Sirach,
Chapter 9, Verse 16-18
16 Take the righteous for your table companions; and
let your glory be in the fear of God. 17 Work by skilled hands will earn praise; but the
people’s leader is proved wise by his words. 18 Loud mouths are feared in their city, and
whoever is reckless in speech is hated.
It
is natural to fear loud powerful men or women who can do us grave harm. What
does a person do who finds themselves afraid of powerful, selfish and perhaps
evil people? Naturally your choices are you can either fight, run, do nothing,
come to a compromise or grow by developing a third alternative as described by
the late Dr. Steven Covey[1].
That is to come to a solution that is better than you or your opponent, could
have come up on your own.
Next
time you are faced with fear; resist the temptation to react in the classic
fight or flight method and try to discover a way for everyone to win. That is
not always possible but that should be your goal.
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
II. THE VOCATION TO CHASTITY cont.
The
integrality of the gift of self
2346 Charity is the form of all the virtues. Under its influence,
chastity appears as a school of the gift of the person. Self-mastery is ordered
to the gift of self. Chastity leads him who practices it to become a witness to
his neighbor of God's fidelity and loving kindness.
2347 The virtue of chastity blossoms in friendship. It shows the
disciple how to follow and imitate him who has chosen us as his friends, who
has given himself totally to us and allows us to participate in his divine
estate. Chastity is a promise of immortality. Chastity is expressed notably in
friendship with one's neighbor. Whether it develops between persons of the same
or opposite sex, friendship represents a great good for all. It leads to
spiritual communion. Friendship is when
two bodies become one soul (Chinese Cookie Fortune).
Baptism
of Jesus[2]
"Seek the Lord while he may
be found, call upon him while he is near" (Is 55, 6).
In spirit let us return to the banks of the Jordan where John the Baptist administered a Baptism of repentance, exhorting to conversion. Coming up to the Precursor is Jesus, and with his presence he transformed that gesture of repentance into a solemn manifestation of his divinity. A voice suddenly comes from heaven: "You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased" (Mk 1, 11) and, in the form of a dove, the Spirit descends upon Jesus.
In that extraordinary event, John saw realized what had been said about the Messiah born in Bethlehem, adored by the shepherds and the Magi. He was the very One foretold by the prophets, the beloved Son of the Father; we must seek him while he can be found and call upon him while he is at hand.
In Baptism every Christian
personally meets him; he is inserted into the mystery of Christ's death and
resurrection and receives a new life, which is the life of God. What a great
gift and what a great responsibility!
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