The Forge

Introduction

Dazzled (1)

Struggle (58)

Defeat (158)

Pessimism (216)

You Can (286)

To Fight Once More (377)

Recovery (475)

Victory (588)

Work (678)

Crucible (750)

Selection (855)

Fruitfulness (912)

Eternity (987)

Introduction

There was a mother

who, like all mothers,

was passionately fond of her little child,

whom she called

her prince, her king,

her treasure, her very sun.

I thought of you.

And I understood

-- for what father does not carry

deep inside some maternal feelings? --

that it was no exaggeration

for that good mother to say:

you are more than a treasure,

you are worth more than the sun itself:

you are worth all Christ's Blood!

How can I fail to take up your soul

-- pure gold --

and place it in the forge,

and fashion it with fire and hammer,

until that gold nugget is turned

into a splendid jewel

to be offered to my God,

to your God?

Dazzled

Points: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57

1. We are children of God, bearers of the only flame that can light up the paths of the earth for souls, of the only brightness which can never be darkened, dimmed or overshadowed.

The Lord uses us as torches, to make that light shine out. Much depends on us; if we respond many people will remain in darkness no longer, but will walk instead along paths that lead to eternal life.

2. God is my Father! If you meditate on it, you will never let go of this consoling thought.

Jesus is my dear Friend (another thrilling discovery) who loves me with all the divine madness of his Heart.

The Holy Spirit is my Consoler, who guides my every step along the road.

Consider this often: you are God's -- and God is yours.

3. My Father -- talk to him like that, confidently -- who art in heaven, look upon me with compassionate Love, and make me respond to thy love.

Melt and enkindle my hardened heart, burn and purify my unmortified flesh, fill my mind with supernatural light, make my tongue proclaim the Love and Glory of Christ.

4. Christ ascended the Cross with his arms wide open, with the all-embracing gesture of the Eternal Priest. Now he counts on us -- who are nothing! -- to bring the fruits of his Redemption to all men.

5. Lord, we are glad to find ourselves in your wounded palm. Grasp us tight, squeeze us hard, make us lose all our earthly wretchedness, purify us, set us on fire, make us feel drenched in your Blood.

And then, cast us far, far away, hungry for the harvest, to sow the seed more fruitfully each day, for Love of you.

6. Do not be afraid. Do not be alarmed or surprised. Do not allow yourself to be overcome by false prudence.

The call to fulfil God's will -- this goes for vocation too -- is sudden, as it was for the Apostles: a meeting with Christ and his call is followed.

None of them doubted. Meeting Christ and following him was all one.

7. The day of salvation, of eternity, has come for us. Once again the call of the Divine Shepherd can be heard, those affectionate words: Vocavi te nomine tuo -- I have called you by your name.

Just like our mother, he calls us by our name, by the name we're fondly called at home, by our nickname. There, in the depths of our soul, he calls us and we just have to answer: Ecce ego quia vocasti me -- here I am, for you have called me, and this time I'm determined not to let time flow by like water over the pebbly bed of a stream, leaving no trace behind.

8. Live your life close to Christ. You should be another character in the Gospel, side by side with Peter, and John, and Andrew. For Christ is also living f874now}: Iesus Christus, heri et hodie, ipse et in saecula! -- Jesus Christ lives! Today, as yesterday, he is the same, for ever and ever.

9. Lord, may your children be like red-hot coals, but without flames to be seen from afar. Let them be burning embers that will set alight each heart they come into contact with.

You will make that first spark turn into a burning fire, for your angels are very skilled at blowing on the embers in our hearts. I know, I have seen it. And a heart cleared of dead ashes cannot but be yours.

10. Think about what the Holy Spirit says, and let yourself be filled with awe and gratitude: Elegit nos ante mundi constitutionem -- he chose us before the foundation of the world, ut essemus sancti in conspectu eius! -- that we might be holy in his presence.

To be holy isn't easy, but it isn't difficult either. To be holy is to be a good Christian, to resemble Christ. The more closely a person resembles Christ, the more Christian he is, the more he belongs to Christ, the holier he is.

And what means do we have? The same means the early faithful had, when they saw Jesus directly or caught a glimpse of him in the accounts the Apostles and Evangelists gave of him.

11. You owe such a great debt to your Father-God! He has given you life, intelligence, will|... He has given you his grace --the Holy Spirit; Jesus, in the Sacred Host; divine sonship; the Blessed Virgin, the Mother of God and our Mother. He has given you the possibility of taking part in the Holy Mass; and he grants you forgiveness for your sins. He forgives you so many times. He has given you countless gifts, some of them quite extraordinary|...

Tell me, my son: how have you corresponded so far to this generosity? How are you corresponding now?

12. I do not know how it strikes you, but I feel I must tell you how moved I am whenever I read the words of the prophet Isaiah: Ego vocavi te nomine tuo, meus es tu! -- I have called you, I have brought you into my Church, you are mine! God himself telling me I am his! It is enough to make one go mad with Love!

13. Just think, there are so many men and women on earth, and the Master does not fail to call every single one.

He calls them to a Christian life, to a life of holiness, to a chosen life, to life eternal.

14. Christ suffered in your place and for your benefit, to tear you away from the slavery of sin and imperfection.

15. In these times of violence and of brutal, savage sexuality, we have to be rebels: we refuse point blank to go with the tide, and become beasts.

We want to behave like children of God, like men and women who are on intimate terms with their Father, who is in Heaven and who wants to be very close to -- inside! -- each one of us.

16. Meditate on this frequently: I am a Catholic, a child of Christ's Church. He brought me to birth in a home that is his, without my doing anything to deserve it.

My God, how much I owe you.

17. Remind everyone (and especially all those fathers and mothers, who call themselves Christians) that a vocation, a call from God, is a grace from the Lord, a choice made by the divine goodness, a motive for holy pride, a call to serve all joyously for the love of Jesus Christ.

18. Please echo these words for me: it is no ``sacrifice'' for parents when God asks them for their children. Neither, for those he calls, is it a sacrifice to follow him.

It is, on the contrary, an immense honour, a motive for a great and holy pride, a mark of predilection, a very special affection that God has shown at a particular time, but which has been in his mind from all eternity.

19. Be grateful to your parents for bringing you into this world, thus enabling you to become a child of God. And be all the more grateful if it was they who placed in your soul the first seeds of faith and piety, of your Christian way, or of your vocation.

20. There are many people around you, and you have no right to be an obstacle to their spiritual good, to their eternal happiness.

You are under an obligation to be a saint. You must not let God down for having chosen you. Neither must you let those around you down: they expect so much from your Christian life.

21. The commandment to love our parents belongs to both natural law and to divine positive law, and I have always called it a ``most sweet precept''.

Do not neglect your obligation to love your parents more each day, to mortify yourself for them, to pray for them and to be grateful to them for all the good you owe them.

22. Following the Master's wishes, you are to be salt and light while being fully immersed in this world we were made to live in, sharing in all human activities. Light illumines the hearts and minds of men. Salt gives flavour and preserves from corruption.

That is why if you lack apostolic zeal you will become insipid and useless. You will be letting other people down and your life will be absurd.

23. A reddish-green wave of filth and corruption has set out to overcome the world, throwing its vile spittle over the Cross of the Redeemer.

Now He wants another wave to issue forth from our souls --a wave that's white and powerful, like the Lord's right hand --to overcome with its purity all the rottenness of materialism and undo the corruption that has flooded the world. It is for this, and more, that the children of God have come.

24. Many people ask with an air of self-justification: Why should I get involved in the lives of others?

Because it is your Christian duty to get involved in their lives, in order to serve them.

Because Christ has got involved in your life and in mine.

25. If you are another Christ, if you behave as a son of God, you will set things alight no matter where you are. Christ enkindles all hearts, leaving none indifferent.

26. It is painful to see that after two thousand years there are so few people in the world who call themselves Christians and that of those who do call themselves Christians, so few practise the true teaching of Jesus Christ.

It is worth while putting our whole life at stake, working and suffering for Love, in order to accomplish God's plans and co-redeem with him.

27. I look at your Cross, my Jesus, and I rejoice in your grace, because your Calvary has won for us the reward of the Holy Spirit. And you give yourself to me, each day, lovingly, madly, in the Sacred Host. And you have made me a son of God, and have given me your Mother to be mine.

I can't be satisfied with just giving thanks. My thoughts take flight: Lord, Lord, there are so many souls who are so far from you!

Foster those yearnings for apostolate in your life, that many may get to know him and love him and come to feel loved by him.

28. Sometimes one hears love described (you'll have heard me mention this more than once) as if it were a movement towards self-satisfaction, or merely a means of selfishly fulfilling one's own personality.

And I have always told you that it isn't so. True love demands getting out of oneself, giving oneself. Genuine love brings joy in its wake, a joy that has its roots in the shape of the Cross.

29. My God, how is it that I do not cry out in sorrow and love whenever I see a Crucifix?

30. Marvel at God's magnanimity: he has become Man to redeem us, so that you and I -- who are absolutely worthless, admit it! --may come to know him and trust him.

31. O Jesus, strengthen our souls, open out the way for us, and, above all, intoxicate us with your Love. Make us into blazing fires to enkindle the earth with the heavenly fire you brought us.

32. Coming closer to God means being ready to be converted anew, to change direction again, to listen attentively to his inspirations -- those holy desires he places in our souls -- and to put them into practice.

33. What are you so proud of? Every impulse that moves you comes from Him. Act accordingly.

34. What respect, veneration and affection we should feel for every single soul when we realise that God loves it as his very own.

35. An aspiration: May we spend the days the Lord grants us only in pleasing him.

36. I would like you to behave as Peter and John did -- speaking to Jesus about the needs of your friends and colleagues as you pray. And then with your example you will be able to say to them: Respice in nos! -- look at me!.

37. When you love somebody very much, you want to know everything about him.

Meditate on this: Do you feel a hunger to know Christ? Because that is the measure of your love for him.

38. People who say that we priests are lonely are either lying or have got it all wrong. We are far less lonely than anyone else, for we can count on the constant company of the Lord, with whom we should be conversing without interruption.

We are in love with Love, with the Author of Love!

39. I see myself like a poor little bird, accustomed only to making short flights from tree to tree, or, at most, up to a third floor balcony. One day in its life it succeeded in reaching the roof of a modest building, that you could hardly call a skyscraper.

And lo and behold, our little bird is snatched up by an eagle, who mistakes the bird for one of its own brood. In its powerful talons the bird is borne higher and higher, above the mountains of the earth and the snow-capped peaks, above the white, blue and rose-pink clouds, and higher and higher until it can look right into the sun. And then the eagle lets go of the little bird and says: Off you go. Fly!

Lord, may I never flutter again close to the ground. May I always be enlightened by the rays of the divine sun -- Christ --in the Eucharist. May my flight never be interrupted until I find repose in your Heart.

40. That friend of ours would finish his prayer in this way: ``I love the Will of my God and that is why, abandoning myself completely into his hands, I pray that he may lead me however and wherever he likes.''

41. Ask the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and your Mother, to make you know yourself and weep for all those foul things that have passed through you, and which, alas, have left such dregs behind|... And at the same time, without wishing to stop considering all that, say to him: Jesus, give me a Love that will act like a purifying fire in which my miserable flesh, my miserable heart, my miserable soul, my miserable body may be consumed and cleansed of all earthly wretchedness. And when I have been emptied of myself, fill me with yourself. May I never become attached to anything here below. May Love always sustain me.

42. Desire nothing for yourself, either good or bad. For yourself, want only what God wants.

Whatever it may be, if it comes from his hand, from God, however bad it may appear in the eyes of men, with God's help it will appear good, yes very good, to you. And with an ever-increasing conviction you will say: Et in tribulatione mea dilatasti me|..., et calix tuus inebrians, quam praeclarus est! -- I have rejoiced in tribulation|..., how marvellous is your chalice. It inebriates my whole being!

43. We should offer the Lord the sacrifice of Abel. A sacrifice of young unblemished flesh, the best of the flock; of healthy and holy flesh; a sacrifice of hearts that have one love alone --you, my God. A sacrifice of minds, which have been shaped through deep study and will surrender to your Wisdom; of childlike souls who will think only of pleasing you.

Lord, receive even now this sweet and fragrant sacrifice.

44. We have to learn how to give ourselves, to burn before God like the light placed on a lampstand to give light to those who walk in darkness; like the sanctuary lamps that burn by the altar, giving off light till their last drop is consumed.

45. The Lord, the teacher of Love, is a jealous lover who asks for all we possess, for all our love. He expects us to offer him whatever we have, and to follow the path he has marked out for each one of us.

46. My God, I see I shall never accept you as my Saviour unless I acknowledge you as my Model at the same time.

Since you yourself chose to be poor, make me love holy poverty. I resolve, with your grace, to live and die in poverty, even though I may have millions at my disposal.

47. You became very thoughtful when I told you: ``The way I see it, everything seems too little when it is for the Lord.''

48. It would be good if it could be said of you that the distinguishing feature of your life was ``loving God's Will''.

49. Any job, no matter how hidden, no matter how insignificant, when offered to the Lord, is charged with the strength of God's life!

50. Feel the responsibility of your mission: the whole of Heaven is looking down on you.

51. God awaits you. So, wherever you are, you must commit yourself to imitating him and uniting yourself to him, cheerfully, lovingly, keenly, though circumstances might require you -- even permanently -- to go against the grain.

God awaits you -- and needs you to be faithful.

52. You wrote: ``My King, I hear you proclaiming in a loud voice that still resounds: Ignem veni mittere in terram, et quid volo nisi ut accendatur? -- I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and would that it were already kindled!''

Then you added: ``Lord, I answer, with all my heart, with all my senses and faculties: Ecce ego quia vocasti me! -- here I am because you have called me.''

May this answer of yours be a daily reality.

53. You should show the moderation, fortitude and sense of responsibility that many people acquire after many long years, in their old age. You will achieve all this, while you are still young, if you do not lose the supernatural outlook of a son of God. For he will give you, more than to the old, those qualities you need for your apostle's work.

54. You enjoy an interior happiness and peace that you would not exchange for anything in the world. God is here. There is no better way than telling him our woes for them to cease being such.

55. Is it possible, you asked me, that Christ should have spent so many years -- twenty centuries -- acting on earth, and the world should be now what it is? Is it possible, you went on, that there should still be people who do not know Our Lord?

And I answered you with conviction: It is our fault. For we have been called to be co-redeemers, and at times, perhaps often, we do not follow the Will of God.

56. How humble Jesus is. What a shame, in contrast, that I who am nothing but dust from a dung-heap should so often have disguised my pride under the cloak of dignity, or justice. And as a result, how many opportunities to follow the Master I have missed or wasted, by failing to supernaturalise them.

57. Sweet Mother, lead us to that madness that will make others fall madly in love with our Christ.

Sweet Lady Mary, may Love not be in us a flash in the pan, or a will-o'-the-wisp, such as decomposing corpses sometimes produce. May it be a true devouring fire, which sets alight and burns everything it touches.

Struggle

Points: 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157

58. Being chosen by God means, and demands, personal holiness.

59. If you respond to the call the Lord has made to you, your life -- your poor life -- will leave a deep and wide furrow in the history of the human race, a clear and fertile furrow, eternal and godly.

60. Each day be conscious of your duty to be a saint. A saint! And that doesn't mean doing strange things. It means a daily struggle in the interior life and in heroically fulfilling your duty right through to the end.

61. Sanctity does not consist in great concerns. It consists in struggling to ensure that the flame of your supernatural life is never allowed to go out; it consists in letting yourself to be burned down to the last shred, serving God in the lowest place, or in the highest: wherever the Lord may call you.

62. Our Lord did not confine himself to telling us that he loved us. He showed it us with deeds, with his whole life. What about you?

63. If you love the Lord, you will necessarily become aware of the blessed burden of souls that need to be brought to God.

64. For someone who wants to live for Love with a capital letter, the middle course is not good enough; that would be meanness, a wretched compromise.

65. Here is a recipe for your way as a Christian: pray, do penance, work without rest, fulfilling your duty lovingly.

66. My God, teach me how to love. My God, teach me how to pray.

67. We must ask God for faith, hope and charity, with humility, with persevering prayer, with upright behaviour and a clean life.

