Lord, You thoroughly know me. You’ve seen every act of stubborn obstinacy I have ever committed and every unreasonable persistence I keep within my mind and in the silence of my heart. I can be obstinate in my will to the point of self-destruction, often keeping with my stance even when I can see it is neither good for me nor your holy will.
I sometimes struggle to let go of control and let you lead me. Sometimes my heart fights to give in to your will and I struggle to admit when I am wrong. I will do this even when I know deep down it is stubborn obstinacy and a lack of true sorrow of the heart. Without the virtue of compunction of the heart, I am a proud, stubborn, and obstinate person. Please, Jesus, pity me and give me the grace I need to grow in humility so that I will detest having pride and all the stubborn obstinacy accompanying it.
Thank you for the grace to grow in the virtue of compunction, or sorrow of the heart, so that I can avoid evil thoughts, words, and deeds out of fear of offending you, Lord.
AMEN.
Incredulity is the neglect of revealed truth or the willful refusal to assent to it.
Heresy is the obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed with divine and catholic faith, or it is likewise an obstinate doubt concerning the same;
Apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith;
Schism is the refusal of submission to the Roman Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him.
Let’s begin by prayerfully reading a meditation by St. Hildegard on the meaning of Transubstantiation. Our stubborn obstinacy is defeated when we replace our self-love with a deep abiding love for Christ, and the surest way to love him is through a true devotion to Jesus in the Eucharist. The more we are with him, the more we love him. The more we love him, the more we become like him in thought, word, and deed. Let’s contemplate this:
Defeat Stubborn Obstinacy with Sorrow of the Heart
As the Song of the Lamb is Sung...
by St. Hildegard von Bingen
When the priest sings the song of the innocent Lamb, “O Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,” and prepares to take the Holy Communion himself, the fiery brilliance withdraws into Heaven; for as that minister announces the praise of Him, Who in His mild innocence bore the wickedness of humanity, and opens his inmost heart and his outward devotion to these mysteries, the unconquered serenity that is here showing its power withdraws itself into the supernal secret.
And as Heaven closes, you hear the voice from thence saying that believing and faithful people should eat and drink with true devotion the Body and Blood of their Savior, Who for them suffered temporal death, to wash away the contamination our first parents brought into the world when they transgressed God’s precept; so that those people, cleansed from this transgression, may be faithfully restored to the rightful inheritance that by obstinacy they had lost.
For, as the Only-Begotten of God gave His body and blood to His disciples at the Supper, so now on the altar He gives His flesh and His blood to His faithful ones, donating it for human use, as a person does when he has finished the work he wanted to do. For the Son of God, fulfilling the precepts of His Father, offered Himself for people’s salvation and gave His body and blood to be eaten and drunk for their sanctification.
Scivias, Book 2 Vision Six Paragraph 20
Week 28 of the Virtue Meditations Series
Defeat Stubborn Obstinacy with Sorrow of the Heart
Reflection:
God grants all good things when we diligently seek him. Ask yourself, do I diligently seek him? Do I pray as though God needs to act in my favor and answer my prayers according to my will? While praying like this, do I refuse to also obey his precepts? Do I have ignorance of these precepts? Am I not seeking to know him intimately? Am I guilty of a lack of reciprocal love? Do I get angry and resentful when my prayers are not answered in the manner I expect them to be? Do I measure God’s love for me based on whether or not he does as I suggest, and when he does not, do I retreat from his presence in anger?
Is my “love” for God conditional, surface-level, and self-seeking?
How to Discern God’s Will and Defeat Stubborn Obstinacy
Have you ever made a very bad decision and at the time thought that it was a good decision, maybe even God’s will? You are not alone. If you discern poorly, your decision has an enormous impact on your life. It also affects all those around you. Decisions have consequences. This is why it’s important to have compunction of the heart, which is a true desire to please God above all else.
