We must cultivate interior solitude. When Scripture describes Mary pondering God’s abundant grace, she makes time to prayerfully consider the absolute graciousness of the Living God (Luke 2:19, 51). Modifying a monastery feature, Saint Catherine of Siena (+1380) calls it the “interior cell.” Create it. Defend it. Go there daily and throughout the day.
Interior solitude lessens the stranglehold caused by worry, fear and anxiety. It equips us with the necessary grace to forgive and be forgiven. It elevates us from mundane and mediocre, sharpening purpose and infusing confidence and desire to make God’s plan our own.
Absent interior solitude – the interior cell – the heart will find something to distract it from seeking God and, eventually, make it a prisoner to the ungodly.
