Budgeting and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati
One of the things that struck me the first time I ever read Blessed Pier Giorgio's biography was how he showed by his life that the Beatitudes could actually be lived out. By us. Now. In the present. I know it's not that shocking, but it shocked me because I had never understood how or where the Beatitudes fit into my life. Thanks to God and Blessed Pier Giorgio, though, I was able to understand that when Jesus says, "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted," He is talking about me. For every heartbreak, for every disappointment, for every sorrow that may not seem like much compared to what others have to go through, God is still there, waiting to bless me when I mourn. And if not in this life, then in the next. When Jesus says, "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called children of God" He is not telling us that we have go far away and resolve conflicts and end wars, and do all this great stuff in order to be blessed in this way. He is telling us that He is waiting to bless us whenever we apologize first to end an argument with a friend, or when we reconcile with family members. By his example, this is what Blessed Pier Giorgio taught me about the Beatitudes: that they are not made up of great things, but rather small things. Small things done with great love. This is a truth that not only Blessed Pier Giorgio but all the Saints realized, as well as the fact that what is happening in the present moment is happening for our sanctification.
In fact, this idea that what God is sending us in the present moment is what sanctifies us has been on my heart for a while now. For God calls us all to be saints. And if He is calling us all to be saints, then He will of course provide a way for us to achieve sanctity. I have always been (and still tend to be) of the mindset that I have to do some extraordinary feat (or feats) in order to be a saint. But this couldn't be farther from the truth! Holiness is possible right here, right now. I'm just so busy focused on what "great" things I could be doing if circumstances were different that I miss the opportunity that God is offering me to grow in holiness, to be sanctified in the present moment, and through my present circumstances.
Speaking of present circumstances, one area of my life that I realized I really needed to work on was how I handle money. I am not a very temperate person, and I tend to be a very black-and-white thinker. In other words, there's rarely any middle ground for me. And so, I find balancing things like school and rest and recreation difficult. (Just last semester I almost burned myself out because I hardly did anything just because I enjoyed it.) Unfortunately, I tend to see money in the same way. And so, not only am I a very impulsive buyer, but I tend to think that if I have money, I should spend it. But this is not exactly how it should be. While we should never be stingy with our money, we shouldn't spend it all just because we have it, either. God gave it to us as a gift, however much we have, and we should therefore be good stewards of it.
Over break when I was thinking about all this, I was reminded by Saint Josemaria Escriva and Blessed Pier Giorgio that maybe my struggle with finding balance with money was a way God was trying to teach me to be temperate and to practice self-control. And so, after reflecting upon this, I decided one night that I was going to live on a budget. At my university, we have what we call "Dining Dollars." While you pay for them in advance with the meal plan you choose, you only have a limited number of them per semester. With my meal plan, I get $200 Dining Dollars. Usually (and this is pretty embarrassing for me to say) I spend them by mid-terms. (Way too many trips to the Starbucks and c-store on campus!) Because semesters last for sixteen weeks, I decided that I would divide the number of Dining Dollars I had by the number of weeks there were in the semester and that that would give me the maximum I could spend each week at Starbucks, the c-store, or wherever. When I did this, my maximum came out to $12.50 per week. But because some of my friends and I are going to be taking a trip together this semester, I figured that I would need to save some of my Dining Dollars in order to buy some things specifically for the trip. And so, without giving you all the details (because this post is long enough already!) my maximum per week is $10.00.
Part of the reason why this maximum works for me is because I tried to make it realistic and I tried not to set myself up for failure. After all, as Saint Therese said, it's all about baby steps. God will match His steps to mine, just as a parent matches their gait to their child's knowing they can't walk as fast. Knowing myself, I was able to come up with a maximum that I knew I would stick to but that still would make me have to practice temperance, and that was realistic based on what I know I've bought in the past. (I'm a pretty predictable person and so I tend to buy the same items every week.) And while I know that some weeks I will have to go without some things in order to buy more important items, I'm okay with this because I think that that is exactly where the virtue will lie. I'll have to practice poverty of spirit, and temperance, and that's just fine. Because by doing something very ordinary (sticking to my budget), my amazing God will be waiting to bless me. For as He said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Ad maiorem Dei gloriam.
P.S. This week I came under budget at $6.98 for what I call the essentials of life: milk and fig newtons! Haha! ;)
In fact, this idea that what God is sending us in the present moment is what sanctifies us has been on my heart for a while now. For God calls us all to be saints. And if He is calling us all to be saints, then He will of course provide a way for us to achieve sanctity. I have always been (and still tend to be) of the mindset that I have to do some extraordinary feat (or feats) in order to be a saint. But this couldn't be farther from the truth! Holiness is possible right here, right now. I'm just so busy focused on what "great" things I could be doing if circumstances were different that I miss the opportunity that God is offering me to grow in holiness, to be sanctified in the present moment, and through my present circumstances.
Speaking of present circumstances, one area of my life that I realized I really needed to work on was how I handle money. I am not a very temperate person, and I tend to be a very black-and-white thinker. In other words, there's rarely any middle ground for me. And so, I find balancing things like school and rest and recreation difficult. (Just last semester I almost burned myself out because I hardly did anything just because I enjoyed it.) Unfortunately, I tend to see money in the same way. And so, not only am I a very impulsive buyer, but I tend to think that if I have money, I should spend it. But this is not exactly how it should be. While we should never be stingy with our money, we shouldn't spend it all just because we have it, either. God gave it to us as a gift, however much we have, and we should therefore be good stewards of it.
Over break when I was thinking about all this, I was reminded by Saint Josemaria Escriva and Blessed Pier Giorgio that maybe my struggle with finding balance with money was a way God was trying to teach me to be temperate and to practice self-control. And so, after reflecting upon this, I decided one night that I was going to live on a budget. At my university, we have what we call "Dining Dollars." While you pay for them in advance with the meal plan you choose, you only have a limited number of them per semester. With my meal plan, I get $200 Dining Dollars. Usually (and this is pretty embarrassing for me to say) I spend them by mid-terms. (Way too many trips to the Starbucks and c-store on campus!) Because semesters last for sixteen weeks, I decided that I would divide the number of Dining Dollars I had by the number of weeks there were in the semester and that that would give me the maximum I could spend each week at Starbucks, the c-store, or wherever. When I did this, my maximum came out to $12.50 per week. But because some of my friends and I are going to be taking a trip together this semester, I figured that I would need to save some of my Dining Dollars in order to buy some things specifically for the trip. And so, without giving you all the details (because this post is long enough already!) my maximum per week is $10.00.
Part of the reason why this maximum works for me is because I tried to make it realistic and I tried not to set myself up for failure. After all, as Saint Therese said, it's all about baby steps. God will match His steps to mine, just as a parent matches their gait to their child's knowing they can't walk as fast. Knowing myself, I was able to come up with a maximum that I knew I would stick to but that still would make me have to practice temperance, and that was realistic based on what I know I've bought in the past. (I'm a pretty predictable person and so I tend to buy the same items every week.) And while I know that some weeks I will have to go without some things in order to buy more important items, I'm okay with this because I think that that is exactly where the virtue will lie. I'll have to practice poverty of spirit, and temperance, and that's just fine. Because by doing something very ordinary (sticking to my budget), my amazing God will be waiting to bless me. For as He said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Ad maiorem Dei gloriam.
P.S. This week I came under budget at $6.98 for what I call the essentials of life: milk and fig newtons! Haha! ;)
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