Interior Integration for Catholics

Dr. Peter goes right to the core of the Catholic life, our mission to love God and love neighbor and how those depend on us loving ourselves in an ordered way. He discusses seven levels with six dimensions of understanding others, ranging along a continuum of developmental maturity and closes with an experiential exercise to help you discover why you lack interior peace.

Show Notes

 
  1. The Pitch -- Opening
     
    1. Set the Scene Two Great Commandments
       
      1. What is the whole point of your life? What is your mission and purpose? What is the most important thing for you to do?  Really think about that for a minute.  What is your ultimate goal on this planet as a Catholic man or woman?
    2.  
      1. All of us serious Catholics want to love God and neighbor.  
      2.  36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22:36-40
         
        1. Mitch and Sri CCSS  "Together, the two love Commandments sum up the Ten Commandments, three of which delineate our responsibilities toward God and seven of which concern our duties toward others."  

      4. Luke 10:25-28  25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul [being], and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered right; do this, and you will live.”
      5. Highest obligation of every person.  
      6. Romans 13:8-10  8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

  3. The Hurdle -- a problem we're all facing.
     
    1. Simple, right?  But it's not that simple.  
      1. My Catholic Life  

With this statement, Jesus gives a complete summary of the moral law found in the Ten Commandments.  The first three Commandments reveal that we must love God above all and with all our might.  The last six Commandments reveal that we must love our neighbor.  The moral law of God is as simple as fulfilling these two more general commandments.
 
But is it all that simple?  Well, the answer is both “Yes” and “No.”  It’s simple in the sense that God’s will is not typically complex and difficult to comprehend.  Love is spelled out clearly in the Gospels and we are called to embrace a radical life of true love and charity.
 
However, it can be considered difficult in that we are not only called to love, we are called to love with all our being.  We must give of ourselves completely and without reserve.  This is radical and requires that we hold nothing back.
  1. And that's the kicker -- to love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind.  With all of us.
     
    1. Think about what that means.  
      1. Pablo Gadenz  CCSS Luke   "The idea is that the commandment to love God embraces every aspect of one's being."  

    1. Every fiber of our being, every last little bit of ourselves.  

    1. If we really think about this commandment -- what are the implications
       
      1. To love God in every internal experience -- every thought, emotion, body sensation, intention, impulse attitude, belief, assumption, every desire -- every internal phenomenological experience oriented toward loving God.  

      1. That requires harmony inside.  

      1. That requires interior integration for Catholics
         
        1. And Interior Integration for Catholics just happens to be the name of this podcast. 

        1. And this whole podcast is all about helping to you to get so much closer to loving God and neighbor and yourself with your whole heart, your whole soul, your whole strength and your whole mind, with all of you -- and that is the whole mission of our online outreach Souls and Hearts at soulsandhearts.com
      3.  


  5. Intro -- Welcome to Interior Integration for Catholics
     
    1. I’m clinical psychologist Peter Malinoski and I am here to help guide you toward  loving God, neighbor and yourself in an ordered, healthy, holy way.
       
      1. And how do I do that?
         
        1. By focusing on your natural level impediments, your psychological obstacles to tolerated being loved and to loving God, neighbor and ourselves in the best ways possible
      2.  
        1. That is the mission of this podcast -- it's all about your human formation and what you need  on the natural level going forward in your life.  

        1. John the Baptist is the patron saint of this podcast because he prepared the way for the Lord.  

        1. I'm here to help you get ready by shoring up your natural foundation for the spiritual life 



    1. This is Episode 72, entitled What Keeps You from Loving?  Is it Really Only Your Vices?  (Spoiler Alert:  No!)
    2. Chess analogy -- so the two great Commandments are both simple and complex -- like chess.  
      1. One Level -- Chess is a simple game -- the rules are really clear and can be learned in five minutes, and the trickiest part of the rules is castling -- rook/king switcheroo thing.  Or maybe the en passant pawn capture.  
      2. On another level, chess is complex -- people spend their professional lives learning to play.  Grandmasters learning into old age.   
  7. Love Your Neighbor as yourself
     
    1. We are supposed to love ourselves
  8.  
    1. Command is not to love our neighbor more than ourselves
       
      1. Not because Jesus is lax:  Mt. 5:48 You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
    2.  

    1. No one can love you in lieu of you.  

    1.  Doesn't make sense if you think of a person has having monolithic, homogeneous personality -- no space for relationship there.  

    1. In order to love ourselves other and God, we need interior peace.  
      1. Fr. Jacques Phillipe:  Searching For and Maintaining Peace
         
        1. It is of the greatest importance that we strive to acquire an interior peace, the peace of our hearts.  p. 5
      2.  
        1. The more our soul is peaceful and tranquil, the more God is reflected in it, the more His image expresses itself in us, the more His grace acts through us.  p. 5
      3.  
        1. Quoting St. Seraphim of Sarov "Acquire interior peace and a multitude will find its salvation through you.  p. 8
      4.  
        1. p.11 Very frequently, spiritual combat consists precisely in this:  defending one's peace of heart against the enemy who attempts to steal it from us. 

