#shorts Part 16 — More Mortification
Now amongst these vicious inclinations, which wage war against the soul, there is generally one more strong and violent than the rest, that is the occasion of more or greater sins, named by divines the predominant passion; the mortification whereof is, one of the principal occupations of a spiritual life; for when our predominant passion, which is, as it were, the commander of the rest, is once overthrown, the rest will be more easily subdued, as when their champion Goliath was slain, the whole army of the Philistines were immediately put to flight.
Richard Challoner, Meditations, August 21 entry
Hello Readers, hope all’s well. Time for another #shorts post.
Today’s quick tidbit once again comes from Richard Challoner’s daily reader, Meditations. The full title being: Considerations Upon Christian Truths and Christian Duties: Digested Into Meditations for Every Day in the Year.
By the way, I want everyone to know Meditations is a book in the public domain- it’s free!! You can read it for free as a PDF (if you want a print copy like I prefer, you have to buy one). Check out the free PDF HERE.
If you download your own free copy, you can follow along with the entries I write about, or you can read an entry every day yourself.
Anyway, today’s selection from Meditations is once again about the ever-important topic of mortification. We’re going to continue on from the previous post, which was about the mortification of the flesh and its appetite for sensual pleasures. “Sensual pleasures” means anything in this world that stimulates the physical senses; anything from food to sex to entertainment and everything in-between.
In today’s selection from Meditations, Challoner gives us a great practical tip for mortifying our flesh and it’s disordered, sinful excesses. We all have one area of sin, one temptation, that we struggle with above all others. Richard Challoner advises us to strike at the head; we must mortify the predominant passion.
