It’s not unusual to experience discouragement on the road to holiness, especially when we live in a world that is filled with temptations and persecution. With God on our side, nothing the devil can do will ever prevail over us. However, it’s the moment we become too discouraged to ask God for help that the devil is waiting for. So how can we prevent this from happening?
Today, Fr. Mike explains the root of discouragement in our faith journey, and how to keep leaning on God through that struggle.
As Fr. Mike suggests, the battle for purity is never more difficult than in our own day. With God’s grace, we can prevail and find freedom from our temptations. Fr. Mike explains that we win this battle through chastity, purity of intention, purity of vision, and prayerful reliance on the Lord. He tells us how to pray for a pure gaze that allows us to see our brothers and sisters as God sees them. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 2520-2533.
32 ‘There is no need to be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom. 33 ‘Sell your possessions and give to those in need. Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it. 34 For wherever your treasure is, that is where your heart will be too. 35 ‘See that you have your belts done up and your lamps lit. 36 Be like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding feast, ready to open the door as soon as he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed those servants whom the Master finds awake when he comes. In truth I tell you, he will do up his belt, sit them down at table and wait on them. 38 It may be in the second watch that He comes, or in the third, but blessed are those servants if He finds them ready. 39 You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what time the burglar would come, he would not have let anyone break through the wall of his house. 40 You too must stand ready, because the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’ 41 Peter said, ‘Lord, do you mean this parable for us, or for everyone?’ 42 The Lord replied, ‘Who, then, is the wise and trustworthy steward whom the master will place over his household to give them at the proper time their allowance of food? 43 Blessed that servant if his master’s arrival finds him doing exactly that. 44 I tell you truly, he will put him in charge of everything that he owns. 45 But if the servant says to himself, “My master is taking his time coming,” and sets about beating the menservants and the servant-girls, and eating and drinking and getting drunk, 46 his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the unfaithful. 47 ‘The servant who knows what his master wants, but has got nothing ready and done nothing in accord with those wishes, will be given a great many strokes of the lash. 48 The one who did not know, but has acted in such a way that he deserves a beating, will be given fewer strokes. When someone is given a great deal, a great deal will be demanded of that person; when someone is entrusted with a great deal, of that person even more will be expected.
Now, I have some good news for you. Do you want some good news? You are all going to die. How do you like my bedside manner? I was battle-trained in the Army. It may not be today, but we are all going to die because that is the only way we can get to Heaven. You are here at Mass preparing for your death. Our Good Lord is the object of our love, and we wish to possess Him. You are here so that you can possess Him and be possessed by Him in Holy Communion. We want to be possessed by Him eternally in Heaven. But, unfortunately for us, after the sins of our first parents and the sins we have committed after our Baptism, we have to die in order to be with our Lord forever. We love the destination, but we are not too happy about the trip details.
I’ve seen a lot of things I don’t want to die from, but it’s not our choice. “Can’t we be like the Blessed Mother and be whisked up to Heaven?” No. We all have to suffer. We all follow the way of the Cross, and at some point in our life, we don’t know the day…it could be 40 or 50 years from now, we will ascend the Cross. Which Cross we ascend is up to us. It could be the Cross on Christ’s left or the Cross on His right. I would suggest the Cross on His right because that is the one the Good Thief was on when Christ told him, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise.” The other one not so much.
Our Lord will come for us. You may be thinking, “But He is coming in judgement.” Judgement is not that bad. First of all, let me explain something about Jewish weddings. Jewish weddings occur after sundown. So, our Lord comes in the middle of the night. You never know. You may be tired, and you may be dozing. We don’t know the time when our Lord will come. And for those who look forward to His coming, it’s a great thing. Don’t you look forward to your family, not my family, but your family and friends coming to visit? You look out the window, and you look at your watch. Or, if you are a ghoul, you have a tracker on your phone. Why? Because you want them there. You want your love to be complete with your loved ones. We look forward to our love finally being rewarded and possessing the object of our love.
So, our Lord’s coming is not a threat. It is a motivator and an encouragement for us to take up our cross each day and follow Him. “Wake up! I am coming for you, and I don’t want to be separated from you. Please do not separate yourself from Me.” Our Lord does not threaten. How we condition our souls is how we respond. “He’s coming to judge me!” What’s wrong with you? What have you done? “Oh, He’s coming! I’m going to get it!” He’s going to look at that permanent record of yours. He is coming because He wants us. That’s why He made us. Why did He make us? To know Him, serve Him, and love Him in this life and to share eternity with Him. The only one who can thwart that plan is us.
Never get discouraged. That is one of the greatest temptations we suffer. We pray, we work hard, we come to Mass, we set a good example, and we become discouraged when we don’t see a difference in ourselves and others. Actually, there is a big difference – we just can’t see it. The devil says, “You know, you need to stop that garbage. . . you are making yourself sick. Go out and have a good time. Get a double order of bacon and live it up.” That is the sin of discouragement. “I keep falling with my cross!” Do you keep getting up? “Yes.” That’s what you are supposed to do. The only time you don’t need to carry your cross is when you are dead. So, don’t be discouraged. Our lord is coming. He is coming at the end of time which we don’t know when that will be. More likely, it will be at the time of our passing from this world to the next. You are all here, so I’m sure you are looking forward to that moment. But if you are like me, you are trying to negotiate the details. “You know, Lord, if you could, I’d like to die this way…just asking.”
