I came across this passage the other day in Father Lawrence Lovasik's book The Hidden Power of Kindness (Sophia Institute Press, 1999). It leaped out at me because Lent is a time when such struggles seem to be intensified.
Soul-pain is the price of conversions. No sin can be blotted out except by the soul-pain we know as supernatural contrition. If you want to win souls for Christ, you must be willing to endure the anguish for sin that sinners do not experience, in order to win ultimately the grace of repentance for them. You may have to go through the agonies of delayed hopes for many hearts, and even seeming failure at the end, for someone whose soul has been your deep concern. But your sincere devotion to bring a soul to Christ will not be in vain. God knows the secret workings of His grace in souls.
I recommend this book for Lent and indeed for any time of the year.
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