieces. They can't acceptanything. Father, you're in both sides of the
confessional, right? I mean, sometimes, youknow, we all are in one side, but you have,
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of course, the privilege to, and for peoplewho listen, right? I mean, you as a confessor,
do you really feel like saying, telling to aperson, No, right? How does it go? I mean,
you, of course. You feel empathy and compassionfor others? Exactly, you feel empathy. You
know that you could be that person, that youcould be in that situation, and you are in
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need. And there is something in you that, becauseof that unity of our human nature, that makes
you want to help him by any means. And you startto tell to him, to the person, that look, there
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is a solution, don't give up, et cetera. Andit's something, you know, it's really fantastic
to be able to help something who is in need.And he is being humble. And humility attracts
humility. And humility attracts respect. theperson is being humble and he recognizes that
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he has a problem, then you know, you're nota judge anymore, you're his brother or his
sister, etc. And you want to help him and givehim strength to bring him up again. It's typical,
no? When the person goes to confession, eventuallyyou think, oh, what, you know, it was the father
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who had to think and everything else. That'sa temptation, correct? That's a temptation.
The devil lies to the person saying that, oh,the priest is going to be upset with you. No,
the priest is going to be your brother. He wantsto help you. He's going to be your father.
Number five here. Benefit number five. Temptationleads... to greater spiritual maturity. So
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the knowledge of oneself basically, right? Themore we know ourselves, the more we know our
limitations, like what Padre Pio is saying,don't get too close to that dog of the devil,
because if you do, so eventually we map ourarea. We say, maybe I'm not going to walk three
more meters there because this is when I'm goingto be beaten, right? Yes, society today teaches
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that that there is no limit. You can go, youknow, everybody is free, you can see anything
you want, you can be with anybody you want,etc. And everything will be fine. It's a great
lie because we are social beings that we arebeing influenced by the others. So you want
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to go to the good direction, we have to go withpeople who are going to help me. help us to
be influenced in the good direction. If I amdealing with evil people, that will have a
consequence on myself and will bring me down.Maybe it's the moment to revise our cell phone
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and eventually, maybe for a while, erasing somenames there because that could help us. And
that happens, we spoke about confession. Wehave that a lot. The cell phone is one. instrument
that the devil uses in order to get the personand to bring temptation to the person at any
time. But also your list of contacts, becausesome people are going to help you to be better,
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and those we should I think call often, butsome other people are now going to help us
to be better, and not a lack of charity, buteventually maybe we should... You need to have
the courage to erase, to delete some contentsthat are an occasion of sin for you. So if
we are there maybe in doubt right now talkingabout temptations, delete right now. Benefit
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number six, temptations test our faith and lovefor God. So temptations, it says, here can
also test how much we truly love God. So howdoes this? Because actually a temptation...
comes is an invitation of the devil to go awayfrom God. And that is the moment in which you're
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going to prove your love of God. And the momentin which you have to say, no, I want to go
with God and I don't want to go with you. Andthis is the proof that you're going to give
all your love of God. There's also other typesof temptations. Sometimes there are active
temptations, temptations in favor of pride.of envy, of avarice, but also there's temptations
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of despair, of doubt, and those are corrosivebecause they take out the aspect of confidence
in God. Those temptations are destructive, andthat usually afflicts people in a weakened
state. It affects them when tragedies come throughtheir lives, be it economic or be it... physical
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or be it moral tragedies. That moment whereGod can't help you, you're in that spot where
God can't and won't and he's abandoned you.And that type of temptation is absolutely devastating.
