BibleStudyEvangelista

The point in "healing the inner child" is illustrated and affirmed by an ancient psychological/mythological idea that the way to full maturity is to find what you lost as a child and regain it. The recovery of the child revivifies the adult by teaching the adult how to play, trust, and wonder without judgment again, but with the added maturity and knowledge of being an adult who knows how to organize and protect oneself in the world. The inner child finally gets to express him/herself from a place of safety rather than fear and danger. In this wrap-up episode, I offer a case study that might help put all the pieces together, and a reminder from St. Thérèse to stay "little," give Jesus your littleness and little sacrifices, and leave the rest to Him.

Listen, Pharisee, the reason you're lonely, the reason God hasn't thrown you a party (Parable of the Prodigal), is because you're full of judgments that block communion within yourself and between you and the Father, so that you can't feel comfortable enough with Him to ask for a party. And if he threw you one now, in the state of Pharisaism you're in, you'd just condemn yourself for not deserving it. As soon as we turn back to our inner child, as soon as we extend some sympathy, boundaries, and forgiveness, the Pharisee steps in to judge: "How dare you let yourself or them get away with that!" Pharisaism is the wound of the world, because while the "sinful" have obvious evidence of their need for healing love, the Pharisee has his shit together, and therefore cannot see the dark, dead judgments inside himself that prevent healing communion.

All of our spiritual and emotional issues stem from an unconscious unwillingness to acknowledge the darkness in ourselves. In order to resist conscious "seeing" and acknowledging and doing something about the ugly truths in ourselves, we project them onto others, we distract ourselves, and in doing so, we disown parts of ourselves and those parts begin their tyranny. When enough of us do this, our world becomes as disordered as we are inside. It's through conflicts and suffering that enough emotion can break through, consciously, to alert us of what we are not seeing. Eden shows us that if we see and acknowledge it - whatever the darkness is - we can take it to the Holy Spirit to help us heal and order it properly. If Adam and Eve had done this, rather than allowing themselves to be distracted by what was easier and more attractive in the moment, they would have had the knowledge of good and evil without the suffering, because the evil was with them in the Garden the whole time; they just didn't notice or acknowledge it as such. Matthew 18, the Beatitudes, and Old Testament Jacob as a case study, help us with proper healing and ordering: working through pop quizzes, "turning back" to acknowledge and rescue the inner child, setting good boundaries for ourselves and others, and forgiveness for all.

Somehow I suspect you've either recently been in a conflict where you were corrected or have seen a need or opportunity to offer correction to another. If not, perhaps it's just around the corner. How about some guidelines from Jesus about that? Because we are God's children, and He warns us sternly against "despising the little ones." After radical detachment, we have to "turn back" to rescue the lost sheep of our inner child, and the lost sheep in our original and church families when they are also our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Using Matthew 18 as a touch point for discussion of the inner child is what we call using the "spiritual sense" of Scripture. It's fascinating to me that Jesus emphasized His teaching in 18 and part of 19 by placing children before Him (remember that chapter and verse numbers were not in the original writings, but added for our convenience). Like flesh and blood parables, children bookend His teaching on boundaries, and we learn that not only are healthy boundaries necessary to faith in dealing with one another in the family of God, but they're also necessary in human and faith development, too.

Separation anxiety is when someone fears being apart from or losing a person or other attachment figure, a place, or even an animal. Adults can experience separation anxiety, although it is more common in children. Learning necessary, healthy detachment from parents, relatives, friends, and trauma bonds provokes "separation anxiety," does it not? Severe SA can manifest in physical symptoms, such as nausea and headaches. But separation anxiety is a normal part of both childhood development and adult relationship development. Although it can be unsettling, Jesus teaches separation is necessary for Christians - at least temporarily - in order to bring about the repentance and reconciliation of an offender. If the offender continues without repentance (changing direction), we must detach from ungodly "Christian" relationships, or else we fall into sin ourselves as enablers. Jesus shows us how.

