Presence of God

Teach me, O Lord, to act courageously, trusting in You.

Meditation

I. “ The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away” (Mt. 11, 12). Neither good resolutions nor good desires suffice to make a saint. These must be translated into action; but precisely in the accomplishment of this work, great difficulties are encountered, causing many to stop in discouragement or actually to turn back from the way they have begun. These are weak souls who become frightened in the face of fatigue, effort, and struggle. They lack the virtue offortitude, or at least, are deficient in it. This virtue enables us to face and bear whatever difficulty, what¬ ever hardship or sacrifice we may encounter in the fulfillment of duty. Difficulties and sacrifices will never be wanting for, although “ wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction. . . narrow is the gate and strait is the way that leadeth to life ” (Mt. 7, 13-14). Hence, it would be an illusion to pretend that the way to sanctity is easy and agreeable, as it would equally be an illusion to think that one- could persevere in it without constantly practicing the virtue of fortitude. On the contrary, the greater the perfection to which a soul aspires, the stronger and more courageous it must be, because the difficulties it has to face will be greater.

When Jesus wished to praise the Precursor, He said, “ What went you out into the desert to see? A reed shaken with the wind? ” (Mt. 11, 7). No,John the Baptist was not a weak man who could be shaken by the wind of difficulties; his was the strength of one who, to uphold the law of God, did not fear to incur his king’s displeasure and to coura¬ geously face martyrdom. Elsewhere, speaking of the victory over sin and the devil, Jesus praised the strong man : “ When a strong man armed keepeth his court, those things are in peace which he possesseth ” (Lc. 11, 21). This is a picture of the soul that possesses the virtue of fortitude : it is well armed and cannot be frightened by any struggle, temptation, or other obstacle; rather, in the midst of all this, it remains in peaceful security because its strength comes from God Himself.

II. “ His Majesty, ” writes St. Teresa of Avila, “ desires and loves courageous souls if they have no confidence in themselves but walk in humility” (T.J. Life, 13). Christian fortitude is neither rashness nor presumption because of one’s own strength; it is based on God and the great gifts He has lavished on man. If man is nothing in himself, he is, however, great because of what God has done for him and given to him, and by reason of the exalted dignity God has conferred upon him. In fact, in the natural order, man has been appointed to rule the world; all other creatures have been subjected to him, and he should use them to know and love God better. In the supernatural order, he has been given the high vocation of being a child of God, called by Him to participate in His life and in His eternal beatitude. To attain this end, he has received grace, which is not only supernatural life and light, but also divine strength, strength infused into him precisely to cure the weakness of his nature, to strengthen his will, thereby making him capable offulfilling all the duties inherent in his vocation. At Baptism, together with the other infused virtues, he has received the virtue of fortitude, a participation in the divine strength which has been placed in his soul like a seed, capable of developing into full perfection. Christian fortitude has its foundation, therefore, in the natural and supernatural gifts received from God, and in the exalted dignity to which man has been raised by God.

If we are weak, it is not due to the insufficiency of the divine gifts, but to our own insufficiency—because we have not properly developed the gifts of nature and grace which God has given us. And if we are strong, it is due, not to our own merits, but to the work God has done in us. The Christian is humble in his strength because he knows that it does not spring from him as its source, but from the gifts God has given him. He always lives in dependence upon God, both in the consideration of his nothingness and in that of his greatness, both in his humility and in his strength. Behold why the Lord, loving courageous souls, wants them, nevertheless, to be humble and always distrustful of self; behold why the Holy Spirit says, “ Let thy heart take courage, and wait thou for the Lord ” (Ps. 26, 14).

Colloquy

“ O God, You have seen the weakness of our human nature; You know how weak, frail and miserable it is; therefore, You, the sovereign Provider, who in all things have provided for all the needs of Your creatures, You, the perfect Repairer, who have given a remedy for all our ills. You gave us the rock and fortitude of will to strengthen the weakness of our flesh. This will is so strong that no demon or creature can conquer it if we do not will it, that is, ifour free will, which is in our own hands, does not consent.

“ O infinite Goodness, where does such great strength in Your creature’s will come from? From You, sovereign, eternal Strength because it shares the strength of Your will. Hence, we can see that our will is strong to the degree in which it follows Yours, and weak to the degree in which it deviates from Yours because You created our will to the likeness of Your will, and therefore, being in Yours, it is strong.

“ In our will, O eternal Father, You show the fortitude of Your will; for if You have given so much fortitude to a little member, what should we think Yours to be, O Creator and Ruler of all things?

“It seems to me that this free will which You have given us is fortified by the light of faith, for in this light it knows Your will, which wishes nothing but our sanctification. Then our will, fortified and nourished by our holy faith, gives life to our actions, which explains why neither good will nor lively faith can exist without works. Faith nourishes and maintains the fire of charity, because it reveals to our soul Your love and charity to us, and thus makes it strong in loving You ” (St. Catherine of Siena).