Examples of Self-Conquest
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| (Found here) |
MY CHILD, read the lives of My saints, and you will learn a great deal about life’s daily battle. Why were they so loyal to Me? Because they had grasped the secret of all success in this fight for Heaven. They saw the infinite goodness and lovableness of God, and the passing nature of all earthly joys and satisfaction.
2. Their main interest was to follow My Will in everything and to mortify every contrary feeling and desire within them. When they noticed a fault, they started fighting it at once by doing the opposite of that inclination. They overcame their faults by positive action. If they were guilty of pride, they looked for a chance to be humiliated, and they thanked Me for sending these opportunities to them.
3. You must become that interested in your perfection. At present you hardly conquer a single fault in many years. You fear the discomfort and inconvenience of the fight against self. The slightest unpleasant experience puts you on the defensive for your rights and for the things you like.
4. I am ready to help you the moment you make up your mind to begin in earnest the fight for Heaven.
THINK:
Yes, I am still in favor of my blind, unreasoning desires. When will I imitate the saints by an honest daily effort to get rid of my faults? How I shall wish, at the Last Judgment, that I had done so! On that day I shall rejoice if I have honestly tried to follow Christ, my King. How quickly the pains of the battle will be forgotten when I receive the congratulations of all God’s Blessed! How grateful I shall be to God as I look at the misery and woe of those on the left side, those who lived only for self.
PRAY:
My Jesus, You showed Your divine power to the Apostles by commanding the winds and the waves. Command the tempests of selfishness within me, and let me become, at last, empty of this false and hurtful self-love. True love seeks what is good. Let me have true love for myself, that is, let me seek what is really good for me and for others. My true good lies in Your holy Will, because You know what is best for me. Free me from my passions and my unreasonable desires. Purify my soul and make me brave enough to suffer anything rather than sin again. Amen.
~Anthony Paone (from My Daily Bread: A Summary of the Spiritual Life, Simplified and Arranged for Daily Reading, Reflection and Prayer)
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