Dear Brothers in Christ,
If you have received this letter it is because you are on my litany of people I pray for daily and care for particularly. You are all familiar with my background and the search I’ve been on to understand what the Lord would have me do at this point in my life. Through the help of many friends and God’s guidance I believe I have found a direction at last and want to share what is going on.
As you all well know, like many priests I have undergone a number of struggles involving faith and morality. Actually, I would have to say “like all priests” who are truly striving to know Christ. Without the Cross, there is no life through, with, or in Jesus. I am sad to say that at times I have laid down my personal cross and wandered off in the darkness. On three different occasions, I have sought psychological services to help me get back on track and live the life I know God has been calling me to live. Over the years I have also been exposed to various psychological practices through others, as well as in the course of making referrals, and through my own study. My experience has been that modern psychology is for the most part missing the target. In fact, it isn’t even aiming at the target and little is accomplished to foster true well-being.
Virtually all modern psychological approaches treat symptoms rather than the root of the problem which is the idolization of the self. Progress in the spiritual and moral life can only take place through the Cross – by dying to one’s self. When one considers the entire field of modern literature devoted to spirituality and morality, however, this focus is mentioned at times, perhaps, but the processes that are offered to address one’s condition invariably deal with alleviating symptoms, helping people to “cope” and feel better. As far as I recall our blessed Lord never promised to make his disciples feel better. He promised, rather, to give life in abundance. The two should not be confused. Through the guidance of Dr. G.C. Dilsaver, I have begun practicing a system designed to foster well-being based on the psychology and moral theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. It is the first systematic approach to well-being I have encountered that has truly made a profound difference in my life. I am so inspired by it that I enrolled in his mentoring program and have decided to join with him in offering retreats.
It is difficult for me to write to you because it involves sharing the fact that I’m a sinner who has made a few pretty bad decisions in life. No one enjoys being humiliated. I’ve learned, however, that humility, as all the saints and doctors of the church attest, is the remedy to sin and it is also the remedy to mal-being. Humility is necessary for me to decrease and Jesus to increase within my being. Psychomoralitics, the system designed by Dilsaver to promote well-being, takes as its motto “God is, I am not.” It inculcates a way of life that allows one to truly enter the paschal mystery so that God can be all in all, a way of life centered in humility. It is based on the theological truth that we have no being of our own apart from God and the only way to experience true well-being is not through medication or learning ways to cope with life or to alleviate stress or feel good about ourselves, but through centering our lives absolutely on God’s holy will. The point of well-being is not to feel good, but to be good and there is no way for a human being to be good except through living solely to glorify God.
You all know this. The difficulty I found was finding a way to establish this truth firmly in my daily life so that it would take root and grow. It’s easy to say we must live the Gospel, but as the vast number of priests who seek psychological help attests – not to mention the population in general – finding a way to consistently do this is difficult. St. Ignatius attempted to foster a complete dedication to Christ through the development of his Spiritual Exercises. The Exercises have truly been a great gift to the Church and having made the Exercises myself two years ago I can attest to their power. The problem is, however, that so few priests offer the Exercises today without steeping them in modern psychobabble. The retreat becomes focused on making the retreatants feel good about themselves rather than, as St. Ignatius intended, to establish them totally in Christ through an absolute abandonment to God’s will. Psychomoralitics was developed to address people of any belief system and does not utilize specifically religious language. The principles in which it is grounded and the process it develops, however, are taken straight from St. Thomas’ doctrine on the soul (the existence of which, ironically, modern psychology won’t even admit) and the life of virtue. It is truly a “Catholic psychology” from beginning to end.
Psychomoralitic retreats are available. The “Sabbatical Retreat” for priests is seven days in length (not including arrival and departure days) and involve daily conferences as well as daily private psychomoralitic sessions. I hope you will consider an alternative to the common “vacation retreat” and engage in the psychomoralitic process. If you believe it is time for you to undergo an experience designed to effectively center your entire life in Christ, please email or call me.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. May our Lord and his Blessed Mother guide you!
