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TODAY’S WORD…

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Fight the good fight for the true faith.

Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you…

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– 1 Timothy 6:12a (NLT)

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REFLECTION…

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We are all called to fight the good fight

– that difficult and arduous spiritual combat against the passions.

But it is important for us to be aware

that the passions are not evil in themselves.

They become so because of the poor use that human freedom makes of them,

exploiting and demeaning them

and bringing about the loss of our soul in the process.

If we call upon the Holy Spirit

He will help us with our genuine and incessant efforts to follow the Lord’s teachings and commands.

He will unify our energies through self-discipline and grace,

and our perseverance will be strengthened

as we grow in trust and hope in the Lord.

It is as the Spirit helps us persevere with gaining control over our passions

that they serve to open to us the path towards God.

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QUOTE…

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"Blessed is he who has mortified his own will to the end

and has entrusted the care of his person to his master in the Lord:

He will be placed at the right of the Crucified One"

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– St. John Climacus

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"The eternity of God is the source of perseverance […].

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Who hopes and perseveres in love

but he who imitates the eternity of [God’s] charity?

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Truly, perseverance reflects eternity in some way;

only to perseverance is eternity granted

or, to put it better, only perseverance obtains eternity for man."

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– St. Bernard

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Help me, O Holy Spirit, to persevere;

inspire me as I fight the good fight of the faith.

In Jesus’s holy Name, I pray. Amen.

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