Dear Matt,<\/p>\n
I think you\u2019re overreacting (as usual).\u00a0 Don\u2019t get me wrong, it\u2019s commendable that you are trying to organize your time conscientiously, especially since nobody else is going to be organizing it for you (as this summer\u2019s Fellowship is your first taste of full time research, you will soon discover the reason why so many graduate students take so long to finish their studies \u2013 precisely because they don\u2019t do what you\u2019re doing: organize their time.\u00a0 And those who do make a plan often lack the self-discipline to follow it).\u00a0 That said, however, you needn\u2019t exaggerate.\u00a0 You are not a monk (maybe God will call you down that path, but you\u2019re not there yet).\u00a0 I think praying all 150 Psalms each day may be overdoing it.\u00a0 Perhaps you need to learn from today\u2019s saint.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t know a whole lot about Maximus, except that he seems to have come from Vercelli (northern Italy) and was the first bishop of Turin (where the famous Shroud of Turn is currently kept).\u00a0 He also participated in a couple of important Councils in the fifth century, in which he defended authentic doctrine.\u00a0 But we know him best as a preacher.\u00a0 More than two hundred of his homilies survive \u2013 which means that his people considered them well worth writing down and spreading around (if they hadn\u2019t been widely regarded and read at the time, they certainly wouldn\u2019t have survived the so-called Dark Ages).<\/p>\n
His eloquence bolstered the faith and confidence of a people sorely tried by the violent upheavals that crashed against the declining Western Roman Empire.\u00a0 Maximus\u2019s part of Italy was especially buffeted; it served almost as a thoroughfare for the many barbarian armies that swept in and out of the Italian Peninsula looting and pillaging.<\/p>\n
One of the reasons he was so effective was that he kept things simple.\u00a0 For instance, he spoke of the importance of prayer, but he focused on the essentials: he stressed the value of praising God each day (there the Psalms can indeed help \u2013 you were on the right track\u2026), making sure to take some time to pray in the morning and the evening (that\u2019s reasonable and wise, right?), and never neglecting to thank God before and after each meal.\u00a0 He also encouraged the frequent use of the Sign of the Cross, even before every activity.\u00a0 It\u2019s a simple prayer (so simple, in fact, that we often forget that it\u2019s a prayer!) by which, the saint explained, \u201ca blessing is assured us in all things.\u201d<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t mean to say that you should cut out your daily meditation and frequent Mass or the other good habits you\u2019ve been forming, but I do mean to say that the Devil would love for you to overload on pious activities out of a subtle pride (or maybe vanity) about your exemplary austerity instead of really focusing your energy on the duties of your state in life \u2013 which comprise the fertile soil of God\u2019s will for you right now.<\/p>\n
Your loving uncle,<\/p>\n
Eddy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Matt, I think you\u2019re overreacting (as usual).\u00a0 Don\u2019t get me wrong, it\u2019s commendable that you are trying to organize your time conscientiously, especially since nobody else is going to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":359,"featured_media":145992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3719],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-142505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncle-eddy"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"","pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n