Don’t all of your issues seem to be exacerbated by the holiday season? We’re spending increased amounts of time with people and/or family who may have wounded us or still do. We may feel pressured and obligated by Great Expectations for how things “should” be. Perhaps we labor under the financial burden such expectations add; the sometimes extreme changes in environment, sleep, and schedules at work and with travel that can cause burnout; the many occasions for over-stimulation for us or our kids; the sheer amounts and types of food; stifling grief while feeling forced to put on the happy face; sibling rivalries; inferiority complexes; self-medication and addiction triggers; seasonal depression and lack of sunlight; questions and insinuations from others about “where you are” in life. If all of that feels overwhelming to you, perhaps you can see why the holiday season causes your inner child to feel distressed and begin “acting out” in order to get your attention? And why all the guilt for simply wanting to hibernate until the whole season is over, or needing to limit exposure to the entire bit? What if the guilt is driven by a trauma bond? Here are six Ps for navigating the holidays and making them more peaceful and happy: Predict, Prepare, Plan, Priorities, Peace, Pivot. Get the whole series here: https://www.biblestudyevangelista.com/lovetheword/

Are you curious? What does your inner child's voice sound like? This episode, perhaps more than any other I've ever done, has the power to change your life. Ask Little Therese for that grace. When we protect and provide love and radical acceptance for our inner child, she glows and warms up inside. We have the inner freedom to breathe more easily and try new things. We know we can tolerate failure or mess ups. We can deal with minor amounts of guilt or shame without getting eaten up with fear. We don't get stuck desperately needing approval from others. Our inner child needs to find safety in the world so she can come out and play and be an active part of our life. It's the child parts that allow us to be creative and wondrous, as the psalmist says. So let's do it. First, we need a few guide bumpers and a grounding technique in case we encounter emotions that threaten to take over. Next, we need to breathe and relax into our inner prayer space. Then we visualize.

"Unless you become like little children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matt 18:3). . It's fascinating to me that Jesus begins teaching adults how to deal with offenses and offenders by embracing a little child and making this statement, particularly because we are often taught that He is saying charity demands the wounded be a doormat. . Nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus goes on to teach about healthy boundaries, reconciliation, fraternal correction, toxic and healthy forgiveness, and deliverance, all sandwiched between illustrations involving children. In The Little Way series you will also learn: - The difference between "childish" and "childlike" - Why St. Therese of Lisieux's "Little Way" is the "greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven" (vs 4) - What it means to "receive" the child in us, and therefore receive Him (vs 5) - When reconciliation is impossible and how to go "no-contact" (vv 6-9) - Who "despises" the little ones (Matt 18:10) - How to rescue the "little stray lamb" that always runs to the brier thicket in fear (vv 12-14) . Learning to love the demanding, controlling little you that still screams for attention and protection in your present and future can be challenging, but it *is* possible, and Jesus teaches it is necessary. Sometimes your hurt is too early to recall, only feel, as in womb experiences or pre-verbal, pre-self-aware implicit memory. Can we reach that deeply? St. Thérèse Lisieux shows us a way, The Little Way. We become little again.

For us the Bible is a single book, but it's really a Book of Books. The Bible is a library of books, from "biblios," meaning books. These books were written at different times that are sometimes separated by millennia; by different authors with various writing styles, proficiencies, and personalities; to different audiences. Is it any wonder that it can be hard to read and understand? This episode tackles the two Testaments, the genres of the Books, and the "who" of the Bible, so we have a basic understanding of how to approach each Book. But more than that, the consistency of the Bible is one of its miracles. Part of its consistency is the "who" of the Bible. Who heals through Scripture, and who is being healed? . Get the whole series on How to Read and Study the Bible here: https://www.biblestudyevangelista.com/category/ignite/

