Monday, January 11, 2016
Sirach,
Chapter 7, Verse 6
Do
not seek to become a judge if you do not have the strength to root out crime,
Lest you show fear in the presence of the prominent and mar your
integrity.
Basically do not start something
you cannot finish or you will damage your honor. Our Lord said something similar
to this in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus said, “No
one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for
the kingdom of God.” (Lk. 9:62)
Plough Monday is the
traditional start of the English agricultural year. While local practices may
vary, Plough Monday is generally the first Monday after Twelfth Day (Epiphany),
6 January. The day traditionally saw the resumption of work after the Christmas
period.
As we begin our working year let
us remember that our primary work in the world as a follower of Christ is to do
his will for us putting our hand on the plough and looking forward to the year;
may all of our days and rows be straight.
No man, having
put his hand ... - To put one's hand to a plow is a proverbial expression to
signify undertaking any business. In order that a plowman may accomplish his
work, it is necessary to look onward - to be intent on his employment - not to
be looking back with regret that he undertook it. So in religion. He that
enters on it must do it with his whole heart, He that comes still loving the
world - still looking with regret on its pleasures, its wealth, and its honors
- that has not "wholly" forsaken them as his portion, cannot be a
Christian, and is not fit for the kingdom of God. How searching is this test to
those who profess to be Christians! And how solemn the duty of all people to
renounce all earthly objects, and to be not only "almost," but
"altogether," followers of the Son of God! It is perilous to tamper
with the world - to look at its pleasures or to seek its society. He that would
enter heaven must come with a heart full of love to God; giving "all"
into his hands, and prepared always to give up all his property, his health,
his friends, his body, his soul to God, when he demands them, or he cannot be a
Christian. Religion is everything or nothing. He that is not willing to
sacrifice "everything" for the cause of God, is really willing to
sacrifice nothing.[1]
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
II. THE VOCATION TO CHASTITY cont.
The
various forms of chastity
2348 All the baptized are called to chastity. The Christian has
"put on Christ," the model for all chastity. All Christ's faithful
are called to lead a chaste life in keeping with their particular states of
life. At the moment of his Baptism, the Christian is pledged to lead his
affective life in chastity.
2349 "People should cultivate [chastity] in the way that is suited to
their state of life. Some profess virginity or consecrated celibacy which
enables them to give themselves to God alone with an undivided heart in a
remarkable manner. Others live in the way prescribed for all by the moral law,
whether they are married or single." Married people are called to live
conjugal chastity; others practice chastity in continence: There are three
forms of the virtue of chastity: the first is that of spouses, the second that
of widows, and the third that of virgins. We do not praise any one of them to
the exclusion of the others. This is what makes for the richness of the
discipline of the Church.
2350 Those who are engaged to marry are called to live chastity in continence.
They should see in this time of testing a discovery of mutual respect, an
apprenticeship in fidelity, and the hope of receiving one another from God.
They should reserve for marriage the expressions of affection that belong to
married love. They will help each other grow in chastity.
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