Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium - 1.3

(*Nota Bene: emphasis mine.)

I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since “no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord”.1 

The Lord does not disappoint those who take this risk; whenever we take a step towards Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there, waiting for us with open arms. Now is the time to say to Jesus: “Lord, I have let myself be deceived; in a thousand ways I have shunned your love, yet here I am once more, to renew my covenant with you. I need you. Save me once again, Lord, take me once more into your redeeming embrace”. 

How good it feels to come back to him whenever we are lost! Let me say this once more: God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy. Christ, who told us to forgive one another “seventy times seven” (Mt 18:22) has given us his example: he has forgiven us seventy times seven. Time and time again he bears us on his shoulders.

 No one can strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by this boundless and unfailing love. With a tenderness which never disappoints, but is always capable of restoring our joy, he makes it possible for us to lift up our heads and to start anew. Let us not flee from the resurrection of Jesus, let us never give up, come what will. May nothing inspire more than his life, which impels us onwards!

1 Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete in Domino (9 May 1975), 22: AAS 67 (1975), 297.5 

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Joy is a byproduct of love; this fact is common to our experience, yet made explicit by St. Thomas Aquinas:

Now it is evident from what we have said about the passions (FS, Q[25], AA[2],4) that love is the first affection of the appetitive power, and that desire and joy follow from it. Hence the same virtuous habit inclines us to love and desire the beloved good, and to rejoice in it. But in as much as love is the first of these acts, that virtue takes its name, not from joy, nor from desire, but from love, and is called charity. Hence joy is not a virtue distinct from charity, but an act, or effect, of charity: for which reason it is numbered among the Fruits (Gal. 5:22).

If we love God, we will desire Him and our joy will be from Him. So. . . let us, AT THIS MOMENT make an act of love to our Beloved. 

God is waiting. . . 

SLOTH vs DILIGENCE - Day 3

Dorothy Sayers describes sloth as “a sin that believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, and remains alive because there is nothing for which it will die.” 

What a sad, sad, existence. 

The following article claims that sloth can be tolerance and it can be hidden by purposeless activeness:  http://www.catholic.org/clife/lent/story.php?id=32656

We are given an allotted amount of time, what are we doing with it? 

How many hours a week do we spend watching tv, day dreaming, doing purposeless tasks, counting down the hours, minutes and seconds until we can do something else?

How much time do we spend with God?

He will ask for an account of our lives: what did we live for?

Your Life Story - What Does It Say About You?

I just saw Les Miserables in the theaters. Shamefully, I have never read the book nor was I very familiar with the content. Entering with no bias, I walked out satisfied and inspired. 

Coupled with this short clip, 

and the advent of New Years, I have decided that I must do better. 

In Les Miserables each character was unique in his/her individual purpose, but none was devoid of suffering. In sorting through the sadness and injustices of life, each life became more defined by choices made in moments of desperation, love, hate, purposeless, and mercy. Each longed for something external to his/herself and gave oneself entirely to it.

It moved me to ponder what it is that I have dedicated my life to? What is it that I serve? Am I serving it well? What truth do I seek? And in loving others do I see the face of God?

My now and my tomorrow resolution is to do better on two accounts: 1) To treat every person in my presence as the most important person.This will require patience and much charity. 2) To learn how to recognize God everywhere and learn how to consciously untie all my moments with Him; now is all I have. If I don't give Him my nows, when will I ever? This will require silence.

My life is a story that God has put into motion according to His Goodness and Mercy. Do I freely chose to partake in it well or do I rebel? Will I hear those coveted words, "Well done, my good and faithful servant"?

The Most Important Person Is...

“Remember that there is only one important time and it is Now. The present moment is the only time over which we have dominion. The most important person is always the person with whom you are, who is right before you, for who knows if you will have dealings with any other person in the future? The most important pursuit is making that person, the one standing at you side, happy, for that alone is the pursuit of life.” -- Leo Tolstoy

Time - Fr. Isaac Relyea

Why Not? - Shania Twain

Shania Twain, an international county star, freely admits her brokenness. I can't help but admire her for that. Her brokenness comes from: poverty, domestic violence, death of her parents and brother, workaholism, betrayal, divorce and insecurities. While Shania never mentions God in her healing process, her story is still one of hope. Anyone who has had the rug pulled out from under them will be able to relate to her story.

Her story is about learning how to deal with the struggles in life and overcoming fear.

I love her themes, "Why Not" and "From This Moment".  I think she is a great secular example of what kind of attitude is needed to best use the moments allotted to us.

Anyone who knows me knows how much I admire St. Faustina's understanding of "the moment".   St. Faustina tried to use every moment to better her relationship with God. I think that this is the highest use of each moment.

Even if you disagree, for good or for bad, each "moment" is an individual choice. What are you choosing? What will you choose? Remember, even not choosing, is a choice.

(Note there are somethings in these videos that I do not support such as immodesty (Shania's career years), the dissolubility of marriage, and some of the spiritual practices they participate in.)

$86,400 Daily Deposit

by Unknown

Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course! 

Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow." You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success! The clock is running. Make the most of today. 

To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.  To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby. To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper. To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet. To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train. To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident. 

Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time. Remember that time waits for no one. 

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. 

Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present!

What kind of moments do you have?

There are three "moments" that were brought to my attention today: the "Judas Moment", the "Peter Moment" and the "Mary Moment".

Which one is your norm?

The Judas Moment:  Do you become discouraged and disappointed because you thought things would turn out a certain way and they don't? (Judas of Iscariot thought that Jesus would free the Jews from the power of the Romans.) Do you try to take control and start acting selfishly and for your own interests? And then when things get worse do you give way to despair?

