To Reach the End for Which We Were Made

From +Archbishop Luis Martinez, The Sanctifier, on the virtue of fortitude aided by the gift of fortitude, a gift given us by the Holy Spirit at our baptism:

"We need the Holy Spirit to moderate our affections, to regulate our lives, and to unite us intimately with God, so that no earthly attraction, no worldly enchantment, can pull us away from his loving embrace...

"In the spiritual life, there are difficulties and there are also dangers: occasions of sin and obstacles to good...We need extraordinary strength to help us bear these difficulties, avoid these dangers, strive toward the accomplishment of the will of God, and finally to reach the end for which we were made...

"That we may overcome the difficulties and escape the dangers, God has provided us with a set of virtues grouped around the cardinal virtue of fortitude. These are patience, perseverance, fidelity, magnanimity, and a number of others, which, like an army in battle array, stand ready to help us. They are very efficacious, yet they are not sufficient...although virtues are supernatural, they receive in our practice of them our own stamp: the human character, narrow, limited, and very weak. 

"...If we are to attain salvation, fortitude with its companion virtues is not enough. A gift is needed, the gift of the Holy Spirit that bears the same name as the virtue: the gift of fortitude. The Holy Spirit moves us by this gift so that we are able to overcome difficulties, to avoid dangers, and to have confidence. 'I can do all things,' exclaimed the Apostle St. Paul, 'in Him who strengthens me' (Philippians 4:13).

"...In the supernatural order, under the movement of the Holy Spirit, creatures are actually clothed with the strength of God... In fact, we often observe how obstacles become a means to some good end in the all-powerful hands of God.

"Not only does the gift of fortitude help us overcome difficulties and avoid dangers, but it also gives us confidence like that which the Apostle Paul describes in the passage just cited. It is a confidence, a security, that produces peace in our souls in the midst of dangers, in struggles, in all our tribulations."

Father in Heaven, increase in us the gift of fortitude to aid our virtue and give us confidence of our life in You! +Amen!