The "Heroic Moment"

I just recently watched the movie There Be Dragons. It's a story that follows the friendship of two men, Manolo and Josemaria Escriva. Josemaria is a priest,  true-life canonized saint, and he just so happens to be the founder of Opus Dei.

My favorite line of the movie starts in a scene with Josemaria and Manolo meeting after not speaking to each other for some time. They have a very strained relationship and Manolo has many bitter feelings towards Josemaria. Manolo was commenting about how he left the seminary and says, "I always knew I wasn't priest material." To which Josemaria states,

"Just because you aren't priest material, doesn't mean you're not saint material."

Could St. Josemaria Escriva be any more correct?! I love that line because I think it is very relatable to each and every last one of us. It's that universal call to holiness that we are all meant to pursue. And it is kind of exciting! :)

I have read a little bit more on Josemaria and came across his teaching about the "Heroic Moment":

The first habit is the morning offering, when you kneel down and using your own words, or a formula, you briefly offer up all the day ahead for God's glory. What is not so simple is what has to happen before the offering. As the founder of Opus Dei put it "Conquer yourself each day from the very first moment, getting up on the dot, at a set time, without granting a single minute to laziness. If with the help of God, you conquer yourself in the moment, you have accomplished a great deal for the rest of the day. It's so discouraging to find yourself beaten in the first skirmish (The Way, 191). In my pastoral experience, those who can live the "heroic moment" in the morning and in the evening going to bed on time will have both the physical and spiritual energy throughout the day to stop what they are doing in order to live the other habits.

Anyone else up for the challenge?