2015 The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle.68 Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes:
He who climbs never stops going from beginning to beginning, through beginnings that have no end. He never stops desiring what he already knows.69
2016 The children of our holy mother the Church rightly hope for the grace of final perseverance and the recompense of God their Father for the good works accomplished with his grace in communion with Jesus.70 Keeping the same rule of life, believers share the “blessed hope” of those whom the divine mercy gathers into the “holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”71 Catechism of the Catholic Church
On this journey there will be many ‘stair cases’ set before us, many apparent choices for us to make. But only one will bring us to the fullness of life. It takes extra ordinary virtue to persevere in it. Satan will use all at his disposal to lure us away from the path that the Lord has set before us. Renunciation then is to renounce these other choices. To stay true to our mission at hand. What is that? Well, it’s actually not as complicated as we may at times think. It’s merely to do the duty of the moment.
If you have the tendency to get as spazzed out as I do, setting up a routine might be a good idea. In the very beginning of this series I spoke of the book ‘A Mother’s Rule of Life’. The same way that monasteries have a set rule for the nuns to follow, we mothers can set one up for ourselves too. I like to schedule my routine in time blocks, instead of hour by hour.
The way mine is set up is the first time block is for me and God. The second time block as a homeschooling mom, I have assigned to my kids and as they have more independence now, I can also attain to my other Divinely assigned ‘ministries’ as they come up, during this time slot. Then my final slot is to attend to my home and family’s needs.
Then it becomes a matter of praying and listening. Being attentive to what our weaknesses or (‘symptoms’) are and specifically giving those areas over to Him as the video that I’ve linked below suggests, ‘practice the virtue that opposes your weakness’.
If you haven’t yet done so, this may be a good time to start that journal that I mentioned last week. Start paying attention to the areas that are causing you the most hurt, and with God’s grace and guidance, work to change them.
These are incredibly difficult times that we are all living through. But God has a plan, and it starts with each one of us working on the thing that we have the most influence over…ourselves. It’s really that simple.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus says “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” So…are you ready to become part of the kindling? The Kingdom needs you. Have a blessed day!