A post by @BldgCatholicMen on Twitter:
Catholic Husbands and Fathers: A well-lived and abundant life is a dynamic and ongoing interplay of Grace and Choice — the contemplative and active life — the Theological and Cardinal Virtues.
The foundation is the Theological Virtues — God’s gift of himself:
— Faith (come to know & trust in the Lord)
— Hope (in His providence and promises)
— Charity (Give and receive authentic love)
These virtues are a super-natural gift of grace. We receive and engage them by seeking God, participating in the sacraments He has given us (Baptism, Eucharist, etc) and through a commitment to daily, purposeful prayer.
We would do well to remember that while prayer involves our activity — worshipping, thanking, apologizing, petitioning — it is God’s action upon us in prayer that is of utmost important and value. Hence, our job is primarily to show up, pray the best we can, but ultimately just be there with God and let Him do the work.
This relationship with God and your prioritization and engagement of it is the foundation of your life. But this relationship calls us to intentionality and action, and thus to the realm of the Cardinal (or Human) Virtues:
— Prudence (Intentionality, decision, action)
— Justice (duty, priority, vocation)
— Courage (facing fear, attacking and enduring evil)
— Temperance (tempering desires, retraining and reordering them to their purposes)
Upon the foundation of our relationship with God (Theological Virtues) we carry out our active life (the Cardinal Virtues). In this way, God’s grace builds upon, heals, and corrects our human nature.
The result of this practice and development of human virtues — the habits of soul by which we become free, creative, and actively oriented toward the Good — is a greater openness and ability to engage with God’s gifts of grace and love.
Hence: Prayer leads to greater conversion, and greater conversion leads us deeper into prayer — the active relationship with the almighty God — which in turn heals and empowers us to greater action.
This interplay of Grace and Choice is the the journey ahead of us. Grace is always the foundation, but God awaits and makes conversion dependent upon your free choices.
With this in mind:
1. Make God’s grace your life’s foundation by a fierce commitment to prayer and sacraments.
2. On this foundation, pour yourself into a life of intentionality, growth, and action. Hustle, grind, strive! Pick up your cross daily and run the race set before you!
3. But always return to an even greater commitment to the foundation: prayer, sacraments, grace. Seek and be open to God’s leading and guidance of your active life.
May God bless and be with you and your families today, my brothers.
+AMDG+