Harboring Hope

I am proud to be Catholic. I love my faith. I do. Though there was a time when I was sincerely searching for the truth (in other religions), I ultimately found my way back to the Catholic Church. My experience of God proved so much deeper and intense within my Catholic faith than anywhere else. And ultimately there was a point of realization that a "fullness" of truth was to be found there along with great peace and happiness. And so it is there that I stay. However, one .... embarrassment? of mine is a lack of knowledge of scripture. I applaud and greatly appreciate fellow non-Catholic christians who study scripture. I was never taught to study scripture. Sure I know what the Church teaches and I know it is founded in scripture, but I was not necessarily encouraged to or taught to look it up in scripture or know the foundational verses. Believe me, that comes in handy when having a religious discussion. Non-Catholic christians aren't too interested in what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says. They are all about scripture. Which prompted me to dive into the big book. I generally don't have a particular style/pattern of study. During Lent I read a lot of the Psalms. Proverbs is amazing. The Pentateuch is so foundational and entertaining for me I could read it over and over again. Lately, I've been reading Paul's letters (since it's Easter season and all). A particular verse has brought me such peace these past days (which have been very trying):

"...we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Rom 5:3-5)

WOW Wow.

"'Be still and know that I am God. I am exalted among the nations. I am exalted in teh earth!' The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge."
(Ps 46:10,11)

I am falling in love all over again. Though I am far from any point of memorization or spouting of verses, the thirst/desire to read and absorb is almost insatiable. God is good. He is so good to me. And I am grateful to find solace in His Word.