A Virtuous Life

St. Thomas says [I-II, Q.34,a.4) that a man is good when his will takes joy in what is good, evil when his will takes joy in what is evil.
He is virtuous when he finds happiness in a virtuous life, sinful when he takes pleasure in a sinful life.
Hence the things that we love tell us what we are.
A man is known, then, by his end.
He is also known by his beginning.
And if you wish to know him as he is at any given moment, find how far he is from his beginning and how near to his end.
-- Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude

The good man comes from God and returns to Him.
He starts with the gift of being and with the capacities God has given him.
He reaches the age of reason and begins to make choices.
-- Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude

Smiles

What sunshine is to flowers,
smiles are to humanity.
These are but trifles, to be sure;
but, scattered along life's pathway,
the good they do is inconceivable.

Joseph Addison

www.gratefulness.org

The Taste Of Life

Follow the ways of right and not of wrong.
The tree that bears the fruits of goodness will flourish in the promised reign of God.
The tree that bears no taste of life will perish.

A Simple Smile

I will never understand all the good
that a simple smile can accomplish.

Blessed Mother Teresa