We started thinking yesterday about what I've called soul shapes.

What makes human beings different and special is not that they have souls per se, the same

language is used of animals in the Bible.

But it's that our souls, we ourselves, have been given a unique shape.

We're made as God's image meant to be like him to reflect his glory.

And as the Catechism says, not only to glorify him, but to enjoy him forever.

But we've sinned, we've lost that likeness, we're bent out of shape, we're twisted.

It's a bit like what happens if you, instead of going into drive in your automatic car,

we make the mistake of going into reverse gear.

That's our basic problem, that's what sin does.

It distorts the shape of what the Old Testament calls my nefesh, my soul.

Now yesterday I said I wanted to think with you this week about some of these soul shapes.

And there are as many of them as there are people.

So we're not planning to write an entire spiritual anatomy and physiology textbook here

where drawing only a few of the most common soul shapes.

And the first one may ring a bell with some of us.

In fact it's been known about for centuries and it even has a Latin name.

Martin Luther diagnosed it in the early 16th century and perhaps you're familiar with

the condition.

This soul shape, or perhaps better soul, mis-shape is what he called being incur-vattus

in say, being turned in on ourselves.

It's what the Saint Augustine meant when he said that there are two ultimate loves,

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