Daily Retreat 06/02/08
2008 Jun 2 Mon: Ordinary Weekday/ Marcellinus and Peter, mts
2 Pt 1: 2-7/ Ps 90(91): 1-2. 14-15b. 15c-16/ Mk 12: 1-12
From today’s readings: “Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.... In You, my God, I place my trust.... A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower, then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey. ”
Faith Supplements
There’s certainly no substitute for faith, but, as the Second Letter of St. Peter reminds us, there are supplements, and we do well to make sure these all are part of our spiritual diet!
First mentioned is virtue, moral excellence, making right choices - it’s hard to imagine true faith without this crucial supplement! For, if we have faith in God as our God, we need to live our lives as He teaches us to live.
But virtue, in turn, needs the additional aid of knowledge, reason, open eyes - for, twisted fanaticism results from blind commitments to do what is believed to be right, when one doesn’t make the effort to fully learn what is right.
Knowledge, to continue growing, requires self-control, focus, effort - for, starting with ourselves, everyone knows that a know-it-all certainly does not know it all!
But self-control doesn’t amount to much without endurance, perseverance, steadfastness - only with a long-term commitment and consistent follow-through can the great things in life be accomplished.
Endurance, for its part, must be guided with devotion, godliness, true religion - the great undertakings of our lives should be pursued altruistically for the sake of God, not for selfish reasons.
Devotion to God will be of no avail, however, unless accompanied with mutual affection, brotherly love, true care for others - the incarnation of Jesus is the fullest reminder to incarnate love of God with love of neighbor.
Even mutual affection, though, needs purification and sanctification, in order to be transformed into the ideal of Christian love, the sacrificial agape of dying to self in order to live fully for God in the fulness of holy faith supplemented with virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, devotion, mutual affection....
2 Pt 1: 2-7/ Ps 90(91): 1-2. 14-15b. 15c-16/ Mk 12: 1-12
From today’s readings: “Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.... In You, my God, I place my trust.... A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower, then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey. ”
Faith Supplements
There’s certainly no substitute for faith, but, as the Second Letter of St. Peter reminds us, there are supplements, and we do well to make sure these all are part of our spiritual diet!
First mentioned is virtue, moral excellence, making right choices - it’s hard to imagine true faith without this crucial supplement! For, if we have faith in God as our God, we need to live our lives as He teaches us to live.
But virtue, in turn, needs the additional aid of knowledge, reason, open eyes - for, twisted fanaticism results from blind commitments to do what is believed to be right, when one doesn’t make the effort to fully learn what is right.
Knowledge, to continue growing, requires self-control, focus, effort - for, starting with ourselves, everyone knows that a know-it-all certainly does not know it all!
But self-control doesn’t amount to much without endurance, perseverance, steadfastness - only with a long-term commitment and consistent follow-through can the great things in life be accomplished.
Endurance, for its part, must be guided with devotion, godliness, true religion - the great undertakings of our lives should be pursued altruistically for the sake of God, not for selfish reasons.
Devotion to God will be of no avail, however, unless accompanied with mutual affection, brotherly love, true care for others - the incarnation of Jesus is the fullest reminder to incarnate love of God with love of neighbor.
Even mutual affection, though, needs purification and sanctification, in order to be transformed into the ideal of Christian love, the sacrificial agape of dying to self in order to live fully for God in the fulness of holy faith supplemented with virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, devotion, mutual affection....
posted by FrPitstick | 6/01/2008
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