The podcast above contains an extract from a talk about the pro-life implications of Fr. Robert Spitzer’s teaching on
the Four Levels of Happiness . The Fourth Level, extracted here, is involved with the broader topic of the Apostolate of Suffering in relation to the Holy Souls in Purgatory. There seems to be some relation to an outline from St. Thomas, on the balance between vices and virtues, as follows: “The vices of those who fall can be categorized as involving pleasure, possessions, prestige and power.”
It may be that the virtue which is the opposite of vice of seeking after power, the fourth of those falls, is involved with the the accumulation of merit through suffering, especially with our petitioning our Blessed Lord to accept our sufferings for inclusion with His infinitely meritorious sufferings. (cf. “I Paul … now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for his body, which is the church…” Colossians 1:23-24) For our sufferings to be made use of by our Blessed Lord, requires as a first step, our giving up the pursuit of power.
Our Blessed Lord had told St. Peter, in John 21:18, that “Amen, amen I say to thee, when thou wast younger, thou didst gird thyself, and didst walk where thou wouldst. But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and lead thee whither thou wouldst not.” That historical event, the Lord’s speaking so to St. Peter, has been interpreted as regarding how St. Peter would die crucified upside-down; it relates directly to the topic of the audio extract above.