I visited with one gentleman who I would be surprised if he is still alive. I said, “Mr. H., I have other rounds to make, but I’ll be back next Thursday. Will I see you?” He said, “No, I don’t think so.” I said, “When you see Jesus, would you put in a good word for me?” He said he would. He knew he was going to pass, and he was ready to go. Not all of us will have that opportunity – I hope we all do. And in the words of Saint John Henry Newman, “to have the holy oil sign and seal us and absolving words said over us.” This is encouragement. Do not give in to the temptations of the devil. Do not be discouraged by your labors, sacrifices, crosses, or seemingly lack of advancement on the way to sanctity. As long as you don’t quit, you are always advancing. And do not lose heart. His plan for us is happiness. At some point, and we don’t know when that point will be, the Lord will come and say, “You have graduated. Come into the Kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world.” So be encouraged. Our Lord is coming.
How will you apply this message to your life? _________________________________
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St. Gemma Galgani (1878-1903) was born in Italy, the fifth of eight children born to a prosperous pharmacist. When she was young, Gemma’s mother and three of her siblings died of tuberculous. When she was 18 her father died as well, leaving Gemma to help care for her younger siblings. She rejected two marriage proposals and became a housekeeper while trying to enter the religious life as a Passionist. She was rejected due to her poor heath, and later became a Tertiary member of the order. Gemma developed spinal meningitis but was miraculously healed, which she attributed to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the intercession of St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. Throughout her life she united herself with the Passion of Christ and experienced great suffering as a result, but not without receiving many remarkable graces as well. She experienced many mystical visions and was often visited by her guardian angel, Jesus, and the Virgin Mary. For this she was known as a great mystic, and, according to her spiritual director, developed the stigmata at age 21. After a selfless life of love given to God for the conversion of sinners, she died on the Vigil of Easter at the age of 25. She is the patron saint of pharmacists, loss of parents, back illnesses, temptations, and those seeking purity of heart. Her feast day is April 11th.
“We will never be free of trials and temptations as long as our earthly life lasts. For Job has said: ‘Is not the life of human beings on earth a drudgery?‘ (Job 7:1). Therefore, we should always be on our guard against temptations, always praying that our enemy, the devil, ‘who never sleeps but constantly looks for someone to devour.‘ (1 Pet 5:8), will not catch us off guard. No one in this world is so perfect or holy as not to have temptations sometimes. We can never be entirely free from them. Sometimes these temptations can be very severe and troublesome, but if we resist them, they will be very useful to us; for by experiencing them we are humbled, cleansed, and instructed. All the Saints endured tribulations and temptations and profited by them, while those who did not resist and overcome them fell away and were lost. There is no place so holy or remote where you will not meet with temptation, nor is there anyone completely free from it in this life; for in our body we bear the wounds of sin—the weakness of our human nature in which we are born.” — Thomas á Kempis, p. 31
Mari Pablo uncovers what surrendering to God really looks like. Anytime we face trials, temptations, or hard times, we hear the common adages telling us to “offer it up” or “give it to God.” But what does that actually look like? Where do we begin that process? Maybe there is no concrete “how-to guide”, but we can start by doing two simple things:
St. Gemma Galgani (1878-1903) was born in Italy, the fifth of eight children born to a prosperous pharmacist. When she was young, Gemma’s mother and three of her siblings died of tuberculous. When she was 18 her father died as well, leaving Gemma to help care for her younger siblings. She rejected two marriage proposals and became a housekeeper while trying to enter the religious life as a Passionist. She was rejected due to her poor heath, and later became a Tertiary member of the order. Gemma developed spinal meningitis but was miraculously healed, which she attributed to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the intercession of St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. Throughout her life she united herself with the Passion of Christ and experienced great suffering as a result, but not without receiving many remarkable graces as well. She experienced many mystical visions and was often visited by her guardian angel, Jesus, and the Virgin Mary. For this she was known as a great mystic, and, according to her spiritual director, developed the stigmata at age 21. After a selfless life of love given to God for the conversion of sinners, she died on the Vigil of Easter at the age of 25. She is the patron saint of pharmacists, loss of parents, back illnesses, temptations, and those seeking purity of heart. Her feast day is April 11th.
“Many try to fly away from temptations only to fall more deeply into them; for you cannot win a battle by mere flight. It is only by patience and humility that you will be strengthened against the enemy. Those who shun them outwardly and do not pull them out by the roots will make no progress; for temptations will soon return to harass them and they will be in a worse state. It is only gradually—with patience and endurance and with God’s grace—that you will overcome temptations sooner than by your own efforts and anxieties . . . Gold is tried by fire and the upright person by temptation. Often we do not know what we can do until temptation shows us what we are . . . This is how temptation is: first we have a thought, followed by strong imaginings, then the pleasure and evil emotions, and finally consent. This is how the enemy gains full admittance, because he was not resisted at the outset. The slower we are to resist, the weaker we daily become and the stronger the enemy is against us.”— Thomas à Kempis, p. 32-33
“We can ask ourselves: how do we react to situations that are not right? In the face of adversity, there are always two temptations. The first is flight: we can run away, turn our backs, trying to keep aloof from it all. The second is to react with anger, with a show of force… Jesus, on the other hand, changed history. How? With the humble power of love, with His patient witness. This is what we are called to do; and this is how God fulfils His promises… God’s promises guarantee unrivalled joy and never disappoint. But how are they fulfilled? Through our weaknesses. God makes blessed those who travel the path of their inner poverty to the very end.” Pope Francis
