In my last post I forced us all to consider our Big Kahuna of sin, our Grand Poobah of iniquity – our Predominant Fault.
It’s important because if we don’t fight it, we’re in big spiritual trouble. We’ll have no fertile interior life, which means no real spiritual growth.
So let’s turn our attention to how spiritual master Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange says we can crush this killer of souls.
3 Ways To Kill Your Predominant Fault
You can’t combat your predominant fault without a healthy interior life. So here are the keys:
1. Sincere prayer. Blowing through a rosary isn’t going to cut it. We’re talking about real communication with God.
So our prayer needs to be something more like – “Lord, help me get rid of anything and everything in my life that keeps me from you.” And mean it. In fact, you should meditate on it.
And don't forget that prayer is meant to lead to action. If you’re going to ask God for it, you’ve got to act on the knowledge that he imparts. That’s the whole point of the grace he gives.
2. Examination of Conscience. Don’t just think about it. Write down how many times you fell to this fault. It’s like listing the checks written out of your bank account.
Falling to your predominant fault is like a big withdrawal from your spiritual savings account. You have to keep track so you can make a matching deposit. How? Look at number 3.
3. Do some penance. (Or as Fr. Lagrange puts it – “Impose a sanction.”)
I know. I know. You just sighed interiorly. We don't like penance.
But the reality is that "no pain, no gain” is just as true for spiritual workouts as it is in the sweaty world of Zumba or Crossfit (or even Jazzercize...especially with leg warmers).
But don't worry. It doesn't need to be something crazy. “This penance,” says Fr. Lagrange, “may take the form of prayer, a moment of silence, an exterior or interior mortification.”
And trust me, it’s better to do your penance now, rather than later. Why?
Because the penance you do now has eternal merit due to the fact you’re making an act of the will. You're making a choice on your own to do it. Anything that happens in purgatory doesn’t gain merit because you have to suffer your continued separation from God one way or the other. You don't have a choice.
Regardless of the form it takes, the penance you do should be “reparation for the fault and satisfaction for the penalty due it,” says Fr. Garrigou.
In other words, do your best to make the penance match the crime...within reason. Don't overdo it. (Wearing a hair shirt for 6 months is not an appropriate penance because you lost patience yet again.)
Regardless, imposing some kind of consequence for our repeated sin helps us to think twice before doing it again.
(One of the things I do when I know I've succumbed to my predominant fault (or some other venial sin) is to forego my usual cup of coffee. It's a penance that doesn't kill me, but certainly wounds me enough to help me stop.)
So there you go! Put these things into motion and you’re on your way to ridding yourself of your predominant fault.
Of course, don't think for a moment that it's going to be easy-peasy. Your predominant fault doesn’t want to be unmasked and lose its hold on your life.
But if you turn to Christ to help, you can do it.
And that's something to always keep in mind. We can't overcome our faults on our own. In fact, we can't do anything on our own. Everything is a matter of grace...everything!
And the Lord is always faithful to give us all the graces we need. As he told St. Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor 12:9).
Echoing Scripture, The Council of Trent quoted St. Augustine who declared, “God never commands the impossible; but in giving us His precepts, He commands us to do what we can, and to ask for the grace to accomplish what we cannot do."
So pray for the grace you need and go to war against your predominant fault. It's one of the spiritual keys to drawing closer to Christ. You can do it!
God bless!
Matthew
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