It is, and it's extremely important at thatmoment to remember that this is just an impression
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that I'm having. This is not reality. Realityis that God wants to help me. The Blessed Virgin
Mary is my mother. She was appointed to be mymother by God Himself, by God's decree, and
she's going to help me. And I just have to persevereand never be depressed, never be down. You
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have to get away from that attitude immediately.Benefit number seven, the last one. Temptations
open the way for greater graces. Isn't thatbecause in all the cases we know of temptations,
God always wants to give us something else,give us something more. And then he's waiting
to see if we are going to be faithful to thistrial that he's going to give us. the moment
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we cross that threshold, then those bigger gracescome. But God cannot give us those big graces
unless He puts us to the test, correct? Exactly.We have to prove that we are faithful, we are
trustworthy. And then comes the opposite oftemptation, which is the grace. The grace is
the opposite of temptation. The temptation isthe grace between ghosts and the devil. and
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the grace is the temptation of God. The greatwriters of the early church, so we're talking
St. John Climacus, we're talking St. Augustine,they all talk about this thing very much. Very
much, it's a core element in which grace isgreater than that, the deficit, and builds
it up. So final touches to this program here.Father, you correct me if I'm saying something
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wrong, but there are many Confessor that saylike this, if you're in doubt, a temptation
was too impressive or too harsh or too, youknow, one of those things that really, you
know, leave you like, you know, in a state ofdisturbance. If we pray to our lady, they say
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that temptation came. Yes. Did you pray to ourlady? If we say yes. then Our Lady will never
let us fall in temptation. That's the most importantthing. In a situation in which you are spiritually
in a turmoil, in a difficult situation, youhave to pray to Mary and then, she will not
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allow that you will commit a mortal sin. Soif we pray at the moment of temptation? Precisely.
And then the bad feelings go away and you justgo ahead. Big point for those who are doing
the consecration to Our Lady with the healthof the gospel. Precisely. One more, because
some people are feeling like, oh, it's too muchof a serious compromise, you know, a serious...
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Commitment. Some people are thinking, oh, thisis a serious commitment, too serious, so I
want to do the consecration to Our Lady. Butin reality, this is the best, because every
time I have a temptation, Our Lady will comeand say, hey, this is my property, hold on.
Of course, this is the best insurance that youcan have. Best insurance, that's so good. In
order to know that when something happens, you'recovered. You're covered. All inclusive. Exactly,
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and you know that. Remember the most graciousVirgin Mary that never. Exactly, till the last
moment of our lives, we are going to be tempted.Because temptation is something that we have
to go through in our lives on Earth, and wewill need that help till the last moment of
our lives. So please leave us our comment downthere right away and let us know because Father,
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we have still how to deal with temptations,five pieces of advice and we leave it for another
program. But if people can leave their comments,it will be phenomenal. Wonderful, wonderful.
So an advice is that be careful with the smallthings. Be careful with the small temptations.
Oh, I'm going to, you know, I'm going to befive minutes late at work. or I'm going to
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eat a little bit more.
My doctor told me that I cannot eat this, butI'm going to consent. And even though it can
look small, it is the beginning of a big thing.So when you are used to say no to small temptations,
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you're going to say no to the big ones. If yousay yes to the small ones, you will end up
going to say yes to the big ones. We have alwaysto pray and the moment of sentation is the
moment to pray. And we need to ask the blessingof God, of our Lord Jesus Christ, in all moments
of our life, but very especially for the momentsin which you are tempted. So this is why I
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would like to give a blessing for all of you.that are listening to us, that the blessing
of our Lord Jesus Christ will always be withyou. The Lord be with you. And with your spirit.
May Almighty God bless you, the Father, theSon, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Salve Maria.
Temptations are necessary for spiritual progress.Temptations are the medicine of the soul. Or
like Padre Pio used to say, temptations arelike soap. They seem to soil, but in reality,
they cleanse. So, Fr. Arthur, Salve Maria. SalveMaria. Fr. Justin, Salve Maria. Salve Maria.
If you're here to watch exactly what temptationsare and how to deal with temptations, this
(00:23):
is the best moment. Stay until the end becausewe have not only benefits about the temptation,
but also something very important. how to dealwith them. But we keep that for the end so
people watch the whole episode. Welcome to SalveMaria, the podcast of the Heralds of the Gospel.
