the first movement of the heart

The sacred congregation for doctrine in Rome declared through Cardinal Ratzinger that God the Father should always be addressed with the pronoun He; the Son should always be addressed with the pronoun He; and the Holy Spirit should always be called a He. How does he know that the Holy spirit is a he? One could only imagine, but you see its very hard to determine the sex of a dove. Now people ask, how do we address the devil – is it a she or a he. The sacred congregation does not say anything but when I see Buyong running to the telephone immediately after meals I tend to believe that that “devil” is a she.

Today let us talk about temptation. We have a very bad image of the devil. The great tempter is pictured as somebody so ugly you would not even want to get near it. But if you look at the bible closely the tempter is always somebody, something beautiful. The tempter is pictured in the book of Genesis as a snake. But snakes during those times were used as symbols, symbols of something so beautiful one would find a hard time resisting it.


It is logical. You are never tempted by somebody so ugly, rather one is always tempted by something so beautiful – a beautiful person, a very attractive proposal, a seemingly kindly deed, a seemingly holy act, a very logical proposition . . . anything and anybody attractive, just like what happened to Judas in today’s gospel. His was a very logical proposition, and his proposal appears godly, kindly and generous. But why did Jesus reprove him, why? . . . because his reasoning, his act of generosity has the mark of the subtle manipulation of the tempter.

Today Jesus is teaching us the most important reflex of a Christian. And what is this important reflex? It is called discernment. Let us not be deceived by every good act that comes to mind. Let us not be deceived by every logical reasoning that comes to mind. Let us not be convinced immediately and easily by every good plan that comes to mind. Let us not rush in making decisions. Let us not act on impulse without giving time for discernment. Learn always to consult God. Learn to discern.

Remember, one time I told you that I never questioned why you are going out. Most of the time I just permit you for as long as you inform me, because I said I presume you have consulted God on the matter. And you laughed. What hurt me then was the laughter. Were you thinking that this is something laughable because it is something that could not be done? In that case Christian life will be a tragedy. But discernment is necessary if we permit God to be God and if we permit God to guide our actions.

St John of the Cross has a very good proposal on discernment. If you want to know the real motive of your action you should be aware of the first movement of your heart. What is the first movement of your heart? Be aware of it, because the second, the third, the fourth movements are the reasonings of the devil which will sugar-coat the original intention. Know the first movement of your heart. Today let us try to be more discerning. Remember, not all seemingly good actions are God’s actions. We have to learn to discern.

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