Tag: Perspective

Inspiration

December 21: The Virtue of Fortitude

Smitten With Goodness
Preparing our heart in Advent. Read, Reflect, Respond

Read: Those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

Reflect: Living in the Cardinal Virtue of Fortitude. Fortitude is to remain firm in the midst of difficulty and be constant in the pursuit of good. When I cling to God, I live with courage and fortitude. This allows me to possess myself. I can face adversity with patience from an inner vision of mercy. Infused with God’s faith, hope and love, I can bear the good fruit of patience, kindness and goodness.

Fortitude is the disposition of the soul which enables us to despise all inconveniences and the loss of things not in our power.

St. Augustine

Respond: Lord, help me soar high on eagles wings with my strength and trust in you.

Inspiration

December 20: The Virtue of Justice

Smitten With Goodness
Preparing our heart in Advent. Read, Reflect, Respond

Read: Love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:39

Reflect: Living in the Cardinal Virtue of Justice. Justice is giving due to God and to our neighbor. When we consistently give each person their due, including ourselves, I bring justice in the world. Justice is how I relate to my neighbor in God. Infused with faith, I bring faithfulness to my neighbor. Infused with hope, I bring gentleness. Infused with love, I bring generosity.

There is no peace without justice, and no justice without forgiveness.

Pope John Paul II

Respond: Lord, seize us with your power and light, help us protect all life, to prepare for a better future, for the coming of your Kingdom of justice, peace, love and beauty.

Inspiration

Advent Day 11: The Spirit of Goodness

Smitten With Goodness
Preparing our heart in Advent. Read, Reflect, Respond

Read: Selfless desire to be generous to others. Ephesians 5:8-10

Reflect: Goodness is a gift of the Holy Spirit when we renounce evil and strive to do God’s will. What exactly is goodness? The word good is used so frequently in our everyday lives that it almost loses its meaning. For example, how many times a day do we say, good morning and good luck and good job? But the Bible tells us that the word good actually means holy, pure and righteousness. Literally goodness is godliness.Goodness comes from living a life of virtue, of good habits. At the end of the day, the foundational or cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance are the only things within our human power to control. Like a muscle, these powers get stronger when used. Virtue allows us to perfect our thoughts and our actions, have courage, and moderate our desires and passions. Infused by grace, we bear the fruits of the Spirit. We become smitten with goodness. We are drawn to more goodness and drawn away from the attractions of the world.

Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 23:6

Respond: Lord, help me to be a person of great integrity—the same inside and out.

Inspiration

Advent Day 1: Living In The Spirit

Smitten With Goodness
Preparing our heart in Advent.
Read, Reflect, Respond

Read:

I say, then: live by the Spirit…not the desire of the flesh…These are opposed to each other, so that you may not do what you want. But if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like.… In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit. Let us not be conceited, provoking one another, envious of one another.

Galatians 5:16-26

Reflect:

The battle is real between the world and spiritual life. If I want to bring your love Lord to my family, friends, and those I encounter today, I need to live in the spirit, and live in your mercy and compassion. As I surrender myself, my wants, and desires to Yours, I trust Your plan is larger than mine. I release the exhaustion of trying to hold it all together and live in the peace and trust of Your endless and generous love.

“It is Christmas every time you let God love others through you.”

St. Teresa of Calcutta

Respond:

Lord, help me live with an eternal perspective in the Spirit, living in the world but not of the world. Reveal to me the areas of my heart that need attention to fully grow in your love.

Inspiration, Uncategorized

The Author

Smitten With Goodness
Reflections for contemplative living

Situation
upon situation
upon situation,
the ever-changing cycle
of your story,
has been authored by Another,
one of infinite power
unparalleled wisdom
unending grace,
who has every epic
every turn of the plot
every surprising mystery
every unnoticed moment
written into his book.

The Author is never surprised
never taken off guard
never confused by new developments
never feeling unprepared
never just making it through
never looking for a way out.

Situation
upon situation
upon situation,
the ever-changing cycle
of your story,
authored by Another,
the changing saga written
by the One who never changes.

Let go of knowing the future.
Let go of having your own way.
Let go of self-sovereignty.
Let go of the anxiety of not knowing.
Let go of craving more power.
Let go of ranting against mystery.

Settle into what you’ve been designed to be.
Celebrate being included in the gospel plot.
Be thankful you’re not in control.
Remember God’s way is better.
Know that you’re in good hands.

Things out of your control
are not out of control.
There is an Author,
he is not you
his will will be done.

