Moment to Moment Goodness

Moment to Moment Goodness

We must not wish anything other than what happens from moment

 to moment, all the while, however, exercising ourselves in goodness.

St. Catherine of Genoa                                                                                        

 Cited in Mystical Hours

Brother Teasdale unpacks these words and gives us a further explanation for us to ponder:

Again we find a statement we might first identify as Buddhist, coming from the mouth of a great Christian saint, Catherine of Genoa. (1447-1510)  Born Caterinetta Fieschi, brings us back to The utter importance of the now, the present moment, each moment.

In each moment, the will of God is present, if only we can only allow ourselves to discern it. Part of that will is that we accept wholly what is presented to us, without resistance. If we encounter a homeless person, an annoying stranger, a difficult relative, or a combative associate at work, our task is to be present to them, and to respond with compassion, or as Catherine says so well,

 “to exercise ourselves in goodness.”                                                      

 There is this wonderful teaching kind of “Taoist/Buddhist/Catholicism” at work. As we discern the Divine Will in each moment, we must align ourselves with it. Being kind, loving, compassionately available, and responsive are ways to exercise this goodness.