(00:47):
temptations because what happens they are notcomfortable and yet they are always there.
So are always temptations mortal sin? Becausethis is a misconception. Exactly. That's very
important to have it clear that our Lord JesusChrist was tempted and he didn't sin. Therefore
(01:10):
we can be tempted and not sin. And this is whatwe have to do. There are many definitions of
temptation, but one is very easy to understandis that is when we desire to engage in short
term urges from enjoyment. So we want to enjoysomething now. That is no good for us. It is
(01:31):
not good for us. And that threatens our longterm goals destroys what we really want to
achieve. So we want something now. But thisis harmful for tomorrow. You're on a diet.
You're tempted to eat your chocolate chip cookie.So it's a pleasure at the moment, but it breaks
(01:52):
the long-term goal of reaching whatever healthreason you have. And in the end, you end up
with a negative. And the outcome is always negative.Look at Adam and Eve, you know, it's a topic
that we're always talking about, but Adam andEve, what they wanted to be, okay, you're going
to be like God. And in the end, they openedthe door to death. They opened, they lost the
mortal life. They lost the life of grace. Andthis is what happens to us too, if we say yes,
(02:14):
right? They lost almost everything in orderto enjoy something there at the moment that
they thought that, no, but it was not the willof God. So we need to be very careful. Temptations
are going to happen. So how do we know? Because,okay, here is part of today's topic, right?
I mean, we have mortal sins, but you have threeconditions, and I think it's phenomenal having
(02:37):
you here in the program we can explain, right?Okay, when a temptation comes. You have three
elements that transform you into, okay, somebodyguilty of mortal sin, but if those three conditions
are not there, we don't sin, correct? Exactly.Or it's venial. It can be venial also. So basically,
(03:01):
temptation is an invitation for something wrong.This something wrong can be mortal or venial.
So it can be serious or it can be light. Incertain sense, Both are serious because in
any case, you're offending God. It's quite serious.But one is really death, is mortal, because
(03:22):
it brings the death of what? Of your soul. Sothe first requirement is that it's an act that
involves a serious matter. So it's somethingserious. What would be a serious matter? I
don't know. Something directly against the TenCommandments. Uh-huh. Something. that goes
(03:44):
very clearly against the Ten Commandments. Aninsult to God, or not going to mass, or being
disrespectful for your father and mother, etcetera. Murder. A question, stealing one cent
versus $10,000. For instance, the matter isthere or the act is the same? because let's
(04:06):
say, okay, it's a very small amount. Is it enoughto throw a person in hell or when it is something
small? I don't know. Yeah, well, that's kindof swistic, that depends. Of course, when the
amount is small, normally it's not serious.A little boy who takes candy, you know. from
(04:27):
a place that he was told not to take, et cetera,but something wrong, but it's not serious.
There's also intention. Exactly, but it's alsointention. Let's say a little boy, little nine-year-old
boy is told by his mother, don't go to X storeand don't go there, don't buy anything there.
(04:47):
Child goes, you know, because she told me notto, I'm going. And I'm not gonna buy, I'm gonna
go steal something. And he goes and steals achocolate bar. He has full intent. He has bad
intention. Precisely, then it doesn't dependon the amount of what he takes. The intention.
And there he is going against another commandmentwhich is to respect father and mother. And
(05:11):
this also tends to go in a crescendo, right?Tends to go better, sorry, worse and worse.
Here, Padre Pio, there is a phrase that says,the devil is like a rabid dog tied by a chain.
Beyond the length of the chain, he cannot catchhold of anyone and you. keep at a distance,
otherwise if you approach too near, you willbe caught. I love his images, it's very parochial
(05:33):
in that sense. They're great. But just for anote, that's what happened when he was small.
He used to be persecuted by rabid dogs thatwere the devil. No, just a minute. Anyway.
