Category: Words of Wisdom

“The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.”-Samuel Johnson

There is something about bad habits that keep us bound to them. Aside from the pleasure we derive from them, it is the thought that we can control them and that at any moment we desire, we can break free from them.

We think that we can set boundaries to bad habits that can ensure our safety. We convince ourselves that we would only allow ourselves to taste a little now and then and that there can be no harm to these things that we do.

Sooner or later however, we find out that we become more addicted to its pleasures. We sink deeper and deeper, craving more and more until what desired to control has eventually gained control over us.

Do not be ensnared from the very beginning. It is a deception to think we can overcome such a great fire when we are already burning through and through. Every fire begins with but a spark. Let us extinguish it before it grows into a flame we could never put out.

Therefore let’s also… lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us… looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it; lest there be any sexually immoral person, or profane person, like Esau, who sold his birthright for one meal. – Hebrews 12

Let us learn to be more gentle with ourselves. Quite often, our harshness towards others is merely a reflection of our own harshness towards ourselves. – Jocelyn Soriano

God is kind and gentle. He is kind with you. He is gentle with you. How could you not be kind and gentle also with yourself?

While it is true that we must never let sin reign over us, neither should we let discouragement and harshness fill our souls. Harshness is not compatible with love. It is never compatible with compassion.

We need to love ourselves right so we’d know how to love others. It is this love within us that will spread to those around us.

If we can only understand ourselves more and have more patience for our shortcomings, maybe we can also be more patient with others. Maybe then, we can truly love others the way Jesus Himself loves us.

But we were gentle amongst you, like a nursing mother cherishes her own children. – 1 Thessalonians 2:7, WEBBE

I desire neither death nor life. Were the Lord to offer me a choice, I would not choose. I will only what He wills, and I am pleased with whatever He does. – St. Therese of Lisieux

There are many times when we each have our own plans we desire to accomplish. We think of the good they could do, both for ourselves and for others. We think that if only God could bless those plans and make them happy, all shall be well and good.

When they don’t happen however, we are filled with all kinds of doubt. We wonder why God didn’t listen to our prayers. What could God be planning all along?

The Lord’s will may not be always visible to us, and we may not always understand. But we can be certain by faith, that God always desires what is best.

Let us make it a habit then to discern first of all our Lord’s will before trying to make our own plans. No matter how good we think they are, they could never match the greatness of God’s own desires.

Whether it was two days, or a month, or a year that the cloud stayed on the tabernacle, remaining on it, the children of Israel remained encamped, and didn’t travel; but when it was taken up, they travelled. At the commandment of the LORD they encamped, and at the commandment of the LORD they travelled. They kept the LORD’s command, at the commandment of the LORD by Moses. – Numbers 9, WEBBE

“What is the real origin of my own anger? Is it the ego defending its territory, or is it something that has its source in the desire for the well-being of all?” – Jean-Yves Leloup, Compassion and Meditation

It is hard to imagine how God, who is Love Himself can ever be angry. But I guess, this is precisely the answer… Love. We often err in our anger because we do not love as God loves. Only by having that kind of love can anger ever be truly righteous.

Let us note further how love is the very source also of that anger. God becomes angry when people sin because they become what they should not be, they hurt themselves and they hurt other people. Love only wants what is best for those it holds dear, what can make them truly happy for all eternity.

Let us compare it with our own anger. How many times do we get angry because of love and not because of envy or pride? Is our love as strong as our anger? Or is it so faint it almost falls into nothingness?

God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the vine?”

He said, “I am right to be angry, even to death.”

The LORD said, “You have been concerned for the vine, for which you have not laboured, neither made it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night. Shouldn’t I be concerned for Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who can’t discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much livestock?”

-JONAH 4:9-11, WEB-BE

You shall love your neighbor as yourself. – Matthew 22

It is always a challenge whenever we encounter someone who acts in a blatantly wicked way. We know that there is something terribly wrong and yet, the sense of our own guilt hinders us from being too quick to judge. For aren’t we all wicked also in many ways? Aren’t we all struggling to overcome our inner shadows?

On the other hand, merely tolerating such wickedness puts us at a no better place. For when was it ever right to consent to what is wrong?

When we encounter someone who acts wickedly, let us try to treat him as we treat ourselves. In the first place, we shouldn’t condemn ourselves when we make mistakes. There is no hope in that, neither is there any good in it. God Himself does not condemn us, why would we condemn ourselves?

On the other hand, we must not excuse ourselves or ever justify the evil we have done. Evil is always destructive, and if we allow it to reign over us, we would eventually destroy ourselves as well.

Let us do then what God would have us do. Let us seek forgiveness and let us forgive ourselves, casting our hopes not upon our human frailties but upon the infinite mercy of God. At the same time, let us cast away all evil, not tolerating the smallest sin we see, knowing that God is holy, and only the pure can ever see Him face to face.

“With love for mankind and hatred of sins.” – St. Augustine