Part of the rub, or the difficulty that comes with being a disciple of Christ, is the responsibility that comes with it. What I mean by this is that our life no longer becomes our own. We can no longer do what we want to do anymore. Christ now has a stake in our lives. We were created from nothing by God, and redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. We are following the steps of Jesus Christ, not blazing our own trails. This is what St. Paul is trying to get across to us in the Second Reading from his letter to the Colossians.
  St. Paul says it quite frankly, “Put to death the parts of you that are earthly.” This means we are to kill, to slay, those parts of us that aren’t consistent with who we are. Jesus provides a new creation for us, which we start living at our Baptism. As with everything else in this life, this is a process of becoming. Due to concupiscence and our free will, we do not automatically start living this. There are some areas where we are living as Christians, but others that we aren’t. We are to actively slay these beasts in our lives. And he names some of these beasts, “immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed.”
  A question naturally follows this, “How do we put these deeds to death?” Jesus has already done His part by the sanctifying grace that we have received. We have to do ours by participating with this grace. This means there is something that we have to do intentionally, that is bend our wills to do everyday. In a word, we have to mortify ourselves.
  We have to first become aware of these earthly parts of us. We have to specifically know them by name, so this requires real honesty with ourselves. There is an easy trick that all of us can do to figure this out. We have to go to Confession... twice. If you go to Confession a couple of times within a few months from each other I guarantee that you will know with precision where you need to begin.
  Also, having the 7 Capital Sins on our mind helps as well. These 7 Capital Sins are really root sins for us. What is underneath these habitual sins in our lives are these Capital Sins. For instance, if you find yourself snacking often, or eating ice cream frequently in the evenings, Gluttony is the root sin to this.
  Once we know our root sins, then we can begin actively putting to death these deeds of the flesh. These dragons can and must be slain if we want to reach Heaven. This puts us on the side of Jesus and Mary, who both put to death the Ancient Serpent by stomping on his head.