Daily Retreat 02/06/07
2007 Feb 6 Tue: Paul Miki, p, mt, & co., mts M
Gn 1: 20 – 2: 4a/ Ps 8: 4-5. 6-7. 8-9/ Mk 7: 1-13
From today’s readings: “God created man in His image; in the divine image He created him; male and female He created them.... O Lord, our God, how wonderful Your Name in all the earth!... ”
Scrubbing Scruples
Particularly the perfectionists among us, but probably also all of us have at times lost sight of the big picture because of an annoying little detail that somehow seemed out of place, such as when one forgets the point of an essay simply because of an overlooked typo. When left unchecked, this tendency can lead to mammoth problems in our spiritual life, because here especially, it’s essentially to always keep first things first.
Thus, an overlying scrupulous person can get hung up on a thousand little things, like wondering if accidentally dropping a Bible might be a sin. By wasting time and energy worrying about such trivialities, such a person is diabolically distracted from focusing on the true issues, for all of us need our full strength and efforts to address, with the help of God, the real sins and vices of our lives - we simply can’t squander our spiritual ammunition on scrupulous overkill!
That doesn’t mean that “little things” never matter, since that attitude would lead to lax morals (which, in fact, is a more common spiritual ailment today then excessive scruples). To make the proper distinctions, we need a well-tuned conscience, formed by God’s grace with prayerful meditation, diligent application and faithful consideration of the teachings of Christ and His Church.
Gn 1: 20 – 2: 4a/ Ps 8: 4-5. 6-7. 8-9/ Mk 7: 1-13
From today’s readings: “God created man in His image; in the divine image He created him; male and female He created them.... O Lord, our God, how wonderful Your Name in all the earth!... ”
Scrubbing Scruples
Particularly the perfectionists among us, but probably also all of us have at times lost sight of the big picture because of an annoying little detail that somehow seemed out of place, such as when one forgets the point of an essay simply because of an overlooked typo. When left unchecked, this tendency can lead to mammoth problems in our spiritual life, because here especially, it’s essentially to always keep first things first.
Thus, an overlying scrupulous person can get hung up on a thousand little things, like wondering if accidentally dropping a Bible might be a sin. By wasting time and energy worrying about such trivialities, such a person is diabolically distracted from focusing on the true issues, for all of us need our full strength and efforts to address, with the help of God, the real sins and vices of our lives - we simply can’t squander our spiritual ammunition on scrupulous overkill!
That doesn’t mean that “little things” never matter, since that attitude would lead to lax morals (which, in fact, is a more common spiritual ailment today then excessive scruples). To make the proper distinctions, we need a well-tuned conscience, formed by God’s grace with prayerful meditation, diligent application and faithful consideration of the teachings of Christ and His Church.
posted by FrPitstick | 1/30/2007
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