Tag: Catholic

Posted on

Virtue, Charity, and Other Pursuits

The Objective

I aspire to a life of virtue. I want to be holy.

I know what I need to do; the problem is that I don’t always act on what I know.

Most of the time I operate in fits and starts. I buy a new moisturizer that promises the fountain of youth, and I use it for three days and remember to use it again when I take a too-close selfie.

A great swell of enthusiasm takes me to daily Mass several days in a row, only to sleep in on the fifth day and miss the goal of going all week. I lose track of a novena somewhere along the fourth or fifth day. My mind wanders to a to-do list during a homily.

I often think there’s no way I could possibly tackle the Works of Mercy if I can’t even get through a homily. And no, it isn’t the priest’s fault (most of the time).

A recent visit with a dear friend blessed me with some great conversations about a number of things, including our pursuit of virtuous lives. We came to the conclusion that we need to work at it, need to approach it with love, and need to take baby steps for successes. We need to move with our hearts:  charity for others, and for ourselves, too.

We came to that conclusion pretty easily. I mean, that when we got to the conclusion, it felt right. And then I remembered this:

That’s my friend in the video — and I wrote the script. LOL, no wonder we came to such a brilliant conclusion.

The Plan

Every morning I wash my face, moisturize, and put on my halo-in-training nice and straight. It usually slips by the time I get to the kitchen for coffee if the dog is underfoot and I step on him. I say my prayers and spend a little time journaling. It often leads me to do a little reading about the saints.

I read a lot and write a lot, kind of like Flannery O’Connor — to figure out what I think. So why do I write so much about the saints? Because sometimes I see a little bit of myself in them, the struggles they have, and their yearning for Christ. I really do want to be holy.

And why do I keep moisturizing if the crow’s feet have sprouted into yards?

The simple answer is hope. I hope I can keep the dry spots and blemishes at bay.

I hope I grow in virtue. I put my hope in the Lord. In my salvation. In my ability to get better each day, even if it’s just keeping the halo on straight through that first cup of coffee.

Know what helps? Frequent reception of the sacraments — go to Mass. Go to Confession. Rinse. Repeat.

And moisturize!

Some Fun Stuff

Listen to Jennifer’s insights on Adventures in Imperfect Living

Watch the other episodes of That Catholic Show

And tell me, do you think the Super Girl on the cover of my book looks like Jennifer’s Super Girl in the video?

 

 

Posted on

Review: Little Sins Mean a Lot

little sinsFull disclosure: I knew I wanted this book , Little Sins Mean a Lot by Elizabeth Scalia since last year, so to say I have been looking forward to its publication so I could inhale it chapter after chapter is a bit of an understatement. This is the kind of book that I want to gobble up greedily like the giant bowl of ice cream prepared after the kids were asleep and the husband was engrossed in the football game. Swallowed up and finished quickly and leaving no evidence…until chapter 4 convicted me of my own little sin of over-indulgence. And chapter 5 waggled its finger at me for gossiping. And chapter 8 punished me with my own snarky judgmentalism (is that a word? Nah, I don’t think so).

The book became an examination of conscience — and folks, it slows you down when you start doing an examen like this.

On the upside, I went to confession, so that’s a win.

I knew I’d love the book because I’ve loved Scalia’s writing for many years. If you haven’t read Strange Gods…what’s wrong with you? Get on it!

And then, of course, there’s this one, Little Sins Mean a Lot: Kicking Our Bad Habits Before they Kick Us. In this collection of essays reflecting on the little things we do that pick away at us and lead us down the path of sin, Scalia reflects on her life and how these habits have taken hold of her. It’s not an exposé, and certainly not a holier-than-thou parade of how she has overcome these sinful habits, but rather, an authentic sharing of how she, we are all a mess in varying degrees, and boy could we use some strategies to change these behaviors.

That’s what I love about this book, the strategies. Every chapter talks about the bad habit-becoming-sin, gives a marvelous and eclectic selection of sources that explain the Church’s position on the sin (of course scripture and the Catechism, but so much more), and then offers some advice on actionable steps we can take to overcome this habit, because it is a habit, this concupiscence. Finally, she calls us to prayer — how else can we find the strength to overcome these sins?

In the front matter, before the table of contents, is nestled a pair of quotations that delight me, but then again, I’m a fan of both women :

Don’t let your sins turn into bad habits. — St. Teresa of Avila

Don’t let your bad habits turn into sins. — Elizabeth Scalia

There’s no denying the causal relationship of habits and sin. But there’s also no need to get so jacked up about it that we despair. This book recommends the strategies, sure, but also offers hope in gems like this:

… if we would only invite [God] in, he would come. And then, where God is, what has been empty becomes full; what has been dark becomes light; what has been plundered can be made whole.

There’s hope in that. God wants so much more for us than the small ways we sell ourselves short.

 

Little Sins Mean a Lot: Kicking Our Bad Habits Before They Kick Us
by Elizabeth Scalia
published by Our Sunday Visitor

 

 

 

Pin It on Pinterest