If one of two has to suffer, why shouldn’t you be the one? Always choose the worst and hardest. Do not try to get rid of what is troublesome and annoying, but hold on to it. The cross is a treasure.

COMMENT: Today we have one of Fr Doyle’s “difficult sayings”. But in this he was no different to the saints or to indeed to Christ – the writings of the saints, and the pages of the Gospel, are full of hard sayings that are somewhat repugnant to our nature. 

But for all that, one cannot deny that this is a hard doctrine to live by. Our human nature naturally loves comfort and the easy path of least resistance. And we now live in a culture that exalts convenience and the pursuit of pleasure in a way that no previous age has done. But the saints knew that we have to learn to say no to ourselves and to do hard things.