That is where our place is: at the summit, close to Christ, in a continuous desire to aspire to holiness right where we are, and despite knowing well the clay we are made of, our weaknesses, and our setbacks. But we also know that the Lord asks of us a small, daily effort, an unceasing struggle against the passions that tend to drag us down, refusing to compromise with our defects and mistakes. What will make us persevere in this combat is love—a deep love for Christ, whom we seek ceaselessly.
The ascetic struggle of the Christian must be positive, joyful, constant, and filled with a "sportsmanlike spirit." "Holiness has the flexibility of loose muscles. Whoever wants to be holy knows how to conduct themselves in such a way that, while doing something mortifying, they omit—if it is not an offense against God—another thing that is also difficult, and they thank the Lord for this comfort. If we Christians acted otherwise, we would run the risk of becoming stiff, lifeless, like a rag doll."
In the interior struggle, we will also encounter failures. Many of them will be of little importance; others will be significant, but atonement and contrition will bring us closer to the Lord. Even if we have broken the most precious thing in our life into pieces, God will know how to put it back together if we are humble. He always forgives and helps when we come to Him with a contrite heart. We must learn to begin again many times; with a new joy, with a new humility, because even if God has been greatly offended and much harm has been done to others, one can still be very close to the Lord in this life and then in the next, if true repentance exists, if one leads a life accompanied by penance. Humility, sincerity, repentance... and starting over.
God counts on our frailty and always forgives, but it is necessary to be sincere, to repent, and to get back up. There is an incomparable joy in Heaven every time we begin again. And along our journey, we will have to do so on many occasions, because there will always be faults, deficiencies, frailties, and sins. May we never lack the sincerity to recognize them and to open our souls to the Lord in the Tabernacle and in spiritual direction.
HCD