"Needs"

Paul tells the Phillipians (3:17-4:9) to "present your needs to God in every form of prayer and in petitions full of gratitude." However, I feel wants are sometimes confused with needs, so how does one really know what to pray for? Since it is the Holy Spirit that helps us pray, if our "needs" would fall under the category of one or more of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, it would be safe to say we are praying for our needs because we always need the gifts of the Holy Spirit and they will always be given to us: wisdom, understanding, knowledge, courage, counsel, piety, and fear.

Strength of faith

Faith is a gift, just like persistence is a gift, some people have more than others and in different degrees, so just because someone has a hard time doing something or not doing something, it's not our place to judge them as if the had the same gifts in the same amount as ourselves. Paul writes to the Romans and says,

"We who are strong in faith should be patient with the scruples of those whose faith is weak; we must not be selfish. Each should please his neighbor so as to do him good by building up his spirit."

Like I tell my girls, it's their job to be their sister's sister and let mom and dad correct them. So we should let God judge and build up our brothers and sisters in whatever ways they need.

Desire

"It is God, who in his good will toward you, begets in you any measure of desire"
-Phillipians 2:12-30

To those that have a strong work ethic, it is easy to blame others for certain failures due to laziness, as if work ethic is something a person has complete control over. I have heard of studies that suggest that what we consider work ethic is somewhat genetic. This quote would suggest that too. It may help us be more sympathetic towards those that don't seem to be able to work as hard as us. On the other hand, the gospel also teaches us to seek and we will find, so even those without persistence can make the decision to seek persistence from God in faith and it will be granted. Even some that don't believe in God, believe in the power of positive thinking: believing that you can do it and doing it. God is very generous in that way.

Tobit

As much as I appreciate the metaphors that fill the pages of scripture and the purpose they serve, I am more fond of the literal texts, even if those texts are only accepted by Catholics as divinely inspired. I believe the King James Bible that Protestants are familiar with was written entirely in Hebrew initially, where some other texts were found to be written in Greek. After prayer and deliberation on both sides, certain Hebrew texts were accepted by Catholics and Protestants to constitute the Bible as Protestants know it. None of the Greek texts were accepted by the Protestants. Those that were accepted by Catholics were included along side the same Hebrew texts as equally divinely inspired. This is the Bible that Catholics are familiar with. Tobit is one of those books and one of my favorites because it addresses issues common to every life. Tobit 4:15a, 16a, 18a, 19: "Do to no one what you yourself dislike. Give to the hungry some of your bread, and to the naked some of your clothing. Seek counsel from every wise man. At all times bless the Lord God, and ask him to make all your paths straight and to grant success to all your endeavors and plans."

Refining Silver

It seems like scripture often uses comparisons that were more relevant to the people of long ago than to most people today. One such example is refining silver. "The words of the Lord are words without alloy, silver from the furnace, seven times refined." - Psalm 12. Not knowing much about refining silver, it made an impression on me the one time I heard a silversmith explain the process, especially since I was trying to understand how it related to the Biblical references. He explained that silver has to be put into a furnace to melt away all the impurities.

Someone asked, "How do you know when it's done?"

He answered, "When you can see yourself clearly in it."

Sometimes God's words feel like we are being put into the furnace, but if we fully accept them over and over again, we will be a clear reflection of Him to the world.

God's Guests

From Psalm 5: 2-10, 12-13: “You are no God who loves evil; no sinner is your guest.” Knowing that we are all sinners, my first reaction to this line was to wonder how anyone besides Jesus and Mary could be God’s guest (make it to Heaven). Then I considered the possibility that they were referring to church, where Catholics, for example, are not to receive Communion with a mortal sin still on their soul. A sinner needs God’s forgiveness to be made clean from the stain of sin. That, of course, lead me back to my first thought that sinners, those with the stain of sin still on their soul, do not get into Heaven. If one has not been forgiven and made amends for their evil deeds or omissions, one has to do so on Earth through Reconciliation of some sort or in Purgatory in the next life. In other words, one cannot be a guest of God until one is free of sin. Everyone open to God’s grace is then capable of eventually escaping sin.

