“Ask, and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.”
“We should consider most seriously and attentively what these words of the Lord may mean for us, for they warn that not the idle and feckless but those who ask, seek, and knock will receive, find, and have the door opened to them. We must therefore ask for entry into the kingdom by prayer, seek it by upright living, and knock at its door by perseverance. Merely to ask verbally is not enough; we must also diligently seek to discover how to live so as to be worthy of obtaining what we ask for.”
– St. Bede the Venerable.
Prayer. A Virtuous Life. Perseverance. Three watch-words that each of us need to keep in mind. It is not enough to pray – if we pray many hours each day, even great and powerful prayers like the holy rosary, or if we read the Scriptures many hours each day, it will do us no good if we do not also seek to conform our lives to Christ Jesus. That means that we need to seek after the virtues – we need to do what is right and just, and do it readily and joyfully, so that we come to LOVE what is good rather than doing what is good in a grudging and unhappy fashion. Finally, we need to persevere in both our life of prayer – Holy Mass, rosary and/or Lectio Divina, prayers for the end of abortion, our Chaplet of Divine Mercy, etc. – and in a virtuous life. Perseverance to the end! Never give up! No matter how many times you may fall, get back up and start over with Christ Jesus [that is the beauty of the Sacrament of Confession]. Prayer. Virtue. Perseverance. May they be our watch-words as we continue on our journey to Holiness!
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