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So in
general we can say that the most important knowledge is knowledge of
You, O Lord."
...St. Augustine |
"My
soul
cannot find rest, till it rests in You, O God."
The Eternal Wisdom And much good it did
me! Indeed, it was harmful, because it encouraged me to think of You, O
Lord, as if you were part of what you had made, instead of being its
essence and origin. Sadly, I had my back toward the light and my eyes
fixed on
the darkness. I could understand without difficulty logic, rhetoric,
geometry, music, and arithmetic, but I did not see that my intelligence
itself was a gift of God and that all the true things I learned came
from him, their source. What advantage was it to me that I had a nimble
wit when all the while I turned from good and clung to evil? Little did
I realize then how much better off were all those (as I saw them)
"simple" souls who lacked my native intelligence but put their trust in
God and sheltered safely within the nest of His Church....Saint
Augustine
Humility is a
supernatural
virtue whereby one is enabled to make a true and just estimate of
himself
and is inclined to hold himself and his accomplishments in contempt in
recognition that all good arises from God alone. It is said "dependence
on God gives wings to prayer" St. Ignatius terms it a relinquishment of
"self-will,
self-love, and self-interests." It is positive in not seeking honors
and
esteem of others, and self-condemning because man knows evil is his own
doing. Humility is exercised toward God and neighbors: toward God who
as
the Creator gives man whatever he possesses, and toward one's neighbors
by recognizing their worth in the eye's of God. This virtue is the
opposite
of pride and self pursuit, which is the root of all evil; hence
humility
is basic to the practice of all the virtues. It is fundamental of
prayer,
notably the prayer of simplicity, for Christ rewarded the
Syro-phoenician
women for her humility (Mk
"We should pray to the divine
Spirit for the grace to be genuinely self denying. In this is a release
like
know other, a treasure found in heaven.
"Better to know the planner than the plan" Lord, you are not pleased with someone simply
because that person is knowledgeable. In fact, it would be possible for
one to know everything there is to know in the whole wide world, except
for knowing you, and consequently know nothing. Just as another person
could live in blissful ignorance of the great sum of human knowledge,
but know you, and be both happy and content. After all, who is better
placed - the person who owns a tree and gives You thanks for all the
good things it provides; or the one who owns a similar tree and knows
its weight and dimensions down to the least leaf, but does not realize
that You are its Creator and that it is through You that he or she has
use of it? In essence, the latter person is ignorant, though full of
facts, and the former person wise, though bit short on details. So in
general we can say that the most important knowledge is knowledge of
You, O Lord."...St. Augustine Whenever
there is true fellowship and love between people, God's spirit is
always present. In all human relationships, God's spirit is what
brings them together. When a life is changed through the channel of
another person, it is God who makes that change using the person as a
means. The moving power behind all spiritual things, all personal
Relationships between
people is God, who is always there. No personal relationships can
be right without God's presence. ………….From the Word among Us
Prayer of St. Francis of
Assisi God grant me
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