464. Thirty-third Friday of Ordinary Time

Meditations no. 408 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Sporting spirit in our ascetical struggle.

We read in the First Book of Maccabees: Then said Judas and his brothers, “Behold, our enemies are crushed; let us go up to cleanse the sanctuary and dedicate it.” So all the army assembled and they went up to Mount Zion. They had endured many years of war. But now, faithful to the Lord’s commandments, Judas and his brothers could count themselves victors after many hard battles.

The interior struggle also requires many unremitting battles. And as our Father taught us, it should be undertaken with a tenacious, cheerful sporting spirit. My child, try to be faithful throughout your life. And when you sense you’re not, ask God for help. Strive eagerly and cheerfully, with a sporting spirit, to make progress in your supernatural struggle, and you’ll conquer. Lay all your wretchedness, all the obstacles that block your way, at Christ’s feet. Then he will be raised on high and triumph, and you along with him. Never get discouraged. Rectify your intention, begin again, keep trying. In the end, if you can’t do it, our Lord will help you to leap over the rampart, the rampart of holiness.

We need a sporting spirit in our struggle, being ready to begin again and again whenever necessary, with cheerful, supernatural stubbornness. St John Chrysostom wrote: It is not fatal to fall down in battle, but to stay down. It is not fatal to be wounded, but to give up hope and not treat the wound. Failures don’t discourage a dedicated athlete. He knows he has to try many times before attaining his goal. His defeat is assured only if he abandons the struggle. Our Father wrote: Spiritual life is - and I repeat this again and again on purpose - a constant beginning and beginning again.

An athlete can only rely on his own efforts, his trainer, and the public’s encouragement. But in our struggle, we have God himself assisting and encouraging us. Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary, his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

Our love grows strong in the ascetical struggle.

Our Father wrote: I have noticed at times how an athlete’s eyes light up at the sight of the obstacles to be overcome. What a victory is in store! See how he conquers the difficulties! God our Lord looks at us that way. He loves our struggle: we will win through always, because he will never deny us his all-powerful grace. Thus, it doesn’t matter if we have to fight, because he does not abandon us.

Just as athletes stay in shape and strengthen their muscles by training, so our ascetical struggle makes us increasingly powerful against obstacles to our holiness and strengthens our love for God. This is the difference between us and those who don’t know God, St Cyprian wrote: the latter complain in adversity, whereas hardships only serve to strengthen our virtue.

An athlete knows that daily training is essential; he would never think of neglecting physical conditioning, a proper diet or putting in hours of practice. He is ready for any sacrifice, nor does tiredness dampen his enthusiasm. Today when there’s so much interest in sports, when it’s almost a cult… every athlete trains to stay in shape. We stay in shape if we struggle in little things. Otherwise, it’s impossible. And we need to stay in shape! Life has all the beauty and joy of a sport.

Our Founder taught us that the best strategy for victory in the supernatural Olympics is to struggle in little things. A good athlete takes care of the smallest details. One need only recall the gymnast’s precise movements, the runner’s exact pace, the jockey’s measured rhythm. In the end, the best athletes are usually those who prepare with the most determination, who look after all the details.

Besides, we aren’t fighting for a perishable crown, a momentary triumph: we’re fighting for the victory of Christ, to identify ourselves with Christ. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal which comes upon you to prove you, as though something strange were happening to you. Christ’s followers have always had this spirit. Trees that grow in shaded areas, free from wind, St John Chrysostom says, may look healthy and flourishing, but soon become soft and are easily damaged; while trees that grow on mountain tops, assaulted by strong winds, exposed to harsh storms, covered by frequent snows, become stronger than iron. Our Father urged us: Love! Suffer cheerfully.

Toughen your soul. Strengthen your will. Make your dedication secure, and along with it, your effectiveness.

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 in order to win the next one. Whoever gives up because he misses one goal has missed the point of his endeavour. 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’s inevitable that we’re going to lose some skirmishes in our daily struggle. But our Father taught us: 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. I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, St Paul exclaims, 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 for sanctification. God disposes everything with an eye for our greatest good. Everything contributes to the good of those who love God, St Augustine says, echoing St Paul. 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 travelling the true path in life, they should rejoice with fear and trembling, and 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, love-sorrow, which lights off any complacency, apathy or lukewarmness. Our defects lead us to struggle without respite. St Augustine wrote: Don’t take your small and frequent sins lightly, lest they mount up and crush you. Look how sea water filters through the tiny cracks in a ship’s hull. Little by little it fills the hold, and if it is not removed, the ship sinks … The small faults that everyone is prone to, seep imperceptibly through the cracks of human weakness and fill our storerooms. Imitate the sailors: they keep bailing till they remove the last drop of water. So may you never cease doing good. Nevertheless, despite everything, water will continue seeping in through the cracks, since our weakness remains. And once again we will have to bail out.

My child, God’s grace is plentiful. If at times you have not been very faithful, he has continued to watch over you lovingly. Just like a mother who forgets her children’s unkindness when a 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 more humble. 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.