What does this mean for us? It means the will must be trained. If you want to be just, you must practice justice. The Catechism tells us that "(p)rogress in virtue, knowledge of the good, and ascesis enhance the mastery of the will over its acts." [1734]
Let's break that down. To train the will, you should:
Let's break that down. To train the will, you should:
- progress in virtue
- grow in knowledge of the good
- practice ascesis
The Catechism continues: "The upright will orders the movements of the senses it appropriates to the good and to beatitude; an evil will succumbs to disordered passions and exacerbates them. Emotions and feelings can be taken up into the virtues or perverted by the vices." [1768] As we master our will, it will order the movements of our senses more, and we will succumb less often to our disordered passions. In other words, the more I use my will rightly, the easier it will be - to an extent - to use it rightly later.
Today, take time to plan the next steps in your spiritual training plan. You can begin by taking a hard look at your daily life. Sin is not always (or, I suspect, usually) a sudden explosion of wrong. It is, instead, a creeping ground war that wears us down slowly and almost imperceptibly, driving back the borders of grace day by day - a siege on our daily lives. This excellent post at Catholic Spiritual Direction gives you some real-world, very pointed examples of where sin rears its head in daily life: How Can I Identify My Root Sin. Grow in your knowledge of good. Turn from your sins daily. Practice virtue. Train your body and spirit to finish the race.
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