Thought for the Day Archives - Page 4 of 5

Wisdom, Growing in purity of Heart

February 24, 2011

Sometimes I get lost in The Office of Reading, Morning Prayer and the Mass Readings. Sometimes I have the time to be contemplative.

Today wasn’t one of those days. But all of these jumped out at me, and I ended up jotting them down here.

They speak so beautifully to the heart when we try to grow in wisdom, and in grace.

None of us are perfect; and life is complex and at times tragic. That’s where wisdom can be found at times. Acknowledging the struggles in life, and developing authentic character, tried in the forges of life trials.

These verses speak for themselves, and point us towards the path of righteousness, humility and holiness:

“A good name is better than good ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth. … For that is the end of every man, and the living should take it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, because when the face is sad, the heart grows wiser. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.” Eccliesiastes, 6:13-14.

“Do not in spirit become quickly discontented, for discontent lodges in the heart of a fool.”

‘For the protection of wisdom is as the protection of money; and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.”

“Do not give heed to every word that is spoken lest you hear your servant speak ill of you, for you know in your heart that you have many times spoken ill of others.”

“What exists is far reaching; it is deep, very deep: who can find it out? I turned my thoughts toward knowledge; I sought and pursued wisdom and reason, and I recognized that wickedness is foolishness and folly is madness.”

From the responsory: “Who can say: My heart is pure; I am not a sinner? There is no living man so holy who does good and never sins. If we claim to be sinless we deceive ourselves; but if we acknowledge our sins, then God who is faithful and just will forgive us.”

From an instruction by Saint Columban, abbot: “Seek then the highest wisdom, not by arguments in words but by the perfection of your life, not by speech but by faith that comes from simplicity of heart, not from the learned speculations of the unrighteous.

If you search by means of discussions for the God who cannot be defined by words, he will depart further from you than he was before. If you search for him by faith, wisdom will stand where wisdom lives, at the gates. Where wisdom is, wisdom will be seen, at least in part. But wisdom is also to some extent truly attained when the invisible God is the object of faith, in a way beyond our understanding, for we must believe in God, invisible as he is, though he is partially seen by a heart that is pure.”

From the readings for Mass:

Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,
it would be better for him if a great millstone
were put around his neck
and he were thrown into the sea.
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter into life maimed
than with two hands to go into Gehenna,
into the unquenchable fire.

And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off.
It is better for you to enter into life crippled
than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.

Better for you to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye
than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna,
where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.

Lord Jesus, help me to overcome sin in my life. Help me to overcome weakness, and to strive for the perfection of my life with your grace. Amen.

Thoughts On the Feast of Polycarp

February 23, 2011

I was pondering upon the life of Polycarp, and as usual starting doing image searches since I’m fascinated with online media.

Clicking over to the various images of the martyrdom of Polycarp, it’s amazing to find the number of people who give such succinct, relative and insightful thoughts on the man, the meaning of his death, his ample Faith.

It was yet another one of those ‘What in the world can I say that hasn’t possibly been said?” type of moments. They come so often when I sit here to type away in my blog.

However, the description of Polycarp on the pyre is so profound: “he stood like a mighty ram, chosen out for sacrifice from a great flock, a worthy victim made ready to be offered to God.”

And ponder the amazing description of the flame as it encircled his body, “the flame became as it were a dome encircling the martyr’s body. Surrounded by the fire his body was like bread that is baked, or gold and silver white hot in the furnace, not like flesh that has been burnt.”

It sounds like a pretty gruesome way to go, yet somehow there was a beauty to it in his peacefulness. He did it in love of Jesus Christ, and to witness for us.

That’s amazing.

The Wisdom readings from Mass are also moving:

She walks with him as a stranger
and at first she puts him to the test;
Fear and dread she brings upon him
and tries him with her discipline
until she try him by her laws and trust his soul.
Then she comes back to bring him happiness
and reveal her secrets to them
and she will heap upon him
treasures of knowledge and an understanding of justice.

We are always tried by Wisdom, with the laws of Wisdom… worthy of contemplation.

Ponder the Laws of Wisdom; remember the intercession of the martyrs. Give witness to Jesus Christ.

The Forgotten Gospels

February 20, 2011

Because Lent is still so far away, and is usually much sooner during the year, we’re hearing the Readings for the 7th and 8th Weeks in Ordinary Time. That’s something we usually don’t do, because usually it’s already Lent by now.

But as we all know, Easter Sunday is the First Sunday after the First Full Moon after the Spring Equinox. And since all of that is coming to pass a bit later this year, here we are with readings we rarely hear before Lent.

~~Personally I’m thrilled, because my birthday falls the week before Lent starts this year. I’ll take it.~~

The whole schema we encounter today speaks so clearly to our hearts about the seductive and voluptuous allure of revenge. And how we’re supposed to avoid it like the plague.

We all know this.