The Peter Moment: Do you try to do the right things, yet often find yourself falling short? Do you give way to fear? But then, do you acknowledge your failings and try to right your wrongs? Do you use this humiliation to become stronger and more faithful?

The Mary Moment: Do you say yes to God, even when it seems as if He is asking us the impossible? Do you forge on in joy despite fear and uncertainty?

Who are you most like: Mary, Peter or Judas? Who will you choose to be today?

New Year's Resolution

I have many resolutions, many goals and aspirations for myself.  However, I often find that I get exited about the "new" thing that I am doing and will slowly let the project die as the excitement wanes. This is usually because I was too ambitious in the beginning.

Having embraced a more "live in each moment" attitude, not depending so much on the future perfect me, I have decided that I am not going to make a new year's resolution. Instead, I am going to make a today resolution. What am I going to do today that will making me healthier, holier and more loving to those around me? I am going to renew this question everyday.  I want kindness, generosity, and loving sacrifice to be my normal way of being.  However, thinking about it and writing about virtues, will not change my rough edges or transform all my selfishness. Transformation occurs almost invisibly through daily effort. 

My life plan is to do the Will of God and to become holy. However, the Will of God isn't always clear and holiness is difficult. While this is the point of my life, holiness is vague, overwhelming and prompts many questions. It needs to be broken down. I think three categories suffice.

1) Mental and bodily health
2) Prayer
3) Love of neighbor

The first, is health. My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. It is necessary that I take care of it for Him. He needs a pure, clean place to dwell in not a filthy or unstable place.  If I am not healthy and if I don't take care of myself, I am wasting graces and can not adequately serve God and my neighbor. How can I love my neighbor as myself, if I don't love myself?

The second is prayer.  It is impossible to love God if I do not know Him. Prayer is the key to establishing a relationship with Him. Like all relationships, the relationship I have with God is not static, it is always developing or if I "ignore" Him the relationship is weakened.

The third is love of neighbor. If I claim to love God but have no love of neighbor, I am a hypocrite. These two loves go together.

With these three categories in mind, I am going to chose an activity daily that will increase at least one of them. The activities are going to be simple and manageable. Maybe one day, I'll forgo a soda and drink water instead. Maybe I will spend ten extra minutes in prayer. Maybe, I will take out the trash when it is not my turn. Regardless of what the activity is, I am going to make sure that I go out of my way today to improve. I have to be the best me today -- whatever that entails, because maybe today is all that I have.

When Time Touches Eternity

As you may have noticed, my subtitle for this blog is: "A blog focusing on living a virtuous life, NOT TOMORROW, but in THIS moment."

Currently, I am all about living in the present moment. I didn't always used to be this way.  When I was a teenager and also when I was in college, I mostly thought about the future. "What do I want? What is in store for me? How can I get there?" After college when life became more challenging, I mostly thought about the past. "I wish I can live in it again... or did I make the right choices?" 

Now I see that resting in both ways of thinking are futile. How true are St. Faustina's words!

Only the present moment is precious to me,

As the future can never enter my soul at all.

It is no longer in my power,

To change, correct or add to the past; 

For neither sages nor prophets could do that,

 And so, what the past has embraced I must entrust to God.

O present moment, you belong to me, whole and entire.

I desire to use you the best I can.

- Divine Mercy in My Soul, Notebook I #2

 
As much as I wish I could go into the past and either change my actions or live in it still, I am wasting my moments in the NOW on it. Since the past can't be changed no matter how hard I think on it, I am wasting time and causing anxiety in myself.

It is good to be prepared for the future, but it is futile to place my hope in it.  It is good to have dreams and goals, but as most successful people say, the dream comes true through the work of today. I think similar advice is true for the goal of Union with God.  C.S. Lewis illustrates this beautifully in his Screwtape Letters. (This book is a satire about tempting humans away from God.) Here is an excerpt from a letter from one demon to another:

CHAPTER 15:

"My dear Wormwood, 

        ...The humans live in a time but our Enemy destines them to eternity.  He therefore, I believe, wants them to attend chiefly to two things, to eternity itself, and to the point of time which they call the Present. For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity. Of the Present moment, and of it only, humans have an experience which our Enemy has of reality as a whole; in it alone freedom and actuality are offered them. He would rather have them continually concerned either with eternity (which means being concerned with Him) or with the Present --either meditating on their eternal union with, or separation from, Himself, or else obeying the present voice of conscience, bearing the present cross, receiving the present grace, giving thanks for the present pleasure. 
      Our business is to get them away from the eternal, and from the Present. With this in view, we sometimes tempt a human (say a widow or a scholar) to live in the Past. But this is of limited value, for they have some real knowledge of the past and it has a determinate nature and, to that extent, resembles eternity. It is far better to make them live in the Future. Biological necessity makes all their passions point in that direction already, so the thought about the Future inflames hope and fear. Also, it is unknown to them, so it makes them think of unrealities. In a word, the Future is, of all things, the least like eternity. It is the most completely temporal part of time - for the Past is frozen and no longer flows, and the Present is lit up with eternal rays... Gratitude looks to the past and love to the present; fear, avarice, lust and ambition look ahead...
      To be sure, the Enemy wants men to think of the Future too - just as much as is necessary for now planning the acts of justice or charity which will probably be their duty tomorrow. The duty of planning the morrow's work is today's duty; though its material is borrowed from the future, the duty, like all duties, is in the Present...
      We want a whole race perpetually in the pursuit of the rainbow's end, never honest, nor kind, nor happy now, but always using as mere fuel wherewith to heap the altar of the future ever real gift which is offered to them in the Present...

Your affectionate uncle,
Screwtape" 

Also, remember that God's name is "I AM",  not "I was" or "I will be".