So that's the- So grave matter, yes. So that'sone of the conditions. It has to be a serious
matter. Secondly- You have to know that thisis serious. You have to have full knowledge.
(05:58):
A child, let's say a four year old child who'sin the store, who sees chocolate, grabs chocolate,
eats chocolate. That child, he stole it. Yeah.But he has no intent. He has no idea what he
did. Let's say, let's say he didn't. Well, he'sfour years old. Right. And he doesn't know
to whom it belongs. So, I mean, he doesn't understandthe significance, doesn't understand the. the
(06:20):
gravity of it, and it's just nothing. So hedoesn't commit any. You know, people in the
school, I remember, I don't know, this is something,but remember, because there was machines, right,
that you would put five cents or whatever, or10 cents, and then you get some juice back.
And then I remember one person there in theschool coming and saying, Gustavo, you know
what happened? No, no, the machine, well, themachine was all open. So, you know, just took
(06:44):
the juice. Because, you know, you didn't haveto put the coin. I mean. Honestly, the person
didn't know. So in that case, there's no fullknowledge. Yes, knowledge is not so clear,
but be careful because the lack of knowledgecan be also voluntary. Coppable and ignorant.
(07:11):
Don't open the catechism because you may findthe reasons by which you have to change your
life, right? At a certain age, you know, theperson already needs to know more and more
as he progresses in age, what is wrong and whatis right. He has the obligation to know. But
here comes the tricky part, Father. And deliberate.Exactly.
(07:39):
prove it. He has to freely have the desire ofdoing something that he knows that is wrong
and that is seriously wrong. Even if it's notseriously wrong, but still, you know, he can
be committing a venial sin because he is givinghis full consent. And venial
(08:08):
grave sin tomorrow. So that's why we need toavoid venial sin because sooner or later we
are going to fall in the immortal sin. The classicpictures that you would see in a catechism
for children is that venial sins make our soulssick so they're under bed rest or in a sick
situation. So a lack of health and immortalsin is death. So it's like a natural progression
(08:35):
from deep sickness to... death. It isn't justa little wound or a little scratch on your
leg, right? Some people have the image of venialsin being like a little nothing. It's something
serious. It brings you, it puts into jeopardythe friendship with God. And then it prepares
(08:57):
us for mortal sin. It's the path opening. Soit is not... not serious. Maybe the image of
the immune system, right? You have immune system,you're always, I don't know, catching a cold
and catching a cold and catching a cold. Oneof these days you get TB and then, right? Because
your immune system is always weak, you know?And the devil is smart enough to start tempting
(09:22):
you by venial sins, by small sins, in orderto get used to, for you to get used to it,
and little by little, getting closer to themortal sin. kinds of temptations. Because,
okay, so let's say, Father, we receive a temptation,but it's not going always to finish into a
(09:43):
mortal sin. No, that's something misconceptionpeople have that is completely false. No, exactly.
