This is why I sometimes preach so aggressively to those who have not yet begun to place truly worthy offerings at the foot of the altar. This is also why I encourage you to make gift to Catholic Charities this year if you have never done so in the past. This fruit has all but disappeared in our modern society. Faithfulness takes the courage one needs to hang in there through the hard times. Faithfulness takes vision to see the bigger picture and to think in terms of the long run rather than to chase after immediate self-gratification.
Faithfulness takes, well . . .
Faith to understand that the present trial might very well be the work of the Holy Spirit, bringing a tongue of flame to do work of purification and growth. This is what is meant by the exhortation to crucify the flesh with its passions and desires. Today, my friends, is a day to dream, a day to hope, a day for visions, a day to ask God for the gifts of the Spirit and for the grace to cooperate with those gifts. It was on such a day that the Church was born. It can be on such a day that we can be reborn as well.