Wisdom

I mean to post something on our virtue/Scripture/saint every week, but you know how it is. Life, five kids, work, and all. ;-)

This past week our virtue was wisdom. What is wisdom? I define wisdom as having knowledge and making good use of it, knowing the correct thing to do and making the choice to do it, using good judgment, understanding. What good is knowing something if we do not know how to use that knowledge? What good is reading and listening if we do not understand and apply what we've read and heard to our lives? Simply knowing the right thing to do does us little good if we do not also realize that we have to choose to act on it.
Wisdom does not come naturally to all of us, but the good news is that we all have a way to obtain it! The Scripture verse we have chosen to memorize this week is James 1:5 (RSV), "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him." I believe this wholeheartedly, and I will never cease my asking.

Each Friday, if the children can commit our Scripture verse to memory and recite it for me, I give them a dollar. I have no problem with bribing the children to memorize their Scriptures. I'll be happy to do whatever it takes to help them permanently etch the Scriptures into their memories. All the candy and bribes I received from memorizing Scripture verses Sunday School growing up did me no harm whatsoever, but those verses are still in my memory today. They come to me in prayer, they come to me as an answer to prayer, and they come to comfort me in times of stress.

Our saint for this week is Catherine of Sienna, whose feast day was April 29. St. Catherine is a hard example to follow, with her severe ascetism, but she is an example to us nonetheless. She was the youngest of 25 children, and answered the call at a young age to devote her life to God. She devoted her life to caring for the sick and poor, and her wisdom caused her to rebuke a pope...and he listened to her. She received the stigmata, which became visible after her death, and she is one of the saints whose body was found incorrupt after her death. She is one of the Doctors of the Church. Her writings can be found here.
St. Catherine of Sienna, pray for us!