Dec 30 Sat
As the new year is approaching, let’s draw new strength from our errors and defeats.
Sometimes in our interior life, “as in sports, one has to know how to lose a game and try to win the next one. Whoever gives up because he misses one goal, has missed the point of his efforts. We know we're going to lose sometimes. We, men, may fail, but God doesn't lose battles."
Learning how to lose is another virtue of a good sportsman. It is inevitable that we are going to lose some skirmishes in our daily struggle. But as St. Josemaría said: “learn to draw from your falls a new impulse: from death, life." If we struggle, if we have a spirit of examination and contrition, then our daily mistakes, our unfulfilled resolutions, our lack of love and our insensitivity, can all be turned to good advantage. St Paul exclaims, “I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
God counts on our defects, and gives us his grace to fight against them. If we don't overcome them completely, we should realize that the humble struggle against our shortcomings is a wonderful means to improve. God disposes everything with an eye for our greatest good.
St Augustine says, echoing St Paul: “Everything contributes to the good of those who love God; God directs absolutely everything to their benefit. Even those who stray from the right path can progress in virtue, since they return humbler and more experienced. They learn that, although they are traveling the true path, they should not presumptuously attribute their progress to themselves, nor say in times of prosperity: ‘Now, we'll never fall.’"
The first fruit we draw from our mistakes is greater humility. And then, our sorrow leads us to love, which wipes off any complacency, apathy, or lukewarmness. Our defects lead us to struggle without break.
“My child, God's grace is plentiful. If at times you have not been very faithful, God continues to watch over you lovingly. Just like a mother who puts aside her children's unkindness when the child returns to her affectionately, so too Jesus forgets what we've done badly, when in the end we go to him with love." Our small daily defeats should help us to trust more in God and less in ourselves. They help to make us humbler. “High above the storm clouds, we have the Sun of divine grace, and the smile of our Mother, the Morning Star. And we'll overcome everything, whether in sea or in sky, and we'll be peaceful, happy."
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