68. You told me that you did not know how to repay me for the holy zeal that flooded your soul.

I hastened to answer: It is not I who have given you any of those yearnings; it is the Holy Spirit.

Desire his company, get to know him. That way you will come to love him better and better, and you will come to thank him for taking up his abode in your soul so that you may have interior life.

69. Keep struggling, so that the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar really becomes the centre and the root of your interior life, and so your whole day will turn into an act of worship -- an extension of the Mass you have attended and a preparation for the next. Your whole day will then be an act of worship that overflows in aspirations, visits to the Blessed Sacrament and the offering up of your professional work and your family life.

70. Try to give thanks to Jesus in the Eucharist by singing the praises of Our Lady, the Virgin most pure, without stain, who brought forth the Lord into this world.

And, with childlike daring, say to Jesus: My dearest Love, blessed be the Mother who brought you into this world!

I assure you it will please him, and he will put even greater love in your soul.

71. Saint Luke the Evangelist tells us that Jesus prayed. What must his prayer have been like!

Contemplate this fact slowly: the disciples had the opportunity of talking to Jesus and in their conversations with him the Lord taught them by his words, and deeds, how they should pray. And he taught them this amazing truth of God's mercy: that we are God's children and that we can address Him as a child addresses his Father.

72. When you start out each day to work by Christ's side and to look after all those souls who seek him, remember that there is only one way of doing it: we must turn to the Lord.

Only in prayer, and through prayer, do we learn to serve others.

73. Remember that prayer does not consist in making pretty speeches, or high-sounding or consoling phrases.

Prayer, at times, will be a glance at a picture of Our Lord or of his Mother; sometimes a petition, expressed in words; or offering good works, and the fruits of faithfulness.

We have to be like a guard on sentry duty at the gate of God Our Lord: that's what prayer is. Or like a small dog that lies down at his master's feet.

Do not mind telling him: Lord, here I am, like a faithful dog; or better still like a little donkey, which will not kick the one who loves him.

74. We all have to be ipse Christus -- Christ himself. This is what Saint Paul commands in the name of God: Induimini Dominum Iesum Christum -- put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Each one of us -- and that includes you -- has to see how he puts on that clothing of which the Apostle speaks. Each one personally, has to sustain an uninterrupted dialogue with the Lord.

75. Your prayer cannot stop at mere words. It has to lead to deeds and practical consequences.

76. The way to cut short all the evils we suffer is to pray.

77. Here is a piece of advice I shall never tire of telling souls: Love the Mother of God madly, for she is our Mother too.

78. Heroism, sanctity, daring, require a constant spiritual preparation. You can only ever give to others what you already have. And in order to give God to them you yourself need to get to know him, to live his Life, to serve him.

79. I will not stop repeating until it is deeply engraved in your soul: Piety, piety, piety! For if you lack charity it will be for want of interior life, not for any defect of character.

80. If you are a good son of God, your first and last thought each day will be for him, just as a little child needs to be assured of the presence of his parents when he gets up in the morning or goes to bed at night.

81. You must be constant and demanding with yourself in your regular practices of piety, even when you feel tired and arid. Persevere! Those moments are like the tall red-painted poles which serve as markers along the mountain roads when there are heavy snowfalls. They are always there to show where it is safe to go.

82. Make an effort to respond at each moment to what God is asking of you: have the will to love him with deeds. They may be little deeds, but do not leave any out.

83. Interior life is strengthened by a daily struggle in your practices of piety, which you should fulfil -- or rather which you should live -- lovingly, for the path we travel as children of God is a path of Love.

84. Seek God in the depths of your pure, clean heart; in the depths of your soul when you are faithful to him. And never lose that intimacy.

And if ever you do not know how to speak to him or what to say, or you do not dare to look for Jesus inside yourself, turn to Mary, tota pulchra, all pure and wonderful, and tell her: Our Lady and Mother, the Lord wanted you yourself to look after God and tend him with your own hands. Teach me, teach us all, how to treat your Son.

85. You must instil in all souls the heroism of doing the little things of each day perfectly, as if the salvation of the world depended on each one of those actions.

86. With your life of piety you will learn how to practise the virtues befitting your condition as a son of God, as a Christian.

And together with those virtues you will acquire a whole range of spiritual values which seem small but are really very great. They are like shining precious stones, and we must gather them along the way and then take them up to the foot of God's Throne in the service of our fellow men: simplicity, cheerfulness, loyalty, peace, small renunciations, little services which pass unnoticed, the faithful fulfilment of duty, kindness.

87. Don't create more obligations for yourself than God's glory, his Love, his Apostolate.

88. Our Lord has made you see your way clearly as a Christian in the middle of the world. Nevertheless, you tell me that you have often thought, enviously (though in the end you admitted it would be taking the easy way out) of the happiness of being a nobody, of working away, totally obscure, in the remotest corner -- just God and you!

Now, apart from the idea of missionary work in Japan, the thought of just such a hidden and sacrificed life has come to your mind. But if, free from other holy natural obligations, you were to try to ``hide away'' in a religious institution, assuming that was not your vocation, you would not be happy. You would lack peace; because you would have done your own will, not God's.

Your ``vocation'', in that case, would deserve another name: it would be a defection. It would not be the result of divine inspiration, but of sheer human reluctance to face the coming struggle. And that would never do!

89. In living holy purity and a clean life, there is a great difficulty to which we are all exposed. The danger is one of becoming bourgeois, either in our spiritual life or in our professional life; the danger -- also a real one for those called by God to marriage -- of becoming dry old bachelors, selfish; people who do not love.

Fight that danger tooth and nail, without making concessions of any kind.

90. Because we shall always have to put up with this little donkey which is our body, in order to conquer sensuality you have to practise daily and generously little mortifications -- and sometimes big ones as well. And you must live in the presence of God, who never ceases to watch over you.

91. Your chastity cannot be confined to avoiding falls or occasions. In no way can it be a cold and mathematical negative.

Haven't you realised that chastity is a virtue and that as such it should grow and become more perfect?

It is not enough, then, to be continent according to your state. You have to be chaste, with a heroic virtue.

92. The bonus odor Christi, the fragrance of Christ, is also that of our clean life, of our chastity -- the chastity of each one in his own state, I repeat -- of our holy purity, which is a joyful affirmation. It is something solid and at the same time gentle; it is refined, avoiding even the use of unfitting words, since they cannot be pleasing to God.

93. Get used to thanking the Guardian Angels in advance, thus putting them under an obligation.

94. One ought to be able to apply to every Christian the name that was used in the early ages: Bearer of God.

Your actions should be such that you really deserve to be called by that wonderful name.

95. Think what would happen if we Christians chose not to behave as such|... and then rectify your conduct.

96. Discover Our Lord behind each event and in every circumstance, and then, from everything that happens, you will be able to draw more love for God and a greater desire to respond to him. He is always waiting for us, offering us the possibility to fulfil at all times that resolution we made: Serviam! I will serve you.

97. Renew each day the effective desire to annihilate yourself, to deny yourself, to forget yourself, to walk in novitate sensus, with a new life, exchanging this misery of ours for all the hidden and eternal grandeur of God.

98. Lord, make me so much yours that not even the holiest affections may enter my heart except through your wounded Heart.

99. Try to be considerate, well-mannered. Don't be boorish!

Try to be polite always, which doesn't mean being affected.

100. Charity succeeds always. Without it, there's ``nothing doing''.

Love, then, is the secret of your life. Love. Suffer gladly. Toughen up your soul. Invigorate your will. And as for your self-surrender, link it tightly to the will of God, and with this your life will be effective.

101. Have the piety and simplicity of a child, and the strength and fortitude of a leader.

102. Peace, and the joy which comes with it, cannot be given by the world.

Men are forever ``making peace'' and forever getting entangled in wars. This is because they have forgotten the advice to struggle inside themselves and to go to God for help. Then He will conquer, and we will obtain peace for ourselves and for our own homes, for society and for the world.

If we do things in this way, you and I will have joy, because it is the possession of those who conquer. And with the grace of God -- who never loses battles -- we will be able to count ourselves conquerors as long as we are humble.

103. Your life, your work, should never be negative, nor anti anything. It is -- it must be -- positive, optimistic, youthful, cheerful and peaceful.

104. In national life there are two things which are really essential: the laws concerning marriage and the laws to do with education. In these areas God's sons have to stand firm and fight with toughness and fairness, for the sake of all mankind.

105. Joy is a Christian possession which we will have as long as we keep fighting, for it is a consequence of peace. Peace is the fruit of having conquered in war, and the life of man upon this earth -- as we read in Sacred Scripture -- is a warfare.

106. This divine warfare of ours is a marvellous sowing of peace.

107. The person who stops struggling causes harm to the Church, to his own supernatural undertaking, to his brothers and to all souls.

Examine yourself. Could you not put a more lively love for God into your spiritual struggle? I am praying for you -- and for everyone. You should do the same.

108. Jesus, if there is anything in me which is displeasing to you, tell me what it is so that we may uproot it.

109. There is an enemy of the interior life which is both little and silly. Unfortunately, it can be very effective. It is the neglect of effort in one's examination of conscience.

110. In Christian asceticism the examination of conscience meets a need of love, and of sensitivity.

111. If there is anything in you that is out of harmony with God's spirit, get rid of it straight away.

Think of the Apostles. They were not of much account, yet they could work miracles in the name of the Lord. Only Judas, who at one time may also have worked miracles, went astray by voluntarily separating himself from Christ, because he did not cut himself away violently and courageously from what was out of harmony with God's spirit.

112. My God, when am I really going to be converted?

113. Don't wait until you are old to start becoming a saint. That would be a great mistake.

Begin right now, in earnest, cheerfully and joyfully, by fulfilling the duties of your work and of your everyday life.

Don't wait until you are old to become a saint. Because --I insist -- apart from its being a great mistake, you never know whether you will live as long as that.

114. Ask the Lord to grant you all the sensitivity you need to realise how evil venial sin is, so as to recognise it as an outright and fundamental enemy of your soul, and, with God's grace, to avoid it.

115. You need to think about your life calmly and without scruples, to ask for forgiveness, and make a firm, definite and determined resolution to improve in one point and another, to improve in that particular small detail which you find hard, and in that other one which as a rule you do not carry out as you should, even though you well know you ought to be doing it.

116. To be full of good desires is indeed a holy thing, and God praises it. But don't leave it at that. You have to be a soul --a man, a woman -- who deals in realities. To carry out those good desires, you have to form clear and precise resolutions.

And then, my child, you have to fight to put them into practice, with the grace of God.

117. ``What do I have to do to maintain my love for God and make it increase?'' you asked me, fired with enthusiasm.

Leave the ``old man'' behind, my son, and cheerfully give up things which are good in themselves but hinder your detachment from yourself. You have to repeat constantly and with deeds, ``Here I am, Lord, ready to do whatever you want.''

118. A saint! A son of God should exaggerate in practising virtue -- if exaggeration is possible here. Because other people will see themselves reflected in him, as in a mirror, and it is only by our aiming very high that others will reach a middling level.

119. Do not be ashamed to discover in your heart the fomes peccati -- the inclination to evil, which will be with you as long as you live, for nobody is free from this burden.

Do not be ashamed, for the all-powerful and merciful Lord has given us all the means we need for overcoming this inclination: the Sacraments, a life of piety and sanctified work.

Persevere in using these means, ever ready to begin again and again without getting discouraged.

120. Lord, rescue me from myself!

121. An apostle who does not pray regularly and methodically will necessarily fall into lukewarmness|... and he will then cease to be an apostle.

122. Lord, from now on let me be another: no longer ``me'', but that ``other person'' you would like me to be.

Let me not deny you anything you ask of me. Let me know how to pray. Let me know how to suffer. Let me not worry about anything except your glory. Let me feel your presence all the time.

May I love the Father. May I hunger for you, my Jesus, in a permanent Communion. May the Holy Spirit set me on fire.

123. The Lord has told you: Meus es tu -- you are mine.

To think that God, who is all beauty and all wisdom, all splendour and all goodness, should say to you that you are his and then, after all this, you can't bring yourself to respond to him!

124. You should not be surprised to feel in your life that weight dragging you down which Saint Paul spoke of: ``I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind.''

Remember then that you belong to Christ, and have recourse to the Mother of God, who is also your Mother. They will never abandon you.

125. Receive the advice you are given in spiritual guidance as though it came from Jesus Christ himself.

126. You asked me to suggest a way for winning through in your daily struggles, and I replied: When you lay your soul open, say first of all what you wouldn't like to be known. In this way the devil will always end up defeated.

Lay your soul wide open, clearly and simply, so that the rays of God's Love may reach and illuminate the last corner of it.

127. If that dumb devil mentioned in the Gospel gets into your soul, he will spoil everything. On the other hand, if you get rid of him immediately, everything will turn out well; you will carry on merrily, and all will be well.

Resolve firmly to be ``savagely sincere'' in spiritual direction (always keeping your good manners) and to be sincere immediately.

128. Love and seek help from the person who guides your soul. In spiritual direction lay your heart completely open -- if it were rotten, show it as it is, rotten -- with all sincerity, with the desire to be cured. If you don't, you will never get rid of that rottenness.

If you go to a person who only cleanses the wound in a superficial way, you are a coward, because you will be going along to hide the truth, and that can only do you harm.

129. Never be afraid of telling the truth. But don't forget that sometimes it is better to remain silent out of charity towards your neighbour. However, you should never be silent out of laziness, or love of comfort, or cowardice.

130. The world thrives on lies even twenty centuries after the Truth came among men.

We have to tell the truth! This is precisely what we have to do as children of God. When men get used to proclaiming and hearing the truth, there will be more understanding in this world of ours.

131. To give way in matters of faith would be a false charity. It would be a diabolical, deceitful charity. We must be fortes in fide -- strong, firm in faith, as Saint Peter demands.

This is not fanaticism, but quite simply the practice of our faith. It does not entail disliking anyone. We can give way in all accidental matters, but in matters of faith we cannot give way. We cannot spare the oil from our lamps, otherwise when the Bridegroom comes he will find they have burned out.

132. Humility and obedience are the indispensable conditions for acquiring good doctrine.

133. Welcome the Pope's words with a religious, humble, internal and effective acceptance. And pass them on.

134. You must love, venerate, pray and mortify yourself for the Pope, and do so with greater affection each day. For he is the foundation stone of the Church and, throughout the centuries, right to the end of time, he carries out among men that task of sanctifying and governing which Jesus entrusted to Peter.

135. Your deepest love, your greatest esteem, your most heartfelt veneration, your most complete obedience and your warmest affection have also to be shown towards the Vicar of Christ on earth, towards the Pope.

We Catholics should consider that after God and the most Holy Virgin, our Mother, the Holy Father comes next in the hierarchy of love and authority.

136. May the daily consideration of the heavy burden which weighs upon the Pope and the bishops move you to venerate and love them with real affection, and to help them with your prayers.

137. Your love for Our Lady should be more lively, more supernatural.

Don't just go to the Virgin Mary to ask her for things. You should also go to give: give her your affection; give her your love for her divine Son; and show her your affection with deeds of service to others, who are also her children.

138. Jesus is our model. Let us imitate him.

Let us imitate him by serving the Holy Church and all mankind.

139. When contemplating the scene of the Incarnation, strengthen in your soul the resolve to be ``humble in practice''. See how he lowered himself, taking on our poor nature.

That is why every day you need to react, right away, with God's grace, accepting -- and wanting -- the humiliations the Lord may offer you.

140. Live your Christian life with naturalness. Let me stress this: make Christ known through your behaviour, just as an ordinary mirror reproduces an image without distorting it or turning it into a caricature. If, like the mirror, you are normal, you will reflect Christ's life, and show it to others.

141. If you are fatuous, if all you can think of is your own personal comfort, if you centre everyone else and even the world itself on yourself, then you have no right to call yourself a Christian or to consider yourself a disciple of Christ. He set the level of what can be demanded of us when he offered, for each of us: et animam suam -- his own soul, his whole life.

