Section 2 | Rule #3: Regarding the Evil Spirit’s Determination to Drive the Custos from His Vocational Path

As God, by means of the analogy of fatherhood and the analogy of the bridegroom, always encourages man to remain in his calling, as the holy apostle commands, “Let every man abide in the same calling in which he was called” (1 Cor 7:20); so also in a contrary manner, the evil spirits attempt to distract the Custos from and numb him to these vocational analogies for the purpose of robbing him of his courage to remain on this path.

Like a bully who stands in the path of a boy attempting to walk his route to school, the evil spirits stand in the path of the Custos’ vocation to distract and intimidate him, that he might surrender his holy initiative, and seek another path. “For they laid a snare for my steps, my soul was bowed down. They dug a pit in my path but fell in it themselves” (Ps 57).

The intimidations of the evil spirits are often cloaked in trials, tests, tribulations related to the Custos’ vocation. Let the Custos be aware that by meditating on these sufferings and finding in them Christ’s willingness to suffer for His Church, or God the Father’s desire for His children to experience His love and be saved from evil, the very trap set by the evil spirits will become a snare for them; but the Custos will rise from his meditation encouraged. However, if courage and perseverance is lacking in the Custos, it is a certain sign that he is neglecting to reflect upon the analogy of the bridegroom and the analogy of fatherhood or is resisting the divine counsel contained therein.

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

Ite ad Joseph