Thought for the Day – 25 January – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Mediocrity
“There is no such thing as half-way virtue.
Virtue is a struggle and a sacrifice.
It presupposes a generous heart which gives itself to Jesus without reserve.
Did He not give Himself completely for our sakes?
Did He not die upon the Cross for our salvation and reopen Heaven, which had been closed to us by sin?
Moreover, did He not remain hidden in our midst under the Eucharistic species in order to become our sustenance and our support?
When we are faced with such goodness and generosity, can we be so niggardly as to offer God, only a part of ourselves and perhaps a part which is worthless and perishable, as Cain did when he offered sacrifices from his fields and flocks?
God would certainly turn away from us and refuse our gifts.
And then, we should be lost forever!
Let us give ourselves completely and then be able to say with St Paul “I have fought the good fight to the end, I have run the race to the finish, I have kept the faith … ” (2 Tm 4:7)
“The time is sure to come, when people will not accept sound teaching but their ears will be itching for anything new and they will collect themselves a whole series of teachers according to their own tastes and then they will shut their ears to the truth and will turn to myths.
But you must keep steady all the time; put up with suffering, do the work of preaching the gospel, fulfil the service asked of you.
As for me, my life is already being poured away as a libation and the time has come for me to depart. I have fought the good fight to the end, I have run the race to the finish, I have kept the faith … ” (2 Tm 4:3-7)
Antonio Cardinal Bacci
Part One here:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/01/25/thought-for-the-day-25-january-mediocrity/
AnaStpaul 
However, so many saints and devout Christians have to deal with the dryness and thirst that comes as the dark nights of there souls, or burnout as we call it today. O how I wonder as I wander beneath the sky.
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True but devout souls know, that in their dryness, they are immensely blessed by those dark nights.
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Gosh, I hope and pray you are right. I deal with it constantly.
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Be grateful Hughie – as St John of the Cross taught, in desolation we find consolation.
Sufferings, as St Iggy said, are God’s gifts to His most loved.
Don’t forget it in those dark nights dearest.
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