It's interesting because temptation come frombasically original sin. Our nature has been
deteriorated, and our nature has therefore aninclination to bad. to go down instead of going
(10:03):
up. Concupiscence. Concupiscence of the flesh.Now, it also can be provoked by others. Others
can be the agent of the devil and bring a temptation.Like bring a dirty magazine to a little boy,
to corrupt a boy, et cetera. So it's not hisnature. the cause, but it is that somebody
(10:32):
else is being the occasion of a temptation forhim. And thirdly, it can be directly the devil
in your mind. He can put some ideas or someimaginations or some images, etc., in your
mind in order to be at the occasion of temptationin your mind. Some temptations could be very
(10:54):
impressive, right? Could be actually, yeah,in the impressive side. But if we do not say
yes to them, there is no harm, correct? Absolutely.We have to consent fully. If not, there is
no sin, even if it can come back again. Becauseour imagination has a memory. So once we see
(11:18):
something wrong, it can come back again. Andwe need to be very careful to try to avoid
to see bad things, because they can come back.in a moment in which we are more weakened,
we are more fragile, etc. And it can be moredifficult to fight against it. Father, there
are benefits and temptations. And this is somethingthat is part of the program, how to deal with
(11:42):
them, and eventually how to use the temptationsfor our own benefit. But maybe it's a case
to go over a little bit what kinds of temptationsare there in general. So I say, and then maybe,
of course, you can illustrate this, but thetemptations of the flesh, the temptations of
power and pride, and the temptations of doubtor despair. So can we touch on those because
(12:07):
I think it's important to, the more we knowthey exist, maybe our audience can incorporate
some systems of defense, right? I would saythat the amount of temptations is almost impossible
to count because there are all sorts of temptationsand it also will depend on the person. For
some persons, some type of thing is more a temptationthan for others. For example, for pride, to
(12:34):
be willing to show up, etc. with somebody whois more or less calm, and he's not exactly
about himself in the wrong way. So he wouldbe not so much tempted by pride, but he can
be tempted by laziness, or by gluttony, or byother things, by sensual desires, or whatever.
(13:02):
So there are many, many temptations. And thetemptation is, therefore, anything that can
take you away from God, away from your vocation,away from what God wants from you, away from
the responsibilities that you have, et cetera.Anything can be a temptation. So even sometimes,
(13:25):
good things can be a temptation. Somebody hasto go to work. So. and at the same time he
has a friend who comes to visit with whom heenjoys conversation. Well this friend has been
an temptation for him not to go to work, thisis his obligation. Nevertheless the friend
(13:45):
never thought that he was going to be an
an occasion. There is something that actuallydefines the thought of Professor Plinio Correado
Oliveira, and that is the tendencies. Now, he'salways saying, right, that the tendential field
(14:06):
is one of the most important in our spirituallife. He wrote this book, Revolution and Counter-Revolution,
which is, above all, a book on spiritual life,and he says that, right? He says, tendencies
are, at the end of the story, the ones thatare going to lead us towards a holy life, or
if we don't take care of them, they are goingto bring us down to big sins. Your nature in
(14:30):
disorder, the center of your will, where thetendencies originated, that you have to control
them, for them to take it to what is good. Soyou have good tendencies. Or if you don't control
them, those tendencies will take you to whatis bad, the bad tendencies. And the beginning
(14:54):
of sin is in the tendency. This is very, veryimportant to understand. Let's go to an infomercial,
like for some announcements. And then if youare there and you are still thinking, okay,
but what are the benefits of temptation, ifthere are any, and how do I deal with temptations?
Stay with us until the end, because we haveall the benefits that we need. And at the same
time, how to deal in particular with this questionof temptations. Salve Maria, I'm Fr. Ryan Murphy
(15:20):
of the Heralds of the Gospel and I'm delightedto extend an invitation to each and every one
of you. In the midst of our busy lives, it'scrucial to take a moment of reflection, of
soulless end of prayer. That's why I would liketo personally invite you to join us every day
at 3 pm for a special and powerful devotion,the Divine Mercy Chaplet. The Divine Mercy
(15:48):
Chaplet is a beautiful prayer that embodiesthe boundless compassion of our Lord. It's
a time to come together as a community, regardlessof where we are and lift up our intentions,
our hopes, and even our burdens to the heartof Jesus. Imagine all around the world, countless
(16:09):
voices, uniting in prayer at this very hour.It's a moment of connection, of spiritual unity,
and of seeking God's mercy in a troubled world.So mark your calendars, set your alarms, and
make a commitment to join us each day at 3 p.m.Tune in and experience the transformative power
(16:34):
of the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Let this be a sanctuaryof peace amidst the noise of life. Thank you
for being a part of our Herald's Canada YouTubechannel. Let's embark on this journey of faith,
hope, and mercy. I'm looking forward to prayingwith you every day at 3 p.m. May God's love
(16:58):
and mercy shine upon you always. And until wemeet again, may Almighty God bless you, the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen.So here we are back at the topic of temptations,
how to deal with them. And amazingly, temptationshave benefits that can... help you to strengthen
your spiritual life. Father, we have here someseven benefits of temptations. I don't know,
(17:25):
St. Paul has something very beautiful aboutit, right? Because he asked our Lord to take
away this sting of temptations that he was sufferingfrom the flesh, and our Lord did not want to.
