“God withholds Himself from no one who perseveres.” Santa Teresa de Jesús
Cross country is a demanding sport. Training is long and hard, and the 5k race demands a 100% effort from start to finish. My High School coach would start us with a few weeks of 3-5 mile runs and then he bumped it up to 8-12 mile daily runs and special training days on mountainous tracks. Little by little as the season went on, the race became a little more bearable and my finish time started to gradually improve. Prayer can be very similar and the key is to stick with it. Start small with a few little prayers in the morning and at night and make sure that no matter what happens, you respect these book-ends. Then, try to go to Mass one extra time a week, and perhaps add a Gospel reflection and an examination of conscience at night. Christ will bless this systematic and “little by little” effort, and before you know it, you will have developed a real intimacy and friendship with our Lord.
