Easter 2026 - Reading #30 - Counsel
Reading
Saint Ignatius of Loyola built his entire system of discernment on the assumption that the Holy Spirit actively counsels the soul through movements of consolation and desolation: "In the case of those who are making progress in the spiritual life, the good spirit touches the soul gently, as a drop of water entering a sponge. The evil spirit touches it sharply, noisily, and with disturbance, as a drop of water falling on a stone. The reason for this is that the disposition of the soul is either similar or contrary to the spirit that touches it."
Ignatius provides practical criteria for decision-making under the Spirit's guidance: "In time of desolation, never make a change. The thoughts and judgments that come during desolation are the opposite of those which come during consolation. In time of consolation, store up strength for the time of desolation that is to come. Let him who is in consolation consider how he will conduct himself during future desolation."
For Ignatius, the gift of counsel is not mystical in the sense of requiring extraordinary spiritual experiences. It operates through the ordinary movements of the interior life, peace, joy, restlessness, anxiety, which the discerning soul learns to read as the Spirit's guidance for daily decisions.
Reflection
Thirty-one days into Easter, Ignatius returns, the master of discernment, the saint who turned the interior life into a science of spiritual navigation. During our Lenten journey, we encountered Ignatius's rules as an exercise in prudence. Now, in the Easter season, we see them for what they truly are: a practical method for receiving the gift of counsel.
Ignatius's most important practical insight may be his simplest: never make a change during desolation. When you are anxious, depressed, agitated, or spiritually dry, you are in the worst possible state to make a major decision. The Spirit's counsel does not come through anxiety; it comes through peace. If you must act during desolation, act according to the resolutions you made during the last period of consolation, and wait for clarity to return.
This is enormously practical wisdom for anyone facing difficult decisions. How many bad choices are made in the grip of panic, anger, or despair? How many marriages end, jobs are quit, friendships are severed, and bridges are burned because someone made a permanent decision based on a temporary emotion? The gift of counsel, as Ignatius teaches us to receive it, requires patience, the willingness to wait for consolation before making significant changes. Today, if you are facing a decision, check your interior state first. Are you at peace, or are you in turmoil? If turmoil, hold steady. The counsel will come. But it will come on the Spirit's timetable, not yours.