142. Try to make ``intellectual humility'' an axiom in your life.

Think about it carefully. Isn't it true that it just doesn't make sense to be ``intellectually proud''? That saint and doctor of the Church put it very well when he said: ``It is a detestable disorder for a man to see God become a little child, and yet still want to appear great in this world.''

143. The moment you have anyone -- whoever he may be -- at your side, find a way, without doing anything strange, to pass on to him the joy you experience in being a son of God and living as such.

144. The mission to serve which the Divine Master has entrusted to us is a great and beautiful mission. That is why this good spirit -- which entails great self-mastery -- is perfectly compatible with the love of freedom that should pervade the work of all Christians.

145. You must never treat anyone unmercifully. If you think someone is not worthy of your mercy, you should realise that you don't deserve mercy either.

You do not deserve to have been created, or to be a Christian, or to be a son of God, or to have the family you have|...

146. Don't neglect the practice of fraternal correction, which is a clear sign of the supernatural virtue of charity. You may find it hard, for it's easier to be inhibited. It's easier to behave that way, but it's not supernatural.

And you will have to render an account to God for such omissions.

147. When you have to make a fraternal correction, do it with great kindness -- with charity -- in what you say and in the way you say it, for at that moment you are God's instrument.

148. When you love other people and you spread that affection --Christ's kindly, gentle charity -- all around you, you will be able to support one another, and if someone is about to stumble he will feel that he is being supported, and also encouraged, to be faithful to God through this fraternal strength.

149. Bring out your spirit of mortification in those nice touches of charity, eager to make the way of sanctity in the midst of the world attractive for everyone. Sometimes a smile can be the best proof of a spirit of penance.

150. May you know how to put yourself out cheerfully, discreetly and generously each day, serving others and making their lives more pleasant.

To act in this way is to practise the true charity of Jesus Christ.

151. You should make sure that wherever you are there is that good humour -- that cheerfulness -- which is born of an interior life. ~S

152. Make sure you practise this very interesting mortification: that of not making your conversation revolve around yourself.

153. Here is a good way of doing an examination of conscience:

Have I accepted in a spirit of expiation the difficulties which have come to me this day from the hand of God, or those which came from the behaviour of my colleagues, or from my own wretchedness?

Have I managed to offer Our Lord in expiation the very sorrow I feel for having offended him so many times? Have I offered him the shame of all my inner embarrassment and humiliation at seeing how little progress I make along the path of virtue?

154. Habitual and customary mortifications are a good thing, but don't become one-track minded about them.

They need not necessarily be the same ones all the time. What should be constant, habitual and customary -- without your getting accustomed to it -- is to have a spirit of mortification.

155. You want to follow in Christ's footsteps, to wear his livery, to identify yourself with Jesus. Well then, make your faith a living faith, full of sacrifice and deeds of service, and get rid of everything that stands in the way.

156. Sanctity has the flexibility of supple muscles. Whoever wishes to be a saint should know how to behave so that while he does something that involves a mortification for him, he omits doing something else -- as long as this does not offend God --which he would also find difficult, and thanks the Lord for this comfort. If we Christians were to act otherwise we would run the risk of becoming stiff and lifeless, like a rag doll.

Sanctity is not rigid like cardboard; it knows how to smile, to give way to others and to hope. It is life -- a supernatural life.

157. Mother, do not leave me! Let me seek your Son, let me find your Son, let me love your Son -- with my whole being. Remember me, my Lady, remember me.

Defeat

Points: 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215

158. When our vision is clouded, when our eyes have lost their clarity, we need to go to the light. And Jesus Christ has told us that he is the Light of the world and that he has come to heal the sick.

That is why, your weaknesses and your falls -- when God allows them -- should not separate you from Christ, but rather draw you closer to him.

159. In my wretchedness I complained to a friend of mine, saying that it seemed as if Jesus were passing me by, and leaving me on my own.

But immediately I thought better of it and was sorry. Full of confidence, I said: It is not true, my Love. Quite clearly it is I who have gone away from you. Never again!

160. Beg the Lord for his grace so that you may be purified by his Love -- and by constant penance.

161. Turn to Our Lady and ask her -- as a token of her love for you -- for the gift of contrition. Ask that you may be sorry, with the sorrow of Love, for all your sins and for the sins of all men and women throughout the ages.

And with that same disposition, be bold enough to add: ``Mother, my life, my hope, lead me by the hand. And if there is anything in me which is displeasing to my Father God grant that I may see it, so that, between the two of us, we may uproot it.''

Do not be afraid to continue, saying to her: ``O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary, pray for me, that by fulfilling the most lovable Will of your Son, I may be worthy to obtain and enjoy what Our Lord Jesus has promised.''

162. Heavenly Mother, let me regain once more fervour, dedication, self-denial -- in one word Love.

163. You shouldn't be so easy on yourself. Don't wait until the New Year to make your resolutions. Every day is a good day to make good decisions. Hodie, nunc! -- today, now!

It tends to be the poor defeatist types who leave it until the New Year before beginning afresh. And even then, they never really begin.

164. I agree. You acted badly, out of weakness. But what I fail to understand is how, with a clear conscience, you have not repented. You cannot do something wrong and then say, or think, that it is something holy, or that it is of no importance.

165. You must always remember that the spiritual faculties are fed by what they receive from the senses. Guard them well!

166. As you very well know, you lose your peace when you consent in matters which entail unfaithfulness to your way.

Make up your mind to be consistent and responsible in your behaviour.

167. The indelible memory of the favours you have received from God should always be a compelling force within you; especially so in times of tribulation.

168. There is but one fatal illness, one deadly mistake you can make: to settle for defeat, not to know how to fight with the spirit of a child of God. If this personal effort is lacking, the soul becomes paralysed and languishes alone, and is incapable of bearing fruit.

Such cowardice on man's part puts pressure on Our Lord to utter those words addressed to him by the paralytic at the pool of Bethsaida, hominem non habeo! -- I have no man to help me.

What a pity if Jesus does not find in you the man or the woman he expects.

169. The ascetical struggle is not something negative and therefore hateful, but rather a joyful affirmation. It is a sport.

A good sportsman doesn't fight to gain just one victory, and that at the first attempt. He has to build himself up for it, training over a long period of time, calmly and confidently. He keeps trying again and again, and if he doesn't succeed at the first attempt, he keeps on trying with determination until the obstacle is overcome.

170. You are my hope in all things, dear Jesus. Convert me!

171. When that priest, our good friend, used to sign himself ``the sinner'', he did so convinced that what he wrote was true.

My God, purify me too!

172. If you have done something wrong, be it big or small, go running back to God.

Savour those words of the psalm, cor contritum et humiliatum, Deus, non despicies -- the Lord will never despise or ignore a contrite and humbled heart.

173. Keep turning this over in your mind and in your soul: Lord, how many times you have lifted me up when I have fallen and once my sins have been forgiven have held me close to your Heart.

Keep returning to the thought|... and never separate yourself from God again.

174. You see yourself as a poor man whose master has stripped him of his livery. You are only a sinner! And you understand the nakedness felt by our first parents.

You should be weeping all the time. And you have wept. You have suffered a great deal. And yet you are very happy. You wouldn't change places with anyone. For many years now you have not lost your gaudium cum pace -- your peaceful joy. You thank God for this and would like to let everyone into the secret of your happiness.

Yes, I can see why people have often said of you -- though you couldn't care less about ``what people say'' -- that you are ``a man of peace''.

175. Some people do only what lies within the capacity of poor human creatures to accomplish, and consequently waste their time. What Peter experienced is repeated once more, word for word: Praeceptor, per totam noctem laborantes nihil cepimus. -- Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing.

If they work on their own, without being united with the Church, not reckoning with the Church, what possible effectiveness could their apostolate have? None at all!

They need to be convinced that f874on their own} they can achieve nothing. You should help them to go on listening to the rest of that Gospel story: in verbo autem tuo laxabo rete -- at your word I will let down the net. It is then that the catch will be plentiful and effective.

How beautiful it is to mend our ways when we find we have done, for whatever reason, ``our'' apostolate not his.

176. It was you who wrote what I am now copying out: ``Domine, tu scis quia amo te! -- Lord, you know that I love you! How very often, Jesus, I repeat again and again those words your dear Cephas uttered, as a bitter-sweet litany. For I know that I love you, and yet I am so very unsure of myself that I cannot bring myself to say it to you clearly. There are so many denials in my wicked life. Tu scis, Domine! -- f874You know} that I love you. May my actions, Jesus, never go against these yearnings of my heart.''

Keep up this prayer of yours and he will certainly hear you.

177. Repeat this with confidence: Lord, if only my tears had been contrite!

Ask him humbly to grant you the sorrow you desire.

178. How villainous has been my behaviour and how unfaithful I have been to God's grace.

My Mother, Refuge of sinners, pray for me. May I never again hinder God's work in my soul.

179. So close to Christ for so many years -- and such a sinner!

Doesn't that intimate love of Jesus for you move you to tears?

180. It is not that I lack true joy; on the contrary. And yet, painfully aware of my unworthiness, it is only natural that I should cry out with Saint Paul, ``wretched man that I am!''

It is at such a time that you should increase your desire to tear down once and for all the barriers you yourself have set up.

181. Do not become alarmed or discouraged to discover that you have failings -- and such failings!

Struggle to uproot them. And as you do so, be convinced that it is even a good thing to be aware of all those weaknesses, for otherwise you would be proud. And pride separates us from God.

182. Be filled with wonder at God's goodness, for Christ wants to live in you. Be filled with wonder too when you are aware of all the weight of your poor flesh, of your wretched flesh, and all the vileness of the poor clay you are made of.

Yes, but then remember too that call from God: Jesus Christ, who is God and Man, understands me and looks after me, for he is my Brother and my Friend.

183. Your life is happy, very happy, though on occasions you feel a pang of sadness, and even experience almost constantly a real sense of weariness.

Joy and affliction can go hand in hand like this, each in its own ``man'': the former in the new man, the latter in the old.

184. Humility is born of knowing God and knowing oneself.

185. Lord, I ask for a gift from you: Love, a Love that will cleanse me. And another gift as well: self-knowledge so that I may be filled with humility.

186. The saints are those who struggle right to the end of their lives, who always get up each time they stumble, each time they fall, and courageously embark on their way once more with humility, love and hope.

187. If your mistakes make you more humble, if they make you reach out more urgently for God's helping hand -- then they are a road to sanctity. Felix culpa! -- O happy fault!, the Church sings.

188. Prayer -- even my prayer -- is all-powerful.

189. Humility teaches each soul not to lose heart in the face of of its own blunders.

True humility leads us to ask for forgiveness.

190. If I were a leper my mother would kiss me. She would kiss my wounds without fear or hesitation.

Well then, what would the Blessed Virgin Mary do? When we feel we are like lepers, all full of sores, we have to cry out: Mother! And the protection of our Mother will be like a kiss upon our wounds, which will then be healed.

191. In the Sacrament of Penance it is Jesus who forgives us.

Christ's merits are applied to us there. It is for love of us that he is on the Cross with his arms stretched out, stitched to the wood more by the Love he has for us than by the nails.

192. If ever you fall, my son, go quickly to Confession and seek spiritual guidance. Show your wound so that it gets properly healed and all possibility of infection is removed, even if doing this hurts you as much as having an operation.

193. Sincerity is indispensable if we are to achieve greater union with God.

If you have an ugly ``toad'' inside you, my son, let it out! As I have always advised you, the first thing you must mention is what you wouldn't like anybody to know. Once the ``toad'' has been let out in Confession -- how well one feels.

194. Nam, et si ambulavero in medio umbrae mortis, non timebo mala -- though I should walk through the valley of the shadow of death, no evil will I fear. Neither my wretchedness nor the temptations of the enemy will worry me, quoniam tu mecum es --for you Lord are with me.

195. Just now, Jesus, when I was considering my wretchedness, I said to you: allow yourself to be taken in by this son of yours, just like those good fathers, full of kindness, who put into the hands of their little child the presents they want to receive from them -- knowing perfectly well that little children have nothing of their own.

And what joy father and son have together, even though they are both in on the secret.

196. Jesus, my Love, to think that I could offend you again! Tuus ego sum|... salvum me fac. -- I am yours, save me.

197. You, who see yourself so badly lacking in virtues, in talents, in abilities|... Do you not feel the desire to cry out like the blind Bartimaeus, ``Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me''?

What a beautiful aspiration for you to say very often, ``Lord, have pity on me!''

He will hear you and come to your aid.

198. Foster a desire for atonement in your soul, so that you may acquire greater contrition each day.

199. If you are faithful you will be able to count yourself a conqueror.

Even though you may lose some battles in your life, you will not know defeat. You can be sure that there is no such thing as failure if you act with purity of intention and with a desire to fulfil the Will of God.

And then, whether you win or lose, you will always triumph in the end, because you will have carried out your work with Love.

200. I am sure that God has listened to your humble and heartfelt plea: My Lord, I am not worried about what ``others'' may say. Forgive me for my unworthy life. May I be a saint -- but it's You alone I wish to please.

201. In a Christian's life everything has to be for God -- even personal weaknesses, once they have been put right. The Lord understands and forgives them.

202. What have I done to you, Jesus, that you should love me so? I have offended you|... and loved you.

Loving you -- this is what my life is going to be all about.

203. Surely all those consolations I receive from the Master are given me so that I may think of him all the time and serve him in little things, and so be able to serve him in great things.

A resolution: to please my good Jesus in the tiniest details of my daily life.

204. We have to love God because our heart is made for love. That is why, if we don't give our heart to God, to Our Lady and Mother, to souls|... with a pure affection, it will seek revenge -- and will breed worms instead.

205. Tell Our Lord with your whole heart: In spite of all my wretchedness I am madly in Love -- drunk with Love!

206. From now on, truly sorrowful for my many falls, I shall remain, with God's grace, always upon the Cross.

207. What has been lost through the flesh, the flesh should pay back: be generous in your penance.

208. Invoke the Lord, and beg him for the spirit of penance of one who conquers himself every day, and offers him this constant victory unassumingly and perseveringly.

209. In your personal prayer, whenever you experience the weakness of the flesh you should repeat: Lord, give the Cross to this poor body of mine, which gets tired and rebellious.

210. How right that priest was when he preached, saying, ``Jesus has forgiven me the great multitude of my sins in spite of my ingratitude. How generous he is. If the many sins of Mary Magdalen were forgiven because she loved greatly, many more have been forgiven me. What a great debt of love still remains for me to pay.''

Jesus, teach me to go to the point of madness and heroism. With the help of your grace, even if I have to die for you, Lord, I will never abandon you again.

211. Lazarus rose because he heard the voice of God and immediately wanted to get out of the situation he was in. If he hadn't wanted to move, he would just have died again.

A sincere resolution: to have faith in God always; to hope in God always; to love God always -- he never abandons us, even if we are rotting away as Lazarus was.

212. Let us marvel at the lovable paradox of our Christian condition: it is our own wretchedness which leads us to seek refuge in God, to become ``like unto God''. With him we can do all things.

213. When you have fallen or when you find yourself overwhelmed by the weight of your wretchedness, repeat with a firm hope: Lord, see how ill I am; come and heal me, Lord, you who died on the Cross for love of me.

Be full of confidence. Keep on calling out to his most loving Heart. He will cure you, as he cured the lepers we read about in the Gospel.

214. Trust fully in God and have a greater desire each day never to run away from him.

215. Virgin Immaculate, my Mother, do not abandon me. See how my poor heart is filled with tears. I do not want to offend my God!

I already know, and I trust I shall never forget, that I am worth nothing. My smallness and my loneliness weigh upon me so much! But|... I am not alone. You, Sweet Lady, and my Father God will never leave me.

Faced with the rebellion of my flesh and all manner of diabolical arguments against my Faith, I love Jesus and I believe -- I do Love and do Believe.

Pessimism

Points: 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285

216. With God's grace, you have to tackle and carry out the impossible, because anybody can do what is possible.

217. Reject your pessimism and don't allow those around you to be pessimistic. God should be served with cheerfulness and abandonment.

