Faith
85. Doubly blessed. St. Augustine describes holiness as a house: it rests on a good foundation, is constructed with the appropriate material and rises several stories. Thus it is with our own holiness: it rests on the foundation of faith, it is built with hope and crowned with charity. Faith is the foundation of holiness and of every virtue.
Jesus once said to His disciples: “Blessed are the eyes which have seen what you see. Indeed I say to you that many prophets and kings wanted to see the things you see but did not see them” (Luke 10,23). It was extraordinary good fortune to live at the same time as Our Lord, to know Him personally, to hear Him speak and to witness His miracles. The patriarchs, kings and prophets of the Old Testament never had this good fortune. They, like Abraham, longed to see the Messiah: “Abraham, your father, nourished the hope of seeing My day; he saw it and rejoiced” (John 8,56). He saw it, yes, but only in a vision; the same thing was true of David and Isaiah – they described the life of the Messiah but they did so before the event. The disciples on the other hand saw and heard Jesus in person – they were familiar with Him.
And are we not also blessed? After showing Thomas His wounds Jesus said: “Because you have seen me you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen me but still believe!” (John 20,29). We therefore are blessed if we have faith in Him. Not just blessed, but doubly blessed. First because we believe without seeing and then because we really see and hear Him. It is not necessary to see with our eyes or hear with our ears to be able to say that we see and hear Him. Some things we can learn from history; we know what Jesus said and did both during His earthly life and throughout centuries in the Church. He is with us forever until the end of time. With the eyes of faith we can see and hear Him in the Blessed Sacrament where He is just as alive as He is in heaven.
86. Living by faith. What does it mean to live by faith? It means to conform to and model ourselves on the dictates of faith. If this is the principle and rule of our life we will strive to do everything according to the dictates of this faith. We will judge everything in the light of the faith; faith will provide the criteria for our decisions. All Christians need faith if they are to be saved: “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11,6). Through no merit of our own we were given this faith at Baptism. It made us part of the supernatural order. The spirit of faith should accompany our every action from morning till evening, by day and by night; it should be the living and profound certainty that guides our daily life.
St. Paul recommends faith to Timothy: “You, man of God … pursue faith” (I Timothy 6,11) – in other words preserve and perfect it. How can we do this? Since faith is a gift of God we must pray for it constantly. Before casting a demon out of a child the Lord asked the child’s father for a profession of faith. The father asked Jesus to increase his faith: “I believe, help my unbelief” (Mark 9,24). This is something we must say repeatedly: help us believe! Or “increase our faith” (Luke 17,5). St. Augustine urges us to pray the Creed often and well; it contains the truths of the faith like so many precious pearls. We must live by faith: “my righteous one shall live by faith” (Hebrews 10,38).
87. In mission. One does not need an abundance of words to reach God – but rather an abundant spirit of faith. If everyone needs this spirit of faith how much more necessary it is for missionaries. Without this spirit what can be accomplished in the missions? You must promote the faith in the midst of millions of non-Christians. “If one is not reborn of water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven” (John 3,5). Surely you see the importance of faith both for yourselves and others. You are indeed fortunate to have so sublime a mission. We must have great faith and be willing to profess it publicly – even if this means martyrdom.
If we have the spirit of faith we will never feel abandoned. Everyone else may abandon us but God never will. If we live by faith even the burden of being a missionary will disappear. Even though we can do nothing by ourselves with God’s help we can do anything. They used to say that St. Joseph Cottolengo had more faith than all the other inhabitants of Turin together. We must have a very vital faith. Not a single hair of our head will be lost without God willing it (Cf. Luke 21,18). Let us ask for an increase of faith. A pinch of faith can master anything.
88. Practical faith. You will say that thank God you do have faith and you hold it dear. Well you may have an intellectual faith but does it carry over into practice? It is not enough to possess the faith. If our faith does not produce works it is dead: “Faith without works is dead” (James 2,20).
All our thoughts should conform to the faith. We must ask ourselves, is this specific thought pleasing to God? Yes – only God. Everything by, with and from God! Get rid of useless thoughts! They give rise to criticism of our colleagues, the decisions of our superiors, present or past events, the things of this world, etc. What good is all this in the light of eternity? One day St. Benedict Joseph Labbre, ragged and dirty, was passing by an upper-class gentleman and heard him say, “Poor unfortunate creature!” “No,” Labbre responded, “I’m not unfortunate at all – I am in God’s good graces.” The “gentleman” was judging according to the world’s criteria and the saint was speaking according to the spirit of faith. The same could be said about the false opinions others may have of us – what do they matter? “The one who must judge me is the Lord” (I Corinthians 4,4).
Are all our feelings guided by the spirit of faith? Do we have any feelings or attachments contrary to this spirit? Our attachments may be trivial but still they block our total attachment to God. A heart filled with God expresses itself in words: “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12, 34).
In everything we do the spirit of faith must be our guide – especially in those of our activities directly connected to the service of God. During a pastoral visit to a parish Msgr. Gastaldi found dirty corporals and altar linen while the house linen was spotless. He addressed the pastor: “Do you believe in the real presence of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament?” – “Your Excellency, you offend me,” the pastor replied. “No,” the Bishop said, “do you or do you not believe?” “Of course I believe.” “So much the worse – if you believe you have no excuse.” If I put the same question to each of you: “Do you believe in the real presence of the Lord in the consecrated Host?” You would surely reply “Yes.” Then I could further say, “Why is your genuflection so sloppy? Why do you let yourself be distracted? Why do you find visits to the Blessed Sacrament boring? Why do you go all day long without thinking of the Lord?” No, it is not good enough to have an abstract, intellectual faith. Our faith must be practical, something that informs our every action.
89. A simple and total faith. St. Augustine says: “The ignorant will rise up and steal heaven away from us – and we with all our intellect will be left with the earth.” Certainly we should not believe without authority and reason but when there is good reason to believe and the one who speaks is truthful then we must believe. Jesus said, “I bless you, Father, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to the little ones.” (Matthew 11,25). St. Thomas Aquinas tells us that faith comes not just from the intellect but from the will as well; it is not the intellect but the will that makes us believe. We need simplicity if we are to believe.
If a missionary does not possess the simple and total faith one finds in adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament what will he accomplish? When this humble, simple, total faith is absent there is nothing.
We can and we must study to understand things – but at the same time we must repeat over and over: I believe, Lord! “Like new born infants long for the pure spiritual milk that you may grow up into salvation” (I Peter 2,2). Let us move forward with humility and simplicity in our faith. If we doubt everything we will soon begin to doubt our faith. This may only be a temptation but it is troubling. Here in this house we have simplicity. I want you to be simple – that does not mean you believe everything. Faith and credulity are not the same thing. The Lord told us “to be as cunning as serpents and as simple as doves” (Matthew 10,16).
90. Guidance of the Church. Love the truths of the faith and study their beauty and reasonableness; under the guidance of the Church they will prove a blessing for time and eternity. Study can provide us with theological knowledge but not with Catholic faith. Catholic faith involves believing something because the Church says it is so. Our Congregations and our members must be attached to the Roman Pontiff and the Church. “Where Peter is, there is the Church.” We profess total submission to the Church and to the Pope; not to this or some other specific but to the Pope as such. Even in those things where we are free to choose we choose to be with him. If there is someone here who does not agree with the Pope – even in things not involving faith or morals – he does not belong here. We want to be “the Pope’s men” in every sense of the word. We pray to the Holy Apostles, Peter and Paul, for the grace to be forever one with the Holy See – both as individuals and collectively. This grace will give our Congregation stability.
Hope
91. Open our hearts to hope. According to St. Augustine we build the edifice of our holiness with hope. Note the important role he assigns to hope. Generally speaking this virtue does not enjoy the universal respect it deserves. We recognize the obligation to believe but we are afraid of being too hopeful, too optimistic. We accept discouragement as something beneficial that reflects fear of Lord.
