Make Room for God

"The heart cannot exist without love; it will love either God or creatures. If it does not love creatures, it certainly will love God. In order to become holy, we must therefore banish from our heart all that is not for God. When anyone came to the Fathers of the desert and desired to be received by them he was asked: 'Do you bring an empty heart that it may be filled by the Holy Ghost?' And they were right, for a heart that is filled with the things of earth has no room for the love of God. He who brings a vessel filled with earth to the spring will never be able to fill it with water until he empties it of the earth with which it is filled. How does it happen that so many pray and go frequently to Holy Communion and still make no considerable progress in the love of God? The reason is doubtless because the heart is full of self-esteem, of vanity, of self-will, and of attachment to creatures. He, therefore, who wishes to arrive at the perfect love of God must practice poverty in spirit. He must be detached from worldly possessions, from temporal honors, from his fellow creatures, and from himself."

— St. Alphonsus Liguori, 12 Steps to Holiness and Salvation, p. 114-5