We are continuing our meditation on St. Paul's definition of Love. We have covered patience, and tackled kindness ; we thought about envy. and consider boastfulness. We looked at pride last time now let's look at dishonor [rudeness] and self-seeking, i.e. selfish.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not
envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others,
it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of
wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It
always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
Love does not dishonor others [Love is not rude], Love is not self-seeking. 1 Corinthians 13:5
God’s loving ways and thoughts are far higher and deeper than ours.
God is the Sovereign Authority over all there is, and certainly our
Superior. Yet, our God speaks to us intimately and with great respect
through His Holy Scriptures and Holy Spirit. Even when God must confront
us in clear, strong ways about our wrong behavior and tell us hard
truths about ourselves, God is never rude. Love does not dishonor
others, Love is not rude, Love is not self-seeking.
We are continuing our meditation on St. Paul's definition of Love. We have covered patience, and tackled kindness ; we thought about envy. and consider boastfulness. Not let us look at pride.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
We could write a whole book on the topic of pride, and many have. We just want to take a brief look to help us love better.
We are continuing our meditation on St. Paul's definition of Love. We have covered patience, and tackled kindness , we thought about envy. Now we consider boastfulness.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
Boasting is extolling oneself, usually in words. Boasting is opposed to truth, by way of excess, when one boasts of what one has but in excess, or by way of what one does not have, which is a lie. (Proverbs 28:25): "He that boasts, and puffs himself up, stirs up quarrels."
There are two forms of boasting, one is to create the illusion in one's own mind of your greatness. The second is to create a deception of your greatness in the minds of others. (2 Corinthians 12:5): ” I will not boast about myself, except to tell you of my humiliations.”
Even if your boasting comes from a fear of being inferior. This boasting still springs from vainglory and pride. If we are inferior to others that can be reality, at least at that moment. And so what? We are what we are in God's eyes. What others think does not make us better or worse. One's desire for self importance comes from pride and vainglory, and lacks humility. Marcus Aurelius wrote in his Meditations: "Do you wish to be praised by a man who curses himself thrice every hour?" Often people's criticisms are an extension of their own insecurities.
The humble person does not seek honor. Boasting seeks honors or sometimes gain. It can seek gain in money by boasting of how great an investment is, and having people invest under this delusion. It could also be used by suitors looking for a spouse. Boasting of their virtues or their riches and by so doing win the person's love. Proverbs 27:2: "Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth–a stranger, not your own lips."
Boasting can also come in group forms: boasting of one's family, or community, ethnic group, or country. This usually springs from the desire of belittling other groups, and a lack of love of one’s family as they are in reality. By boasting, we love a family that doesn’t exist, we are embarrassed by our real family as it is.
While love of your family or country can be a virtue, virtue is found in the mean (middle) not in the excess, which boasting is by definition. We can feel a sense of pride in real accomplishments, but not at the expense of truth or desire to humiliate.
Boasting is opposed to Love because it is selfish and a lie, seeking one’s own glory and not God’s first.
In addition to the books endorsed by the good father, above, may we suggest
Alphonsus de Liguori's very short classic. This is especially good for
those in challenging marriages, or other difficult circumstances:
"Written in 1755, Uniformity with God's Will is a wonderful little
treatise on the true love of God. Saint Alphonsus de Liguori writes to
encourage believers to unify their wills with that of God's, so that they may
love God perfectly: "the more one unites his will with the divine will, the
greater will be his love of God."
To choose otherwise--i.e. to choose
not to unify one's will with God's--is "a kind of idolatry." These seven
short chapters, not simply prone to abstract speculation, explore concretely
how to make one's own will uniform with God's through the hardships of this
life.
Further, the book discusses the fruit of such a union with God's
will: happiness.
De Liguori concludes by noting how, in all things, Christians
must remain steadfast in their union with God's will. For in so doing, God
will "press us to his heart." Challenging and encouraging, Uniformity with
God's Will has the power to remind us of what true love of God really is.
" by Tim Perrine CCEL Staff Writer
We are continuing our meditation on St. Paul's definition of Love. We have covered patience, and tackled kindness. Now let us think about envy.
1 Corinthians 13:4-74
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
Envy consists of sadness or grief at another's success, and by their good name and esteem increasing. Envy is related to the Ten Commandments, specifically, "Neither shall you covet ... anything that belongs to your neighbour"—this commandment belongs to greed but may be associated with envy. In this case, it is the esteemed reputation owned by another.
Dante in his Divine Comedy writes one of the envious souls on the terrace says:
"My blood was so afire with envy that, when I had seen a man becoming happy, the lividness in me was plain to see" [Purgatorio, Canto XIV, lines 82–84]
The envious man hates the happiness and success of others; it springs from the pride of vainglory. (Galatians 5:26): "Let us not be made desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another."