No matter how well you know the Bible, Ignite will offer you something new, both as a hermeneutic and in its practical, personal approach to Scripture. The first chapter is Lectio Divina (meaning holy reading). It covers the ancient Christian practice of daily prayer with Scripture that we Baptist's called the "daily quiet time." We start with lectio divina in the book, because that's the usual way to learn to hear God speak in and through the Bible. Nothing heals like God's Word, because only love heals, and there is no way to heal fully without an intimate relationship with the Healer, Jesus Christ, in which He pours His love into you and your suffering. He does that, every single day, by speaking to you through the daily readings. The best way to begin healing is to hear God speak, experience His presence, and discern His will for your life through the daily readings of the Church. How? Modeled on the Annunciation, the LOVE the Word® method invites Our Lady to guide each of us in her own personal prayer practice: L – listen, O – observe, V – verbalize, E – entrust. We learn how to LOVE the Word® like Mary, from Mary. She teaches us to interpret the word we hear and read through the landscape of our lives. Through my own practice of lectio divina, Mary shared with me her own love of and prayer practice with Scripture - an earlier form of lectio divina - and an acronym for her process called LOVE the Word®. In this episode I share it with you, along with Chapter One of Ignite, using the last three years' daily readings as a general guide, and the last week's daily readings as a specific guide. Click here for more on LOVE the Word®: https://www.biblestudyevangelista.com/learn-to-love-the-word/ Get the whole series here: https://www.biblestudyevangelista.com/category/ignite/

Discernment of spirits used to solely mean "diagnosing" whether someone was led by the Holy Spirit or the enemy. But it's more complicated than that, isn't it? The same person, even holy people, can be influenced by both the Holy Spirit and the enemy. Ignatius of Loyola compiled and systematized the Desert Fathers' tradition of discernment, so that now we understand "discernment of spirits" to mean deciding for oneself or another what must be attributed to the Holy Spirit, and what comes from one's own imagination or the suggestion of the enemy. Because St. Ignatius of Loyola's rules for discernment are so substantial, I have included a simplified version specific to discerning whether we are hearing from the Holy Spirit or not. (Copy, paste, print, and share!) Get it here. https://www.biblestudyevangelista.com/2023/06/12/05_our-rule-of-life/

In this hour of all-but-universal darkness, we need a spiritual deepening that makes us really dare to live out the power of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Nothing less will save us or our world. This series is an invitation to step into the fire of the Burning Bush, a fire that burns without consuming, without scorching, without singeing; a fire that arrives on the wind, is fed by the wind, and rests upon the crown of each disciple, sending him out to light flames of love and light in our world. This fire and wind is the Holy Spirit. O souls, created for these grandeurs and called to them! What are you doing? How are you spending your time? . . . You are blind to so brilliant a light and deaf to such loud voices. -John of the Cross This series is not about the Charismatic Movement; it's not about tongues and miracles and healing. It's about a "still more excellent way" (1 Cor 13). Love, the POWER. The Mystery. First, we'll explore the mystery. The Holy Spirit reminds us that God is mystery. The Son is God revealed, no longer hidden. The Spirit is God who is still concealed, the unfathomable depths of God, unreachable and incomprehensible. “The Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God” (1 Cor 2:10). And "you know Him, because He dwells in you" (John 14:17). . Get the whole series here: https://www.biblestudyevangelista.com/category/holy-spirit/

Prepare to have your mind blown! This series probes what the Bible, the Catechism, Church Fathers, St. Thomas Aquinas, and contemporary exorcists reveal about angels, their relationship to God, one another, and the human race. Episode 1 explores what it means to say angels are "spiritual and incorporeal beings" and the extraordinary powers and abilities they employ in their tasks. Get the whole series here: https://www.biblestudyevangelista.com/category/angels/

Research shows that gratitude is the only "thing" that elevates our baseline happiness permanently, when practiced regularly. Medication and exercise provide only temporary relief. Interesting that God commands us to do the thing that makes us happier. . Biblical gratitude helps us return our hearts to the eternal. Living in the midst of so many evils, temptations, and sins, the problem becomes losing sight of the eternal, of becoming distracted. Gratitude helps us focus properly, and that’s why it heals. In this episode, we look at the etymology of the word gratitude, "the three *benes*," the differences between the secular and sacred views of gratitude, and the number one reason why we should be grateful. Get the whole series on Gratitude here: https://www.biblestudyevangelista.com/category/gratitude/