218. Get rid of that human prudence which makes you so very cautious, so -- sorry to be so blunt! -- cowardly.

Let us not be narrow-minded. Let us not be infantile men or women, who are nearsighted and lack a supernatural breadth of vision. Could we be working for ourselves? Of course not!

Well then, let us say quite fearlessly: Dearest Jesus, we are working for you. Are you going to deny us the material means we need? You know full well how worthless we are; still, I would not treat a servant working for me in that way.

Therefore, we hope and are sure you will give us all we need to be able to serve you.

219. An act of faith: Nothing can prevail against God. Nothing can prevail against God's people.

Don't forget it.

220. Don't lose heart. Carry on! Carry on with that holy stubbornness which in spiritual terms is called perseverance.

221. My Lord, you always come to meet our real needs.

222. You are not getting worse. It is just that now you have more light to see yourself as you really are. You must avoid even the slightest hint of discouragement.

223. Along the road that leads to personal sanctity we can at times get the impression that we are going backwards instead of forwards, that we are getting worse instead of better.

As long as there is interior struggle this pessimistic thought is only an illusion, a deception to be rejected as false.

Persevere and don't worry. If you fight with tenacity you are making progress and are growing in sanctity.

224. Interior dryness is not lukewarmness. When a person is lukewarm the waters of grace slide over him without being soaked in. In contrast, there are dry lands which seem arid but which, with a few drops of rain at the right time, yield abundant flowers and delicious fruit.

That is why I ask: When are we going to be convinced? How important it is to be docile to the divine calls which come at each moment of the day, because it is precisely there that God is awaiting us!

225. Be clever, spiritually clever. Don't wait for the Lord to send you setbacks; go out to meet them with a spirit of voluntary atonement. Then you'll receive them not so much with resignation (an old-sounding word) as with Love -- a word which is forever young.

226. Today, for the first time, you had the feeling that things were getting simpler, that everything was ``sorting itself out''. At last you see an end to the problems that were worrying you. And you understand that they are more thoroughly and better resolved the more you abandon yourself into the arms of your Father God.

What are you waiting for to start behaving always as a son of God? This should be the driving force in your life.

227. Turn to Our Lady -- the Mother, Daughter and Spouse of God, and our Mother -- and ask her to obtain more graces for you from the Blessed Trinity: the grace of faith, of hope, of love and of contrition. So that when it seems that a harsh dry wind is blowing in your life, threatening to wither those flowers of your soul, they will not wither -- and neither will those of your brothers.

228. Be filled with faith and rest assured. The Lord tells us this through the prophet Jeremiah: orabitis me, et ego exaudiam vos -- whenever you call upon me, whenever you pray, I will listen to you.

229. I refer everything to you, my God. Without you -- who are my Father -- what would become of me?

230. Allow me to give you the advice of an experienced soul: your prayer -- and your whole life should be spent in prayer -- ought to have the simplicity of ``a child's prayer''.

231. A sick man is brought to Jesus, who looks at him. Contemplate the scene closely and meditate upon his words: confide, fili -- take heart, my son.

This is what Our Lord says to you when you feel the weight of your errors. Have faith. In the first place: faith. And then allow yourself to be carried like the paralytic did, with interior and submissive obedience.

232. My son, you can do nothing on the supernatural level through your own strength; whereas when you become God's instrument you can do everything. Omnia possum in eo qui me confortat! -- I can do all things in him who strengthens me. For in his goodness he wishes to use inadequate instruments, like you and like me.

233. Whenever you pray, make the effort to have the kind of faith of those sick people we read about in the Gospel. You can be sure Jesus is listening to you.

234. My Mother! Mothers on earth look with greater love upon the weakest of their children, the one with the worst health, or who is least intelligent, or is a poor cripple.

Sweet Lady, I know that you are more of a Mother than all other mothers put together. And, since I am your son, since I am weak, and ill, and crippled, and ugly|... ~S

235. We lack faith. The day we practise this virtue, trusting in God and in his Mother, we will be daring and loyal. God, who is the same God as ever, will work miracles through our hands.

Grant me, dear Jesus, the faith I truly desire. My Mother, sweet Lady, Mary most holy, make me really believe.

236. A firm resolution: to abandon myself in Jesus Christ with all my wretchedness. Whatever he may want, at any moment, Fiat -- let it be done.

237. Never lose heart, for Our Lord is always ready to give you the grace to bring about the new conversion you need, a real advance on the supernatural plane.

238. ``Blessed be God'' you said to yourself after having finished your sacramental Confession. And you thought: it is as if I had just been born again.

You then continued calmly: ``Domine, quid me vis facere? --Lord, what would you have me do?''

And you yourself came up with the reply: ``By the help of your grace I will let nothing and no one come between me and the fulfilment of your most Holy Will: Serviam -- I will serve you unconditionally.''

239. We read in the Gospel that the Magi were filled with great joy, videntes stellam -- when they saw the star.

They rejoiced, my son, they were immensely glad, because they had done what they were supposed to do, and they rejoiced because they knew for certain they would reach the King who never abandons those who seek him.

240. When you really come to love God's Will you will never, even in the worst state of agitation, lose sight of the fact that our Father in Heaven is always close to you, very close, right next to you, with his everlasting Love and with his unbounded affection.

241. If the outlook in your interior life and in your soul is darkened, allow yourself to be led along by the hand, as a blind man would do.

In time the Lord will reward this humble surrendering of your own judgement by giving you clarity of mind.

242. To be afraid of anything or anybody, but especially of the person who directs our soul, is unworthy of a son of God.

243. Are you not moved to hear some affectionate word addressed to your mother?

The same thing happens to Our Lord. We cannot separate Jesus from his Mother.

244. When you find yourself worn out or fed up, go and confide in Our Lord, as that good friend of ours did, and say: ``Jesus, see what you can do about it. Even before I begin to struggle, I am already tired.''

He will give you his strength.

245. A task which presents no difficulties lacks human appeal --and supernatural appeal too. If you find no resistance when hammering a nail into a wall, what can you expect to hang on it?

246. It seems incredible that a man like you -- who say you know you're nothing -- should dare to place obstacles in the way of God's grace.

Yet this is what you're doing with your false humility, your ``objectivity'', your pessimism.

247. Lord, grant me the grace to give up everything that has to do with myself. I should have no other concern than your Glory -- in other words, your Love. Everything for Love!

248. ``When Herod heard this,'' (that the King had come to this earth), ``he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.''

This is an every day occurrence. We see the same thing happening now. In the face of God's greatness, which shows itself in a thousand ways, there are always some people -- sometimes even in positions of authority -- who are troubled. It's because they do not love God; because they have no real wish to meet him; because they don't want to follow his inspirations, and so they become obstacles in God's path.

Be forewarned; carry on working and don't worry. Seek the Lord and pray -- he will triumph.

249. You are not alone. Neither you nor I can ever find ourselves alone. And even less if we go to Jesus through Mary, for she is a Mother who will never abandon us.

250. Don't give way to sadness when it feels as if the Lord has given up on you. Seek him with greater determination. He who is Love does not leave you on your own.

Be convinced that ``he has left you on your own'' out of Love, so that you may see clearly in your life what is his and what is yours.

251. You said to me: ``I seem not only unable to go ahead along my way, but also unable to be saved without a miracle of grace. Oh, my poor soul! I remain cold and, what is worse, almost indifferent. It's as if I were an outsider looking at `a case' (mine) which had nothing to do with him. Will these days turn out to be completely futile?

And nevertheless, my Mother is my Mother and Jesus is --dare I say it? -- my Jesus. And there are good and saintly souls, at this very moment, praying for me.''

Go on walking hand in hand with your Mother, I replied, and ``dare'' to say to Jesus that he is yours. In his goodness he will bring clear light to your soul.

252. Grant me, Jesus, the Cross with no Simon of Cyrene to help me. No, that's not right; I need your grace, I need your help here as in everything. You must be my Simon of Cyrene. With you, my God, no trial can daunt me.

But what if my Cross should consist in boredom or sadness? In that case I say to you, Lord, with You I would gladly be sad.

253. As long as I don't lose You, no sorrow will be a sorrow at all.

254. Jesus will refuse a word to no one, and his words bring healing, they console, they bring light.

This is what you and I have to remember at all times, especially when we find ourselves tired and weighed down by work or opposition.

255. Don't expect people's applause for your work.

What is more, sometimes you mustn't even expect other people and institutions, who like you are working for Christ, to understand you.

Seek only the glory of God and, while loving everyone, don't worry if there are some who don't understand you.

256. If there are mountains in the way, obstacles, misunderstandings and backbiting, which Satan seeks and God allows, you must have faith, faith with deeds, faith with sacrifice, faith with humility.

257. Faced by apparent sterility in your apostolate you begin to detect the first waves of discouragement, which your faith rejects quite firmly. But you realise that you need a more humble, lively and operative faith.

As someone who longs to bring health to souls, you should cry out like the father of that sick boy possessed by the devil: Domine, adiuva incredulitatem meam! -- Lord, help my unbelief!

Have no doubt: the miracle will be performed again.

258. What a beautiful prayer for you to say frequently, that one of our good friend praying for a priest whom hatred for religion imprisoned: My God, comfort him, since it is for you he suffers persecution. There are many who suffer because they serve you.

What a source of joy the Communion of Saints is.

259. The measures taken by some governments to ensure that the faith in their countries dies out reminds me of the seals set upon the tomb of Jesus by the Sanhedrin.

He was not subject to anybody or anything, and despite those seals, he rose again.

260. The solution is to love. Saint John the Apostle wrote some words which really move me: qui autem timet, non est perfectus in caritate. I like to translate them as follows, almost word for word -- the fearful man doesn't know how to love.

You, therefore, who do love and know how to show it, you mustn't be afraid of anything. So, on you go!

261. God is with you. The Blessed Trinity dwells in your soul in grace.

That is why, in spite of your wretchedness, you can and should keep up a continuous conversation with the Lord.

262. You should pray at all times -- always.

You should feel the need to go to God after every success and after every failure in your interior life.

263. May your prayer always be a real and sincere act of adoration of God.

264. When the Lord brought you into the Church he put an indelible mark upon your soul through Baptism: you are a son of God. Don't forget it.

265. Give thanks often to Jesus, for through him, with him and in him you are able to call yourself a son of God.

266. If we feel we are beloved sons of our Heavenly Father, as indeed we are, how can we fail to be happy all the time? Think about it.

267. As he was giving out Holy Communion that priest felt like shouting out: this is Happiness I am giving to you!

268. Build up a gigantic faith in the Holy Eucharist. Be filled with wonder before this ineffable reality. We have God with us; we can receive him every day and, if we want to, we can speak intimately with him, just as we talk with a friend, as we talk with a brother, as we talk with a father, as we talk with Love itself.

269. How beautiful our Christian vocation is -- to be sons of God! It brings joy and peace on earth which the world cannot give.

270. Lord, grant me the love with which you want me to love you.

271. To remove the dark shadow of pessimism which hung over you that morning, you again appealed to your Angel as you do every day -- but this time you were more thorough. You said a few nice words to him and you asked him to teach you to love Jesus at least, at least as much as he loves Him. And with that you recovered your calm.

272. Ask your Mother Mary, ask Saint Joseph and your Guardian Angel to speak to the Lord and tell him the things you can't manage to put into words because you are so dull.

273. Fill yourself with confidence. The Mother we have is the Mother of God, the Most Blessed Virgin, the Queen of Heaven and Earth.

274. Jesus was born in a cave in Bethlehem because, Sacred Scripture tells us, ``there was no room for them in the inn.''

I am not departing from theological truth when I say that Jesus is still looking for shelter in your heart.

275. Our Lord is upon the Cross saying, I am suffering so that men, who are my brothers, may be happy, not only in Heaven, but also -- as far as possible -- on earth, if they really embrace the most Holy Will of my heavenly Father.

276. It is true that your contribution is nil and that it is God who does everything in your soul.

However, let not this be the case as far as your correspondence to his grace is concerned.

277. Practise the virtue of hope and, with God as your motive, even when you find it hard, persevere at your work and try to finish it well, convinced that those efforts of yours are not useless in the Lord's sight.

278. When there is the desire and also the reality of pleasing God continually in your daily work, which is normally made up of many little things, I assure you that nothing is ever lost.

279. You would be right in thinking: how good the Lord is, who has sought me and has made known to me this holy path where I can be effective and where I can love all men, bringing them peace and happiness.

This thought has then to be turned into resolutions.

280. You know that you will never lack God's grace, because he has chosen you from all eternity. And if this is what he has done for you, he will grant you all the help you need to be faithful to him as his son.

Go forward, therefore, with a sure step and try to correspond at every moment to the promptings of God's grace.

281. I ask the Mother of God to smile upon us if she wishes, if she can|... She will indeed do so.

Moreover, she will reward our generosity a thousandfold here on earth. A thousandfold, that's what I am asking her for!

282. Practise a cheerful charity which is at once kindly and firm; human and at the same time supernatural. It should be an affectionate charity, knowing how to welcome everyone with a sincere and habitual smile, and how to understand the ideas and the feelings of others.

In this way, with gentleness and strength, and without concessions in matters of personal morals or in doctrine, the charity of Christ -- when it is being well lived -- will give you a spirit of conquest. Each day you will have a greater desire to work for souls.

283. My son, I said with assurance, in spreading our ``madness'' to other apostles I am not unaware of the ``obstacles'' we will find. Some of them may appear insurmountable|... But inter medium montium pertransibunt aquae -- the waters will pass through the midst of the mountains. Our supernatural spirit and the drive of our zeal will cut through the mountains and we shall overcome those obstacles.

284. ``My God, my God. All of them were equally loved, through you, in you and with you, and now they are all scattered.'' Thus you complained when you saw yourself once again all alone and lacking in human resources.

But Our Lord immediately made you feel sure in your soul that He would sort it out. And you said to him: ``You will fix everything.''

And so he did. God solved everything sooner, more fully and better than you expected.

285. It is indeed just that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit should crown the Blessed Virgin as Queen and Lady of all created things.

You have to make use of her power. With the daring of a child join in this celebration in Heaven. For myself, since I have no precious stones or virtues to offer, I crown the Mother of God and my Mother with my failings, once they have been purified.

She is expecting something from you too.

You Can

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286. I want to warn you against a difficulty that may arise: it is the temptation of weariness and discouragement.

Isn't it still fresh in your memory what life -- your old life -- used to be like, with no aim to it, no purpose, no sparkle, and then, with God's light and your own dedication, a new direction was given to it and you were filled with joy?

Don't be so silly as to exchange your new life for that other one.

287. If you feel for whatever reason that you cannot manage to go on, abandon yourself in God, telling him: Lord, I trust in you, I abandon myself in you, but do help me in my weakness!

And filled with confidence, repeat: See Jesus what a filthy rag I am. My life seems to me so miserable. I am not worthy to be a son of yours. Tell him all this -- and tell him so over and over again.

It will not be long before you hear him say, Ne timeas! --do not be afraid; and also: Surge et ambula! -- rise up and walk!

288. You were still rather hesitant when you were telling me: ``I am deeply aware of the occasions when the Lord is asking more of me.''

All I could think of was to remind you how you used to assure me that the only thing you wanted was to identify yourself with him. What's keeping you back?

289. If only you could manage to fulfil that resolution you made: ``to die a little to myself each day.''

290. Cheerfulness, and supernatural and human optimism, can go hand in hand with physical tiredness, with sorrow, with tears (because we have a heart), and with difficulties in our interior life or our apostolic work.

He who is perfectus Deus, perfectus Homo -- perfect God and perfect Man -- and who enjoyed every happiness in Heaven, chose to experience fatigue and tiredness, tears and suffering|... so that we might understand that if we are to be supernatural we must also be very human.

291. Jesus is asking you to pray more. You see this very clearly.

Nonetheless|... how poor your response has been. Everything is a great effort for you: you are like a baby who is too lazy to learn to walk. But in your case it isn't just laziness. It is fear, too, and a lack of generosity.

292. You should repeat very often: Jesus, if ever a doubt creeps into my soul, setting up other noble ambitions in place of what you are asking of me, I tell you now that I prefer to follow you, no matter how much it costs. Do not leave me!

