Loving the good

Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Phil 4:8)

A few questions/suggestions for your consideration:

·         When, where and how have you reflected this verse in your day-to-day life?

·         What tendencies or weaknesses cause you to fall short of what is listed in this verse?

·         What have you done this week that is worthy of praise? It doesn’t have to be some major accomplishment or effort. Think on the little things.

·         Have you made sacrifices from time to time (again, something small will do) in order to support whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely or gracious?

·         If you repeat this verse throughout the day, or write it on a small piece of paper and carry it with you, how might it guide your choices and actions now, today?

·         Can you use this verse as a lifeline when you a drowning in selfish or bad thoughts?

·         Can you see this verse operating in the earthly life of Jesus Christ and the saints?

·         How strongly can you cling to what it represents?

·         How strongly do you yearn for your life to be about this verse?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church uses this verse to introduce its section about the virtues. If you have a catechism, you can begin reading about the virtues at ¶ 1803. For the time being, simply consider its basic definition of virtue in 1803:

A virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do the good. It allows the person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself. The virtuous person tends toward the good with all his sensory and spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions.

God bless you.

Finding true peace and happiness

finishing Paragraph 27 of the Catechism:

“. . . only in God will he find the truth and happiness that he never stops searching for.”

I remember a quote from somewhere about a man who worked to climb to ladder of success only to find that when he reached the top he discovered that the ladder had been put up against the wrong wall.

We all do that at times. Don’t take my word for it: check out your life. Have there been times when you have been in pursuit of something that you thought would make you happy, only to discover that once you got what is was your happiness was either short-lived or even nonexistent? The same thing is true for peace. How many times, how may remedies do we try that are designed to give us peace of mind, only to discover that the peace we sought so desperately eluded us?

Only in God. That’s the answer in all its simplicity and in all its complexity. Only In God.

Cistercian monk Fr.Thomas Keating teaches that we have a number of “instinctual needs” that we are continually searching for: “survival and security, affection and esteem and approval, and power and control.” How do we try to get these things? How often are we thwarted in our quest? How many false solutions do we seek?

What is the remedy: Well, when we are searching for God, we discover that we have an “enormous capacity” for “growth, love, freedom, peace, service of others, and reaching out to those in need.” Those are the things that bring us what we have been searching for all along! And how do we learn to devote our lives to those things? Well, back to paragraph 27.

By the way, Fr. Keating also points out that when we push these things aside and search for false remedies, we often get ourselves into a great deal of trouble. This is how obsessions develop, or even addictions. Again, there is a remedy: back to paragraph 27.

Have a nice day.

Advance notice: I will be away next week and will not have access to a computer. I intend to post (with God’s help) tomorrow and Sunday. The next reflection after that will be on October 9. Please keep me in your prayers. Thank you.

Getting access to your desire for God

. . . continuing our discussion of the notion that “the desire for God is written in the human heart” from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

There are times in our lives or in our days when we lose contact with this desire for God, particularly when we are busy with the stuff of life and with matters that have little to do with the human spirit.

This is a natural condition; after all, we are not yet brought to the fullness of perfection and union with God—but we are on our way, and it is good to have “tools” to help us stay in touch with our greater destiny.

The Psalms are very helpful in this regard, and I call your attention to Psalm 63 in particular. By praying this psalm and meditating on it, we can deepen our own access to the desire for God. In fact, I encourage you to memorize it over the days to come.

O God, you are my God, for you I long;

for you my soul is thirsting.

My body pines for you

like a dry, weary land without water.

So I gaze on you in the sanctuary

to see your strength and your glory.

For your love is better than life,

my lips will speak your praise.

So I will bless you all my life,

in your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul shall be filled as with a banquet,

my mouth shall praise you with joy.    (The Grail translation)

Absorb these lines. Let them become so much a part of you that they will arise in your mind or on your lips automatically, and at times when you need a gentle reminder about who you really are.

Written in the heart

Last time I offered for your consideration paragraph 27 of The Catechism of the Catholic Church. If you need to look back, go to http:// spiritualityforbeginners.blogspot.com.

Today, let’s take a closer look at the opening phrase: The desire for God is written in the human heart . . .

Are you aware of this? Do you feel within yourself a strong desire to be united with God? Are your choices and decisions based on what will move you closer to God rather than farther away from God?

Maybe you’re not. I certainly know that there have been times in my life, and actually still are, when this desire is not what overrules everything else. And I know for sure that many people are not consciously aware that they have such a desire within them.

Could it be that there is a connection between this desire for God and the fact that we are created in God’s image (see my post from June 26)? Pope Francis hints at the connection in The Joy of the Gospel:

“ . . . we become fully human when we become more than human, when we let God bring us beyond ourselves in order to attain the fullest truth of our being.

So, if all this be true, we benefit from knowing how we are ”knit together in our mother’s womb” (Psalm 139).

Contemplative prayer: Just sit in the quiet, calm yourself with your breathing, and then just reflect on how God, in creating you, put within you this wonderful desire, far greater and more appealing than any other desire we might have, even when we forget it, even when we sometimes might be oblivious to it. It is there. He gave it to you. It is yours. It is your destiny.

more next time.

The Desire for God

The “Catechism of the Catholic Church” is not a book meant to be read from cover to cover, but rather one to be consulted or browsed through with the help of the index in the back. It also provides a lot of nourishment and food for meditation.

One of my favorite passages is Paragraph 27, and I’ve often quoted it in homilies and talks.

 “The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for.”

Each phrase of this paragraph can be a meditation onto itself, and would like to explore its riches in the next few reflections.

For today, you might like to think it over and look for specific instances in your life when this teaching has been proven true for you.

More tomorrow.

By the way, the COCC is available on line and I believe it has a searchable index as well.