It's hard to impossible to be physically healthy when you hate your body. Media, trauma, disease, pregnancies, abuse, ageing, bullying - how a person perceives her appearance and feels in his body directly impacts his or her physical health. What is the truth about your body? "The human body shares in the dignity of "the image of God": it is a human body precisely because it is animated by a spiritual soul, and it is the whole human person that is intended to become, in the body of Christ, a temple of the Spirit . . . For this reason man may not despise his bodily life. Rather he is obliged to regard his body as good and to hold it in honour since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day" (CCC 364-365). Get the whole series here: https://www.biblestudyevangelista.com/category/somata/

Unity, permanence, holiness, reverence, glory: "For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and *cherishes* it, as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the church" (Eph 5:29-32). The full series is available at https://www.biblestudyevangelista.com/category/cherished/

So you're needy? You were created to be needy. In fact, you were created with an abyss of neediness because you were created to be cherished. Adam and Eve were created needy: they needed food, water, work, and intimate relationship before sin ever entered the Garden. The tragedy of sin was that it separated Adam and Eve from the Source that was meant to satiate their neediness. But Jesus restored our connection to the Source. So embrace your neediness, direct it properly, and you will grow out of leeching and/or stoic behaviors that prevent you from fully satiating the neediness that otherwise eats you alive. Get the whole series here: https://www.biblestudyevangelista.com/category/cherished/ Find Sonja at: https://www.biblestudyevangelista.com/

Sandwiched between St. Paul's sermon on spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12, and his correction of abuses of sign gifts in chapter 14, is perhaps the most beautiful treatise on love ever written. Should you have all the "best," most visible gifts, should you know and understand everything there is to know and understand, should you be martyred -- none of it profits you nor anyone else a thing, if not rooted in love. If the subject of spiritual gifts is new to you, the process of discerning your gifts may be confusing or overwhelming. What a comfort to realize we ultimately only need to "do" one thing: abide in love. So, what is love, really? Get the whole series here: https://www.biblestudyevangelista.com/category/spiritual-gifts/

Grace [charis] is first and foremost the gift of the Spirit who justifies and sanctifies us. But grace also includes the gifts [charismata] that the Spirit grants us to associate us with his work, to enable us to collaborate in the salvation of others and in the growth of the Body of Christ, the Church. There are sacramental graces, gifts proper to the different sacraments. There are furthermore special graces, also called charisms after the Greek term used by St. Paul and meaning "favor," "gratuitous gift," "benefit." Whatever their character - sometimes it is extraordinary, such as the gift of miracles or of tongues - charisms are oriented toward sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good of the Church. They are at the service of charity which builds up the Church (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2003). . Get the whole series here: https://www.biblestudyevangelista.com/category/spiritual-gifts/ . https://www.biblestudyevangelista.com/

You feel like you're spinning your wheels, laboring till you're exhausted but seeing little permanent fruit. You're depressed that certain relationships are a perpetual painful morass. You're frustrated that the numerous "prescriptions" of faith that you've tried are not working. I get it. We expend a lot of energy fighting the wrong battles, and such futility is an underlying cause of anxiety. This episode explores how to fight the *right* battle: how to work *with* the Holy Spirit for lasting peace rather than against Him. Our focus is on temporary relief, while His is on our permanent rest in Him. So we must determine to lean into the difficulties He allows and "suffer creatively," as St. John of the Cross says. Get the whole series here: https://www.biblestudyevangelista.com/category/anxiety/

The number one thing you need to know in battling anxiety is that it does not come from God. "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control" (2 Tim 1:7). Anxiety is an attack of the enemy, therefore we must close the doors of vulnerability that our unresolved experiences in life have left open. What are those doors? Get the whole series here: https://www.biblestudyevangelista.com/category/anxiety/