Anointed with the Holy Spirit and Power

In the second reading for Sunday, January 12, from Acts 10: 34-38, Luke reminds us that "...God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all...oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him."  At our baptism and confirmation, we, too, were anointed with the Holy Spirit and power.  At every Mass and Holy Communion, God rekindles, deepens, reactivates that power to engage in "doing good and healing all...oppressed by the devil, for God [is] with..[us]".  Anointed with the Holy Spirit and divine power we are capable of recognizing "bruised reeds" and "smoldering wicks" (compare Sunday's first reading from Is 42: 1-4, 6-7) and empowered to treat such with tender love, to act justly toward them and to be a source of goodness to them (compare Mi 6:8).  What is blocking me from being this extension of the heart and mind and hands of Christ? How to I prepare myself each day to activate the power that God has given me? At the end of the day, do I take time to reflect back on the day to ascertain how I cooperated/failed to cooperate with the graces of my baptism and confirmation and reception of the Eucharist? 

To become the best version of myself in line with the graces of baptism and confirmation, to be the best Christian I am capable of becoming, I might heed the advice Matthew Kelly gives in Rediscovering Catholicism.  He speaks about how professional athletes like Michael Jordan practiced making 500 free throws (his weakness) every day for ten years--500 free throws that hit the mark--until he succeeded.  Tiger Woods took a year off golf to practice his swing as it was not up to par. If I fall short of doing good on any given day, of following the guidance of the Good Spirit, do I resolve, as any athlete does, to practice the behavior that revealed a weakness until the good becomes a habit. If not, I might want to make this a practice in praise of God's holy name and in gratitude for the graces of baptism and confirmation and Eucharist. Let's not allow those graces to lie dormant.