What kind of gift would you expect if you were able to overcome your envy and love much?
Understanding.
It is understanding that allows us to hope because we understand the proper order of things.
It is understanding that allows us to look beyond material things because we understand that we are not made of money or even stuff. We are made in the image and likeness of God and our hearts will only find rest in Him alone.
If we believe in God, if we have faith in Him, then we must seek to understand more of Him. You must already have a little of this gift if you are engaging in the Sainthood Challenge. You must want to understand more about God so that you can know more about Him. This will allow you to love him better.
If we seek understanding, then we seek the very heart of God.
If we seek the very heart of God then we understand how to love our fellow man.
If we seek to love our fellow man then we can become saints.
If we become saints then we can allow God to transform the world.
Understanding is not even the complete understanding of the revelation of God. That would be impossible for us. We would have a better opportunity to have an ant understand completely the mind of someone like Albert Einstein.
It's a cycle and one that we should proudly put ourselves on. "I believe in order to understand, the more I understand, the better I believe." St. Augustine made it clear that our faith works hand in hand with understanding.
When we have faith our hope is pronounced because we can experience the joy of the glorified life after death. God is that good. It is not that we will understand everything, even though there are those that have been given the gift of understanding, being able to comprehend God in a higher capacity than those around them.
No, God is a bottomless ocean into which we sink our very selves, even our intellect.
It is that we start slowly, understanding God bit by bit with each new level of understanding leading to another. We recognize that each step brings us closer to God but also recognize that each step brings us closer to the realization of how much farther we have to go. This isn't a reason for despair, but actually a reason for hope.
Looking for a way to get more involved in your faith? Take a small step to understand it better.
Looking to understand your faith a little better? Take a small step in order to have greater faith.
The more you are invested in something, the harder it is to let go of it. The more you are invested in something, the harder it is to lose it. The more you are invested in something the more you want to understand it. The more you are invested in something, the more you fall deeply in love with it.
This is why it is so important to seek to understand even the other people in your life. The truth is that their souls are so unique and distinct that it would be impossible for us to fully understand even the people that we are supposed to know the most. How can you know everything about the person and their entire history and how they see the world? Many times we do not understand ourselves and our own reactions to things. It becomes difficult for us to even understand how we react to things.
The more we receive the gift of understanding from God, the more we are able to understand the people around us, the God above us, and in the end, even ourselves and our own motivations.
In the end, the gift of understanding is there for the asking. All we have to come to God in Faith. In bold Faith.
Questions for Reflection:
- What parts of the faith do you wish that you understood better? What concrete step can you take today to get your questions answered?
- Why do you think that people do not seek to understand God better? What can you do to help someone understand God better today?
- What tools do we have in the Church that can help us understand God better?
- If you feel you understand God, do you think that you are underestimating God or overestimating yourself?
- What are some concrete actions that you can take today to better understand the other people in your life?
- If you don't have a Catechism or Compendium of the Catechism, get one or look at it online. Look at the index and select one topic that you wish that you knew more about. Read the description and try to explain it to someone else today. The easier it is to explain it completely, the more you will understand it.
- Take time today to understand the other people in your life. Select one person whose motivations and actions you have difficulty understanding. Sit down with them and ask them questions. Don't try to solve their problems or give them advice, just listen. Try to understand things from their perspective.
- Take a little time each day to learn a little more about God. It may be through meditating on God's creation. It may be on spending time in front of the Blessed Sacrament. It may be through reading Scripture. Make a list of some things that you learn as you capture a little more each day of the understanding of the Almighty.
- Your vocation is vital to your sanctification. It is how you live it out in the world. Make a choice over the next few days to understand your vocation a little better. Do something you wouldn't normally do to make your vocation stronger. Go out of your way to sacrifice for your vocation. While doing that, try to understand the depth of what your vocation truly means.
- Pray each day for understanding. Make it the intention and the prayer before you even begin a conversation or a prayer for another intention.
Jesus Prayer:
(Every time you walk through a door) "Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner."
Anima Christi (Soul of Christ) (to be said in the morning)
Soul of Christ, sanctify me;
Body of Christ, save me;
Blood of Christ, inebriate me;
Water from the side of Christ, wash me;
Passion of Christ, strengthen me;
O my sweet Jesus hear me;
within your wounds hide me;
suffer me never to be separated from you;
from the malignant enemy defend me;
at the hour of my death call me; and bid me come to you;
that with your saints I may praise you forever. Amen.
Act of Hope (to be said at noon)
O my God, relying on your infinite goodness and promises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of your grace, and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer.
Come Holy Spirit (to be said in the evening)
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth.
Oh God, who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us in that same Spirit to be truly wise, and ever to rejoice in his consolation. Through the same Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
The Apostles Creed: (to be said before you start your work)
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. From thence he shall come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