293. Seek union with God and buoy yourself up with hope -- that sure virtue -- because Jesus will illumine the way for you with the gentle light of his mercy, even in the darkest night.

294. Your prayer went like this: ``My wretchedness weighs me down, but it doesn't overwhelm me because I am a son of God. I want to atone, to Love|... And,'' you added, ``like Saint Paul, I want to turn my weaknesses to good use, convinced that the Lord will not abandon those who place their trust in him.''

Carry on like that. I assure you that -- with God's grace -- you will succeed, and you will overcome your wretchedness and your shortcomings.

295. Any time is the right time to make an effective resolution, to say ``I believe'', to say ``I hope'', to say ``I love''.

296. Learn to praise the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Learn to have a special devotion to the Blessed Trinity: I believe in God the Father, I believe in God the Son, I believe in God the Holy Spirit; I hope in God the Father, I hope in God the Son, I hope in God the Holy Spirit; I love God the Father, I love God the Son, I love God the Holy Spirit. I believe, I hope and I love the most Holy Trinity.

This devotion is much needed as a supernatural exercise for the soul, expressed by the movement of the heart, although not always in words.

297. The system, the method, the procedure, the only way to have a life abundant and fertile in supernatural fruits, is to follow the Holy Spirit's advice, which comes to us via the f874Acts of the Apostles}: omnes erant perseverantes unanimiter in oratione -- all these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer.

f874Nothing} can be done without prayer!

298. My Lord Jesus has a Heart more tender than the hearts of all good men put together. If a good man (of average goodness) knew that a certain person loved him, without seeking personal satisfaction or reward of any kind (he loves for love's sake); and if he also knew that all this person wanted from him was that he should not object to being loved, even from afar|... then it would not be long before he responded to such a disinterested love.

If the Loved One is so powerful that he can do all things, I am sure that, as well as surrendering in the end to the faithful love of a created being (in spite of the wretchedness of that poor soul) he will give this lover the supernatural beauty, knowledge and power he needs so that the eyes of Jesus are not sullied when he gazes upon the poor heart that is adoring him.

Love, my child; love and await.

299. If there is sacrifice when you sow love, you will also reap Love.

300. My child, are you not aflame with the desire to bring all men to love Him?

301. Jesus as a child and as an adolescent. I love to picture you like this, Lord, because I somehow pluck up more courage. I love to see you as a tiny, almost helpless babe. It makes me feel you need me.

302. Whenever I go into the oratory, having become a little child once more, I say to Our Lord that I love him more than anyone.

303. How wonderfully effective the Holy Eucharist is in the actions, and even before that in the souls, of those who receive it frequently and piously.

304. If all those people became so enthusiastic and were ready to acclaim you over a piece of bread, even granting that the multiplication of loaves was a very great miracle, shouldn't we be doing much more for all the many gifts you have granted us, and especially for giving us your very self unreservedly in the Eucharist?

305. Good child: see how lovers on earth kiss the flowers, the letters, the mementos of those they love|...

Then you, how could you ever forget that you have him always at your side -- yes, Him? How could you forget|... that you can eat him?

306. Put your head frequently round the oratory door to say to Jesus: I abandon myself into your arms.

Leave everything you have -- your wretchedness -- at his feet.

In this way, in spite of the welter of things you carry along behind you, you will never lose your peace.

307. Pray resolutely using the words of the Psalmist: ``Thou, Lord, art my refuge and my strength, I trust in thee.''

I promise you that he will preserve you from the ambushes of the ``noontide devil'', when you are tempted and even when you fall, and when your age and virtues ought to have proved solid and you should have known by heart that He alone is your stronghold.

308. Do you think people are grateful for services rendered only reluctantly? Evidently not. You might even say it would have been better not to have bothered.

And yet you think you can serve God with sour looks? No you can't! You have to serve him cheerfully, in spite of your wretchedness, which we will be able to get rid of with God's grace.

309. Doubts assail you, temptations, with that gloss of elegance about them.

I love to hear you say how this shows that the devil considers you his enemy, and that the grace of God will never leave you unprotected. Keep up the struggle!

310. The majority of people who have personal problems ``have them'' because they selfishly think about themselves.

311. Everything seems so peaceful. God's enemy, however, is not asleep|...

The Heart of Jesus is also awake and watching! Herein lies my hope.

312. Sanctity consists in struggling, in knowing that we have defects and in heroically trying to overcome them.

Sanctity, I insist, consists in overcoming those defects --although we will still have defects when we die; for if not, as I have told you, we would become proud.

313. Thank you, Lord, because -- as well as allowing us to be tempted -- you also give us the strength and beauty of your grace so that we can win through. Thank you, Lord, for the temptations you allow us to have so that we may be humble. ~S

314. Do not abandon me, Lord. Don't you see the bottomless pit this poor son of yours would end up in?

My Mother: I am your son too.

315. Without God's help it is impossible to live a clean life. God wants us to be humble, and to ask him for his help through our Mother who is his Mother.

You should say to Our Lady, right now, speaking without the sound of words, from the accompanied solitude of your heart: ``O, my Mother, sometimes this poor heart of mine rebels; but if you help me|...'' She will indeed help you to keep it clean and to follow the way God has called you to pursue. The Virgin Mary will always make it easier for you to fulfil the Will of God.

316. To preserve holy purity and live a clean life you have to love and practise daily mortification.

317. Whenever you feel the stirrings of your poor flesh, which sometimes attacks with violent assaults, kiss your crucifix, kiss it many times with firm resolve, even if it seems you are doing so without love.

318. Place yourself before the Lord each day and tell him slowly and in all earnestness, like the man in the Gospel who was in such great need, Domine, ut videam! -- Lord, that I may see; that I may see what you expect from me, and struggle to be faithful to you.

319. My God, how easy it is to persevere when we know that You are the Good Shepherd, and that we -- you and I -- are sheep belonging to your flock!

For we know full well that the Good Shepherd gives his whole life for each one of his sheep.

320. Today in your prayer you confirmed your resolution to be a saint. I understand you when you make this more specific by adding, ``I know I shall succeed, not because I am sure of myself, Jesus, but because I am sure of you.''

321. By yourself, if you don't count on grace, you can do nothing worthwhile, for you would be cutting the link which connects you with God.

With grace, on the other hand, you can do all things.

322. Do you want to learn from Christ and follow the example of his life? Open the Holy Gospels and listen to God dialoguing with men -- with you.

323. Jesus knows very well what is best -- and I love his Will and will do so always. He it is who controls ``the puppets'' and so he will always give whatever I ask of him, provided it is a means to achieving our end -- even if there are godless men who are determined to put obstacles in the way.

324. True faith shows itself in humility. Dicebat enim intra se -- that poor woman said to herself: Si tetigero tantum vestimentum eius, salva ero -- if I can but touch the hem of his garment, I shall be healed.

What humility she showed. It was both a result and a sign of her faith.

325. If it is God who lays the burden upon you, God will also give you the strength to bear it.

326. Invoke the Holy Spirit in your examination of conscience so that you may get to know God better, and yourself also. In this way you will be converted each day.

327. Spiritual direction. You must have that true supernatural sense and holy shamelessness to allow another to poke at your soul and determine how far you are able -- and willing -- to give glory to God.

328. Quomodo fiet istud quoniam virum non cognosco? -- How can this marvel take place if I have no knowledge of man? Mary asks the Angel in words which reflect the sincerity of her Heart.

Observing the Blessed Virgin has confirmed for me a clear rule of conduct: if we want to enjoy peace, and also to live in peace, we must be very sincere with God, with those who direct our souls and with ourselves.

329. A foolish child wails and stamps his feet when his loving mother puts a needle to his finger to get a splinter out. A sensible child, on the other hand, perhaps with his eyes full of tears -- for the flesh is weak -- looks gratefully at his good mother who is making him suffer a little in order to avoid much greater harm.

Jesus, may I be a sensible child.

330. My child, my little donkey: if the Lord, with Love, has washed your grimy back, so accustomed to the muck, and has laid a satin harness upon you, and covered you with dazzling jewels, don't forget, poor donkey, that with your faults you could throw that beautiful load on to the ground|... But on your own you couldn't put it back on again.

331. Draw strength from your divine filiation. God is a Father -- your Father! -- full of warmth and infinite love.

Call him Father frequently and tell him, when you are alone, that you love him, that you love him very much, and that you feel proud and strong because you are his son.

332. Cheerfulness is a necessary consequence of our divine filiation, of knowing that our Father God loves us with a love of predilection, that he holds us up and helps us and forgives us.

Remember this and never forget it: even if it should seem at times that everything around you is collapsing, in fact nothing is collapsing at all, because God doesn't lose battles.

333. The best way of showing our gratitude to God is to be passionately in love with the fact that we are his children.

334. You are like the little pauper who suddenly finds out that he is the son of the King. That is why now the only thing that concerns you on this earth is the Glory of your Father God, his Glory in everything.

335. My little friend, say to him: Jesus, knowing that I love you and that you love me, nothing else matters -- all is well.

336. ``I have asked Our Lady for many things,'' you were telling me, and then you corrected yourself: ``What I should say is that I have brought many things to Our Lady's attention.''

337. ``I can do all things in him who strengthens me.'' With him there is no possibility of failure, and this conviction gives rise to the holy ``superiority complex'' whereby we take on things with a spirit of victory, because God grants us his strength.

338. The artist stood before his canvas with a deep desire to surpass himself and cried out, ``Lord, I want to paint for you thirty-eight hearts, thirty-eight angels bursting with continual love for you, thirty-eight marvels embroidered on your heaven, thirty-eight suns upon your mantle, thirty-eight flames of fire, thirty-eight ardours, thirty-eight feats of madness, thirty-eight joys|...''

Then, humbly, he had to admit that it was all in his imagination and desire. In reality what confronts him are thirty-eight figures which haven't come out properly and which mortify the sight rather than give pleasure.

339. We have no right to claim that the Angels should obey us --but we can be absolutely sure that the Holy Angels hear us always.

340. Allow God to lead you. He will lead you along ``his path'', making use of innumerable adversities -- possibly including your own sluggishness -- so that it may clearly be seen that your work is being carried out by him.

341. Ask him without any fear, and insist. Remember that scene of the multiplication of loaves we read about in the in the Gospel. Notice how magnanimously he says to the Apostles, How many loaves do you have? Five?|... How many are you asking for? And he gives six, a hundred, thousands|... Why?

Because Christ sees all our needs with divine wisdom, and with his almighty power he can and does go far beyond our desires.

Our Lord sees much farther than our poor minds can discern and he is infinitely generous!

342. When we're working for God we have to have a superiority complex, I told you.

But isn't that a sign of pride? you asked me. No. It is a consequence of humility; the humility which makes me say: Lord, you are who you are. I am nothingness itself. You have all the perfections: power, strength, love, glory, wisdom, authority, dignity|... If I unite myself to you, like a child who goes to the strong embrace of his father or sits on his dear mother's knee, I will feel the warmth of your divinity, I will experience the light of your wisdom, I will sense your strength coursing through my veins.

343. If you live in the presence of God, high above the deafening storm, the sun will always be shining on you; and deep below the roaring and destructive waves, peace and calm will reign in your soul.

344. For a son of God each day should be an opportunity for renewal, knowing for sure that with the help of grace he will reach the end of the road, which is Love.

That is why if you begin and begin again, you are doing well. If you have a will to win, if you struggle, then with God's help you will conquer. There will be no difficulty you cannot overcome.

345. Make your way to Bethlehem, go up to the Child, rock him in your arms, say warm and tender things to him, press him close to your heart|...

I am not talking childish nonsense, I am speaking of love! And love is shown with deeds. In the intimacy of your soul, you can indeed hug him tight.

346. We should let Jesus know that we are children. And when children are tiny and innocent, what a lot of effort it takes for them to go up one step. They look as though they are wasting their time, but eventually they manage to climb up. Now there is another step. Crawling on their hands and knees, and putting their whole body into it, they score another success -- one more step. Then they start again. What an effort! There are only a few more steps to go now. But then the toddler stumbles, and --whoops! -- down he goes. With bumps all over and in floods of tears, the poor child sets out and begins to try again.

We are just like that, Jesus, when we are on our own. Please take us up in your loving arms, like a big and good Friend of the simple child. Do not leave us until we have reached the top. And then -- oh then! -- we will know how to correspond to your Merciful Love, with the daring of young children, telling you, sweet Lord, that after Mary and Joseph, there never has been nor will there ever be a mortal soul -- and there have been some who have been really crazy -- who loves you as much as I love you.

347. Don't be ashamed of doing little childlike things, I advised you. As long as they are not done out of routine, they will not be fruitless.

Here is an example. Imagine that a soul who is following the way of spiritual childhood is moved each night, during the hours of sleep, to adorn a wooden statue of the Blessed Virgin.

Our intelligence would reject such an action as quite useless. But humble souls, touched by grace, understand very well that a child would indeed act like this out of love.

And then the strong will, which all those who are little children spiritually have, insists and moves the intelligence to give way|... And if that childlike soul were to continue each day dressing up the statue of Our Lady, there would be repeated each day a little act of childlike love which would be fruitful in the eyes of God.

348. When you are genuinely a child and you follow the ways of childhood -- if you are moved by God to follow this path -- you will be invincible.

349. The confident petition of a small child: Grant me, Lord, the sort of compunction which those who have pleased you most have had.

350. Small child, you would cease to be one if anyone or anything came between you and God.

351. I shouldn't ask Jesus for anything. I will concentrate on pleasing him in everything and telling him things as though he didn't know them already, just as a little child does with his father.

352. Little child, say to Jesus: I will not be satisfied with anything less than You.

353. In your prayer of spiritual childhood what childish things you say to your Lord! With the confidence of a child speaking to his great Friend of whose love he is utterly sure, you confided in him, saying, May I live only for your Glory!

Thinking things over you admit in all sincerity that everything you do turns out badly. ``But,'' you add, ``this can't surprise you, Jesus. It is impossible for me to do anything right. You have to help me. Please do it for me and you will see how well it turns out.''

Then, with great daring, and without departing from the truth, you continue: ``May your Spirit thoroughly penetrate me and intoxicate me so that I may be able to do your Will. I want to do it. And if I don't do it|... it's because you are not helping me. But you are helping me!''

354. You have to feel the urgent necessity to see yourself as small, weak and bereft of everything. You will then clamber on to the lap of our Mother in Heaven, with heartfelt aspirations and loving glances, Marian devotions|... which are such a vital part of your filial spirit.

She will watch over you.

355. Persevere along your way no matter what happens; persevere, cheerfully and optimistically, because the Lord is bent on sweeping aside all obstacles.

Hear me well: I am quite certain that if you struggle, you will be a saint!

356. When Our Lord called the first Apostles they were busy mending their broken nets by the side of an old boat. Our Lord told them to follow him and statim -- immediately -- they left everything -- relictis omnibus -- everything! And followed him.

Sometimes, though we wish to imitate them, we find we don't manage to leave everything, and there remains some attachment in our heart, something wrong in our life which we're not willing to break with and offer it up to God.

Won't you examine your heart in depth? Nothing should remain there except what is his. If not, we aren't really loving him, neither you nor I.

357. Tell Our Lord constantly that you sincerely desire to be a saint and to do apostolate. Then the poor vessel of your soul will not get broken. And should it do so, it will be put together again and acquire an added attractiveness, and it will continue to be of use for your sanctity and the apostolate.

358. Your prayer should be that of a child of God, and not that of the hypocrites who will hear from Jesus' lips: ``Not every one who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.''

Your prayer, your clamour of ``Lord, Lord'' should be linked in a thousand different ways throughout the day to a desire and an effective effort to fulfil the Will of God.

359. Little one, say to him: O Jesus, I don't want the devil to get hold of souls!

360. If God's Love has chosen you out and called you to follow him, you have a duty to respond to him|... and it is also your duty, an equally serious duty, to lead and help your fellow men towards sanctity and the right path.

361. Cheer up! Not least when the going gets hard. Doesn't it make you happy to think that your faithfulness to your Christian commitments depends to a large extent on you?

