Divine Vulnerability: The Ultimate Cure for Scrupulosity

Originally posted in Splendid Truth

Please check out the link below mins (43: 15 – 42: 15) on Divine vulnerability as the cure for scrupulosity.

If anyone suffers from any sort of scrupulosity or lack of trust in God we need to practice “divine vulnerability” in regard to 1) Trusting in God and 2) Believing in his Goodness. The thing to know is that both scrupulosity and or a lack of trust in the goodness of God are both based on a lack of hope. Hope as Father John Hardon explains is:

The confident desire of obtaining a future good that is difficult to attain. It is therefore a desire, which implies seeking and pursuing; some future good that is not yet possessed but wanted, unlike fear that shrinks from a future evil. This future good draws out a person’s volition. Hope is confident that what is desired will certainly be attained. It is the opposite of despair. Yet it recognizes that the object wanted is not easily obtained and that it requires effort to overcome whatever obstacles stand in the way. (Etym. Latin spes, hope.) (Catholic Dictionary: Hope)

Hope is rightfully usually taken to mean an acceptance of the goodness of God and that He will pardon our sins and hopefully grant us everlasting life. However, we often lack hope that God will provide for our daily needs, our good desires, our anticipations. Scrupulosity is connected with this for it is known as the “doubting disease.”

Those who suffer from scrupulosity often fear that they are not in a state of grace. That somehow they committed or are committing a mortal sin. They often also furthermore fear that the Most Loving and Good God will not forgive them (Not to mention that by virtue of the fact that doubt eliminates the possibility of mortal sin for there are no oopsies with God). Scrupulosity is then a sin against hope – it is a form of despair.

Those who suffer from scrupulosity often suffer from a very rigid view of the faith. They think that all prayer is formulaic. They see God as ALMIGHTY and SOVEREIGN which He is but they often fail to realize that God is also EVER MERCIFUL and SLOW TO ANGER. There are two practical solutions to break this rigidity.

The first one is to visualize God embracing you as a loving father. We are called to be like children as Jesus Himself says. We need to see God as a loving father. Here are two practical solutions to break scrupulosity.

1. The first one was recommended to me by a solid Norbertine priest when I still greatly suffered from scrupulosity.. He said to visualize God as a loving father who is embracing you and showering you with His love. For a few years everyday I would visualize God embracing me as a loving father would. I would force myself to visualize myself being tucked in bed by God. I would visualize God running toward me seeking to show me acts of affection and ultimately to embrace me. This helped me to turn toward God in hope.
2. Likewise, it is very important according to Father Thomas Joseph White, a Dominican priest to do 7 acts of hope per day. It could be as simple as “Jesus I trust you” or it could be a spontaneous prayer from the heart “Jesus I know you are good and I firmly hope not only for the pardon of all my sins and for everlasting life but that here and now you are loving me and taking care of me and that you will the best for me – Jesus I trust in you.”

Divine vulnerability is the cure for scrupulosity