        1. p. 12.  The first goal of spiritual combat, that toward which our efforts must above all else be directed, is not to always obtain a victory (over our temptations, our weaknesses, etc.), rather it is to learn to maintain peace of heart under all circumstances, even in the case of defeat.  

        1. p. 13  The reasons why we lose our peace are always bad reasons.  

      8. The reason for Catholic interested in mindfulness -- Greg Bottaro's books
      9. Recollection
         
        1. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “Recollection, as understood in respect to the spiritual life, means attention to the presence of God in the soul. It includes the withdrawal of the mind from external and earthly affairs in order to attend to God and Divine things.
      10.  
      11. Consequence of a lack of interior peace -- self-absorption
         
        1. Starving waiter syndrome
      12.  
        1. Burning castle analogy.  

      14. Spiritual approaches to peace -- Fr. Jacques Phillipe -- master of this.  
      15. Natural approaches to peace

  13. You can keep going on the way you are.  But what about adding the dimension of interior integration on a natural level  -- wouldn't that be fascinating.  
  14. Interior Integration
     
    1. Dimensions of Understanding Others or Ourselves. 
      1. 0 Dimensions -- single point in space, -- geometry, no dimensionality.  Personalizing it -- you are nothing to me.  
        1.  He who cut me off on the freeway. Bad to me.  Totally in orbit around me, no separate identity, not even really human. 
      2. 1 Dimension -- line -- "Loser" to the person who cut you off on the freeway -- no depth, no dimensionality.  Only one quality -- loserliness.  
        1. Still very personalized.  
      3. 2 Dimensions -- plane -- "Loser" or maybe a person who is having a bad day.  
        1. Less personal 
        2. Cardboard Cutout-- person has a shape, not well understood.  
      4. 3 Dimensions -- taking into account the emotions, thoughts, body sensations, spiritual aspects, impulses, desires -- person on the way to the hospital
         
        1. More complete snapshot of a moment in time
      5.  
        1. Person has
           
          1. Personality style
        2.  
          1. Needs -- attachment needs and integrity needs
        3.  
          1. Emotions
        4.  
          1. Body sensation.  

          1. Belief.  

          1. Thought
        7.  
          1. Intentions 

          1. Desires
        9.  
          1. Attitudes
        10.  
          1. Impulses.
        11.  
          1. Interpersonal style
        12.  
          1. World view
        13.  

      7. 4 Dimensions -- out of basic geometry now and into physics.  The four dimension is physics assesses an object's position in time.  Analogy to a person's position in time.  Dynamism of the person.  Can be one way in one moment and another way in another moment
      8. 5th Dimension --  Not the champagne souls band from the late 60s and early 70s with Marylin McCoo -- big Album Age of Aquarias.  No new agey stuff here.  
        1. dimension unseen by humans where the forces of gravity and electromagnetism unite to create a simple but graceful theory of the fundamental forces -- where electromagnetism and gravity unify ---  understanding the other person in terms of self and parts -- unity and multiplicity
        2. Part of him in a real hurry -- fears his wife will be angry at him if he is late again.  Self absorbed.  
        3. Part of him is fiddling with the radio to distract himself from the fear.  
        4. Not really about me at all.  
      9. 6th Dimension -- no longer in just the natural world.  
        1. Seeing him as a Child of God through the eyes of Faith, as God sees him.  
        2. Requires supernatural grace
        3. Three Dimensional Chess
      10. Loving Others Wholly -- all their parts in their complexity.
      11. Understanding others
         
        1. Fr. Corapi
      12.  
        1. Jean Vanier of the L'Arche community.  

        1. Acceptance of reality.  Not endorsement.  Episode 66
      14.  

  16. Elements of love -- Benevolence, Capacity, and Constancy
     
    1. Benevolence -- bonae voluntatis in Latin, good will.  

    1. Capacity
       
      1. Understanding the other
         
        1. Operating in the mode of the receiver
      2.  
        1. Dependent on us understanding ourselves
      3.  
        1. Mistaking what is coming from who
      4.  
        1. Unconscious
      5.  

      1. Capacity to choose the good -- Freedom.
         
        1. Well-governed self
           
          1. Regulated
        2.  
          1. Organized
        3.  
          1. Calm. compassionate
        4.  


      1. Possessing virtues
    4.  

    1. Constancy.  Need peace and interior integration.  

  20. Review of the IFS model of a person  - real strength of IFS
     
    1. IFS person = self+parts+body
  21.  
    1. Self:  The core of the person, the center of the person.  This is who we sense ourselves to be in our best moments, and when our self is free, and unblended with any of our parts, it governs our whole being as an active, compassionate leader.  
      1. We want to be recollected, we want the self-governing all of our parts
      2. Like the conductor -- leading the musicians in an orchestra
      3. Like the captain -- leading and governing all the sailors on a ship.  
      4. When we are recollected, in self, 8 C's
         
        1. Calm
      5.  
        1. Curiosity
      6.  
        1. Compassion
      7.  
        1. Confidence
      8.  
        1. Courage
      9.  
        1. Clarity
      10.  
        1. Connectedness
      11.  
        1. Creativity
      12.  
        1. Kindness
      13.  

