I give thanks to my God always on your account for the
grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus, that in him you were enriched in
every way, with all discourse and all knowledge, as the testimony to Christ was
confirmed among you, so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you
wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians
1:4-7
“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom
the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food
at the proper time? Blessed is that
servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so. Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge
of all his property.” Matthew 24:45-47
Piety
“Too late have I loved
you, O Beauty of ancient days, yet ever new! Too late I loved you! And behold,
you were within, and I abroad, and there I searched for you; I was deformed,
plunging amid those fair forms, which you had made. You were with me, but I was
not with you. Things held me far from you—things which, if they were not in
you, were not at all. You called, and shouted, and burst my deafness. You
flashed and shone, and scattered my blindness. You breathed odors and I drew in
breath—and I pant for you. I tasted, and I hunger and thirst. You touched me,
and I burned for your peace” (St. Augustine, Confessions).
Study
St. Augustine's writings remains (for
me) dense and hard to understand – not because there is any lack of articles and books
about him. Rather, because his writing
is hard to read through for me. Normally, I do not shy away from the
intellectual-spiritual doctors of the church and other giants. St. John of the Cross. St. Benedict.
St. Ignatius. Thomas Merton. Pierre
Teilhard de Chardin. Dorothy Day. Henri Nouwen. But, my confession is that
the Confessions of St. Augustine remain difficult to comprehend. Daunting may be the right word. Crazy as it sounds, I would rather pick up
Kierkegaard than Augustine.
His mother, St. Monica,
whose feast day was yesterday, prayed for the conversion of her son who was
distracted in the many perversions of his day.
In his youth and early adult years, Augustine was not always the “faithful
and prudent” servant praised in today’s Good News. It was not until he turned 36 years
old before he was ordained. But then he became a bishop by age 41! The famous
story is that as his mother prayed and cried for his conversion, he joined her
in that prayer, but just not yet.
Whether or not you tackle
City of God, the Confessions or the Homilies is your choice in study. Eventually, we all will probably get that
book off our shelves or from the library and use it in our study. But for me, just not yet.
Action
Much more accessible and understandable today are the daily comments and tweets of our @Pontifex. Did you catch the list of
things Pope Francis said made for a happy life?
Just when I thought my (and the world’s) amazement with Pope Francis had
run its course, he did it again. In a long interview with an old friend who was
writing for an Argentine magazine, the pope put forward a 10-point plan
for happiness. You can read
his list here.
How long until we see the
book “All I Really Need to Know I Learned from Pope Francis?”
In addition to this ten-point
plan (almost sounds like something Woodrow Wilson would propose at Versailles),
have you also noted all the articles on happiness? In a frenetic, chaotic world with more and
more separation between people, we often just want to wake up feeling good in
the morning and we want to know how. There are essays and books
filled with tips on achieving true happiness and bliss but one tip remains
fairly consistent: expressing gratitude makes people feel good.
Maybe that is why the five
days of gratitude (#gratitude challenge) is making its way around social media
circles these days. Maybe not as viral
as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, the practice of appreciation is pretty awesome
in that it can be done anywhere, at any time. You can write a list of specific
things within a day that you’re grateful for (hello, education, people, fresh
olives, Reese’s peanut butter cup ice cream or snow crab legs – just not all at
the same time) or reach out and express your gratitude to others.
For what and whom in this
divine milieu are you grateful? What
makes you enriched in every way?
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