No, my grace is enough. So he wanted Paul tofight. So he wanted to give him the privilege.
(17:45):
of going through those fights and to be victorious.Why? Because then he will be rewarded. If we
don't have any temptations in life, we haven'tdone any progress in our spiritual life. So
number one here, and please leave your commentsbecause those are fundamental. Benefit number
(18:07):
one is temptation strengthens your will andvirtue. It's like doing physical exercise.
you need to carry heavy things and run, etc.Because that will benefit your physical condition.
(18:28):
For the soul, it's the same thing. So we needto go through those temptations and fight.
And that will strengthen our soul. So everytime we say no to a temptation, can we affirm
this? Every time you say no, you're going tobe stronger for the next? Of course. And every
time you say yes, you're going to be weakerfor the next. Precisely. Yes. St. James, you
(18:50):
know, in his letter, he's very, very clear.He has a passage on temptation. And he says
very clear that the temptation is somethingthat we need to go through. And if we persevere,
we are going to be closer to God. But blessesis the man who remains steadfast under trial,
(19:16):
for when he has stood the test, he will receivethe crown of life, which God had promised to
those who love him." So, to go through a temptation,and to pass through a temptation, and love
of God is the same thing. That's beautiful.Here, Padre Pio, another one, Padre Pio says,
(19:37):
here, fundamental, he says, where there is nostruggle, there is no virtue. The soul that
doesn't fight is weak. This is the Italian gustohere. Coraggio. El coraggio. But then we have
the second one, temptations increase humilityand awareness of dependence on God. Beautiful,
(19:58):
beautiful, because we realize that sometimes,without the help of God, or for our guardian
angel, or the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary,St. Joseph, etc. We feel that we are not strong
enough to face this temptation. So we need toask. And this puts us in our right place. We
(20:19):
acknowledge that we, on our own, are weak. Butwith God, we are strong. Beautiful. St. Paul
mentions that also. it's through that kind ofhumiliation. Well, again, what is humility?
Humility is to be grounded. And that elementof being grounded is being real. Once we're
real, then we can confront these temptationsbecause the temptations most times are illusionary.
(20:47):
You are God. No, you're not. You know you'renot God, but that's an illusion. It's pride.
It's... It's all these different things whichare imaginary. It's not what you truly are.
Benefit number three, temptations deepen ourprayer life. Exactly, because then we have
(21:12):
to pray. When we have a difficulty in frontof us,
we feel the need to ask God. And to speak toGod is to pray. So we ask God for his help,
therefore we pray more. Have you, we are reallyconvinced that we cannot do this by ourselves
(21:35):
as when prayer life flourishes? That's whenit kicks into gear. The prayer life becomes
something real because what is prayer? Prayeris a relationship with God and you begin to
depend on God. And that also goes into yournext point you're gonna go to. It also solves
one of the problems of the soul, which is judgment.We start judging, false judging other people
(22:01):
because we don't know ourselves. Here we go.Benefit number four. Temptations build empathy
and compassion for others. Because the reversalof that is where the problem lies. A person
who has not tried thinks that they are gods.We go back to the god problem. And then from
the God problem, they think all the rest arejust junk and they treat everyone else like
(22:22):
garbage. And they judge them harshly. And realityis that they are the, they are the spiritual
leper and the others are saints, but they can'tsee it. They're just, they're, they're so filled
with themselves. They're drinking their ownKool-Aid so much that they're in an illusionary
situation. And it's very sad because those types,the devil doesn't help them. He just keeps
(22:44):
pumping their tires and lets them. just livein that illusion as they drift onto the horizon,
believing that they're gods, until unfortunatelywhen it comes down, because they're so proud,
they shatter into pieces. They can't acceptanything. Father, you're in both sides of the