This certainly was not the case with Cafasso – he was a man of hope. He possessed this virtue to an eminent degree. He had so much hope it was contagious. When someone remarked that the gate to heaven was narrow he replied, “Fine, we’ll go in one at a time.” He could communicate hope even to those condemned to death. He would give them messages to bring to Our Lady and after their deaths he would exclaim – one more saint! He even added “those rascals are stealing heaven away from us!” He could convert despair into the most beautiful trust. We must never despair of anyone. God’s mercy is infinite. When people ask what was Cafasso’s principal virtue it is hard to answer: they were all principal. Some think the zeal for souls was principal. Others would say his confidence in God – and he did indeed have enough confidence for himself and others as well. Hope or confidence in God was certainly one of his striking characteristics. I testified to this in the beatification process. Some have a lively faith but little hope – they have trouble opening their hearts.
Let us open our hearts to living hope. We should not just hope – we should “super hope” – hope against hope. When we have little hope we are doing the Lord an injustice “He desires all people to be saved” (I Timothy 2,4). Some people think of their salvation as winning the lottery. People say: “I’m not sure whether or not I will win the lottery.” Similarly some say: “I’m not sure whether or not I will be saved.” This is not the way things should be. We must count on salvation because the Lord knows our weaknesses – all we need is a little good will. We should never be afraid of having too much hope. At the moment of his death St. Hilarion said to himself – “You have served the Lord for seventy years and now are you afraid of dying?”
We should never say, “Who knows if I will be saved?” Rather “I want to be saved and will therefore correct my faults and not lose courage.” The fear of not being saved comes from laziness. We must get up and work – as the saints did. We must not lose courage because of our past sins. It is not a bad thing to think of these past sins – it keeps us humble – but we should not be obsessive as if the Lord had not forgiven them. The Lord will be pleased if we concentrate on His kindness and mercy.
Therefore hope and hope energetically. In You, O Lord, I have hoped and I shall not be confounded in eternity!
92. Eyes fixed on heaven. The idea of heaven must be always in our mind. This thought has made saints; it has filled the desert with hermits; it has filled religious houses with consecrated people and it has filled mission territories with zealous missionaries. This thought can work great things in us. First of all it detaches us from this world. Cafasso used to say “We must look on everything down here in the light of our reward up there; if something is ugly or painful it will not exist in heaven.” The thought of heaven will help us overcome obstacles, sufferings and the trials of this life. When boredom, fatigue or inertia force us to pass hours and days of darkness we can repeat the words of St. Francis: “The reward that awaits me is so great that every suffering becomes a delight!” If suffering is not yet a delight for us it is at least bearable. Suffering lasts but a little while – our reward lasts forever. St. Paul says, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (II Corinthians 4,17).
The thought of heaven makes it easier to acquire virtue and to respond faithfully and generously to our calling – to be saints, great saints, the greatest saints possible. The thought of heaven is something truly great that prompts us to become saints. The years go by quickly and we will be fortunate if at the end of our lives we can say with St. Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there remains only the crown of righteousness which the Lord will award me on that day” (II Timothy 2,7). Don Bosco had this slogan over the door: “Heaven is not made for the lazy.” Not only is heaven not for the lazy it is not for those who work only halfheartedly for the Lord.
When you think of those in heaven do not think of abstractions – think of this or that particular missionary who was faithful to his vocation. The Lord said: “I am going to prepare a place for you” (John 14,2). To reach this place we must work and work very hard. It would be far too easy to win heaven now – so quickly. No, we must work forty, fifty maybe even more years. But the thought of heaven should give us respite. Our reward is there and it is great. Let us think about this often.
93. A storehouse of confidence. Really outstanding, robust hope is called confidence. Confidence is, as it were, the essence of hope. It is necessary to make up the disparity between our own nothingness and the sublime religious, priestly and missionary vocation we have been given.
We must have an abundant supply of confidence if we are to inspire it in others. Without confidence we can accomplish nothing. If we are diffident we do God an injustice. Cafasso called a lack of confidence the sin of the stupid. It costs so little to trust in God! Why then should we not trust in
Him?
Everyone needs confidence. It frees the wicked from their vices and puts them on the path of virtue and courage: “I will get up and go to my father” (Luke 15,18). It makes the lukewarm more enthusiastic and zealous: “The Lord is kind to those who seek Him” (Lamentations 3,25). But it is even more necessary for the zealous. They need it lest they become discouraged by what God asks of them, lest they become dispirited by their frequent falls, sins or defects. When we examine our lives we find ourselves committing the same faults over and over again – we could be tempted to say “This is altogether pointless, I will never get any better!” But I would ask why you find the same defects over and over? Because you are lukewarm! Do what you can and the Lord will assist you! We are really foolish when we lack confidence.
We must find the good in everything. St Paul assures us that “everything works for the good of those who love God” (Romans 8,28). Yes, everything – even sin – if there is good will. If we are humble we can turn everything – even sin – to good.
Confidence, Confidence. After confession we should think of virtue and not of sin any longer. Cheer up, a little love of God will fix everything. Never lose heart, always begin anew: “Nunc coepi” – now I begin. I would say this is the motto of our Congregations. If we have this confidence we will avoid the stumbling block of anxiety and scruples. When we feel anxious or uncertain we must turn to the voice that provides tranquility. Cafasso used to say “we need not continually ask pardon for each little fault – this is what our relationship with God should be. The love of God washes away everything!” He would further say: “Lord You know that I do not wish to offend You and that I love You; therefore if I should forget something I do not even wish to ask Your pardon.”
You will need this confidence in the future when you are in the missions. You will become discouraged by your mistakes, the poor results of your apostolate, loneliness, etc. But cheer up, have courage. “Whoever places his trust in the Lord will be like Mount Zion: it does not move, it is stable forever” (Psalm 124,1). If you are not brimming over with confidence you will be sad on the missions. A missionary without confidence can accomplish nothing; he is a torment to himself and others as well.
Fear and diffidence make it difficult to make progress in the way of the Spirit. Have a big heart – otherwise you will accomplish nothing. You should not get caught up in details – be relaxed. Jesus is the God of peace – not anxiety. Let us ask Him to give us peace, save us from scruples and help us preserve a delicate conscience. Neither scruples nor doubt! Everything must be clear and precise. We must go forward with that peace of spirit that dispels scruples and doubt. This is the spirit I want you to have.
94. Everything is in God’s hands. Confidence shows a loving trust in Divine Providence which guides every step of our life. Let us abandon ourselves to God and leave everything in His hands. He is our Father and does everything in our best interest. We must never fear for the future of our Congregation or any individual. In everything – even little things – let us raise our hearts to God and trust in Him alone whatever happens. We do not base our confidence on our own human resources: talent, strength, virtue, etc or on the resources of others. We must do all we can for our part and then without fear leave the rest in the Lord’s hands. He never leaves something only half done.
95. Trust in Providence. We are called to foster trust in Divine Providence: “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?” (Matthew 6,31). The Lord who feeds the birds will surely find sustenance for His apostles. If it is God’s will that we accept so many young candidates God will have to perform the same miracles He does at Cottolengo’s Little House of Divine Providence. There they care for “poor bodies” – here we care for “poor souls.”
We must trust in God but at the same time do our best to cooperate. How much does it cost to support a missionary? I am not so much concerned with finding enough money but rather that we deserve the money we receive. If we do not have the financial means to continue I will go to the Lord or Our Lady and say: “Either those in the missions are not doing their duty or there is a one in our midst who is not cooperating.” I do not doubt Providence. Without this kind of trust all is lost. At times there is not enough money to pay a bill that is coming due – and then the next day the money arrives and the bill is paid. I can assure you that I have never lost any sleep over money. I do not go looking for money but I would not be ashamed to beg for you and for the missions. Sometimes the Lord makes us wait – it is a sort of test. He wants us to remember that we are poor and He is the Master. If we cooperate He will always bless us.
In the Gospel Jesus warns us against being too anxious – this shows a lack of trust in God and too great an attachment to the things of earth. Trust in Divine Providence however does not mean we should not plan and seek to provide for the future. Each of us must work for the common good; we should take care of community property and not seek more than we need. If you lead a life of zeal you will be blessed – even materially – by God: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His justice and all this will be added unto you” (Matthew 6,33). When you ask for your daily bread in the Our Father think first of Holy Communion, God’s Word and then the material bread. If God provides us so generously with material things how much more generous He will be with spiritual things. I so hope that our Congregations in general and each of you in particular would have this sort of overwhelming trust in God: “Whoever trusts in the Lord will not be disappointed” (Sirach 32,24).
Charity
96. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God. According to St. Augustine our house of holiness is crowned with charity. God and our neighbor are the objects or rather two aspects of the single object of charity: God in Himself and for Himself; our neighbor in God and for God.[1] Love for God is not just a sentiment, it is an act of the will. One can love very much without feeling anything – possibly even feel repugnance for the object of our love. You can feel greatly and even shed tears without really loving. Love of God is the first great commandment. When a doctor of the Law asked “Master which is the greats of the commandments?” Jesus answered “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, with thy whole soul and with thy whole mind” (Matthew 22,3637). Mark adds the words “and with all your strength” (Mark 12,30).
According to St. Thomas holiness consists primarily of charity: “The perfection of Christian life per se and essentially consists in charity.” Charity is holiness: to love and to become a saint are the same thing. Where there is love there is everything. The other theological virtues are necessary because they are inseparably joined to charity. One cannot love without believing; one hopes for the thing one loves.
St. Francis de Sales says as much: “True holiness consists in loving God; the more one loves God the holier one is.” St. Augustine says: “Love and do what you will.” Anyone who loves God cannot offend Him but will serve Him faithfully. Charity is the synthesis and perfection of all virtue. This is why St. Paul says that charity is the “fulfillment of the Law” (Colossians 3,14). Undoubtedly without charity nothing else much matters. Even if we spoke the tongues of angels, if we had the gift of prophecy and knew all the mysteries, If we possessed all knowledge and had the faith to move mountains, even if we offered up our bodies to be burned and did not have charity it is of no avail! (Cf. I Corinthians 13,1ff).
97. Love as friendship. According to St. Thomas charity is friendship between God and man. God has chosen us from all eternity: “I have loved you with an eternal love” (Jeremiah 31,3). He takes pleasure in our company. “My delight is to be among the sons of man” (Proverbs 8,31). God, in effect, loves us; He bestows His grace continually to support us and make us saints; if we sin He pardons us. When we are afflicted He says: “Come to me all you who labor and are burdened and I will restore you” (Matthew 11,28). He has given us all we possess; He in no way needs us but is grateful for every act of virtue we offer Him and He rewards us with abundant grace. We must be equally grateful to Him saying over and over: “We give You thanks O Lord our God!” St. Jerome tells us to “desire or not desire the same things our friend desires or does not desire is the sign of true friendship.”
98. Love God ardently. St. Augustine says, “You have created us for Yourself and our heart will not rest until it rests in You.” How do we love God? We must love God ardently, enthusiastically. St. Therese of the Child Jesus was twenty-four years old when she was consumed by the love of God.
And we who are missionaries? He is our heart and He asks for everything. You see it is not that we do not love the Lord but that we do not love Him the way and to the extent that He wants to be loved by us.
Our heart is already very small we ought not to divide it. St. Francis de Sales said that if he found a single fiber in his heart that did not belong to God he would rip it out mercilessly. What about us? Do we really love the Lord with our whole heart? If Jesus put to us the question He addressed to Peter, “Do you love me more than these others?” (John 21,15) what answer could we give? Here is an examination of conscience I suggest you make. Let us ask ourselves often – especially those of us who are missionaries – if our heart is free, is it undivided, is it constant? The Lord gives us everything – do we want to hold back in giving ourselves to Him?