Be full of joy and freely renew your decision: ``Lord, I want it too. Count on the little I have to offer.''

362. God is not removing you from your environment. He is not taking you away from the world, or from your condition in life, or from your noble human ambitions, or from your professional work|... But he wants you to be a saint -- right there!

363. Putting yourself in the presence of God, and with your forehead flat against the ground, consider how (for that's the way it is) you are more filthy and despicable than the sweepings swept up by a broom.

And in spite of this, the Lord has chosen you.

364. When are you going to make up your mind?

Many people around you live a life of sacrifice simply for human reasons. These poor people forget they are children of God and act the way they do perhaps only out of pride, or ostentation, or in order to be more comfortably off later on in life. They are willing to give up all kinds of things!

You instead have many motives for which to sacrifice yourself. You have the sweet burden of the Church, of your family, your colleagues and friends. What are you doing about it? Are you ready to act with a proper sense of responsibility?

365. ``O Lord, why did you come looking for me -- who am nothing -- when there are so many holy, wise and rich people, so full of prestige?''

You are perfectly right. And so, thank God for having done just that. Thank him with deeds and with love.

366. Jesus, may everyone in your Holy Church persevere in their way, following their Christian vocation, like the Wise Men who followed the star, spurning Herod's advice -- for that type of advice will not be lacking.

367. Let us ask Jesus Christ that the fruits of his Redemption may grow abundantly in men's hearts: more and more, ever more abundantly -- divinely abundantly!

And for this to be so, may he make us good children of his Blessed Mother.

368. Would you like to know a secret to happiness? Give yourself to others and serve them, without waiting to be thanked.

369. Live and work for God, with a spirit of love and service, with a priestly soul, even though you may not be a priest. Then all your actions will take on a genuine supernatural meaning which will keep your whole life united to the source of all graces.

370. Looking on the immense panorama of souls who are awaiting us, and being struck by the wonderful and awesome responsibility before us, you may at times have asked yourself, as I have: ``Can I contribute anything, when the task is so vast? I, who am so puny?''

It is then we have to open the Gospel and contemplate how Jesus cures the man born blind. He uses mud made from the dust of the earth and saliva. Yet this is the salve which brings light to those blind eyes!

That is what you and I are. Fully aware of our weaknesses and our worthlessness, but with the grace of God and our good will, we can be salve to give light and provide strength for others as well as for ourselves.

371. Said an apostolic soul: Jesus, You know what needs to be done|... you know I am not working for myself.

372. If you persevere in your prayer, with ``personal perseverance'', God Our Lord will give you all the means you need to be more effective and to spread his kingdom in the world.

But you have to keep faithful: asking, asking, asking|... Are you really behaving this way?

373. The Lord wants his children in all the honest pathways of this earth, sowing the seeds of understanding and forgiveness, of harmony, charity and peace.

How about you? What are you doing?

374. The Redemption is still being accomplished, even now, and you are -- you have to be -- a co-redeemer.

375. To be a Christian in the world doesn't mean isolating oneself -- on the contrary! It means loving all mankind and burning with a desire to enkindle in everyone the fire of the love of God.

376. Dear Lady, Mother of God and my Mother, not in the remotest way do I wish that you may ever be anything less than Mistress and Empress of the whole of creation.

To Fight Once More

Points: 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474

377. Follow Saint Paul's advice: hora est iam nos de somno surgere! -- it is time to get down to work. Both on the inside, building up your soul; and on the outside, building up the Kingdom of God, right where you are.

378. All contrite you told me: ``How much wretchedness I see in myself! I am so stupid and I am carting around such a weight of concupiscence that it is as though I had never really done anything to get closer to God. Lord, here I am beginning, beginning, always just beginning! I will try, however, to push forward each day with all my heart.''

May he bless those efforts of yours.

379. Father, you told me, I have committed many errors, I have made so many mistakes.

I know, I replied. But God Our Lord, who also knows all that and has taken it into account, only asks you to be humble enough to admit it and asks that you struggle to make amends, so as to serve him better each day with more interior life, with continual prayer and with piety, and making use of the proper means to sanctify your work.

380. Would that you could acquire, as I know you would like to, the virtues of the donkey. Donkeys are humble, hard-working, persevering -- stubborn -- and faithful, with a sure step, tough and -- if they have a good master -- also grateful and obedient.

381. Continue thinking about the donkey's good qualities and notice how in order to do anything worth while, it has to allow itself to be ruled by the will of whoever is leading it. On its own the donkey would only|... make an ass of itself. Probably the brightest thing that would occur to it to do would be to roll over on the ground, trot to the manger and start braying.

Dear Jesus, you too should say to him, ut iumentum factus sum apud te! -- you have made me be your little donkey. Please don't leave me: et ego semper tecum! -- and I'll try to stay with you always. Lead me, tightly harnessed by your grace: Tenuisti manum dexteram meam|... -- you have led me by the halter; et in voluntate tua deduxisti me|... -- make me do your Will. And so I will love you for ever and ever -- et cum gloria suscepisti me!

382. You make a big tragedy out of the most insignificant mortification. Sometimes Jesus makes use of your peculiarities and silly little fads, to help you mortify yourself, by turning something you ought to be doing anyway into a virtue.

383. Dear Jesus, I do want to correspond to your Love, but I am so feeble.

With your grace, I will know how to.

384. Spiritual life is -- and I repeat this again and again, on purpose -- a constant beginning and beginning again.

Beginning again? Yes. Every time you make an act of contrition -- and you should make many every day -- you begin again, because you offer a new love to God.

385. We can never be content with what we are doing to serve our God, just as an artist is never satisfied with the painting or statue he is working on. Everyone tells him how marvellous it is, but he thinks: ``No. It isn't quite right. I wanted it to be better.'' This is how we should feel.

Moreover, the Lord has given us so much. He has a right to the very best from us -- and we must go at his pace.

386. You lack faith -- and you lack love. Were it not so you would go immediately and much more often to Jesus, asking for this thing and that.

Don't delay any further; call out to him and you will hear Christ speaking to you: ``What do you want me to do for you?'' Just as when he stopped for that poor blind man by the roadside who kept on crying out, undeterred.

387. That good friend of ours wrote: ``I have asked the Lord many times to forgive me my very great sins. Kissing the Crucifix, I have told him that I love him and I have thanked him for his fatherly providence during these days. I was rather surprised, as I had been years ago, when I found myself saying (I didn't realise it until later): Dei perfecta sunt opera -- all the works of God are perfect. At the same time I was left with the complete certainty, without the slightest doubt, that this reply to his sinful yet loving creature came from my God. All my hope is in him. May he be blessed for ever.''

I hastened to reply: ``The Lord always acts as the good Father he is, and gives us continual proofs of his Love. Place all your hope in him -- and keep up your struggle.''

388. O Jesus! If in spite of the poor way I have behaved, you have done for me what you have done, what would you do if I were to respond well?

This truth will lead you to be generous without measure.

Weep and show with sorrow and love how much it pains you, for Our Lord and his Blessed Mother deserve different treatment from you.

389. Even though at times you don't feel like praying and you think you are only saying things with your lips, nevertheless keep up your acts of faith and hope and love. Don't fall asleep. Otherwise, when things are going fine, an ill wind will come and it will drag you off.

390. This is how you should pray: if I am to do anything worthwhile, Jesus, you will have to do it for me. May your Will be done. I do love it, even if your Will should permit that I be always as I am now, falling dismally only to be lifted up by you!

391. Make me into a saint, my God, even if you have to beat me into it. I don't want to be a hindrance to your Will. I want to respond, I want to be generous|... But what sort of a wanting is mine?

392. You are full of concern because you do not love as you ought. Everything annoys you. And the enemy does all he can to make you show your bad temper.

I realise you feel very humiliated. Precisely because of this you must take measures to react without delay.

393. The holiness which makes people say that ``to put up with a saint you need two saints'' is not true holiness. At best, it would only be its caricature.

394. The devil tries to draw us away from God, and if you allow him to dominate you, good people will draw away from you, because they draw away from the devil's friends and from those possessed by him.

395. When you speak to God, even if you think yours are just empty words, ask him for a greater dedication, for a more determined progress towards Christian perfection. Ask him to put more fire into you!

396. Renew your firm resolution to live your Christian life right now, at every moment and in all circumstances.

397. Don't place obstacles in grace's way. You need to be convinced that in order to be leaven you must become a saint, and must struggle to identify yourself with Him.

398. Say slowly and in all earnestness: Nunc coepi -- now I begin!

Don't get discouraged if, unfortunately, you don't see any great change in yourself brought about by the Lord's right hand. From your lowliness you can cry out: Help me, my Jesus, because I want to fulfil your Will -- your most lovable Will.

399. Agreed: your concern ought to be for them. But your first concern must be yourself, your own interior life. Otherwise, you will not be able to serve them.

400. How difficult you find that mortification suggested to you by the Holy Spirit! Look at a Crucifix, steadily -- and you will come to love that expiation.

401. ``To be nailed to the Cross!'' This aspiration kept coming again and again, as a new light, to the mind and heart and lips of a certain soul.

``To be nailed to the Cross?'', he asked himself. ``How hard it is!'' And yet he knew full well the way he had to go, against himself, the way of self-denial: agere contra. This is why he earnestly implored, ``Help me, Lord!''

402. When we look upon Calvary, where Jesus died, the realisation of our own sins should move us to be sorry, to make a deeper and more mature decision not to offend him again.

403. We need to smooth off the rough edges a little more each day -- just as if we were working in stone or wood -- and get rid of the defects in our own lives with a spirit of penance. And with small mortifications, which are of two types: active mortifications -- the ones we ourselves look for, like little flowers we gather up during the course of the day -- and passive mortifications, which come from without and we find difficult to accept. Jesus Christ will later make up for whatever is still lacking.

What a wonderful figure of the crucified Christ you will become if you give your all, generously and cheerfully.

404. Our Lord, with his arms outstretched, is continually begging for your love.

405. Draw close to Jesus who has died for you; draw close to that Cross, outlined against the sky on the summit of Golgotha.

But draw close sincerely and with interior recollection, which is the sign of Christian maturity. That way the divine and human events of the Passion will sink deep into your soul.

406. We should accept mortification with those same sentiments that Jesus Christ had in his Holy Passion.

407. Mortification is a necessary premise for every kind of apostolate, and for bringing each apostolate to perfection.

408. A spirit of penance is to be found first of all in taking advantage of the many little things -- deeds, renunciations, sacrifices, services rendered and so on -- which we find daily along our way and we then convert into acts of love and contrition, into mortifications. In this way we shall be able to gather a bouquet at the end of each day -- a fine display which we can offer to God.

409. The best spirit of sacrifice is to persevere in the work you have begun, both when you find it exciting and when it proves an uphill struggle.

410. Take your plan of mortifications to your spiritual Director, for him to monitor them.

But to monitor will not always mean to diminish. It can also mean increasing them, if he thinks fit. Either way, accept his advice.

411. We can say with Saint Augustine that our evil passions tug at our garments, dragging us down. At the same time we are aware of great, noble and pure ambitions within our hearts, and know that a struggle is going on.

If, with the grace of God, you make use of the ascetical means: if you seek to have presence of God, if you look for mortification and -- don't be afraid -- penance, then you will make progress, you will find peace and victory will be yours.

412. Custody of the heart. That priest used to pray: ``Jesus, may my poor heart be an enclosed garden; may my poor heart be a paradise wherein you dwell; may my Guardian Angel watch over it with a sword of fire and use it to purify every affection before it comes into me. Jesus, seal my poor heart with the divine seal of your Cross.''

413. Each person in his own situation should lead a pure life, courageously lived. We have to learn to say No for the sake of that great Love, Love with a capital letter.

414. There is a Spanish saying which speaks clearly enough: Entre santa y santo, pared de cal y canto (``Twixt holy man and holy maid, a wall of solid stone be laid'').

We have to watch over our hearts and our senses, and pull ourselves away from all occasions of sin. No matter how holy it may appear, passion must not have its way.

415. Dear Lord, I find beauty and charm in everything I see! I will guard my sight at every moment, for the sake of Love.

416. You are a Christian and, as a Christian, a son of God. You should feel a grave responsibility for corresponding to the mercies you have received from the Lord, showing careful vigilance and loving firmness, so that nothing and nobody may disfigure the distinctive features of the Love he has imprinted upon your soul.

417. You have reached a level of real intimacy with this God of ours, who is so close to you, so deeply lodged in your soul. But what are you doing to increase and deepen this intimacy? Are you careful not to allow silly little hindrances to creep in which would upset this friendship?

Show courage! Don't refuse to break with every single thing, no matter how small, which could cause suffering to the One who loves you so much.

418. If we are faithful to him, Jesus' own life will somehow be repeated in the life of each one of us, both in its internal development (the process of sanctification) and in our outward behaviour.

Give thanks to him for being so good.

419. It seems an excellent idea to me that you should tell the Lord often about your great and ardent desire to be a saint, even though you see yourself filled with wretchedness|...

Tell him -- precisely because of this!

420. You have seen very clearly that you are a child of God. Even if you were never again to see it -- it won't happen! -- you should continue along your way forever, out of a sense of faithfulness, without ever looking back.

421. A resolution: to be faithful to my timetable -- heroically faithful and without excuses -- on ordinary days and on extraordinary days.

422. You might have thought occasionally, with holy envy, about the adolescent Apostle, John, quem diligebat Iesus -- whom Jesus loved.

Wouldn't f874you} like to deserve to be called ``the one who loves the Will of God''? Then take the necessary steps, day after day.

423. You can be sure of the following: the desire -- shown by deeds -- to live like a good son of God brings permanent youthfulness and serenity, joy and peace.

424. If you abandon yourself once more in God's hands, the Holy Spirit will give light to your understanding and strength to your will.

425. Listen to that parable which comes to us from Jesus' own lips and is told us by Saint John in his Gospel: Ego sum vitis, vos palmites -- I am the vine, you are the branches.

Picture the whole parable in your imagination and in your mind. You will see that a branch separated from the stock, from the vine, is useless, it cannot produce fruit. It will end up like a dry stick which men or animals trample underfoot, or will be thrown on the fire.

You are the branch; draw the necessary conclusions.

426. Today once again I prayed full of confidence. This was my petition: ``Lord, may neither our past wretchedness which has been forgiven us, nor the possibility of future wretchedness cause us any disquiet. May we abandon ourselves into your merciful hands. May we bring before you our desires for sanctity and apostolate, which are hidden like embers under the ashes of an apparent coldness.''

``Lord, I know you are listening to us.'' You should say this to him too.

427. Be sincere when you open up your soul. Speak out and don't try to gild the lily; that could be a very childish thing to do.

And then continue on your way, with docility. You will be holier, and happier.

428. Don't look for consolations apart from God. See what that priest wrote: There should be no unburdening of your heart to any other friend when there is no need to do so.

429. Holiness is attained with the help of the Holy Spirit, who comes to dwell in our souls, through grace given us by the sacraments and as a result of a constant ascetical struggle.

My son, let us not have any false illusions about this. You and I -- I'll never tire of repeating it -- will always have to struggle, always, until the end of our lives. We will thus come to love peace, and we will spread peace around us, and we will receive our everlasting reward.

430. Don't confine yourself to speaking to the Paraclete. Listen to him as well.

When you pray, consider how the life of childhood which enabled you to realise more deeply that you are a son of God filled you with a filial love for the Father. Think how, before that, you have gone through Mary to Jesus, whom you adore as his friend, as his brother, as his lover for that is what you are.

After receiving this advice you realised that until now you had known that the Holy Spirit was dwelling in your soul, to sanctify it. But you hadn't really grasped this truth about his presence. You needed that advice. Now you feel his Love within you, and you want to talk to him, to be his friend, to confide in him. You want to facilitate his work of polishing, uprooting, and enkindling.

I wouldn't know how to set about it, you thought. Listen to him, I insist. He will give you strength. He will do everything, if you so want. And you do want!

Pray to him: Divine Guest, Master, Light, Guide, Love, may I make you truly welcome inside me and listen to the lessons you teach me. Make me burn with eagerness for you, make me follow you and love you.

