If you don’t deny yourself you will never be a soul of prayer.
That joke, that witty remark held on the tip of your tongue; the cheerful smile for those who annoy you; that silence when you’re unjustly accused; your friendly conversation with people whom you find boring and tactless; the daily effort to overlook one irritating detail or another in the persons who live with you… this, with perseverance, is indeed solid interior mortification.
Don’t say: ‘That person gets on my nerves.’ Think: ‘That person sanctifies me.’
No ideal becomes a reality without sacrifice. Deny yourself. It’s so beautiful to be a victim!
This excerpt is from Josemaría Escrivá’s book The Way.
