No one can ever fully develop his character who does not understand the law; to use is to have. The wise get wiser, the rich get richer and "those who have, get." Hence the general complaint at raffles is that it is always the man who has the automobile who gets the prize; those who do not really need money receive the inheritance. But it is not just windfall wealth that is received; rather, those who have capital are apt to put it out successfully for investment and thus double or triple their income. Treasure grows when it is used, but when hidden in the ground and not used it rusts. "To him who has, more shall be given."

Even in the higher realms of the moral order, the more one uses what is good, the more one develops and enriches it. The more the intellect is used for the high purposes to which it is destined, the more agile and profound it becomes. On the contrary, those who substitute eyes for the mind or looking at pictures for thinking, eventually reach a point where reading a solid work is a positive trial. When everything is made easy, the noblest parts of man wither through disuse.

In the moral order as well, when the voice of conscience is used, respected, obeyed and followed, it becomes more sensitive to duty, more sympathetic to the burdens of others and more solicitous about the aches and worries of neighbours. On the contrary, when the voice of conscience is thrust aside; when the carnal and the erotic are allowed to dominate it; when the animal instincts are used to the detriment of the God-like imperatives, consciences begins to dwindle until it becomes "seared as if with a hot iron. " Everyone is born with "moral capital" which is conscience. If he/she uses that capital he/she gets more of it, namely, an increase of goodness and honesty. Moral power is lost by inattention as the eyes of the mole lost their vision by groveling in the earth. Neglect has terrible penalties: talents are taken away and, after a while, one becomes like the profligate woman in the Book of Proverbs who "wipes her mouth and says: 'I have done no wrong.'"

This law explains why some intellectuals who seem to know so much have not always a virtue comparable to their knowledge. Some teachers know all the proofs of Aristotle for the existence of God, and yet they never say any prayers. Because they have not acted on the little knowledge of God they had, by deepening their communion with God, their knowledge atrophies like a parched tree, bearing no more fruit. It is the use of brains and not their mere possession to which the reward attaches. Any truth that is meant to influence life, if held lightly or indifferently, generally evaporates. The moral truths that we already know, if not followed through with discipline and effort, soon become unwelcome truths, because they are at variance with the way we live.

Every D.D. [Doctorate of Divinity] ought to be saint; every Ph.D. ought to be as good as Plato or Socrates but, as a matter of fact, there are more saints among the non D.D.s and more good moral pagans among the non Ph.D.s. If the mind, the will and the moral sense of duty are to grow, they must be pressed to the heart with hoops of steel, allowed to dominate us until they begin to produce their capital of a happy and a peaceful life.

What is true in the order of nature is true in the order of super nature or grace. Only those who use the graces they are given are given more. As in the order of nature, we get our second wind only when we have used up our first, so in the order of the spirit, as we exhaust ourselves in the pursuit of the Divine and the Kingdom of God, are we given increments and compound interest of new insights and energies.

The law is written in every heart: Whatever we cultivate, bestial or divine, will grow; whatever we repress or neglect will die. Disregarded truth becomes disliked truth; truth acted on grows more rapidly than money produces interest. It is up to us to choose - everyone is reaping what he/she sows.

BY ARCHBISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN  ( 1895 to 1979 )

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -