Timely Scripture

Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrong doer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.

Col 3:23-25

Lord, protect me and strengthen me. Let the Holy Spirit grow in me the virtue of justice.

Proverbs

Proverbs contains lots of wisdom. I've heard somewhere that it is a good book to read daily since there are 31 chapters, which nearly coincides with the number of days in a month. So after finishing up Ephesians, I decided to spend some time there.

The verses from Chapter 8 that struck me most today were 10 and 11:

"Receive my instruction in preference to silver,
and knowledge rather than choice gold.
For Wisdom is better than corals,
and no choice possession can compare with her."

Sometimes I get down on myself for my lack of a sense of humor, but these verses help me feel good about my pursuit of wisdom. Not that I can't lighten up a bit, but I still feel validated for wanting to read more and learn more all of the time.

It's easy...

It's easy to make excuses. I haven't been spending time in the scriptures in the morning these past weeks. The kids have been up multiple times in the middle of the night, sleep is important, etc., etc.

I have picked it up again and am in Chapter 6 of Ephesians. Next, I am going to look to Proverbs seeking wisdom.

Praise be to God.

Temperance (mastery over instincts)

I am reading a book about virtues by Tim Gray and Curtis Martin. The chapter on temperance had a line that really spoke to me:

"Peace of soul is a fruit only of those who have conquered themselves."

I have a long way to go on this virtue, but knowing the fruits of this virtue makes me that much more motivated to pursue it.

Sunday, Jan 11

Today's homily touched me as I thought about the power of Baptism and thought about the Holy Spirit coming down upon Marisa and Brett and the Lord saying, "You are my beloved daughter and son."

This has to be one of my favorite verses in the scriptures. (Mark 1:9-11)

I am going to try having at least two posts per week now. One on Sunday evening in order to reflect on the mass, and one on Wednesday or Thursday to touch on something that I am studying or experiencing. We'll see how that goes. :)