RBWords

     Once in awhile I run into the expression, "life-coach."  This appears to be a new industry of sorts whereby an individual becomes certified to help other folks to sort out their iives.  How it differs from licensed counselors, spiritual directors, Yogi's, etc., I'm not sure, but the author of the Second Letter of Peter might qualify, at least in the words quoted above!  He offers that advice as a way of helping a new believer put skin on the gift of grace - "everything that makes for life and devotion, ....very great promises...."

     One reason for this is the fact that the original audience for the letter was probably Greek in culture and language and in Asia Minor.  Any reading of St. Paul's letters will tell one that life could be rough,  and morally it was "anything goes."  There was no background in the regulated Jewish culture where the Mosaic law determined what was right and wrong.    A Christian living in such a culture faced considerable temptation!  Hmmmmm......that seems a bit like our own secular culture.  I would advise any high school graduate beginning their undergraduate years of college to print out the words quoted above and hang them on their mirror!

     A truly Christian lifestyle will both attract and repel.  We Dominicans celebrate today the feast of St. Peter of Verona, OP.  He was martyred by a heretic while preaching and is said to have written in the dust with his own blood, the word CREDO.  [I believe]  Nowadays, a Christian is more and more called to be "counter cultural."  The words from 2 Peter are a step forward in that direction.  AMEN