431. To draw closer to God, to fly all the way to God, you need the strong and generous wings of Prayer and Expiation.

432. To avoid routine in your vocal prayers try to say them with the same ardour with which a person who has just fallen in love speaks|... and as if it were the last chance you had to approach Our Lord.

433. If you feel proud to be a son of Our Lady, ask yourself: How often do I express my devotion to the Virgin Mary during the day, from morning to night?

434. That friend was saying to himself: Apart from other reasons, there are two good reasons why I should make reparation to my Immaculate Mother every Saturday and on the eve of her feasts.

The second is that on Sundays and on feasts of Our Lady (which are often local feasts), instead of dedicating such days to prayer, so many people spend them offending Our Jesus with public sins and scandalous crimes -- you have only to look around you and see.

The first reason is that, perhaps due to the devil's influence, those of us who want to be good sons are not taking proper care in the way we live these days dedicated to Our Lord and to his Mother.

You'll realise that unfortunately these reasons are still very valid. And so we too should make reparation.

435. I have always understood Christian prayer as being a loving conversation with Jesus, which shouldn't be interrupted even in the moments when we are physically far from the Tabernacle, because our whole life is a serenade of human love for our God|... and we can love always.

436. God's love for his creatures is so boundless and our response to it should be so great that time ought to stand still when Holy Mass is being said.

437. When the branches are united to the vine they grow to maturity and bear fruit.

What then should you and I do? We should get right close to Jesus, through the Bread and through the Word. He is our vine. We should speak affectionate words to him throughout the day. That is what people in love do.

438. Love Our Lord very much. Maintain and foster in your soul a sense of urgency to love him better. Love God precisely now when perhaps a good many of those who hold him in their hands do not love him, but rather ill-treat and neglect him.

Be sure to take good care of the Lord for me, in the Holy Mass and throughout the whole day.

439. Prayer is the most powerful weapon a Christian has. Prayer makes us effective. Prayer makes us happy. Prayer gives us all the strength we need to fulfil God's commands.

Yes, indeed, your whole life can and should be prayer.

440. Personal sanctity is not an abstruse theory, but a specific reality, which is both divine and human. And it manifests itself constantly in daily acts of Love.

441. The spirit of prayer which fills the entire life of Jesus Christ among men teaches us that all our actions -- great or small -- ought to be preceded by prayer, accompanied by prayer and followed by prayer.

442. Contemplate and live the Passion of Christ, with Him. Proffer your own shoulders frequently, daily, when he is scourged; offer your own head to be crowned with thorns.

Where I come from they say: ``Love is repaid with love.''

443. A person in love doesn't miss the tiniest detail. I have seen it in so many souls. Those little things become something very great: Love!

444. Love God for those who do not love him. You should make this spirit of reparation and atonement flesh of your flesh.

445. If at any time the going gets harder in our interior struggle, that will be a good moment to show that our Love is in earnest.

446. You are certain it was God who made you see quite clearly that you must return to the more childlike little things of your earlier interior life, and persevere for months and even years in those heroic trivialities. (You needn't take into account your feelings here since they are so often slow to recognise the good.) Your will may be cold but let it be ready to fulfil those little duties out of Love.

447. Persevere in your life of piety, willingly and with love, even if you feel arid. Don't worry if you find yourself counting the minutes or days still to go before you finish that act of piety or that job of work, with the turbid delight of the lazy schoolboy who in a similar situation is looking forward to the end of term; or of the petty criminal who can't wait to get back to his tricks once he is out of jail again.

Persevere, I insist, with a real and effective determination. Don't cease, not even for a moment, to want to fulfil and benefit from those means of piety.

448. Practise your faith cheerfully, keeping very close to Jesus Christ. Really love him -- but really, really love him! -- and you will take part in a great Adventure of Love, because you will be more in love each day.

449. Say slowly to the Master: Lord, all I want is to serve you. All I want is to fulfil my duties and love you with all my heart. Make me feel your firm step by my side. May you be my only support!

Say this to him slowly|... and really mean it!

450. You need interior life and doctrinal formation. Be demanding on yourself! As a Christian man or woman, you have to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, for you are obliged to give good example with holy shamelessness.

The charity of Christ should compel you. Feeling and knowing yourself to be another Christ from the moment you told him that you would follow him, you must not separate yourself from your equals -- your relatives, friends and colleagues -- any more than you would separate salt from the food it is seasoning.

Your interior life and your formation include the piety and the principles a child of God must have in order to give flavour to everything by his active presence there.

Ask the Lord that you may always be that good seasoning in the lives of others.

451. We Christians, with a spirit of youthfulness, have come to collect the treasures of the Gospels, which are always new, so that we can make them reach every corner of the earth.

452. You need to imitate Jesus Christ and make him known through your behaviour. I want you not to forget that Christ assumed our human nature so as to raise all men to a divine way of life; and so that, united to him, we might live the commands of Heaven both individually and as members of society.

453. Because you are a Christian you cannot turn your back on any concern or any need of your fellow men.

454. How very insistent the Apostle Saint John was in preaching the mandatum novum, the new commandment that we should love one another.

I would fall on my knees, without putting on any act -- but this is what my heart dictates -- and ask you, for the love of God, to love one another, to help one another, to lend one another a hand, to know how to forgive one another.

And so, reject all pride, be compassionate, show charity; help each other with prayer and sincere friendship.

455. You will only be good if you know how to see the good points and the virtues of the others.

That is why when you have to correct, you should do so with charity, at the opportune moment, without humiliating. And being ready yourself to learn and to improve in the very faults you are correcting.

456. Love and practise charity without setting any limits or discriminating between people, for it is the virtue which marks us out as disciples of the Master.

Nevertheless, this charity cannot lead you to dampen your faith -- for it would then cease to be a virtue. Nor should it blur the clear outlines that define the faith, nor soften it to the point of changing it, as some people try to do, into something amorphous and lacking the strength and power of God.

457. You have to live in harmony with your fellow men and understand them as a brother would. As the Spanish mystic says, you have to put love where there is no love to obtain love.

458. Whenever you need to criticise, your criticism must seek to be positive, helpful and constructive. It should never be made behind the back of the person concerned.

To act otherwise would be treacherous, sneaky, defamatory, slanderous even, as well as being utterly ignoble.

459. Whenever you see that the glory of God and the good of the Church demand that you should speak out, you cannot remain silent.

Think about it. Who would lack courage before God and in the face of eternity? There is nothing to be lost and instead so much to be gained. Why do you hold back then?

460. We are not good brothers to our fellow men if we are not ready to continue behaving correctly, even when those around us may interpret our actions badly or react in an unpleasant manner.

461. Your love for Mother Church and the service you render her should in no way be conditioned by the greater or lesser holiness of the individuals who make up the Church, even though we ardently desire that everyone will achieve Christian perfection.

You have to love the Spouse of Christ, your Mother. She is, and always will be, pure and spotless.

462. Our striving for our own sanctification has repercussions on the sanctity of so many souls and also on the sanctity of God's Church.

463. Be convinced of this: if only you wish it (and don't forget that God listens to you and loves you and promises you glory and you will be protected by the almighty hand of your Father in Heaven) you can be a person full of fortitude, ready to be a witness everywhere to the most lovable truth of his doctrine.

464. The Lord's field is fertile and the seed he sows of good quality. Therefore when weeds appear in this world of ours, never doubt that they spring up because of a lack of correspondence on the part of men, Christians especially, who have fallen asleep and have left the field open to the enemy.

Don't complain, for there's no point; examine your behaviour, instead.

465. The following comment, which caused me great sorrow, will also make you reflect: ``I see very clearly why there is a lack of resistance, and why what resistance there is to iniquitous laws is so ineffective, for above, below and in the middle there are many people -- so very many -- who just follow the crowd.''

466. The enemies of God and of his Church, manipulated by the devil's unremitting hatred, are relentless in their activities and organization.

With ``exemplary'' constancy they prepare their cadres, run schools, appoint leaders and deploy agitators. In an undercover way -- but very effectively -- they spread their ideas and sow, in homes and places of work, a seed which is destructive of any religious ideology.

What is there that we Christians should not be ready to do in order to serve our God, of course always with the truth?

467. Don't confuse serenity with being lazy or careless, with putting off decisions or deferring the study of important matters.

Serenity always goes hand in hand with diligence, which is a virtue we need in order to consider and solve outstanding problems without delay.

468. My son, where do men find in you the Christ they are looking for? In your pride? In your desire to impose yourself on others? In those little character defects which you don't wish to overcome? In your stubbornness?|... Is Christ to be found there? No, he is not!

You need to have your own personality, agreed. But you should try to make it conform exactly to Christ's.

469. I will suggest to you a good rule of conduct for living fraternity and a spirit of service. When you are not around, other people should be able to go ahead with the work you have in hand thanks to the experience you have generously passed on to them, and to your not having made yourself indispensable.

470. The responsibility for the sanctity of others, for their Christian behaviour and for their effectiveness, lies with you. And this is so even though you have passions.

You are not on your own. If you stop you could be holding up or harming so many people!

471. Think about your Mother the Holy Church and consider how, if one member suffers, the whole body suffers.

Your body needs each one of its members, but each member needs the whole body. What would happen if my hands were to stop doing their duty|... or if my heart were to stop beating?

472. You saw it quite clearly: while so many people do not know God, he has looked to you. He wants you to form a part of the foundations, a firm stone upon which the life of the Church can rest.

Meditate upon this reality and you will draw many practical consequences for your ordinary behaviour: the foundations, made of blocks of stone -- hidden and possibly rather dull -- have to be solid, not fragile. They have to serve as a support for the building. If not, they are useless.

473. Since you feel you have been chosen by God to support and co-redeem -- without forgetting that you are|... wretched and utterly so -- your humility should lead you to place yourself under the feet -- at the service -- of all. This is what the supports of a building do.

But foundations need to be strong. Fortitude is an indispensable virtue for someone who has to sustain or encourage others.

Say this to Jesus and say it to him strongly: May I never through false humility stop practising the cardinal virtue of fortitude. Make me know how to separate, my God, the dross from the gold.

474. Our Mother, our Hope! How safe and sure we are when we keep close to you, even when everything around us is quivering and shaking.

Recovery

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475. You feel the need of conversion: He is asking more of you|... and you are giving him less each day!

476. For each one of us, as for Lazarus, it was really a veni foras -- come out -- which got us moving.

How sad it is to see those who are still dead and do not know the power of God's mercy!

Renew your holy joy, for opposite the man who is decomposing without Christ, there is another who has risen with him.

477. Earthly affections, even when they aren't just squalid concupiscence, usually involve some element of selfishness.

So, though you must not despise those affections - they can be very holy - always make sure you purify your intention.

478. Don't be anxious for people to sympathise with you. That is often a sign of pride or vanity.

479. Whenever you speak of the theological virtues, of faith, of hope, of love, remember that they are first of all virtues to be practised rather than to be speculated on.

480. Is there something in your life that does not suit your dignity as a Christian, something which makes you unwilling to be cleansed?

Examine your conscience, and change.

481. Take a good look at the way you behave. You will see that you are full of faults that harm you and perhaps also those around you.

Remember, my child, that microbes may be no less a menace than wild beasts. Just as bacteria are cultivated in a laboratory, so you are cultivating those faults and those errors, with your lack of humility, with your lack of prayer, with your failure to fulfil your duty, with your lack of self-knowledge. Those tiny germs then spread everywhere.

You need to make a good examination of conscience every day. It will lead you to make definite resolutions to improve, because it will have made you really sorry for your shortcomings, omissions and sins.

482. Almighty God, Omnipotent and Infinitely Wise, had to choose his Mother.

What would you have done, if you had had to choose yours? I think that you and I would have chosen the mother we have, filling her with all graces. That is what God did: and that is why, after the Blessed Trinity, comes Mary.

Theologians have given a rational explanation for her fulness of grace and why she cannot be subject to the devil: it was fitting that it should be so, God could do it, therefore he did it. That is the great proof: the clearest proof that God endowed his Mother with every privilege, from the very first moment. That is how she is: beautiful, and pure, and spotless in soul and body!

483. Is this how it is? You are longing for the victory, the end of the struggle|... but it doesn't come!

Thank God, as if you had already gained what you are seeking, and offer him your feelings of impatience: Vir fidelis loquetur victoriam, the faithful man will sing the joys of victory.

484. There are moments in which you are deprived of that union with Our Lord which enabled you to pray continually, even when you were asleep. You seem almost to be wrestling with God's Will.

It is your weakness, as you well know. Love the Cross. Love the fact that you lack so many things which the world thinks of as necessary; love the obstacles that you find as you start or|... as you continue on your way; love your very littleness and spiritual wretchedness.

Offer -- with a desire that is effective -- all you have, and all that belongs to those who are yours. Humanly speaking, it's quite a lot, but from a supernatural point of view, it's nothing.

485. At times, someone has told me: ``Father, I feel tired and cold; when I pray or fulfil some other norm of piety, I seem to be acting out a farce.''

To that friend, and to you, if you are in the same boat, I answer: A farce? What an excellent thing, my child! Act out that farce! The Lord is your audience -- the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Blessed Trinity is contemplating us in those moments when we are ``acting out a farce''.

Acting like that in front of God, out of love, in order to please him, when our whole life goes against the grain: how splendid, to be God's juggler! How marvellous it is to play one's part for Love, with sacrifice, without any personal satisfaction, just in order to please Our Lord!

That indeed is to live for Love.

486. A heart which loves the things of the earth beyond measure is like one fastened by a chain -- or by a ``tiny thread'' --which stops it flying to God.

487. ``Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation.'' It makes one shudder to see how someone can give up a divine undertaking for the sake of a fleeting delusion.

488. A lukewarm apostle: that's the great enemy of souls.

489. A clear sign of lukewarmness is a lack of supernatural ``stubbornness'', of fortitude to keep on working and not stop until you have laid ``the last stone''.

490. Some hearts are hard, but noble. When they come close to the warmth of Christ's Heart, they melt like bronze into tears of love, of reparation. They catch fire.

But lukewarm people have hearts of clay, of mean flesh. They crack and turn to dust. A sorry sight.

Say with me: ``Our Jesus, keep us from being lukewarm. We do not want to be lukewarm.''

491. All goodness, all beauty, all majesty, all loveliness, all grace adorn our Mother. Doesn't it make you fall in love, to have a Mother like that?

492. We are in love with Love. That is why Our Lord doesn't want us to be dry, stiff, lifeless. He wants us to be steeped in his tenderness!

493. See if you can understand this apparent contradiction. At thirty years of age, that man wrote in his diary: ``I'm not young any more.'' When he was over forty, he wrote again: ``I will stay young till I'm eighty: if I die before that, I'll think I haven't done my stint.''

Wherever he went he took with him, in spite of the passing years, the mature youthfulness of Love.

494. How well I understand that question put by a soul in love with God: ``Have I made any grimace of distaste, has there been anything in me which could have hurt you, my Lord, my Love?''

Ask your Father-God to grant us the grace to be constantly demanding in that way.

495. Have you seen the affection and the confidence with which Christ's friends treat him? In a completely natural way the sisters of Lazarus `blame' Jesus for being away: ``We told you! If only you'd been here!''

Speak to him with calm confidence: ``Teach me to treat you with the loving friendliness of Martha, Mary and Lazarus and as the first Twelve treated you, even though at first they followed you perhaps for not very supernatural reasons.''

496. How I like to think of John, leaning his head on Christ's breast! It is like giving up one's intelligence lovingly, difficult though this is, to let it be set on fire by the flame of the Heart of Jesus.

497. God loves me. And John the Apostle writes: ``Let us love God, then, since God loved us first.'' As if this were not enough, Jesus comes to each one of us, in spite of our patent wretchedness, to ask us, as he asked Peter: ``Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these others?''

This is the moment to reply: ``Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you!'' adding, with humility, ``Help me to love you more. Increase my love!''

498. ``Love means deeds and not sweet words.'' Deeds, deeds! And a resolution: I will continue to tell you often, Lord, that I love you. How often have I repeated this today! But, with your grace, it will be my conduct above all that shows it. It will be the little things of each day which, with silent eloquence, will cry out before you, showing you my Love.

