It is better to be burdened and in company with the strong than to be unburdened and with the weak. When you are burdened, you are close to God, your strength, who abides with the afflicted. When you are relieved of the burden, you are close to yourself, your own weakness; for virtue and strength of soul grow and are confirmed in the trials of patience.
St. John of the Cross
Friends, remember that virtues are mountains: with the pinnacle being the pinnacle of perfection, and on either side of the mountains there being two valleys of vice: the vice of excess, and the vide of deficiency. So on the mountain of courage there lies rashness on one side and timidity on the other. On the mountain of hope there lies presumption on one side and despair and despondency on the other. When trials occur, we have the chance to climb the mountain, but also we should, in humble self-knowledge, recognize the particular dangers of our situation and dispositions: what vice do I have a habit of? Which valley do I tend towards, or might I fall into now without God’s help? God disciplines and chastises His children, but do not forget that by Baptism you are His child whom he loves, His son or daughter whom He receives. (Heb. 12:6) “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Heb. 12:11)
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