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.