Lord Jesus,give me fortitude and the strength to conquer whatever comes my way. May your grace and mercy forever surround me all the days of my life
Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go Joshua 1:7
Fortitude means having courage in pain or adversity, which is why I often refer to this virtue as “Holy Stubbornness.” Difficult times, times of pain or suffering are the times in which giving up would be so easy, and even justifiable. But fortitude means holding on to your courage even when the temptation to give in is so real. It is the best kind of stubbornness, the refusal to quit, the courage to keep fighting your way toward Christ and toward heaven.
We see the need for this virtue clearly in Joshua 1:7-- “Be careful to observe the entire law.” He knew that that clarification of “entire” was needed because in moments of difficulty, moments of desperation, moments of despair, we often find ways to justify ignoring the parts of the law that we don’t like or don’t think we could handle at those moments. He also goes a step further-- “Do not swerve from it either to the right or to the left.” Not only are we being asked to follow the entire law in every moment of our life, but we are being told to follow it well even when it would be way easier to ignore the finer details. The virtue of Fortitude makes this possible.
What aspects of your life is God asking you to practice the virtue of Fortitude right now?
To Jesus through Mary-Carissa Pluta