Here is an excellent presentation on having a personal relationship with Christ.This is so key to the spiritual life. Many call themselves Catholic but have no relationship with God. They are neither hot nor cold. This you tube channel has a lot of good videos. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzV2YYCue4QaJNhm7uoYnZg
These few words from Fr. Goring add to my thoughts.
We are continuing our meditation on St. Paul's definition of Love. We have covered patience, now we will tackle kindness.
1 Corinthians 13:4-74 "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
Kindness are acts of generosity, consideration, or concern for others, without expecting any praise or reward. Kindness is one of the main topics in the Bible, but seldom defined.
It is often used together with love in the Bible as "lovingkindness.": Psalm 103:8 "The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness."
In Book II of "Rhetoric", Aristotle defines kindness as "helpfulness towards someone in need, not in return for anything, nor for the advantage of the helper himself, but for that of the person helped."[Rhetoric, book 2, chapter 7]
We are kind when we are sympathetic to the other person's situation and take action. This is the meaning of the famous Good Samaritan parable.(Luke 10:30)
Kindness starts in our thoughts. Do we dwell on past hurts or seek revenge? Revenge is one of our strongest emotions. Keep an eye on that and you will grade your kindness. Revenge is not healthy for us it makes us spiritually sick
Editor: Sloth has become a common problem in today's culture. The conveniences of life too easily obtained can stunt emotional growth. Here is a great article I found on the problem handled in very practical way. The website linked to at the top of the article has a lot of practical advice. =================================================
"What do I do? I'm at my wits end! My grown son still lives at home.
He won't respect any of our house rules. He doesn't clean up after
himself. He just lounges around the house and never lifts a finger to do
anything."
"And, worse yet, we can't seem to motivate him to get a job. He isn't
even civil to us. When we try to tell him to treat us better and that
he needs to get a job, he gets belligerent and tells us to get off his
case."
You might be amazed at how often I hear about a situation such as
this. Upon being asked about this problem, I usually inquire about who
is subsidizing this irresponsible son's easy lifestyle. Whose food is he
eating? Whose car is he driving? Whose utilities is he using? The
answer is usually, "Well, ours, but..." This is often followed with a
list of explanations, excuses, and reasons related to, "Well, he doesn't
have the money to take care of himself" or "He has to save his money
because he wants to buy a car."
Please tell me, readers, would you put up with this for one minute if
it were anyone but your own child sucking off of your personal
resources, while at the same time treating you with such disrespect? Of
course not! You'd say, "Out! Get a life!" The answer is easy to see when
it doesn't involve your own child.
A surefire way to cripple a person is to allow him/her to sponge off
you. People who are warm, comfortable, protected, and well fed usually
have little motivation to change their lifestyles.
As we watch our culture succumb to the power of Pride, we are
witnessing the “gollumizing” of our brothers and sisters, as they
shrivel into pathetic wrecks of the people they are meant to be. The
only escape from this hell is rooted in heavenly love.
This
week, I met a good friend of mine at a local restaurant, the first time
we’d got together since before the onset of the pestilence. He is a
Presbyterian pastor and a great lover of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. It
was, in fact, Tolkien who had introduced us to each other, in the sense
that we first met at a local Tolkien conference a few years ago.
Love is the goal of life--to love God and our neighbor.
St. Paul defined it as we Christians should understand it.
“Love is patient, love is kind. Love is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury. Love does not rejoice over wrong-doing, but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
The devil tempts us by three main methods: Pleasure, Honor, and Power. Pride is part of all three. He focuses on our main weakness, which is sinful-pride. Other languages have one word for sinful-pride and another for good-pride, but not in common conversational English. (We could call good-pride “magnanimity” and sinful-pride “hubris”; but we will stick to common language for now). In English we tend to use the same words often with different meanings, depending on the context. Good-pride is the pride you have for your loved ones succeeding, one's country, or culture. It is “other minded” or “group minded.” But even these can become sinful, when brought to excess.
Here Fr. Goring explains a principle in the spiritual life of "AGERE CONTRA"--"To act against". A term in ascetical literature to describe the
deliberate effort one must make to strive to overcome his evil
tendencies, by doing the opposite of that to which he is sinfully
inclined.
Fr. Goring is on fire with pearls of wisdom for the spiritual life. Here talks about how one should pray to know your soul as God sees it. To know your faults and sins, especially the ones you are not conscious of.
There was a practice of revealing your innermost thoughts to your spiritual father in religious orders, but it was not the sacrament of confession. The practice has fallen out favor because of abuses and other complications. There is a problem of the inner and external forum.
For example a married priest shouldn't hear his wife's confession, unless it is a dire emergency. It makes interpersonal relationships very complicated.
It creates complications because similar to the seal of confession, "manifestations of conscience" has a kind of seal of secrecy, and confidentiality, which makes it hard to navigate when one, as a superior, can act or can't.
To curb such abuses Pope Leo XIII, 17 December 1890, "Quemadmodum" forbade both mandatory
manifestation of conscience and the practice of superiors inducing their
subjects to make such manifestations.
