Thursday, March 02,
2017
Moses: I set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose
life, then, . . . (Deut 30:19)
Jesus: . . . whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. (Luke 9:24)
There is no way out of the human
predicament: we must make a choice. This is
the natural consequence of the fact that God has given us free will.
Unfortunately, from the very beginning, evil had entered the world and
therefore our ability to choose has been compromised. This is the
meaning of the word concupiscence: we
have an inclination to choose what will take us farther and farther from God,
and deeper and deeper into the realm of death and destruction.
One of the prayers I have
decided to make this year is for the Lord to strengthen my ability to make the
right choices, knowing full well that there have been many times in my life
when I let my guard down and freely chose to act, speak or think in a way that
has threatened the good of my soul and that ultimately has weakened the quality
of my life, even though at time it seemed to me that my life was richer, freer,
more comfortable and enjoyable when I yielded to temptation.
One thing we can do to
strengthen ourselves (with God’s help, of course), is to do those things that
strengthen that part of our brains that makes connections between the truly
good choices in our lives. Some call these choices “top-line activities.” What
are those things that draw you closer to God, that bring you peace and
contentment of soul, that increase your ability to savor what is good and true
and beautiful, that help seat you within the circle of divine love that is the
Trinity? A wholesome hobby, perhaps, a certain type of praying and meditating,
time spent with people who bring out the good in us, discovering the joy of
giving, sacred reading, times of solitude and silence?
Deep down inside we know
which things lead us to life and which things we are being encouraged to set
aside or let go of. Pray God that He give you the ability to make the choices
you know you need to make.
God bless you!
No comments:
Post a Comment