Win with self-discipline
When a person with self-discipline agrees to meet you, they'll show up.
When an undisciplined person agrees to meet you, they may or may not show up.
- Some people do what they say
- Some people make excuses and procrastinate
You will have many problems unless you have self-control
If your emotions control you, you are headed for trouble. When you control your thoughts and actions, your life will be so much easier.
A disciplined person makes the right choice even if it's not the easiest choice.
Saint Paul stressed the need for self-discipline
In 1Corinthians (9:24-27), he says that if an athlete exercises willpower to gain a temporary crown, then a Christian should try even harder to gain a crown that lasts forever.
Saint Paul’s own strong will, strengthened by the Holy Spirit, enabled him to endure unbelievable hardships and to go wherever God led him.
It is not easy to keep our eyes fixed on the prize, which is eternal life with Jesus Christ. There are so many distractions and temptations. Prayer and the Eucharist give us strength.
Despite repeated failures, we need to keep trying.
“For although the just man shall fall seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity” (Proverbs 24:16).
Fasting in Lenten:
Ash Wednesday (Feb 4/16) to Easter Sunday (40 days later)
Fasting may be the least popular 7-letter word. But fasting is necessary if you want to conform your life more closely to the life of Jesus.
A part of repentance, of turning away from sin and back to God, includes some form of penance.
The Church has two forms of penitential practices:
Abstinence All Fridays through the year and the time of Lent are penitential days
The law of abstinence requires a Catholic 14 years of age until death to abstain from eating meat on Fridays in honor of the Passion of Jesus on Good Friday.
Fasting on Ash Wednesday and on Good Friday
The law of fasting requires a Catholic aged from 18 to 59 to reduce the amount of food they eat on these days.
We can have only one full, meatless meal. Some food can be taken at the other regular meal times if necessary, but combined they should be less than a full meal. Liquids are allowed at any time, but no solid food should be consumed between meals.
Common sense should prevail, and ill persons should not jeopardize their health by fasting. If in doubt about your fasting, ask your doctor.
Why do Christians fast?
We fast to train our senses,
to do penance for our sins,
to overcome temptations or difficulties,
to achieve spiritual blessings.
Lent is also the season of final preparation for those who will be baptized at the Easter Vigil. The Church invites its members to pray for these catechumens, but also to renew their own commitment to the life that began in them when they were baptized.
What fasting and prayer can do for you
- revitalize your prayer life
- deepen your love for Jesus
- draw you closer to Him
- give your life purpose
- increase God's blessings to you
- strengthen you against temptations
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