St. Bernard of Clairvaux speaks of how miserable it is to turn back to the slavery of our disordered passions 
once having tasted the grace of God. Such a person is doomed to continual frustration, as the things of the world simply can’t satisfy our hunger and “ravenous curiosity” since the forms of this world are passing away. He bemoans the fate of the soul “who once fed so delicately now lies groveling on the dunghill (Lam. 4:5).”
The vigorous effort that the saints urge us to make in the struggle against sin is firmly grounded in the Scriptures.
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you men of double mind… Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will exalt you.” (Jas. 4:7-10)
We need to determine, with the help of God’s grace , never to freely choose to offend Him. St. Francis De Sales makes clear that such purification to the affection for sin must extend to venial sins also. Francis knows that as long as we’re alive in this body the wounds of original sin and our past actual sins will cause affection for sin to spring up again and again. But it’s our response to this bent of our nature towards sin that is determinative of the progress we make on the spiritual journey. We need to grow in our hatred for sin so we can resist it when it makes its appeals. More about that tomorrow.
I posted this statement on July 2: I am reading during this 40-day fast a book by Ralph Martin called “The Fulfillment of All Desire”
YOU MUST READ IT! I will be quoting from this book during the fast to provoke you to buy it, read it, and live it! I hope you enjoy it as I do.
This is not a book only for those who think that they are called to a “life of prayer” (by the way, how else we can communicate and fellowship with God Himself?). It is not only for those who recognize an intercessory role as their primary function within the body of Christ. It’s not only for those who identify themselves as evangelicals or charismatics or mystics or emergent church.
It’s for those who:
* desire to acknowledge that there is a depth to the knowledge of God, which we, in our “instant society” are lacking profoundly
* those who are experiencing hunger for God
* those who love challenges
* those who believe that inspiration of the past generations can be valuable
* those who want to go deeper in understanding the ways to reach their Creator
* those who need biblical proof that all of these mystics are right
* don’t understand why things are happening, when they laid down their whole lives to Jesus
* those who struggle with prayer life
* those who are tired of seven-points-to-successful-prayer
* those who are searching for the ancient truths spoken in a modern language
* those who love God Himself above everything else, who burned the bridges, who know that there is nothing else to come back to, but are apprehensive of stepping into the unknown
* those who want to become saints ( and I am quite serious about that one)
If you were struggling while reading “Fire within” by T. Dubay, this is “easier to read” version for the same subject – prayer.
WARNING
You will be messed up for some time, possibly for life…
You will discover (if you don’t know yet) that the whole body of Christ should be grateful to the Catholics for their wisdom…
You will wonder why no one told you these things before, and how come all of it is in the Bible…
You will discover something about yourself that someone else already knew hundreds years ago…
You will feel that you are a part of something bigger…
I will be quoting from this book during the fast to provoke you to buy it, read it, and live it! I hope you enjoy it as I do.