Sleep

Even though I am off of work for the summer, it seems like I have even less time to pray the liturgy of the hours than during the school year with a Nancy, 5-year-old Claire, 3-year-old Sarah, and 1-week old Emily bouncing off each other inside the house. So even though it may not always be said in the formal way that the book presents, I still take the time every 4 hours or so to offer some sort of prayer even if I can't get to one of the Christian Prayer books. Nevertheless, one of the psalms from this morning, Psalm 63:2-9 read: "On my bed I remember you. On you I muse through the night for you have been my help; in the shadows of your wings I rejoice." Indeed, night time, or even nap time, is a blessed time in my house.

Patience

From 2 Peter 3:13-15a, "Consider that our Lord's patience is directed toward salvation." I never thought of directing my patience. I know patience is a virtue and I am a relatively patient individual, however, patience may not be the end I should focus on. My kids try my patience often, and I don't feel that I lose my patience with them (because they are so much better than some of the kids I work with at school), but perhaps my patience should be more focused on helping my kids in those moments rather than just not blowing up at them. Just because something may not be sinful doesn't necessarily make it virtuous by default.

Parenting Decisions

I thought I knew what kind of parent I wanted to be, in terms of what I would do, but that was based on what I did as a kid or what I saw other kids doing, so the problem is that my kids present me with situations that I have never seen before, which means I sometimes have to decide what to do on the spot. If possible, I delay the decision until I have time to think it over. Then even after having time to relect on what to do or reflecting on what I did, the answer isn't always clear. There are certainly worse ways to have handled it, but that doesn't mean that I handled it the best way possible. How do you know when you have the best possible answer in such unique situations like that? As smart as I think I am sometimes, it's amazing how often I rely on thinking and not enough on prayer, which I know has to go hand in hand with thinking and is often more useful than thinking alone because prayer allows you to pick God's brain and let Him do the thinking. If it's an important decision, a decision that I have my attention focused upon entirely, my subconscious will usually provide with what I am confident God wants me to do, but that answer doesn't always come quickly, or quickly enough before I am distracted, despite my original intentions. Psalm 51 includes the line: "Indeed you love truth in the heart; then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom." It's hard to let what my heart is telling me overrule what my head is saying because I always want to have the reason why this is the right decision and know how it's going to turn out, but I am getting better at giving up control and following my heart, what God wants me to do, instead of doing what my head may be telling me.

God the Mother

Although God the Father is understandably the image now emphasized in scripture since Jesus gave the Our Father, the Bible also provides motherly images of God to more fully describe God, whom words can never fully describe. Isaiah 66:10-14a includes: "As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you." This image stood out to me from seeing my wife comforting our newborn baby daughter these last six days since she's been born.

Peace.

Images of God

I personally like the image of our relationship with God as a spouse. Today Isaiah 61:10-62:5 includes: As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you." However, I have known people abused by their fathers or other men, who have had trouble with the masculine image of God the Father because they never had a good understanding of how fathers are supposed to treat their children. Likewise, not every one marries young, not every bride is a virgin, so this image may be difficult for some to appreciate. Fortunately, God's love is so great and all encompassing that those searching for Him will find in through the many images of Him provided in scripture (and perhaps come to a better understanding of how those other figures are expected to act).

Peace.

Confidence

My wife and children are relying on me more than usual after our third daughter Emily was born Friday during a C-Section. I sometimes feel like I can do it all, but need to remember that it is really God that brings about any good from what I do. Today, a passage from Proverbs 9:1-18 stood out to me: "If you are wise, it is to your own advantage; and if you are arrogant, you alone shall bear it."

So how is wisdom defined? "Wisdom is fear of the Lord." Just like a healthy amount of confidence is good, a healthy fear of the Lord is good. I have heard this before, but need to be reminded of it often.

Peace.