Category: Dynamic Catholic

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The Secret to Growing in Wisdom

“What is wisdom? Well, it’s more than just common sense. There are many ways wisdom can manifest in our lives. One is through sound judgment and good decisions. Wisdom can also manifest through profound spiritual insight. But one of the most powerful ways wisdom manifests in our lives is through desire.

It is great everyday wisdom to want what is good for you. You may say, “I don’t always know what is good for me.” That’s okay. In fact, that’s one of the amazing things about wisdom. Just desiring wisdom is wise. So, even if you don’t know what is good for you, just the desire to know what is good for you is wisdom… and a great prayer.

The problem we encounter is our desire for things that aren’t good for us.

Our lower instincts are wired to seek pleasure and avoid pain. But sometimes pleasure is the worst thing for us, and pain is just what we need. That’s why our higher faculties, such as our will and intellect, are able to move beyond our instincts and choose what is true, good, just, and right.

Wisdom is wanting the right things. And the right things are those that help you become more fully alive and fully human, the things that help you love God and neighbor, and the things that help you become the-very-best-version-of-yourself!”

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The Key to Forgiveness

“Does forgiveness work? It’s a great question. Forgiveness is one of the hardest things in the world I find. It might come easier to you, but I struggle. And I suppose it depends on what you are trying to forgive. If it’s something you don’t care so much about, it pretty easy to forgive. But when you have been deeply hurt, horrendously wounded, monumentally betrayed, it can be incredibly difficult to forgive.

And the thing is, this isn’t theoretical. If you live long enough, you will be deeply hurt, horrendously wounded, and monumentally betrayed… and possibly many times.

So, as hard as forgiveness is sometimes, it raises one question in my practical mind. Does it work? Because if we can be convinced that it works, it will be easier to do that hard work to follow through.

Does forgiveness work? Yes, but it is critically important to keep one thing in mind. Forgiveness doesn’t change the past, it changes the future.

I’ll say it one more time, forgiveness doesn’t change the past, it changes the future. So, if you want your future to be better than your past, different to your past, more peaceful and less bitter and resentful, it might be time to think about who you need to forgive and what you need to forgive them for. Because the other thing I have learned about forgiveness over the years is that our need to forgive is usually greater than their need to be forgiven.

There is no future without forgiveness. That’s true in a relationship, in a family, in a community, on a team, it’s true for a nation, and it’s true for humanity. There is no future without forgiveness.”

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The Secret Behind Our Desires

New York Times bestselling author Matthew Kelly interviews author Luke Burgis. Luke is a teacher, speaker, entrepreneur, and author of Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life.