As you may know one of my regular rants on this blog site is concerning the EGO (Edging God Out). I love to write about the EGO and how it is destructive to our souls, how it traps us in to a life of self-serving. The EGO to me is the original sin, it is our mark left to us from our first parents, Adam and Eve. Now I have no theology to back that, but to me it makes sense, it was the EGO that was hungry to be more.
What brings this up is a book I just started to read, “Search and Rescue” by Patrick Madrid. The book is for people who are trying to bring people in to the Catholic faith. In truth I got the book free, and have had it sitting around for months. The other night the Holy Spirit must have moved me to pick it up and start reading it. The Holy Spirit knows why I must read this book, but I am sure it’s not for this little nugget on the EGO, but I will take it as a bonus.
So what I thought I would do is list a few of the quotes from this chapter (chapter 2):
“Let each one remember he will make progress in all spiritual, only insofar as he rids himself of self-love, self-will, and self-interest.”
~St. Ignatius of Loyola
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another”
~John 13:34-35
“Vainglory is an expression of envy and jealousy and, therefore, an obstacle to brotherly love. Vainglory is an inordinate regard of self. It is self-conceit, the overestimation of one’s powers – social position, learning or talent, or skill or ability…”
~Unknown (A wise priest)
There are other quotes in the chapter, but this will do for now. Each of the quotes gives us an idea of what the EGO (Edging God Out) does to us. We cannot truly be serving God, if we are serving our EGO. Jesus told us that we cannot serve two masters, and the EGO, by its very nature, wished to be the master.
I would recommend that everyone read this book, it may be about bring home lost souls to the Catholic faith, I feel it will benefit everyone, it will teach us how to live our lives as Catholics. Patrick Madrid writes in a very friendly and easy way, the book is a very easy read.
Paul
