abstracts that's worth reflecting about...

.He who gives us the peace that the world cannot give.

Self-Sufficiency

can feel like independence, and independence can easily lead to separation from community. This happens when we pridefully try to take care of all of our needs by ourselves and,

when we cannot, we reject the help that God wants to give us through others.

The Church is a community, and this means that our own needs are

AS important as everyone else's.

Living the Gospel means giving AND receiving so that we have more to give.

St. Paul took care of his own needs to the extent that he could, not to be self-sufficient in an isolated sort of way, but to be generous toward others

If you have needs that are not being met, the misery you feel is a warning flag.

Either you're not availing yourself of what God wants to give you through others,

or others are saying no to being used by God.

As St. Paul demonstrated, by receiving what we need and sharing what we have,

we transform the world: We raise the standards of business ethics, family life, politics and everything else in society.

Through us, the Spirit of Truth makes an impact.

Finishing the Work Despite Hardships

Recognize the worth of what you're doing; notice how it glorifies God,

how it makes a difference for his kingdom.

Realize the value of your hardships: how they're increasing your holiness, your compassion, and your ability to help others

Don't focus on the hardships; keep your eyes on the goal -- the finish line -- and on the Lord for whom you're doing this.

If we quit, we forfeit our souls to the world, where we are not safe at all.

Only in God are we truly safe. He heals our wounds, kisses our nail wounds and raises us above the trials into his warm and gentle lap, where we are always safely loved.

The Gift of Understanding

Understanding, as a gift of the Holy Spirit, helps us to grasp the meaning of the truths of our holy religion BY faith we know them, but by Understanding we learn to appreciate and relish them.

It enables us to penetrate the inner meaning of revealed truths and through them to be quickened to newness of life.

Our faith ceases to be sterile and inactive, but inspires a mode of life that bears eloquent testimony to the faith that is in us;

we begin to "walk worthy of God in all things pleasing, and increasing in the knowledge of God."

Prayer
Come, O Spirit of Understanding, and enlighten our minds,

that we may know and believe all the mysteries of salvation;

and may merit at last to see the eternal light in Thy Light;

and in the light of glory to have a clear vision of Thee

and the Father and the Son.

Amen.