Let us love God with our whole soul, with our whole will, willing what He wills and as He wills it. Let us show Him our love by avoiding evil and seeking perfection. We often deceive ourselves in every day life especially in times of trouble or aridity. Love of the will resists all things and remains firm even in the midst of adversity. It is easy to love the Lord when all is going smoothly, when that love is comfortable. But to love Him when there is darkness, when our spirit is clouded and our heart is cold – that is true love! We must say with St. Paul: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or anguish […] no creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8,35-39).
Let us love God with our whole mind and with all our strength. We must ask ourselves – what are we thinking? What decisions do we make? Is everything according to God’s will? To love God with our whole mind means doing everything with a purity of intention: everything for Him and nothing for ourselves. To love with all our strength means loving the Lord to the greatest extent possible without fear of exaggerating. And we who are missionaries? If our heart is full of the love of God it will show in our life. Remember whoever is not already burning cannot spread fire.
99. To grow in love. We grow in the love of God through prayer: ask God often for charity, the queen of all virtues. St. Augustine said over and over again: “Lord, that I may love You.” And St. Ignatius, “Grant me, O Lord, Your love and Your grace and it will be enough for me!” Let us seek Mary’s intercession she is the “Mother of Holy Love.” Let us seek also the intercession of those saints who were especially gifted with this love. Through meditation too we can set the heart ablaze with love. We should meditate especially on the Passion of the Lord. St. Francis de Sales said that Calvary is the training ground of lovers. Every phrase in the Our Father is an act of love for God. So too every phrase in the hymn Tantum Ergo. The words “We adore the Sacrament” constitute an act of love. To adore is to love. So too “faith makes up for what the senses miss” helps us be content that we do not see; we perceive nothing with our senses but we trust in His word and this is love. Again: “To the Father, to the Son, praise and glory.” How many acts of love: that God be praised, that all love Him, that from all places His Greatness be acknowledged! All of this is love, pure love as long as we utter these beautiful words from our very hearts.
We grow in the love of God through our works: we do things which please God. As St. Gregory the Great teaches: “Action is the proof of charity.” Jesus said, “If you love me you will observe my commandments” (John 14,15). The measure of our love for God is what we do. Let us not be happy with just saying the words – let us do the works! We especially must have a “thirst for souls” as did Our Lord. Through our every day actions we can be collaborators with the Redeemer. Everything here is designed to enable you to do good in the future. In the missions you must have a heart open to every weakness and therefore full of the love of God. St. Francis Xavier was brimming over with this love and this is why he was so zealous a missionary. Anyone who does not love will never succeed in doing good. You are blest, you have the chance to be apostles in the missions if you are saints! And you will be saints to the extent you are filled with the love of God.
We grow in the love of God through purity of intention. Purity of intention is an act of love – we refer all our actions to God alone, to His glory: “My God and my all!” The more perfect our purpose the more perfect our work. The Lord has said, “If your eye be single, your whole body shall be full of light (i.e. all your works will be good before God)…If however the light that is in you be darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Matthew 6,22-23). How happy we will be if we refer everything to the Lord alone! He alone can bless and console us – He can make all our works successful. It is true that we dedicate all our thoughts, feelings and actions to the Lord every morning but this is not enough. We must renew this intention many times during the day. We must be careful to keep our intentions pure. God alone! To God alone honor and glory!
100. To will what God wills. We can find perfect holiness and complete happiness in doing God’s will. St. Basil claims that the secret of happiness, even in this world, is doing the will of God. Shortly after his conversion St. Paul asked, “Lord what do you will that I do?” (Acts 22,10). Cafasso explained the union of our will to God’s in this way: “To will what God wills; to will it in the same way, at the same time and in the same circumstances that He wills – and to will this for no other reason but that God wills it.” The Lord Jesus Christ gave us an example of this through His words and His deeds. When he prayed, worked or preached it was always to carry out the will of His Father. On the cross after saying all was consummated He bowed His head (Cf. John 19,30) – a sign that even at this last moment He was doing the will of His Father.
