The mind has a spiritual sense which teaches us to distinguish between good and evil

On Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time our Church invites us to first read and reflect on a passage from the letter to the Thessalonians (5:1-28) entitled "The life of the children of light". Our treasure, which follows, is from a treatise On Spiritual Perfection by Diadochus of Photice, bishop. Saint Diadochus was a theologian, mystic, and bishop of Photice, Epirus, who was a staunch defender of orthodox Christological doctrine. His treaties on the ascetic life have influenced Eastern Orthodox and Western spirituality. In On Spiritual Perfection, Diadochus of Photice teaches that true holiness is the gradual purification of the heart through grace, humility, and disciplined attention to God, rather than through external achievements alone. He emphasizes the importance of interior watchfulness over thoughts, the necessity of prayer—especially continual remembrance of God—as how the Holy Spirit illumines and heals the soul, and the danger of spiritual deception when a person trusts in feelings or visions rather than in obedience and humility. Diadochus also stresses that spiritual growth involves cooperation between divine grace and human effort, expressed through ascetic struggle, charity, and self-knowledge, so that the believer is slowly transformed into deeper love of God and freedom from the passions. Saint Paul arrived in Greece for the first time around 50 A.D. In making converts in Philippi and, soon afterwards, in Thessalonica, he was beset by persecution from Jews and Gentiles alike. Moving on to Beroea, he was again harassed by enemies from Thessalonica and hurriedly left for Athens. Silvanus and Timothy remained behind for a while. Paul soon sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to strengthen that community in its trials. Timothy and Silvanus finally returned to Paul when he reached Corinth, probably in the early summer of A.D. 51. Timothy's return with a report on conditions at Thessalonica served as the occasion for Paul's first letter. The letter begins with a brief address and concludes with a greeting. The body of the letter consists of two major parts. The first is a set of three sections of thanksgiving connected by two apologiae (defenses) dealing, respectively, with the missionaries' previous conduct and their current concerns. Paul's thankful optimism regarding the Thessalonians' spiritual welfare is tempered by his insistence on their recognition of the selfless love shown by the missionaries. In an age of itinerant peddlers of new religions, Paul found it necessary to emphasize not only the content of his gospel but also his manner of presenting it, for both attested to God's grace as freely bestowed and powerfully effected. The second part of the letter is specifically hortatory or parenetic. The superabundant love for which Paul has just prayed is to be shown practically by living out the norms of conduct that he has communicated to them. Specific "imperatives" of Christian life, principles for acting morally, stem from the "indicative" of one's relationship to God through Christ by the sending of the holy Spirit. Thus, moral conduct is the practical, personal expression of one's Christian faith, love, and hope.