confessional, right? I mean, sometimes, youknow, we all are in one side, but you have,
(23:07):
of course, the privilege to, and for peoplewho listen, right? I mean, you as a confessor,
do you really feel like saying, telling to aperson, No, right? How does it go? I mean,
you, of course. You feel empathy and compassionfor others? Exactly, you feel empathy. You
know that you could be that person, that youcould be in that situation, and you are in
(23:33):
need. And there is something in you that, becauseof that unity of our human nature, that makes
you want to help him by any means. And you startto tell to him, to the person, that look, there
(23:55):
is a solution, don't give up, et cetera. Andit's something, you know, it's really fantastic
to be able to help something who is in need.And he is being humble. And humility attracts
humility. And humility attracts respect. theperson is being humble and he recognizes that
(24:19):
he has a problem, then you know, you're nota judge anymore, you're his brother or his
sister, etc. And you want to help him and givehim strength to bring him up again. It's typical,
no? When the person goes to confession, eventuallyyou think, oh, what, you know, it was the father
(24:41):
who had to think and everything else. That'sa temptation, correct? That's a temptation.
The devil lies to the person saying that, oh,the priest is going to be upset with you. No,
the priest is going to be your brother. He wantsto help you. He's going to be your father.
Number five here. Benefit number five. Temptationleads... to greater spiritual maturity. So
(25:08):
the knowledge of oneself basically, right? Themore we know ourselves, the more we know our
limitations, like what Padre Pio is saying,don't get too close to that dog of the devil,
because if you do, so eventually we map ourarea. We say, maybe I'm not going to walk three
more meters there because this is when I'm goingto be beaten, right? Yes, society today teaches
(25:31):
that that there is no limit. You can go, youknow, everybody is free, you can see anything
you want, you can be with anybody you want,etc. And everything will be fine. It's a great
lie because we are social beings that we arebeing influenced by the others. So you want
(25:55):
to go to the good direction, we have to go withpeople who are going to help me. help us to
be influenced in the good direction. If I amdealing with evil people, that will have a
consequence on myself and will bring me down.Maybe it's the moment to revise our cell phone
(26:17):
and eventually, maybe for a while, erasing somenames there because that could help us. And
that happens, we spoke about confession. Wehave that a lot. The cell phone is one. instrument
that the devil uses in order to get the personand to bring temptation to the person at any
time. But also your list of contacts, becausesome people are going to help you to be better,
(26:44):
and those we should I think call often, butsome other people are now going to help us
to be better, and not a lack of charity, buteventually maybe we should... You need to have
the courage to erase, to delete some contentsthat are an occasion of sin for you. So if
we are there maybe in doubt right now talkingabout temptations, delete right now. Benefit
(27:10):
number six, temptations test our faith and lovefor God. So temptations, it says, here can
also test how much we truly love God. So howdoes this? Because actually a temptation...
comes is an invitation of the devil to go awayfrom God. And that is the moment in which you're
(27:31):
going to prove your love of God. And the momentin which you have to say, no, I want to go
with God and I don't want to go with you. Andthis is the proof that you're going to give
all your love of God. There's also other typesof temptations. Sometimes there are active
temptations, temptations in favor of pride.of envy, of avarice, but also there's temptations
(27:56):
of despair, of doubt, and those are corrosivebecause they take out the aspect of confidence
in God. Those temptations are destructive, andthat usually afflicts people in a weakened
state. It affects them when tragedies come throughtheir lives, be it economic or be it... physical
(28:20):
or be it moral tragedies. That moment whereGod can't help you, you're in that spot where
God can't and won't and he's abandoned you.And that type of temptation is absolutely devastating.
