Grit, Resilience, & the Catholic Man: Why It Matters & How to Strengthen It

Life is a battleground, not a playground. When suffering, failure, or opposition strikes, what determines whether you stand or fall isn’t talent, intelligence, or random good fortune. Aside from God’s grace, it’s grit. It’s resilience. And in matters of faith, where the battle isn’t just for survival but for your soul, these qualities matter.

What is Grit?

Grit is a gift that gives one the strength to push forward despite failure. Of the formal Catholic virtues, Fortitude is its closest match. Grit is that deep, stubborn refusal to quit when the world tells you to lay down. Resilience is its twin—your capacity to take a hit, absorb the pain, and keep going. These two virtues, practiced together, forge men into warriors, saints, and leaders. When not practiced and refined, your path to success, whether in faith or in refining a talent, will be much more difficult to travel.

From a Catholic perspective, grit isn’t just about toughing it out for personal gain. It’s about perseverance in faith, moral courage, and the ability to suffer well. Christ didn’t tell us to pick up our crosses just for the sake of carrying them—He told us to do it because the road to salvation is through Calvary. The saints didn’t become saints because they had it easy. They became saints because they endured, refused to let suffering break them, and saw beyond the hardship to something greater.

Signs You Have Grit and Resilience

Not sure if you have it? Here’s what grit looks like:

• You take on hard things. Instead of dodging challenges and seeking comfort, you embrace difficulty, knowing that growth comes through struggle.

• You stay steady under pressure. Criticism, failure, and suffering don’t break you. Instead of lashing out or retreating, you press forward—even if reluctantly.

• You refuse to quit. Whether in faith, fitness, work, or relationships, you push through obstacles instead of giving up at the first sign of difficulty.

• You stand firm in your values. When faced with pressure, you don’t fold to fit in or seek approval—you hold fast to what is true, even when it costs you.

• You endure suffering with purpose. Rather than avoiding hardship, you see suffering as something to be endured and offered up for a greater good, recognizing its redemptive value.

How to Build Grit and Resilience

If by chance you are someone who doesn’t see yourself in any of the above, don’t despair. Grit isn’t something you’re born with—it’s something you develop. Here’s how:

1. Embrace Hardship Instead of Avoiding It

The world trains men to seek comfort, but Catholicism calls men to something greater. Instead of running from difficulty, lean into it. Accept suffering not as something to be feared but as something that purifies and strengthens you. When you willingly take on hardship—whether it’s through fasting, physical training, or enduring criticism for your beliefs—you train your mind and soul to endure.

2. Strengthen Your Faith Through Action

Read Scripture daily, practice a disciplined prayer routine daily, attend Mass at least weekly, confess your sins routinely, and, most importantly, live out what you claim to believe. A strong man doesn’t just know the faith; he practices it.

3. Develop Self-Discipline

Grit is built in the small, daily decisions: choosing virtue over vice, discipline over indulgence, action over apathy. Wake up early. Take the stairs. Go the extra mile. Stop making excuses. Every moment you deny your weaker impulses is a moment you’re strengthening your resilience.

4. Surround Yourself with Stronger Men

If the people around you do not practice virtue, their soft behaviors will influence you, whether you want them to or not. Find men who challenge you, who live with conviction, who will call you out when you falter. Iron sharpens iron. Seek out brothers in the faith who push you toward holiness and strength, not mediocrity.

5. Learn to Suffer Well

Suffering isn’t just something to endure—it’s something to use. Offer it up. Look at the lives of the saints, at Christ Himself. They didn’t just suffer; they used suffering as a tool for holiness. When pain comes—and it will—embrace it and offer it back to Christ.

6. Stop Quitting

Simple, but not easy. If you say you’re going to do something, do it. If you fail, get back up. If you get knocked down again, rise anyway. There is no lasting greatness—spiritual or otherwise—without perseverance.

It sounds simple until the moment comes when you’re down, and that inner voice whispers: You’re weak. It’s not worth the fight. That’s when grit takes over. Ignore that voice and press on.

When times are good, stay sharp—hard times will come. When times are bad, take heart—they won’t last. Keep going.

Final Thoughts

Weak men crumble. Strong men endure. But men of faith? They conquer—not through brute force, but through unwavering resilience in the face of everything hell and the world throw at them.

If you are lacking somewhat in grit, build it. If you’re wavering in faith like all men, discipline your daily virtue-building routines and strengthen it. And if you’ve fallen, get up. Again and again and again. Because the only way to lose this fight is to quit, and that, my Catholic brothers, is not an acceptable option for us in these turbulent times.