Your story,
that ever-changing cycle
situation upon situation
surprise after surprise
mystery chasing mystery
year piling upon year
has a final chapter,
penned before time began
written on the pages of eternity
and it will be glorious.

By Paul Tripp

Inspiration

New Heart

Smitten With Goodness
Reflection for contemplative living

The saints understood the need for a singular focused heart. Not one formed by the world but one aligned with our creator.

St. Benedict of Nursia says, “You change your life by changing your heart.” St. Therese of Lisieux stated: Jesus, help me to simplify my life by learning what you want me to be, and becoming that person.

As scripture reminds us, we are to be new wine.

No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.  Matthew 9:14-17

Thank you, Lord, for giving me a new heart to fill up with the things you deem worthy. 

Inspiration

Happy Thanksgiving

Smitten With Goodness
Reflections for contemplative living

Thanksgiving is the public acknowledgement or celebration of divine goodness. It is the act of giving thanks, a prayer expressing gratitude. It is easy to look beyond our circle of influence and be overwhelmed by the critical and inconsiderate world we see in the media and social media. With grace, we can open our eyes and hearts to the divine goodness in front of us when we slow down and be present in our life.

It is relatively easy to forget about all the good things God has done for us and to neglect giving thanks for our blessings.  Reading Psalm 103 can help foster a spirit of thanksgiving by keeping our eyes focused on the good God has done for us. 

He fills our days with good things. 

Psalm 103:5

Eucharist, from the Greek word “eucharista”, means thanksgiving.  The Catholic Church teaches that “the Eucharist is ‘the source and summit of the Christian life.’” Participation in Holy Communion during Mass, consumed with a humble heart, allows the Spirit to increase in me, decreasing my strong will and self-reliance.  This allows me to fill my heart with His goodness and surrender to Christ as King of my life. 

Sometimes we must jump with both feet into faith and trust.  Other times we need to slow down and appreciate what is in front of us. Expressing gratitude helps us cultivate a thankful heart.  Gratitude turns what we have into enough.

Happy Thanksgiving and for being Smitten With Goodness!

Inspiration

A Grateful Heart

Smitten With Goodness
Reflections for contemplative living

We are called to have a grateful heart.  Throughout scripture there are repeated calls to action to give thanks to God. Thanksgiving is to always be a part of our prayers. Some of the most remembered passages on the giving of thanks are the following:

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6).

“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men” (1 Timothy 2:1).

Of all of God’s gifts, the greatest one He has given is the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. On the cross of Calvary, Jesus paid our sin debt, so a holy and just Judge could forgive us our sins and give us eternal life as a free gift. This gift is available to those who will call on Christ to save them from their sin in simple but sincere faith (John 3:16; Romans 3:19-26; Romans 6:23; Romans 10:13; Ephesians 2:8-10). For this gift of His Son, the gift which meets our greatest need, the Apostle Paul says, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15).

We have a choice. In life there will always be those things that we can complain about but there will also be much to be thankful for. 

May God grant that He may find us grateful every day for all of His gifts, spiritual and material. God is good, and every good gift comes from Him (James 1:17). For those who know Christ, God also works everything together for good, even events we would not necessarily consider good (Romans 8:28-30). 

May He find us with a grateful heart.

Inspiration

A Worthy Virtue

Smitten With Goodness
Reflections for contemplative living

Gratitude is a virtue most worthy of our cultivation. In all the Christian life, gratitude is to be planted, watered, dressed, and harvested. Gratitude gets at the very essence of what it means to be created, finite, fallen, redeemed, and sustained by the God of all grace.

Ingratitude was at the heart of the Fall, and at the heart of what’s fallen about us to this day. “Although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him” (Romans 1:21). Again and again throughout the Old Testament, especially in the Psalms, it is gratitude — giving God thanks — that is the fitting response to his gracious acts of deliverance for his people. 

It was gratitude to the Father that Jesus expressed at that first Maundy Thursday table as he held out the bread and cup to his disciples (Matthew 26:27; Mark 14:23; Luke 22:17–19; 1 Corinthians 11:24). It is profound and enduring gratitude, among other things, that his sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection summon in the born-again heart. In the daily Christian life, it is the genuine giving of thanks for God’s gifts that keeps us from idolatry and sinful asceticism (1 Corinthians 10:30–31; 1 Timothy 4:3–4).

Will you make an intentional effort to slow down, take stock, and express gratitude to the glory of God? Will you count your many blessings including God for his greatest gift — the gift of himself and his Son. 

Thank you, Lord, for your self-giving death for us, and in your resurrected life