My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Is this thirst compatible with the experience of our defects and even of our falls? Yes, because saints are not those who have never sinned, but those who have always risen. To renounce holiness because we see ourselves as full of defects is a covert form of pride and an evident cowardice, which will end up drowning our longing for God. "It is characteristic of a cowardly soul, and one that lacks the vigorous virtue of trusting in the promises of the Lord, to become too despondent and succumb to adversity."
To leave God, to give up the fight because we have defects or because there are adversities is a serious mistake, a very subtle and very dangerous temptation, which can lead us to a manifestation of pride, which is faint-heartedness, lack of courage and courage to tolerate misfortunes or to attempt great things. Perhaps we do not need to have false illusions, because we would like to be saints in one day, and that is not possible, unless God decides to perform a miracle, which he does not have to do, since he gives us continuously and progressively - through ordinary channels - the graces we need.
The desire to be saints, when it is effective, is the conscious and determined impulse that leads us to put in place the necessary means to attain holiness. Without desires, there is nothing to do; we do not even try. Desire alone is not enough. "We must therefore have patience, and not pretend to banish in a single day as many bad habits as we have acquired, because of the little care we have taken of our spiritual health".
God counts on time and has patience with each one of us. If we become discouraged by the slowness of our spiritual progress, we must remember how bad it is to turn away from what is good, to stop in the face of difficulty and to become disheartened by our defects. God can grant us more light so that we can see our conscience better and so that we can take up the fight with more courage on new battle fronts, remembering that the saints have always considered themselves great sinners, hence they strove to draw closer to God through prayer and mortification, trusting in divine mercy: "Let us hope with patience that we will improve and, instead of worrying about having done little in the past, let us strive diligently to do more in the future".
As the deer desires the springs of waters, so my soul desires you, O God. Let us keep alive the desire for God; let us kindle each day the fire of our faith and of our hope with the fire of the love of God, which enlivens our virtues and burns our misery, and we will quench our thirst for holiness with the water that springs up to eternal life.