A Thought for the First Sunday of Lent

I've been reading The Sermons of St. Francis de Sales For Lent as my Lenten reading.  St. Francis' words always seem to resonate with me, which is probably why he is one of my favorite saints.  His writings have such a profound, but simply put wisdom that always seems to make perfect sense.  As I was reading from his sermon from the first Sunday of Lent of 1622 on temptation, this particular except jumped out at me and really caught my attention and I thought I'd share it with you:

"What a great pity that the desire for perfection is not itself sufficient for having it, but that it must be acquired by the sweat of our brow and hard work!  Do you not realize that Our Lord willed to be tempted during the forty days He was in the desert precisely in order to teach us that we shall also be tempted during the entire time that we dwell in the desert of this mortal life, which is the place of our penance?  The life of the perfect Christian is a continual penance.  Console yourself, I pray, and take courage.  Now is not the time for rest."