Strength for the Journey: What Fortitude, Church-a-thon, and Holy Wednesday have in common (Lenten Virtues Part 2)

Holy Wednesday - April 4, 2012

You're probably asking what the Church-a-thon has to do with Holy Week let alone the virtue of fortitude. One reflection from the pilgrimage sums it all up? I've always wondered why Christ got up from a fall while carrying the cross.

Why not just die lying there? Getting up doesn't seem to make things any better. He just has to prolong his agony. Yet, he was a man on a mission - a mission of love. He wouldn't rest until he had given all he had.

Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. John 13:1

Fortitude is a virtue that can be considered a kind of firmness of spirit that allows us to pursue and obtain a difficult goal even when it's dangerous. But it's also a gift of the Holy Spirit that gives us strength in practicing virtue, rids us of mediocrity, makes us courageous before enemies and obstacles, enables us to suffer with patience and joy, and gives us heroism in the great things and the small things.

We need fortitude whether it be a pilgrimage to thirty Churches, our daily cross, the pilgrimage of our lives, or an incredibly difficult sacrifice like Christ made on the cross.

3 simple steps to forming fortitude

1) Fulfill your duties with perfection no matter how difficult.
2) Rather than asking God to take away your cross, ask for the strength to carry it.
3) Voluntarily and faithfully practice self-denial to become more like Christ.


No back to the Church-a-thon and how I formed just a little more fortitude while praying for all of you!

5:10: Waking up... late.
Beep, beep, beep! The obnoxious noise finally ended as I hit the snooze button. Wait, we're already late. We're supposed to leave in 10 minutes. There is no way that is going to happen!

Anthony Robles: What it really takes to win!

Some of dream of being National Sport Champs, but most of us never made it despite the fact that we have two arms and two legs. Anthony Robles has one leg, and he made.

In high school, he won two State Titles and was took fourth and seventh place in the past two seasons at Arizona State. But this year he finally took the NCAA title in the 125 pound class.

Will he continue? Yes, he will the battle's not over. But now instead of on the mat, he will be at the microphone as a motivational speaker for young people. "I want to help those kids rise out of nothing and achieve their goals, especially in wrestling. So I'll definitely be around."

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good! The Story of Paul.

The other day I walked into the Basilica of St. Paul, Outside the Walls. It's a little different from the other patriarchal basilicas in Rome. It's kind of stark, bare, imposing. I rather like to see it as a little like the apostle itself - strong, straightforward, powerful, and to the point.

This comes one day late, but yesterday we celebrated the conversion of St. Paul. We don’t know much about his early life other than that he mad tents. The first even we hear about him is when he's actively killing Christians, specifically St. Stephen. Little did he know that we would not only undergo the same fate but would suffer the same sort of thing multiple times.

Life's a Battle: the strength and joy we need to win (not just to get by).

Sometimes an idea just seems to hit us from all sides - like when we used to play bumper cars at kids. Well, these past few days have been that. 

So often, we're tired, down, and life's tough! It seems like we just keep giving, and every time we're emptier. We start calculating, measuring, compromising. If we cut a little here, stop doing that, and maybe just take it easy. No, it's lost before we even set foot on the battlefield. So where does real strength and joy come from? It's possible - we've seen it!