Here is something I've run into myself personally, and here's something I've run into with other

people as they're growing in holiness. A misconception. I'm my name's Father Mike Schmitz,

and this is Ascentra Presents. Here is the misconception that I think, you know, I think a lot of us

have bought into when it comes to, okay, if you're going to say yes to Jesus, your life in growing in

holiness is going to be this like steady increase in just getting better and better,

holier and holier all of the time. You might have like one thing or two things you need to

get over. But once you get past that, it's just this kind of growth, just steady, you know,

increasing up and to the right. No, I think

sometimes we have that illusion, I guess, because of some of the stories of saints. On campus,

one of the favorite saints people have here is St. Augustine. And St. Augustine is famously known

for his struggles with chastity. St. Augustine's famous prayer, dear God, make me chased, but not yet.

The idea is that, yeah, at one point, though, St. Augustine, in this massive moment of trial,

in this moment of despair almost, of this, God, will I ever be free? He was told by the Lord,

some kind of voice that said, take and read, take and read, and he picked up scripture and read this

line of the Bible, the New Testament, that just encouraged him in this way, that enabled him

to have hope in the grace of Jesus Christ and that set him free. And once he got past that

battle, right? When he's got past that struggle, it was just this straight line. Boom. St.

Augustine, he got dealt with chastity. Now we're just holiness, right? And I think sometimes

that's what we think. Once I get past this, whatever this thing is, then the process of holiness

is going to be pretty straightforward. I have to say, that is not true.

I don't think that's true for anyone in the history of Christianity. I don't think it was true

for St. Augustine. I think God did a great work in setting St. Augustine free from that burden of

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