Jan 30
A little girl said to her mother, “I’m happier today than I was yesterday.” In response to the mother’s inevitable “Why?” the moppet pondered for a moment before replying. Then she said, “Yesterday my thoughts pushed me around, but today I pushed my thoughts around.”
That unsophisticated description of self-discipline is, I’m sure, as good as any. Controlling one’s thoughts is the very raison d’etre of self-discipline. Yet it is not as easy as you might imagine. Self is a kind of disease that we must strive to control throughout our lifetime. “I have had more trouble with myself than with anyone,” admitted the renowned preacher Dwight Moody. A corollary to that is Tolstoy’s observation: “Everybody thinks of changing humanity, and nobody thinks of changing himself.” Everyone wants to have a share in the big omelet of the commonweal, but no one wants to break his own egg.
Self-discipline has three distinct connotations: the first is the notion of self-punishment-masochistic mortification designed to remove guilt even without sincere repentance. (Witness the self-flagellation or crucifixion cults in some third-world countries.) The second connotation sees self-discipline as a corrective process to strengthen and mold the individual to fit into some required social or cultural pattern, such as super-strict dress codes for office workers, or more heinously, strict coven attendance by Satanists or finger amputation or self-mutilation to indicate gang membership, and so on. The third connotation is the only one that makes self-discipline a virtue: it is a quality by which the individual cultivates certain ethical and moral standards of conduct that he or she is prepared to adhere to unflinchingly, in all circumstances, regardless of any foreseen or unforeseen painful consequences.
Without trusting the Lord and his revealed norms of morality to provide guidance in authentic self-discipline, one could fall into aberrations ranging all the way from pious but self-torturing scrupulosity to blasphemous satanic ritualism, and countless behavioral distortions in between. Moreover, the Lord must provide true motivation, not only to start but also to complete the work of self-reformation, which is ultimately his work from start to finish. With consummate trust in him, we will have no doubt whatsoever that “the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion” (Phil 1:6).
Fr. John Hampsch, “Pathways of Trust“
Apr 01
just remember:
Noah was a drunk
Abraham was too old
Isaac was a daydreamer
Jacob was a liar
Leah was ugly
Joseph was abused
Moses had a stuttering problem
Gideon as afraid
Samson had long hair and was a womanizer
Rahab was a prostitute
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
David had and affair and was murderer
Elijah was suicidal
Isaiah preached naked
Jonah ran from God
Naomi was a widow
Job went bankrupt
Peter denied Christ
The Disciples fell asleep while praying
Martha worried about everything
The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once
Zaccheus was too small
Paul was too religious
Timothy had an ulcer, AND
Lazarus was dead!
Remember, Jesus helped them all!!!
Now! No more excuses!God can use you to your full potential.Besides, God seeks not your ability, but your availability.
Jan 09
Singing in the Dark
John H. Hampsch, C.M.F.
Imitative pet birds, like bullfinches, have been taught to sing delightful piano melodies—not just typical bird chirping—by being repeatedly forced to hear, and thus learn to imitate, such beautiful music. But the learning process is enormously enhanced when the pianist plays for the birds in total darkness, so that the birds’ attention is not diverted by visible surroundings and movements.
That fascinating factoid encompasses a subtle analogy. The darkness that surrounds us in our times of adversity and misfortune is often the very ambience chosen by our Divine Musician to teach us the most beautiful soul music this side of heaven; the Holy Spirit enables us to “make melody in our hearts” as Paul reminds us (Eph. 5:18-19). Mysteriously, it is often in the darkest periods of our life, when distracting frivolities no longer divert our attention from more serious matters of the soul, that grace works its refining wonders. It is in the undistracting chamber of our darkest trials that we are strengthened by hardships that would otherwise weaken us. Truly, as Elihu reminded Job, “God gives strength in the night” (Job 35:10). That’s one of the most elusive parts of that “silver lining” at the hems of our clouds of misery.
Dec 30
How’s That Again?
Following the Battle of Waterloo, a ship off the south coast of England began to relay to London the news of Napoleon’s defeat, A dense fog settled in just as the first two words of the semaphore were decoded from the top of Winchester Cathedral: “Wellington defeated …” All Londoners were heartbroken-until the fog lifted and the sentence became fully visible: “Wellington defeated the enemy!”
Frequently our discouragement comes from not really listening to the constant messages the Lord sends to us. We must truly listen with our hearts and keep listening until his entire message gets through, whatever way it is communicated. “My sheep listen to my voice,” said Jesus – and his voice is uttered in many ways: through our conscience, through the Church, through the good example of others, or through a gentle inspiration of grace.
Jesus is always there to guide and support us, “He is able to help those who are being tempted” (Heb .2:18). This is especially true when we’re tempted to discouragement during trials and hardships, when it seems the Lord has forgotten us. He is there! He is always there, even when we’re asleep and not thinking of him (see Psalm 139:18). Whenever we are discouraged, we can be sure that we lack awareness of his loving presence and guiding support.
“One-Minute Meditations for Busy People” by Fr. John H. Hampsch, C.M.F.
Dec 27
Honesty, the Blest Policy
A team of Reader’s Digest editors staged a country-wide test of honesty by “losing” 120 wallets in public places in twelve U.S. cities. Each wallet contained $50 in cash along with a name, local address, and phone number; coupons; notes; and family photos. Surveillance teams noted behavior patterns of each “lucky” finder. Surprisingly, two out of three of the wallets were returned intact to the “owner.” Some finders even refused the offer of a $50 reward.
Two conclusions were derived from the experiment: First, even dishonest people have a functioning conscience. The furtive glances and attempts at concealment observed in the dishonest finders indicated that they knew they were doing wrong. “A sense of shame is not a bad moral compass,” wrote General Colin Powell.
The second conclusion: The conscience is refined primarily by moral training in one’s childhood. Most of the honest finders, when interviewed, said that their desire to do the morally right thing had been instilled in them early in life by their parents. “Train a child in the way he should go,” says God’s word, “and when he is old he will not turn from it” (Prv 22:6).
In the blunt words of General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, “One always knows the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.” Yet, those who seek God’s help are promised sufficient strength to resist temptation (see 1 Corinthians 10:13).
“One-Minute Meditations for Busy People”
Oct 10
In a moment of levity, I dashed off the following ditty:Peter thrice denied the Lord; Zacchaeus was a cheat;And then there was the prostitute who wept at Jesus’ feet.Simon was an anarchist, Matthew plundered taxes;The “sons of thunder” James and John were angry battle-axes.Paul a rabid terrorist, and Dismas was a thief;Magdalene was demon-filled, and Thomas lacked belief.But there they are in heaven, smiling down upon us now;Each wears a brilliant halo tilted on a battered brow.So things for us are looking up, in this salvation business-No matter what our “was-ness” was, what truly counts is “is-ness.”Somehow it’s consoling to know that Jesus began his ministry by shepherding a ragtag flock of black sheep to work with him. “My power,” the Lord revealed to Paul, “is made perfect in weakness”-to which Paul reacted, “For Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses … for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor 12:9-10). In that paradox he saw the source of power of many Old Testament heroes, whose weaknesses were turned to strengths (see Hebrews 11:34).It is consoling to know that when we are discouraged and overwhelmed by our own spiritual weakness and ineptitude, God isn’t discouraged with us. It is then that we should say, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Phil 4:13).
“One-Minute Meditations for Busy People”