    1. Parts:  Separate, independently operating personalities within us, each with own unique prominent needs, roles in our lives, emotions, body sensations, guiding beliefs and assumptions, typical thoughts, intentions, desires, attitudes, impulses, interpersonal style, and world view.  Each part also has an image of God and also its own approach to sexuality.  Robert Falconer calls them insiders.  
      1. Each part has
         
        1. Personality style
      2.  
        1. Needs -- Episode 62
           
          1. Attachment needs
        2.  
          1. Integrity needs
        3.  

        1. Emotions
      4.  
        1. Body sensation.  

        1. Belief.  

        1. Thought
      7.  
        1. Intentions 

        1. Desires
      9.  
        1. Attitudes
      10.  
        1. Impulses.
      11.  
        1. Interpersonal style
      12.  
        1. World view
      13.  
        1. Often have burdens
      14.  
      15. Parts have different attachment styles, different ways of connecting.  
      16. Parts have a different love languages -- Five different Love Languages -- Gary Chapman.  
        1. Words of affirmation
        2. Quality Time
        3. Acts of Service
        4. Gifts
        5. Physical Touch
      17. So many parts are hidden.  Consider themselves or are considered by other parts to be unacceptable, unlovable, unworthy, dangerous, harmful, inappropriate, or whatever.  
      18. I don't know myself when I don't know my parts.
      19. I don't know my neighbor when I don't know his or her parts.  
      20. I don't love myself when I don't love my parts
      21. I don't love my neighbor when I don't love his parts.  

  24. IFS turbocharging our understanding of parts, thus enabling us to love all our parts -- dark regions within us, unknown regions within us.  
    1. This frees us to love others much more completely, in all their parts.  
  25. Experiential Exercise --Increasing recollection, self energy, 
    1. Caveats. Quiet place.  
    2. 8 Cs
       
      1. Calm
    3.  
      1. Curiosity
    4.  
      1. Compassion
    5.  
      1. Confidence
    6.  
      1. Courage
    7.  
      1. Clarity
    8.  
      1. Connectedness
    9.  
      1. Creativity
    10.  
      1. Kindness
    11.  
 
  1. Closing:
     
    1. Does this podcast really resonate with you?  Does it really make sense?  Do these experiential exercises
  2.  
    1. Do you want to be with likeminded Catholic who are serious about not only our Catholic Faith but also human formation -- who want to learn more about loving God, loving neighbor and loving self is a psychologically-minded way, drawing from the best of our understandings of the human person from both the spiritual and the natural worlds?
  3.  
    1. Resilient Catholic Community at Souls and Hearts, grew up around my podcast Integration for Catholics -- a place to do that -- registration is open each year in June and December soulsandhearts.com/rcc
  4.  
    1. If you are committed to this podcast, I want you to learn about the Resilient Catholics community.  Come with me, come with us -- we are pioneers together on this pilgrimage.  Come with us, join us on this adventure on this hard road to life.  

    1. Questions: Conversation hours -- 317.567.9594  -- email crisis@soulsandhearts.com.  Our community is small and personal.  I am looking forward to meeting you.  People are surprised when I answer the phone in conversation hours.  

    1. Go to soulsandhearts.com/rcc -- check out the community.  We are open for the month of June or until our 80 spaces are filled -- discerning.  

    1. Tune in next week -- Is Internal Family System Really Catholic?  

  9. Blurb for Transistor:  Dr. Peter goes right to the core of the Catholic life, our mission to love God and love neighbor and how those depend on us loving ourselves in an ordered way.  He discusses seven levels with six dimensions of understanding others, ranging along a continuum of developmental maturity and closes with an experiential exercise to help you discover why you lack interior peace.  

What is Interior Integration for Catholics?

The mission of this podcast is the formation of your heart in love and for love, Together, we shore up the natural, human foundation for your spiritual formation as a Catholic. St. Thomas Aquinas asserts that without this inner unity, without this interior integration, without ordered self-love, you cannot enter loving union with God, your Blessed Mother, or your neighbor. Informed by Internal Family Systems approaches and grounded firmly in a Catholic understanding of the human person, this podcast brings you the best information, the illuminating stories, and the experiential exercises you need to become more whole in the natural realm. This restored human formation then frees you to better live out the three loves in the two Great Commandments – loving God, your neighbor, and yourself. Check out the Resilient Catholics Community which grew up around this podcast at https://www.soulsandhearts.com/rcc.