We often make decisions for selfish reasons. Maybe it is out of fear, or for self-preservation, or to gain money, honor, or even fame. The Lord knows every heart, and sees what we hide from all others.
Stubborn obstinacy involves making a very bad decision while knowing that it is not the will of God. Sometimes you may even pretend you think it is God’s will, and even deceive others into believing the same. At the core, deep within your soul, you know that what you are doing is against God’s designs but you persist in doing it for various selfish reasons. St. Hildegard says that the inability to see or hear God is at the root of obstinacy. This is because the stubborn soul “does not want to be softened or changed from the hardness it has.”
Struggling to hear God’s voice when you pray?
How are you praying?
The joy of life is found in the Eucharist, and if we can make it the center of our lives, all the things of this world that attract us and distract us from God will fade away. The only thing that will remain is our love for Jesus and a true compunction of heart. We become more like Christ the more we spend time with him in prayer and receive him worthily in holy Communion [1 Cor. 11:27]. This is how the Lord communicates with souls, through his very intimate and loving embrace. When he enters us, he makes us a temple of the Holy Spirit. Isn’t that beautiful?
Stubborn obstinacy is a very real struggle for many of us because we want things in life, and we want to control our destiny. We like feeling like our life is our own and we are free to choose what we want to believe, who we want to give deference to, and who or what we are willing to serve.
We may also fear pain and suffering. Most of us want an easy path that is rewarding. Some of our beliefs, many of our sinful habits, and some of our so-called “justified” grudges are just too hard for us to give up. We cling to what we know, and we shut out the light of truth because it demands contrition and the commitment to do the hard work of making changes in what we think, say, and do.
When you refuse to do self-examinations and you turn from scrutiny, you end up driving yourself away from the light of Christ. Think of it like driving in the dark and looking out your windshield. That same windshield, when exposed to direct sunlight, will reveal many imperfections. God is holy and just, merciful, loving, and kind. He calls us to discipleship and when we are walking in the light of truth he reveals to us things that need pruning, and bad habits that need to end. Stubborn obstinacy says no to this kind of relationship with the Lord, and it keeps a soul in darkness.
Stubborn obstinacy has its roots in pride
St. Hildegard says, “Those who are obstinate do not see or hear God and are not moved by his breath. For obstinacy is depraved and worthless; it does not want to be softened or changed from the hardness it has. Just like a mole that throws out the earth, it also turns away good things since nothing pleases it except what it chooses itself” [Liber Vitae Meritorum, the Fourth Part, 62].
Jesus says we are known by our fruit. When we have true compunction of heart we bear good fruit because our focus shifts from “self” to God and we no longer have strong ties to our egos, which thrive on pride and all the vices that are attached to it.
Going Further:
If you want to do ‘extra’ you may spend some time reading 1 Samuel 15:10-31, to learn about Saul’s stubborn obstinacy and how God rebuked him. After meditating on this scripture passage in 1 Samuel, you may want to write some prayerful thoughts to the Lord about what touched your heart. Have you acted similarly to Saul in your own life? In what way? Did God also rebuke you? How? If you do this, be sure to give the Lord time to respond to you by offering time to listen in silence. Is he speaking to you? What is the Holy Spirit revealing?
Let us Pray:
Now that we understand the virtue of compunction of the heart, let’s begin with a prayer of petition for it.
Virtue of Compunction of the Heart
Prayer of Petition
Eternal Father, I am the work of your creation, made in your image and likeness but too weak to conquer the devil by my own power. I ask you for the grace to grow in virtue, surrendering all my thoughts, words, and deeds to you. Please help me resist the devil and all his tricks. Jesus says that whoever believes in him will do the works that he does and that whatever we ask in Jesus’ name he will do so that You may be glorified. Heavenly Father, you sent us your Son to show us what it means to have perfect virtue in life. Jesus is fully human and fully divine and has perfect virtue. Father, have mercy on me and please give me the grace I need to grow in the virtue of compunction of the heart so that I might grow in holiness and imitate Christ in my thoughts, words, and deeds. AMEN.
