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JMJ
"I admit that we are all weak, but if we want help, the Lord God has given us the means to find it easily. One priest may wish to lead a good, holy life, as he knows he should. He may wish to be chaste and to reflect heavenly virtues in the way he lives. Yet he does not resolve to use suitable means, such as penance, prayer, the avoidance of evil discussions and harmful and dangerous friendships. Another priest complains that as soon as he comes into church to pray the office or to celebrate Mass, a thousand thoughts fill his mind and distract him from God. But what was he doing in the sacristy before he came out for the office or for Mass? How did he prepare? What means did he use to collect his thoughts and to remain recollected?"
St. Charles Borromeo
When an illness arrives unannounced, a person is quick to seek a remedy for his suffering. Out of a desire to avoid the doctor, he may mask the malignancy by an anesthetic, hoping to ignore the problem and forego the necessary steps to address it. Yet as reality dawns upon him that this is not a temporary dilemma, he is driven by the yearning to be whole once more, and his pain propels him to engage an experienced physician. A competent authority then discourages any analgesic so that the source is more easily found. Upon discovery, a physician plots his course, tasking his charge to follow a specific regimen, not simply to minimize the pathogens, but to eliminate them altogether.
Just like in matters of body, in matters of the spirit, when one recognizes a loathsome weed that has polluted the garden of his soul, he might first assuage his self-inflicted wound with numbing distractions. He recognizes his habitual vice, but slothfully remains complacent rather than honestly assessing the situation. Examining his conscience, one humbly acknowledges the need for conversion but recoils at the necessary self-denial and detachment required to eradicate the disease that plagues him. Finally, the desire to overcome wins his heart and he implores his Savior for the grace to triumph. Yet no victory is won without a plan in place to combat the enemy at hand.
When St. Joan of Arc encountered the army of the French under the command of La Hire, she first cleared the camp of all the distractions that benumbed the men into inertia and diverted them from their purpose. Next, she ordered all to go to confession, and attend Mass. Finally, she set a strategy in place in order to break the siege of Orleans.
The moment of temptation is too great to conquer when no prior preparation has been made. Like the saintly maid, one must tackle sinful habits with readiness and resolve; prayer and self-denial.
