Above all things - Pray

 

Day  30   Of the Virtues putting Vices to flight.   Where there is charity and wisdom there is neither fear nor ignorance Where there is patience and humility there is neither anger nor worry. Where there is poverty and joy there is neither cupidity nor avarice. Where there is quiet and meditation there is neither solicitude nor dissipation. Where there is the fear of the Lord to guard the house the enemy cannot find a way to enter. Where there is mercy and discretion there is neither excess nor hard-heartedness.	We, in the Ecumenical Franciscan Order  Meditate on the Admonitions of St. Francis daily, as part of our Daily Office, our Br. Shepherd has therefore divided these into 31 parts; today we think about virtues and vice.   Why is Solicitude a vice? – Why is it more virtuous to be quiet than kind?   When taken to its extreme being kind, concerned, attentive etc. are degrees of anxiety and to be anxious is a vice.   Paul tells us in Philippians 4: 6, 7 – that anxiety is overcome through prayer.   6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Therefore the most virtuous thing we might do is to pray.
	NIV