By way of the grace of Mary Immaculate’s Divine Son, Christ our God, be in (1) humble (2) thanksgiving to Him for His having taken on what we deserve for original sin and any personal sin, namely death, the worst we can give out and the worst we did give out to Him, for in this way He, remaining innocent, gained the right in all justice to have mercy on us, mercy being founded on justice: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do!”
So, humble thanksgiving… How does one go about that? (1) An integral confession, an occasion of awesome humility; (2) worthy reception of Holy Communion, the Eucharist (which word in Greek means thanksgiving).
This was the way of all the saints, all of whom were on their knees in humility, all of whom were on their knees in thanksgiving. This is lively friendship with our Lord.
Don’t think that remaining weak in this world means that one hasn’t made any progress in the spiritual life. Quite the opposite. Sinners do not think that they are weak in any sense. Only those who are being drawn to our Lord by our Lord Himself have an inkling of just how weak they are. This weakness is the cross, which our Lord commands us to take up and carry daily, that is, to the end of our lives, meaning that we will justly carry the just consequences of original sin and our own sin until we die. We will be weak of mind, of will, have emotions ranging all over the place, get sick and die. And we will be tempted to sin by way of the world, the flesh and the devil. All of this is our cross.
We often hear that the saints embraced the cross, not because they like pain, but because they get to know in this way, with real clarity, with reality, the extent of the havoc sin wrecked upon us, and therefore know more accurately just how far our Lord had to reach to get us (sacrificing Himself), and therefore are able, with all the more reality, to thank render Him the thanksgiving which is His due. And this is a real joy. This will be our joy in heaven. Humble thanksgiving. This is the joy of the saints. This is how to be a saint.
This just one minute video is a bit painful to listen to, but it is a joy for the soul:
Be a saint. You too. Especially you. Eternity is before us, right now.
(1) Humble
(2) Thanksgiving
Accompany me, Father George David Byers, S.S.L., S.T.D., as I begin life as a Catholic Priest-Hermit by choice. Holy Souls Hermitage is dedicated to the sanctification of my fellow priests, bishops, deacons & seminarians going through the purgatory of this life or the next. Prayer and sacrifice go up, of course, for both Benedict XVI and the next Successor of Saint Peter. 
Thanks for a great post. Very encouraging, particularly in my current circumstances. That being said, you may want to correct the typo in the third paragraph (“out” instead of “our”).
Thanks, oh most obscure Gregg! Correction made. I type too fast!
Thank you. Much appreciated – and something of which I seem to need a reminder on a fairly regular basis!