← [[session-05-f2a|Counsels and Methods on How to Overcome Miseries]] | [[formation-II-a-handbook|Table of Contents]] | [[session-07-f2a|Counsels and Methods — Continued]] → # Counsels and Methods — Continued Required reading: Ascent, Book One, ch. 13:5-10 **Additional Reading:** Ascent Reflections, pgs. 75-80 For further understanding of John’s “maxims” or “sayings,” please refer to the article Understanding the Maxims or “Sayings” (Appendix B). (3) Third: Endeavor to be inclined always not to the easiest but to the most difficult… (A.13:6-7) Read the entire Maxims meditatively. Explanatory note: “It is important to note that St. John does not say to do the most difficult thing, etc., but rather to be inclined to do the most difficult thing, etc. He is speaking about a readiness, an openness, an attentive state of mind that stands in vigilance to do God’s will. This mental stance, which is a sustained act of the will, makes a person conscious of the presence of God because it alters a person’s consciousness.” In the end, one learns to be governed not by what pleases or displeases the appetites, but by the will of God. “…just as Jesus found his ‘meat and food’ in doing his Father’s will (A.1.13:4), we too are nourished on a deep spiritual level when we live out a habitual desire to do God’s will. We experience this nourishment because when we are inclined to do God’s will, we are united to both our deepest will and God’s will that connects us to our true selves” (John of the Cross: Ascent to Joy, pg.69, note 5). Essential Points to Discuss: • Do not go about looking for the best of temporal things, but embrace the life of Christ, and desire to enter into complete nakedness, emptiness, and poverty in everything in the world (see A.1.13:6). • “As noted, by the introductory words, ‘endeavor to be inclined,’ John reveals that he is speaking of a habit of mind through the love of Christ, and this inner attitude, one will find the freedom and power necessary to do the Father’s will, whatever it may be” (footnote 3. A.1.13:6). Practicing John’s counsel gives great peace of mind and heart during the uncertainties and limitations of human life. It frees the soul from fruitless anger, conflict, and disappointment. • “The great danger in today’s world…is the covetous heart — the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures…Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades” (Evangelii Gaudium — The Gospel of Joy). 21 01.24 1-24-2024 OCDS Formation II, Year A --- **Source:** Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, *Formation II Year A: The Ascent of Mount Carmel* (US National Formation Program, 2024).