One man desires to have abundant wealth,
Which brings about his murder or ill-health;
Another, freed from prison as he'd willed,
Comes home, his servants catch him, and he's killed.
Infinite are the harms that comes this way;
We little know the things for which we pray.
[emphasis added]
And in who knows how many other ways are the things we wish and pray for not, in the end, something we'd really want thanks to the consequences of having them? It's good to be content with what we have. The troubles that accompany the things we want might not be all that nice at all.
3 comments:
Hi RdP, I am getting caught up on two weeks of missed readings and your article here reminded me of a sermon that the priest at Philmont gave about God answering all of our prayers. God knows in our hearts what we need and what we do not. He only gives us bread; He will never give us a stone. He will only give us a fish; never a snake. (Mt. 7:7-12) Our problem, of course is trying to discern when the things we pray for are truly "bread" as opposed to asking God for a "stone" instead.
God bless!
Philmont - is that Philmont the Scout ranch? Cool!
He only gives us bread; He will never give us a stone.
Yes. Unfortunately we sometimes turn up our noses at it, a la the Israelites who longed for the leeks, cucumbers, melons, and garlic of Egypt (Numbers 11:5); also, I think sometimes we don't recognize that what we have been given is a good thing. Plus, sometimes the "bread" that we receive is given to us for our chastisement (Hebrews 12:5-13).
Peace,
RdP
Hi RdP:
Yep--that Philmont. I was one of the adult advisors who took a Venture crew (co-ed at that)on one of the treks there (approx. 70 miles). While out there, we came across a couple of bishops, seminarians and Catholic scouts who were participating in a St. George's trek, too. It was fun seeing a bishop and priests in scout uniforms!
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