Now let’s contemplate the Lord by listening to him speak to us in the Gospels. Slowly meditate on the following passage, reflecting on the virtue of compunction of the heart. Take your time. Pause over a word or phrase that speaks to you. Reread the passage again, and then ask Jesus to show you how you can imitate him in his compunction of the heart and better overcome your stubborn obstinacy you struggle with. Choose a word or phrase from this passage to write in your journal, and add your thoughts. Go back and prayerfully re-read it throughout the week.
Virtue of Compunction of the Heart
The Privilege of Discipleship
from the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 13:1-17
On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore.
And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
The disciples approached him and said, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”
He said to them in reply, “Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted. To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
“This is why I speak to them in parables, because ‘they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.’ Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says: ‘You shall indeed hear but not understand, you shall indeed look but never see. Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and be converted, and I heal them.’
“But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.
Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
Let us Pray:
Eternal Father, I renounce all forms of pride in my heart, on my tongue and in my mind. in Jesus’ name I humbly ask for the grace to defeat the vice of stubborn obstinacy.
Please send me the Holy Spirit so that I no longer persist in seeking my own will but am satisfied in knowing and following your divine will for my life. Please grace me with the virtue of compunction of the heart. I want to be aware of all the ways I can praise you and follow you, and all the ways I might wander from grace.
Please help me to have the gifts of the Holy Spirit to guide my path, especially the gift of wisdom. Lord, let me actively seek knowledge of the faith, and be graced with with gift of understanding so that I know right reason and how to live a life of virtue.
Let me be pious, and fear offending you, who are all good and deserving of all my love. Please, God, give me the gift of discerning right from wrong and the fortitude to always choose your will even when it is difficult.
AMEN.
Virtue of Compunction of the Heart
A Prayer for an Increase in Virtue for Others
Lord Jesus Christ, you say that when two or more are gathered in your name, you are with us. Jesus, in your name I lift up every person who has joined this prayer challenge or will join it in the future. I ask you to give us all the grace we need to grow in virtue and holiness so that we may love and serve you in our lives and through the people we love and care for. Help us in our thoughts, our words, and our actions. Guide us all by your Holy Spirit and give us the strength to overcome every temptation from the evil one. We ask all this in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN.
Together as a group we will pray for each other and strive to make good resolutions and keep them. Remember, it’s your heart that God wants to capture. He will give you the gift of compunction of the heart if you sincerely ask for it.
If you fail, do not quit trying. Be merciful to yourself and learn to love the process of striving to be more like Jesus every day. Just take it one day at a time. Keep your gaze on Jesus. Being virtuous is a process. No one is perfect, so just start anew every time you fail.
How do I Practice Virtue?
You’ve learned about the 28th Virtue, and you’ve prayed for God to give you grace. Now what? Let’s take a look at the Catechism for some guidance on how we can make Week 28 a successful effort.
Penance requires the sinner to endure all things willingly, be contrite of heart, confess with the lips, and practice complete humility and fruitful satisfaction.
Making Resolutions
Take a moment to reflect on the virtue of compunction of the heart. What are the ways you can freely practice this virtue this week? Ask the Lord to give you opportunities, and when you feel the Holy Spirit prompting you, take action. Write down your resolutions for this coming week in your prayer journal. Remind yourself to complete these resolutions daily for this entire week, and as the Spirit prompts you, feel free to write about your experiences with this virtue throughout the week.
In My Thoughts:
Jesus, this week I promise to take time daily to conform my thoughts by… (make your intention).
In My Words:
Jesus, this week I promise to take time daily to conform my words by… (make your intention).
In My Actions:
Jesus, this week I promise to take time daily to conform my actions by… (make your intention).
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Week 29 Mental Prayer Meditation
Control My Need to Argue with Virtue of Harmony
“Control My Need to Argue with Virtue of Harmony” – join us for our 30th meditation on the 35 virtues of St. Hildegard of Bingen.