It is, and it's extremely important at thatmoment to remember that this is just an impression
(28:45):
that I'm having. This is not reality. Realityis that God wants to help me. The Blessed Virgin
Mary is my mother. She was appointed to be mymother by God Himself, by God's decree, and
she's going to help me. And I just have to persevereand never be depressed, never be down. You
(29:06):
have to get away from that attitude immediately.Benefit number seven, the last one. Temptations
open the way for greater graces. Isn't thatbecause in all the cases we know of temptations,
God always wants to give us something else,give us something more. And then he's waiting
to see if we are going to be faithful to thistrial that he's going to give us. the moment
(29:30):
we cross that threshold, then those bigger gracescome. But God cannot give us those big graces
unless He puts us to the test, correct? Exactly.We have to prove that we are faithful, we are
trustworthy. And then comes the opposite oftemptation, which is the grace. The grace is
the opposite of temptation. The temptation isthe grace between ghosts and the devil. and
(29:56):
the grace is the temptation of God. The greatwriters of the early church, so we're talking
St. John Climacus, we're talking St. Augustine,they all talk about this thing very much. Very
much, it's a core element in which grace isgreater than that, the deficit, and builds
it up. So final touches to this program here.Father, you correct me if I'm saying something
(30:23):
wrong, but there are many Confessor that saylike this, if you're in doubt, a temptation
was too impressive or too harsh or too, youknow, one of those things that really, you
know, leave you like, you know, in a state ofdisturbance. If we pray to our lady, they say
(30:43):
that temptation came. Yes. Did you pray to ourlady? If we say yes. then Our Lady will never
let us fall in temptation. That's the most importantthing. In a situation in which you are spiritually
in a turmoil, in a difficult situation, youhave to pray to Mary and then, she will not
(31:05):
allow that you will commit a mortal sin. Soif we pray at the moment of temptation? Precisely.
And then the bad feelings go away and you justgo ahead. Big point for those who are doing
the consecration to Our Lady with the healthof the gospel. Precisely. One more, because
some people are feeling like, oh, it's too muchof a serious compromise, you know, a serious...
(31:27):
Commitment. Some people are thinking, oh, thisis a serious commitment, too serious, so I
want to do the consecration to Our Lady. Butin reality, this is the best, because every
time I have a temptation, Our Lady will comeand say, hey, this is my property, hold on.
Of course, this is the best insurance that youcan have. Best insurance, that's so good. In
order to know that when something happens, you'recovered. You're covered. All inclusive. Exactly,
(31:52):
and you know that. Remember the most graciousVirgin Mary that never. Exactly, till the last
moment of our lives, we are going to be tempted.Because temptation is something that we have
to go through in our lives on Earth, and wewill need that help till the last moment of
our lives. So please leave us our comment downthere right away and let us know because Father,
(32:14):
we have still how to deal with temptations,five pieces of advice and we leave it for another
program. But if people can leave their comments,it will be phenomenal. Wonderful, wonderful.
So an advice is that be careful with the smallthings. Be careful with the small temptations.
Oh, I'm going to, you know, I'm going to befive minutes late at work. or I'm going to
(32:39):
eat a little bit more.
My doctor told me that I cannot eat this, butI'm going to consent. And even though it can
look small, it is the beginning of a big thing.So when you are used to say no to small temptations,
(33:01):
you're going to say no to the big ones. If yousay yes to the small ones, you will end up
going to say yes to the big ones. We have alwaysto pray and the moment of sentation is the
moment to pray. And we need to ask the blessingof God, of our Lord Jesus Christ, in all moments
of our life, but very especially for the momentsin which you are tempted. So this is why I
(33:25):
would like to give a blessing for all of you.that are listening to us, that the blessing
of our Lord Jesus Christ will always be withyou. The Lord be with you. And with your spirit.
May Almighty God bless you, the Father, theSon, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Salve Maria.
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