A Priest Forever,
(Name Withheld)
If you have received this letter it is because you are on my litany of people I pray for daily and care for particularly. You are all familiar with my background and the search I’ve been on to understand what the Lord would have me do at this point in my life. Through the help of many friends and God’s guidance I believe I have found a direction at last and want to share what is going on.
As you all well know, like many priests I have undergone a number of struggles involving faith and morality. Actually, I would have to say “like all priests” who are truly striving to know Christ. Without the Cross, there is no life through, with, or in Jesus. I am sad to say that at times I have laid down my personal cross and wandered off in the darkness. On three different occasions, I have sought psychological services to help me get back on track and live the life I know God has been calling me to live. Over the years I have also been exposed to various psychological practices through others, as well as in the course of making referrals, and through my own study. My experience has been that modern psychology is for the most part missing the target. In fact, it isn’t even aiming at the target and little is accomplished to foster true well-being.
Virtually all modern psychological approaches treat symptoms rather than the root of the problem which is the idolization of the self. Progress in the spiritual and moral life can only take place through the Cross – by dying to one’s self. When one considers the entire field of modern literature devoted to spirituality and morality, however, this focus is mentioned at times, perhaps, but the processes that are offered to address one’s condition invariably deal with alleviating symptoms, helping people to “cope” and feel better. As far as I recall our blessed Lord never promised to make his disciples feel better. He promised, rather, to give life in abundance. The two should not be confused. Through the guidance of Dr. G.C. Dilsaver, I have begun practicing a system designed to foster well-being based on the psychology and moral theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. It is the first systematic approach to well-being I have encountered that has truly made a profound difference in my life. I am so inspired by it that I enrolled in his mentoring program and have decided to join with him in offering retreats.
It is difficult for me to write to you because it involves sharing the fact that I’m a sinner who has made a few pretty bad decisions in life. No one enjoys being humiliated. I’ve learned, however, that humility, as all the saints and doctors of the church attest, is the remedy to sin and it is also the remedy to mal-being. Humility is necessary for me to decrease and Jesus to increase within my being. Psychomoralitics, the system designed by Dilsaver to promote well-being, takes as its motto “God is, I am not.” It inculcates a way of life that allows one to truly enter the paschal mystery so that God can be all in all, a way of life centered in humility. It is based on the theological truth that we have no being of our own apart from God and the only way to experience true well-being is not through medication or learning ways to cope with life or to alleviate stress or feel good about ourselves, but through centering our lives absolutely on God’s holy will. The point of well-being is not to feel good, but to be good and there is no way for a human being to be good except through living solely to glorify God.
You all know this. The difficulty I found was finding a way to establish this truth firmly in my daily life so that it would take root and grow. It’s easy to say we must live the Gospel, but as the vast number of priests who seek psychological help attests – not to mention the population in general – finding a way to consistently do this is difficult. St. Ignatius attempted to foster a complete dedication to Christ through the development of his Spiritual Exercises. The Exercises have truly been a great gift to the Church and having made the Exercises myself two years ago I can attest to their power. The problem is, however, that so few priests offer the Exercises today without steeping them in modern psychobabble. The retreat becomes focused on making the retreatants feel good about themselves rather than, as St. Ignatius intended, to establish them totally in Christ through an absolute abandonment to God’s will. Psychomoralitics was developed to address people of any belief system and does not utilize specifically religious language. The principles in which it is grounded and the process it develops, however, are taken straight from St. Thomas’ doctrine on the soul (the existence of which, ironically, modern psychology won’t even admit) and the life of virtue. It is truly a “Catholic psychology” from beginning to end.
Psychomoralitic retreats are available. The “Sabbatical Retreat” for priests is seven days in length (not including arrival and departure days) and involve daily conferences as well as daily private psychomoralitic sessions. I hope you will consider an alternative to the common “vacation retreat” and engage in the psychomoralitic process. If you believe it is time for you to undergo an experience designed to effectively center your entire life in Christ, please email or call me.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. May our Lord and his Blessed Mother guide you!
A Priest Forever,
(Name Withheld)