{"id":22518,"date":"2016-01-16T13:25:08","date_gmt":"2016-01-16T19:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=22518"},"modified":"2017-04-17T21:58:33","modified_gmt":"2017-04-18T01:58:33","slug":"the-virtue-of-persistence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/the-virtue-of-persistence\/","title":{"rendered":"The Virtue of Persistence","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 11th – 16th, 2016
Liturgical texts here<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"desertpilgrim2\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

THIS <\/strong>call “out of Babylon” into the desert, into the wilderness, into asceticism<\/em> is\u00a0truly a call into battle<\/em>. For to leave Babylon is to resist temptation and to break at last with sin. And this presents a direct threat to the enemy of our souls. For the one who begins to follow Christ, the one who begins to shine with His light, to speak with His words and to love with His heart, is a terror to demons and a destroyer of the kingdom of Satan. Hence, to become an Ascetic in the City<\/a><\/em> is at once to withdraw from the world and, at the same time, to enter into spiritual warfare. And this demands, then, faithfulness to prayer, fasting, and a sincere rooting out of sin\u2014an authentic “dying to self.” It means preparing oneself to encounter the desert beasts, scorpions, and mirages that will attempt to lure, entice, and tempt the soul to fall away\u2014that is, “all that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life.” <\/em>[1]<\/sup><\/a>cf. 1 John 2:16<\/span><\/span>