Section 1 | Rule #3: The Nature of Tests and the Intentions of the Evil Spirits During Such Trials

Let the Custos be aware that when encountering tests, trials, tribulations, sufferings and setbacks, the evil spirits will gravely tempt him to doubt the goodness of the fatherhood of God; to believe that God is distant; that God is the cause of his sufferings; that God is his enemy; and that God the Father is not trustworthy. Doubt in God is the greatest insult against His divine benevolence and therefore the evil spirits derive the most heinous pleasure by instilling doubt into the soul of the Custos. As our Lord Jesus disclosed to the saint of His Divine Mercy, “Why are you so fearful and why do you tremble when you are united to me? I am displeased when a soul yields to vain terrors. Who will dare touch you when you are with me? Most dear to me is the soul who strongly believes in my goodness and has complete trust in me. I heap my confidence upon that soul and give it all it asks.” Therefore, let the Custos understand that as the Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the desert to be tested, it is God who leads the Custos into tests to perfect his trust. Again, as the devil tempted Jesus to prove His worth and to bow down to the ways of the world the flesh and the devil, so also it is the evil one who intends to break the Custos’ trust in God the Father during the test. The evil spirits attempt to break the Custos’ trust by inducing doubt into his soul in hopes that the Custos will become self-reliant, attempt to prove his own worth, and attempt to obtain validation from the world, or to surrender his pursuit of sanctity. Let the Custos be aware that the evil spirits instill doubt into the soul of man to restrain him from emptying himself for others so that the glory of God may be revealed through man.

Devin Schadt | Executive Director of the Fathers of St. Joseph

Ite ad Joseph