The obstacle of discouragement

We all have faults, even though we may have been struggling for years and years to overcome them. When our ascetical struggle results in discouragement, it is because we are proud. We must be humble, with desires to be faithful. It is true that servi inutiles sumus.¹⁸ But, with these useless servants, our Lord will do very great things in the world, if we contribute something from our side, namely, the effort to raise our hand so as to grasp the hand which God, with his grace, extends to us from heaven.

The surprise of the proud

Only the proud are surprised when they see they have feet of clay. An act of contrition and atonement, and on we go. Let’s recognise that besides the faults we are aware of, there will be others that are hidden from our eyes. Hence we need Love-Sorrow, and in the intimacy of that sorrow and that humility we will dare to tell our Lord that our life also contains a great deal of love. If our fault was real, real too is the love he himself has given us, enabling us to serve him with all the strength of our hearts. Say frequently, as an aspiration, Peter’s act of contrition following his denials: Domine, tu omnia nosti; tu scis quia amo te! (John 21:17), Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.