Daily Retreat 10/27/08
2008 Oct 27 Mon: Ordinary Weekday
Eph 4: 32 – 5: 8/ Ps 1: 1-2. 3. 4 and 6/ Lk 13: 10-17
From today’s readings: “Be sure of this, that no immoral or impure or greedy person, that is, an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.... Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked.... Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath, and a woman was there who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit....”
See the Light!
What difference does our faith make? Well, practically speaking, faith ought to affect the way we see everything in life! It is the light of faith which causes the virtues to sparkle with the brilliance of diamonds, when those same virtues probably seemed so dull to us before the illumination of faith. And it is the light of faith which exposes the ugliness of vices, though they might seem so appealing to us before faith’s enlightenment.
If we are to walk and live, as Paul urges, as “children of light,” then you and I must examine ourselves, our actions, our choices, our deliberations, and our environment in the light of faith. In fact, a candle is aptly presented at baptism to represent this light of faith. But a candle must be carried properly and prominently to enable one to see in the light! Conversely, the candle can be hidden behind one’s back, or carelessly allowed to be extinguished, or even deliberately discarded.
So it is with faith: when carried properly and prominently, it serves well its purpose of illuminating the darkness of life. But when faith is lugged around as an afterthought, or carelessly allowed to be whiffed out by empty arguments, or even intentionally exchanged for a more worldly luminary, well then, how can that ever light the way to inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God?
Eph 4: 32 – 5: 8/ Ps 1: 1-2. 3. 4 and 6/ Lk 13: 10-17
From today’s readings: “Be sure of this, that no immoral or impure or greedy person, that is, an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.... Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked.... Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath, and a woman was there who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit....”
See the Light!
What difference does our faith make? Well, practically speaking, faith ought to affect the way we see everything in life! It is the light of faith which causes the virtues to sparkle with the brilliance of diamonds, when those same virtues probably seemed so dull to us before the illumination of faith. And it is the light of faith which exposes the ugliness of vices, though they might seem so appealing to us before faith’s enlightenment.
If we are to walk and live, as Paul urges, as “children of light,” then you and I must examine ourselves, our actions, our choices, our deliberations, and our environment in the light of faith. In fact, a candle is aptly presented at baptism to represent this light of faith. But a candle must be carried properly and prominently to enable one to see in the light! Conversely, the candle can be hidden behind one’s back, or carelessly allowed to be extinguished, or even deliberately discarded.
So it is with faith: when carried properly and prominently, it serves well its purpose of illuminating the darkness of life. But when faith is lugged around as an afterthought, or carelessly allowed to be whiffed out by empty arguments, or even intentionally exchanged for a more worldly luminary, well then, how can that ever light the way to inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God?
posted by FrPitstick | 10/21/2008
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