But at times we just want revenge so bad its like… what do you mean turn the other cheek? What?! NO!!!!! We want to revel in it with bloodthirst and wonton abandon.

But then we do turn the other cheek; and others often don’t think we’re turning the other cheek. And things get dramatic.

At some point one realizes that we just have to tend to our own flower beds, so to speak, if we wish to live a good life and experience the joys that come from having character forged in adherence to Christ.

Once last year, I was helping at the installation Mass of new Pastor in a Parish I was helping out in. The Dean was present to administer the proper oaths, etc., and we were all preparing to process in. As administrator at the time, I had made all the arrangements, and suffered through some over which I ended up having no control. But to my mind, everything was well placed and going well.

The music started, the hymns were being sung, and altar servers stepped forward in unison. All of a sudden I heard the Dean behind me “Oh great, I have to process in behind this.” He was so disgusted.

He was referring to me of course.

I didn’t give the matter a lot of thought at the time, but I stepped back next to him and leaned down a bit (he’s very short and I tower over him,) and said, ‘What?!” As if that wasn’t bad enough, I went on to say, and this was all very casual as far as I was concerned, as I might speak to my family or friends who were giving me a hard time, “You sound like our former Archbishop.”

And here, I mean no offense to our former Archbishop, who is also very short. But I immediately realized I was wrong, because our former Archbishop has never in his life mentioned issues of height to me. It was his predecessor.

So, I added in, “No, I take that back, it was actually his predecessor (whom I love,) who had such issues with his height.”

And then I stepped back in line and processed up.

When I reached the Sanctuary, I waited for the Dean and the new Pastor before genuflecting, but they had waited until I was all the way up before even starting. They wanted distance.

And they have it.

Rejection in life, for whatever reasons, is very natural in society. And we will always be running up against persons of small minds, small wills, against the closed enclaves of power, against popular opinion, against so many things that we think are the enemy.

But they are not the enemy. The enemy is prowling around like a lion, waiting to devour those who stumble.

Let no one deceive himself.
If any one among you considers himself wise in this age,
let him become a fool, so as to become wise.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God,
for it is written:
God catches the wise in their own ruses,
and again:
The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise,
that they are vain.

We can only grow as a Christian when we allow all of the crud which people throw at us to roll off our backs. And then get up and keep living life well, as a follower of Jesus Christ.

But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.

Amen.

Speechless

February 19, 2011

And he was transfigured before them,
and his clothes became dazzling white,
such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.
Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses,
and they were conversing with Jesus.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,
“Rabbi, it is good that we are here!
Let us make three tents:
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.

I love this example of Peter’s humility and his disastrous sense of how to act in public. It’s so human. I mean, haven’t we all said the wrong thing at the wrong time? Or, in the face of some type of greatness haven’t we all put our foot in our mouths?

You just know that this ranks right up there in the all time list of things someone can’t believe they said. And to make matters worse, it’s recorded in Sacred Scripture! Poor guy.

Things certainly changed after the Resurrection though, and the descent of the Holy Spirit. Peter was a new man! Went right out and converted three thousand people, knew all the right things to say.

Lord Jesus, when I’m behaving like an idiot, or when I’m really at a loss for words and don’t know what to do, please send your Holy Spirit upon me to lift me up like Peter. And I understand my prayer is not exactly theologically correct for various reasons, but you know what I mean. That, and I really do apologize for my disastrous attempts at a penitential Friday yesterday. There was nothing penitential about it, and I had a lovely day — but I know we’re called to higher standards in the spiritual life, and I know penitential days are usually even lovelier. I’ll try harder. Amen.

Well, Mardi Gras is finally starting around these parts. Whoo-ee, let’s get this show on the road and get on with things.

Friday, Week 6

February 18, 2011

Babel, Babel, Babble babble babble…. I’ve always wondered why, after the Lord gives the mandate to go forth and subdue the earth, He immediately gets upset when the people decide to build the Tower of Babel. Perhaps it’s because they wanted to build a tower ‘to the sky’, where they would then be more like God… a contravening of the covenant, and an upswelling of pride the likes of which probably had not been seen since the catastrophic fall of Adam and Eve.

Restoration calls us to repentance, very much in line with the pre-lapsarian view of creation: we’re called to subdue the earth and be victorious over it, and yet all the while we have an intimate covenantal relationship with our creator.

Perfect thoughts for a Penitential Friday.

I loved this reading from the Office this morning, via St. Augustine: “God means to fill each of you with what is good; so cast out what is bad! If he wishes to fill you with honey and you are full of sour wine, where is the honey to go? The vessel must be emptied of its contents and then be cleansed. Yes, it must be cleansed even if you have to work hard and scour it.”

The Gospel echoes this theme of repentance, renewal, penance:

“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake
and that of the Gospel will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?”

Penance. It’s a good thing.

Clear out our hearts and our minds, seek to renew our relationship with Jesus Christ in simple ways, and pray for the grace of true repentance.

I love Fridays.