Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Know Thyself

Socrates said that "the unexamined life is not worth living." As Catholics we believe that ALL life is sacred. Nonetheless, we would do well to examine our own lives so that we may better appreciate God's great gift of life.

We began by examining a few simple positives in our lives: The things we enjoy, the things we are good at doing, the way we contribute to our comminities, and the reasons people like us. It is important to know our strengths, and to occasionally lift our spirits by reflecting on our accomplishments.

However, we must not neglect the parts of our life that we view as flaws or shortcomings. These are part of our identity as well. I have asked you to write a reflection paper on this "Dark Side"

The purpose is not to give you reason to be down on yourself, but rather the opportunity to ask, "How did I get this characteristic? Why do I have it?" If we desire to eliminate a given flaw or shortcoming, then this is the first step. And it may be in the end, that the "flaw" is actually a gift or a blessing, or something that is not so bad after all. The point is that we never know until we look.

Ad Jesum per Mariam,
Mr. B.

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