Monday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary time

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/060412.cfm

For this very reason,
make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue,
virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control,
self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion,
devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.

I don’t read Greek so I have to turn to other English translations when I wonder about the exact meaning of a word. In 1 Peter 1:5 I see that verb supplement. Other translations use add and superadd. Supplement feels right. I suppose strengthen might also serve.

In any case, it should be obvious that faith without virtue is terrifying, a misbegotten monster. As community and as individuals we must daily strive to undergird our vaunted belief with real virtue. We use lists of virtues like that of Saint Paul in Galatians 5 -- joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control – to examine our conscience and guide our behavior. Virtue identifies us as Christian; without it we are sounding horns and tinkling brass.

The verb supplement persists throughout Peter’s long sentence:

• Your virtue should be supplemented with knowledge. The Christian cannot be satisfied with being a “good person.” We should continually deepen our faith with study and contemplation. In the VA I hand out many bibles to Protestants and Catholics but very few ask, “How do you read this book?”We’re fortunate that the Bible seems so approachable; many of its texts challenge and console us despite the centuries between their writing and our reading. We’re also blessed to have dedicated scholars who give us readable, useful translations; and a Church that sponsors and approves good translations. Without them the Bible would be a fool’s paradise. But even yet the devout Christian studies our faith. She asks and wants to know, “How does my Church read the bible? How have the saints lived? What do words like Trinity, Incarnation and Consubstantial mean?
  
• Supplement your knowledge with self-control: the disciplines of study, prayer and meditation focus our lives on what is true and worthwhile. The thoughtful Christian will not be readily deceived by the world around her; she will stand aloof from the latest fads that “Christian” marketers throw at us. As she applies herself to prayer and good works she hasn’t time for nonsense.
  
• Supplement your self-control with endurance: we have always celebrated fortitude, perseverance, long-suffering and patience over impulsiveness. We look for the coming of Christ every day but we don’t stand around looking up at the sky. Rather, we work steadily and dependably to improve the world as we find it. Whether the end comes immediately or a million years from now matters little to us.
  
• Supplement your endurance with devotion: our reward is prayer. It is delightful for us, food and drink, comfort and reassurance. Devotion is also what we apply to our labors. If we’re mixing cement we’re building cathedrals.
  
• Supplement your devotion with mutual affection: I want to remind myself daily that I joined this church to be saved by it, not to save it. With that attitude I see what is charming and edifying among my companions. Daily I thank God for the gift of these fellow travelers on the road to salvation. Without that attitude I am an arrogant fool.
  
• Finally, supplement your affection with love, which covers a multitude of sins. (I Peter 4:8) We don’t pretend to be perfect, but neither do we judge ourselves. That is God’s prerogative. We let our love for God and for others grow more perfect each day.