If our will is one with the will of God we will see things as He sees them. Similarly we must seek out His will in things great and small, public and private. We must do things well and expect nothing from others. God alone is enough! If misfortune occurs we must accept it without complaint; we must see in it the will of God. And when Shimei threw rocks and curses at David, David told Abishai that he wanted to kill him: “But he curses because the Lord has said unto him, Curse David; who then shall say, Why have you done this?” (II Samuel 16,10). The Lord can always draw good out of evil.
Be careful, though, sometimes self-love makes us see the will of God where it does not exist. We deceive ourselves that we are doing God’s will but often it is only our own will we are doing. Let us keep our eyes fixed on heaven – that is our goal, God alone. We should not be concerned about the success of our work God will reward us according to our effort and not our success – sometimes the Lord allows our work to be unsuccessful to teach us humility. This is why taking aim is so important. We need only begin our work for the Lord and He will see to the rest. What made saints in the past and what continues to make them now is will, good will – not holding anything back when serving God.
We must examine ourselves objectively and then say: “Lord, that I may know You and Your holy will!” Self-love can hide His will from us. St. Gertrude recited this short prayer many times a day: Lovable Jesus, not my but Your will be done. We should say this too – especially in times of adversity. In the Our Father we ask that God’s kingdom spread and immediately afterwards that His holy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We must strive to live always according to God’s will.
All of this will naturally cost us something. But as the saints say it is only the beginning that is painful; afterwards it is a pleasure. Let us examine ourselves seriously. It is easy enough to say “Thy will be done” in moments of fervor. But practically speaking are we always so keen to do God’s will? We must surrender our own will and examine every activity – is this really what God wants me to do? It is not a bad thing that we alternate offices both here and in the missions: those who exercise authority should return to obedience. This will accustom us to seek and carry out God’s will, to work only for Him. Let us say to God: I accept everything, I will everything without reservation – not just in general but in the smallest details. Not a single thought, word or work that is not for You, My God! If we carry out the will of God at all times we will not only enjoy perfect peace but will acquire so much merit.
What comforts me most is that I have always done what the Lord asked of me. It is a comfort to know that I have never refused. When Msgr. Gastaldi appointed me spiritual director of the seminary I went to him and said: “I am too young and I wanted to be a simple parish priest one day – but I am an obedient son.” He answered me: “You want to be a parish priest. I am giving you the most important parish in Turin: the seminary.” When he sent me to the Consolata Sanctuary I was not yet thirty years old and there was a hospice there for aged priests. I asked him, “Is this really the will of God? I am not yet thirty years old, I don’t have the experience.” “Look,” he said, “being young is a defect that is gradually corrected. Since you are young if you make any mistakes you will have the time to correct them.” You understand – we must be where the Lord wants us. If I had refused, Msgr. Gastaldi would have accepted this but I would not have embarked upon the road the Lord had chosen for me.
101. The mission is entrusted to the one who loves much. Love/charity towards God is especially necessary for those like us who have a vocation and are charged with communicating it. “I have come to cast fire on the earth and how I want it to be kindled!” (Luke 12,49). How can we communicate this sacred fire if it is not already burning within us? Before entrusting His flock to Peter the Lord asked him three times if he loved Him. Jesus will not entrust the mission of proclaiming the Gospel to those who do not love Him but to those who love Him and love Him very much. It is not enough to love Him half-heartedly we must love Him totally. Only great love can enflame zealous missionaries and enable them to bear willingly the sacrifices of an apostle’s life; only great love will guarantee the success of our efforts. Everything the Lord allows to happen to us is for our own good. We must say to Him from our heart: Thy will be done! We must strive not just for conformity to God’s will but for genuine unity with it – this is something even more perfect. Love conquers everything, love overcomes everything.
Let us see if we follow these rules in our every day life. If so the Lord will use us to accomplish much good just as He used St. Francis Xavier. If we carry out the will of God always and with purity of intention our days will be full: from morning to evening there will be a continuous amassing of treasure in heaven. At the end of life we will find that we have accomplished great things even if at present it does not look like we have done very much at all.
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[1] For Allamano, as well as the Gospel, charity is indivisible; it is directed to God and our neighbor. Usually he speaks of charity towards our neighbor in the context of community life; this is what we are doing in these pages.