Daily Retreat 12/06/08
2008 Dec 6 Sat: Advent Weekday/ Nicholas, bp
Is 30:19-21,23-26; Ps 146(147):1-2,3-4,5-6; Mt 9:35 – 10:1,5a,6-8
From today’s readings: “ The Lord will give you the bread you need and the water for which you thirst.... Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.... At the sight of the crowds, His heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd....”
True Needs
One of the most basic lessons of life to learn is the difference between “needs” and “wants.” The commercial hype of these weeks focuses on the “wants,” but God addresses the “needs.” While food, clothing, and shelter are the most primitive human needs, they’re not the only human needs.
Isaiah’s prophecy about the Messianic age includes, not only ample bread and water for the body, but copious provisions for the soul as well. While our affluent society can produce more than enough to meet everyone’s bodily needs, we are not as efficient and proficient when it comes to providing spiritual necessities, such as firm philosophical footing, emotional comfort and moral direction.
Isaiah presents the Messiah as the Teacher who provides the voice of conscience, directing “This is the way; walk in it!” when we are tempted to stray to the right or to the left. If He is still our Teacher, than we still need to acknowledge ourselves as students - in other words, we don’t know it all! There is a deadly temptation to think we know the right way well enough on our own, but that’s when you and I degenerate into sheep without a shepherd - not because He’s left us, but because we’ve chosen to ignore His guidance and the help of His harvest laborers.
Some of our preparations this Advent should be spent feeding our souls by learning from the Teacher - consider ways you’ve strayed even marginally from that voice of conscience that says, “This is the way; walk in it!” Use a concordance or dictionary of the Bible to point you to applicable scriptural passages, and read the Catechism of the Catholic Church or other Magisterial documents that help the mind grasp why and how the Teacher’s voice of conscience leads us on the path of all righteousness.
Is 30:19-21,23-26; Ps 146(147):1-2,3-4,5-6; Mt 9:35 – 10:1,5a,6-8
From today’s readings: “ The Lord will give you the bread you need and the water for which you thirst.... Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.... At the sight of the crowds, His heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd....”
True Needs
One of the most basic lessons of life to learn is the difference between “needs” and “wants.” The commercial hype of these weeks focuses on the “wants,” but God addresses the “needs.” While food, clothing, and shelter are the most primitive human needs, they’re not the only human needs.
Isaiah’s prophecy about the Messianic age includes, not only ample bread and water for the body, but copious provisions for the soul as well. While our affluent society can produce more than enough to meet everyone’s bodily needs, we are not as efficient and proficient when it comes to providing spiritual necessities, such as firm philosophical footing, emotional comfort and moral direction.
Isaiah presents the Messiah as the Teacher who provides the voice of conscience, directing “This is the way; walk in it!” when we are tempted to stray to the right or to the left. If He is still our Teacher, than we still need to acknowledge ourselves as students - in other words, we don’t know it all! There is a deadly temptation to think we know the right way well enough on our own, but that’s when you and I degenerate into sheep without a shepherd - not because He’s left us, but because we’ve chosen to ignore His guidance and the help of His harvest laborers.
Some of our preparations this Advent should be spent feeding our souls by learning from the Teacher - consider ways you’ve strayed even marginally from that voice of conscience that says, “This is the way; walk in it!” Use a concordance or dictionary of the Bible to point you to applicable scriptural passages, and read the Catechism of the Catholic Church or other Magisterial documents that help the mind grasp why and how the Teacher’s voice of conscience leads us on the path of all righteousness.
posted by FrPitstick | 12/05/2008
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