strive eagerly

1 corinthians 12:31-13:13; Ps 33 Blessed are the people the Lord has chosen to be his own; Luke 7:31-35

Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.  Striving is something we do, but  a gift is what we receive.

IT seems initially to be a paradox or contradiction but yet it remains true.  The gifts we are given are bestowed undeserved, but they must mature and maturation requires an effort.

But do we put forth an effort?  Do we strive eagerly?

Most of us have a notion that being spiritual is a passive reality.  We don't have to sweat.  We don't have to work.  We don't have discipline ourselves.

The protestant notion of faith with out works has made us a bit lazy and sluggish.  We grope for what we know not.

Faith is primary.  The grace of God is what initiates and completes our  life.  But grace builds on nature.

One of the things that comes to mind as I hear the words of St. Paul about striving is baptism.
When children are baptized, we ask the parents to accept the responsibility to train their children in the ways of faith.  We know that practice is necessary for maturation to be realized.

With all things, the more we practice the better we are able to respond to the task at hand.

One who plays a musical instrument knows that one is more like to be able to play spontaneously beautifully only after years of training and practice.

IT goes the same with playing any sport.

Practice prepares the body and mind to enter fully into the game, sharpening our instincts along the way in such a manner we are able to respond gracefully and efficiently to the circumstances that unfold.

So it is with faith.  We practice our faith in all circumstances and thus we are able to instinctually respond in a graceful manner in each circumstance.

We must strive that is train ourselves. Each moment is an opportunity to practice.

We strive eagerly get our souls in the game.  The greatest gift of course is love.  What a gift if we practice well: patient, kind, not jealous, not pompous, not inflated, not rude, not seeking own interest, not quick-tempered, not brooding over injury, not rejoicing in wrong doing but rejoiced with the truth.

Now there is a recipe for success.

Strive for that and be eager.

A word form the Pope:

"The human being lives in the suspicion that God's love creates a dependence and that he must rid himself  of this dependency  if he is to be fully himself.  Man does not want to receive his existence and the fullness of his life from God.  He himself wants to obtain from the tree of knowledge the power to shape the world, to make himself a god, raising himself to God's level, and to overcome death and darkness with his own efforts.  He does not want to rely on love that to him seems untrustworthy ; he relies solely on his own knowledge since it confers power upon him.  And in doing so, he trusts in deceit rather than in truth and thereby sinks with his life into emptiness, into death."