499. We men don't know how to show Jesus the gentle refinements of love that some poor, rough fellows -- Christians all the same -- show daily to some pitiful little creature -- their wife, their child, their friend -- who is as poor as they.

This truth should help us react.

500. The Love of God is so attractive, and so fascinating, that there are no limits to its growth in the life of a Christian.

501. You cannot behave like a naughty child, or like a madman.

You have to be strong, a child of God. You have to be calm in your professional work and in your dealings with others, with a presence of God which makes you give perfect attention to even the smallest details.

502. If bare justice is done, people may feel hurt.

Always act, therefore, for the love of God, which will add to that justice the balm of a neighbourly love, and will purify and cleanse all earthly love.

When you bring God in, everything becomes supernatural.

503. Love Our Lord passionately. Love him madly. Because if there is love there -- when there is love -- I would dare to say that resolutions are not needed. My parents -- think of yours -- did not need to make any resolutions to love me: and what an effusion of tenderness they showed me, in little details every day.

With that same human heart we can and should love God.

504. Love is sacrifice; and sacrifice for Love's sake is a joy.

505. Answer this question in your heart: How often each day does your will ask you to set your heart on God, to give him your expressions of love and your actions?

This is a good way to measure the intensity and quality of your love.

506. Be convinced, my child, that God has a right to ask us: Are you thinking about of me? Are you aware of me? Do you look to me as your support? Do you seek me as the Light of your life, as your shield|..., as your all?

Renew, then, this resolution: In times the world calls good I will cry out: ``Lord!'' In times it calls bad, again I will cry: ``Lord!''

507. I don't want you ever to lose your supernatural outlook. Even though you see your own meannesses, your evil inclinations -- the clay of which you are made -- in all their raw shamefulness, God is counting on you.

508. Live as the others around you live, with naturalness, but ``supernaturalising'' every moment of your day.

509. In order to be able to judge with rectitude of intention, we need a pure heart, zeal for the things of God and love of souls, free from prejudices.

Think about it.

510. I heard some people I knew talking about their radio sets. Almost without realising it, I brought the subject round to the spiritual area: we have got a strong earth, too strong, and we have forgotten to put up the aerial of the interior life.

That is why there are so few souls who keep in touch with God. May we never be without our supernatural aerial.

511. Is it true that I pay more attention to trifles and trivialities, that bring me nothing and from which I expect nothing, than I do to my God? Who am I with, when I am not with God?

512. Tell him: Lord, I want nothing other than what You want. Even those things I am asking you for at present, if they take me an inch away from your Will, don't give them to me.

513. The secret of being effective, at root, lies in your piety, a sincere piety. This way you will pass the whole day with Him.

514. A resolution: to ``keep up'', without interruption as far as you can, a loving and docile friendship and conversation with the Holy Spirit. Veni, Sancte Spiritus|...! -- Come, O Holy Spirit, and dwell in my soul!

515. Repeat to yourself, with all your heart, and with ever-increasing love, and more when you are in front of the Tabernacle or have the Lord within your breast: Non est qui se abscondat a calore eius -- ``No one can hide from his warmth.'' May I not flee from you, may I be filled with the fire of your Holy Spirit.

516. Ure igne Sancti Spiritus! -- burn me with the fire of your Spirit, you cried. You then added: ``My poor soul needs to fly again as soon as possible, and not stop flying until it rests in God!''

I think your desires are admirable. I will pray for you often to the Paraclete. I will invoke him continually, so that he may nestle in the centre of your being, presiding and giving a supernatural tone to all your actions and words, thoughts and desires.

517. When you celebrated the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross you asked Our Lord, with the most earnest desire of your heart, to grant you his grace so as to ``exalt'' the Holy Cross in the powers of your soul and in your senses. You asked for a new life; for the Cross to set a seal on it, to confirm the truth of your mission; for the whole of your being to rest on the Cross!

We shall see|...

518. Mortification has to be constant, like the beating of the heart. In this way we will have dominion over ourselves and the charity of Christ for others.

519. To love the Cross means being able to put oneself out, gladly, for the love of Christ, though it's hard -- and because it's hard. You have enough experience to know that this is not a contradiction.

520. Christian cheerfulness is not something physiological. Its foundation is supernatural, and it goes deeper than illness or difficulties.

Cheerfulness does not mean the jingling of bells, or the gaiety of a dance at the local hall.

True cheerfulness is something deeper, something within: something that keeps us peaceful and brimming over with joy, though at times our face may be stern.

521. I wrote to you: Though I can understand that it's not an uncommon way of talking, I'm not happy when I hear people describe the difficulties born of pride as ``crosses''. These burdens are not the Cross, the true Cross, because they are not Christ's Cross.

So struggle against those invented obstacles, which have nothing to do with the seal Christ has set on you. Get rid of all the disguises of self!

522. Even on those days when you seem to be wasting time, in the prose of the thousand details of the day there is more than enough poetry for you to feel that you are on the Cross: on a Cross which no one notices.

523. Do not fix your heart on anything that passes away. Imitate Christ, who became poor for us, and had nowhere to lay his head.

Ask him to give you, in the midst of the world, a real detachment, a detachment that has nothing to soften it.

524. One clear sign of detachment is genuinely not to consider anything as one's own.

525. Whoever really lives his faith knows that the goods of the world are means, and uses them generously, heroically.

526. The risen Christ, Christ in glory, has divested himself of the things of this earth, so that we men, his brothers, should ask ourselves what things we need to get rid of.

527. We have to love the Blessed Virgin Mary more. We will never love her enough.

Love her a lot! It shouldn't be enough for you to put up pictures of her, and greet them, and say aspirations. You should learn to offer her, in your strenuous life, some small sacrifice each day, to show her your love, and to show her the kind of love that we want the whole human race to proclaim for her.

528. The truth of a Christian's life is this: self-giving and love -- founded on sacrifice. Love for God, that is, and, for God's sake, love for one's neighbour.

529. Jesus, I put myself trustingly in Your arms, hiding my head on Your loving breast, my heart touching Yours: I want what You want, in everything.

530. Nowadays the world we live in is full of disobedience and gossip, of intrigue and conspiracy. So, more than ever we have to love obedience, sincerity, loyalty and simplicity: and our love of all these will have a supernatural significance, which will make us more human.

531. You say yes, you are determined to follow Christ.

All right. Then you should walk at his pace, not at your own.

532. You want to know on what our faithfulness is founded?

I would say, in broad outline, that it is based on loving God, which makes us overcome all kinds of obstacles: selfishness, pride, tiredness, impatience|...

A man in love tramples on his own self. He is aware that even when he is loving with all his soul, he isn't yet loving enough.

533. I heard -- and I write it down, because it's very beautiful -- something that was said by a goodly nun from Aragon, in her gratitude for God's fatherly goodness: ``How `smart' he is! He's got his eye on everything.''

534. Like all God's children, you too need personal prayer. You need to be intimate with him, to talk directly with Our Lord. You need a two-way conversation, face to face, without hiding yourself in anonymity.

535. The first thing needed as far as prayer is concerned is to keep at it; the second thing is to be humble.

Have a holy stubbornness, be trusting. Remember that when we ask the Lord for something important, he may want to be asked for many years. Keep on! But keep on with ever increasing trust.

536. Persevere in prayer, as the Master told us. This point of departure will be your source of peace, of cheerfulness, of serenity, and so it will make you humanly and supernaturally effective.

537. You were in a place where they were talking and listening to music. Prayer welled up in your soul, bringing an unspeakable solace. In the end you said: ``Jesus, I don't want consolation; I want you.''

538. Your life must be a constant prayer, a never-ceasing conversation with Our Lord: when things are pleasant or unpleasant, easy or difficult, usual or unusual.

In every situation, your conversation with your Father God should immediately come to life. You should seek him right within your soul.

539. To recollect oneself in prayer, in meditation, is so easy! Jesus doesn't make us wait. He doesn't leave us in the waiting-room. It is he who does the waiting.

You only have to say ``Lord, I want to pray, I want to talk to you!'' and you are at once in God's presence, talking to him.

And as if this were not enough, he doesn't begrudge you his time. He leaves it up to you, just as you please. And not just for ten minutes or a quarter of an hour, but for hours and hours! For the whole day! And he is who he is: the Almighty, the Most Wise.

540. In the interior life, as in human love, we have to persevere.

You have to meditate often on the same themes, keeping on until you re-discover an old discovery.

``How could I not have seen this so clearly before?'' you'll ask in surprise. Simply because sometimes we're like stones, that let the water flow over them, without absorbing a drop.

That's why we have to go over the same things again and again -- because they aren't the same things -- if we want to soak up God's blessings.

541. In the Holy Sacrifice of the altar, the priest takes up the Body of our God, and the Chalice containing his Blood, and raises them above all the things of the earth, saying: Per Ipsum, et cum Ipso, et in Ipso -- through My Love, with My Love, in My Love!

Unite yourself to the action of the priest. Or rather, make that act of the priest a part of your life.

542. The Gospel tells us that Jesus hid himself when they wanted to make him king after he had worked the miracle.

Lord, you make us share in the miracle of the Eucharist. We beg you not to hide away. Live with us. May we see you, may we touch you, may we feel you. May we want to be beside you all the time, and have you as the King of our lives and of our work.

543. Talk to the Three Persons, to God the Father, to God the Son, to God the Holy Spirit. And so as to reach the Blessed Trinity, go through Mary.

544. You don't have living faith if you aren't giving yourself to Jesus here and now.

545. All Christians should seek Christ and get to know him, so as to love him better and better. It's like courting. A couple need to get to know each other well, for if they don't, they will not really love each other. And our life is a life of Love.

546. Pause to consider the holy wrath of the Master, when he sees his Father's honour abused in the Temple at Jerusalem.

What a lesson for you! You should never be indifferent, or play the coward, when the things of God are treated without respect.

547. Fall in love with the Sacred Humanity of Jesus Christ.

Aren't you glad that he should have wanted to be like us? Thank Jesus for this wonderful expression of his goodness.

548. Advent is here. What a marvellous time in which to renew your desire, your nostalgia, your real longing for Christ to come -- for him to come every day to your soul in the Eucharist. The Church encourages us: Ecce veniet! -- He is about to arrive!

549. Christmas. The carols sing Venite, venite, ``O come ye, O come ye.'' Let us go to him. He has just been born.

After contemplating how Mary and Joseph care for the Child, I now dare to hint to you: Look at him again, gaze at him without ceasing.

550. Although it pains us to admit it -- and I ask God to increase that sorrow in us -- you and I have our share in the death of Christ. For the sins of men were the hammer-blows which stitched him to the Cross with nails.

551. Saint Joseph. One cannot love Jesus and Mary without loving the Holy Patriarch.

552. There are many good reasons to honour Saint Joseph, and to learn from his life. He was a man of strong faith. He earned a living for his family -- Jesus and Mary -- with his own hard work. He guarded the purity of the Blessed Virgin, who was his Spouse. And he respected - he loved! - God's freedom, when God made his choice: not only his choice of Our Lady the Virgin as his Mother, but also his choice of Saint Joseph as the Husband of Holy Mary.

553. Saint Joseph, our Father and Lord: most chaste, most pure. You were found worthy to carry the Child Jesus in your arms, to wash him, to hug him. Teach us to get to know God, and to be pure, worthy of being other Christs.

And help us to do and to teach, as Christ did. Help us to open up the divine paths of the earth, which are both hidden and bright; and help us to show them to mankind, telling our fellow men that their lives on earth can have an extraordinary and constant supernatural effectiveness.

554. Love Saint Joseph a lot. Love him with all your soul, because he, together with Jesus, is the person who has most loved our Blessed Lady and been closest to God. He is the person who has most loved God, after our Mother.

He deserves your affection, and it will do you good to get to know him, because he is the Master of the interior life, and has great power before the Lord and before the Mother of God.

555. Our Lady. Who could be a better Teacher of the love of God than this Queen, this Lady, this Mother, who has the closest bond with the Trinity: Daughter of God the Father, Mother of God the Son, Spouse of God the Holy Spirit? And at the same time she is our Mother!

Go and pray personally for her intercession.

556. You will become a saint if you have charity, if you manage to do the things which please others and do not offend God, though you find them hard to do.

557. Saint Paul has given us a wonderful recipe for charity: alter alterius onera portate et sic adimplebitis legem Christi -- bear one another's burdens, and so you will fulfil the law of Christ.

Is this what happens in your life?

558. Jesus Our Lord loved men so much that he became incarnate, took to himself our nature, and lived in daily contact with the poor and the rich, with the just and with sinners, with young and old, with Gentiles and Jews.

He spoke to everyone: to those who showed good will towards him, and to those who were only looking for a way to twist his words and condemn him.

You should try to act as Our Lord did.

559. Loving souls for God's sake will make us love everyone: understanding, excusing, forgiving all.

We should have a love that can cover the multitude of failings contrived by human wretchedness. We have to have a wonderful charity, veritatem facientes in caritate, defending the truth, without hurting anyone.

560. When I speak to you of good example, I mean to tell you, too, that you have to understand and excuse, that you have to fill the world with peace and love.

561. Ask yourself often: am I making a real effort to be more refined in my charity towards the people I live with?

562. When I preach that we have to make ourselves a carpet so that the others may tread softly, I am not simply being poetic: it has to be a reality!

It's hard, as sanctity is hard; but it's also easy, because, I insist, sanctity is within everyone's reach.

563. In the midst of so much selfishness, so much coldness --everyone out for what he can get -- I call to mind those little wooden donkeys. They were trotting on a desk-top, strong and sturdy. One had lost a leg, but it carried on forward, supported by the others.

564. When we Catholics defend and uphold the truth, without making concessions, we have to strive to create an atmosphere of charity, of harmony, to drown all hatred and resentment.

565. In a Christian, in a child of God, friendship and charity are one and the same thing. They are a divine light which spreads warmth.

566. To practise fraternal correction -- which is so deeply rooted in the Gospel -- is a proof of supernatural trust and affection.

Be thankful for it when you receive it, and don't neglect to practise it with those you live with.

567. When you correct someone -- because it has to be done and you want to do your duty -- you must expect to hurt others and to get hurt yourself.

But you should never let this fact be an excuse for holding back.

568. Get very close to your Mother, the Virgin Mary. You ought to be united to God always: seek that union with him by staying near his Blessed Mother.

569. Listen to me: being in the world and belonging to the world does not mean being worldly.

570. You have to act like a burning coal, spreading fire wherever it happens to be; or at least, striving to raise the spiritual temperature of the people around you, leading them to live a truly Christian life.

571. God wants the works he entrusts to men to go ahead on the basis of prayer and mortification.

572. The foundation of all we do as citizens -- as Catholic citizens -- lies in an intense interior life. It lies in being really and truly men and women who turn their day into an uninterrupted conversation with God.

573. When you are with someone, you have to see a soul: a soul who has to be helped, who has to be understood, with whom you have to live in harmony, and who has to be saved.

574. You insist on trying to walk on your own, doing your own will, guided solely by your own judgement. And you can see for yourself that the fruit of this is fruitlessness.

My child, if you don't give up your own judgement, if you are proud, if you devote yourself to ``your'' apostolate, you will work all night -- your whole life will be one long night --and at the end of it all the dawn will find you with your nets empty.

575. To think of Christ's Death means to be invited to face up to our everyday tasks with complete sincerity, and to take the faith that we profess seriously.

It has to be an opportunity to go deeper into the depths of God's Love, so as to be able to show that Love to men with our words and deeds.

576. Make sure that your lips, the lips of a Christian -- for that is what you are and should be at all times -- speak those compelling supernatural words which will move and encourage, and will show your committed attitude to life.

577. There is a great love of comfort, and at times a great irresponsibility, hidden behind the attitude of those in authority who flee from the sorrow of correcting, making the excuse that they want to avoid the suffering of others.

They may perhaps save themselves some discomfort in this life. But they are gambling with eternal happiness -- the eternal happiness of others as well as their own -- by these omissions of theirs. These omissions are real sins.

578. For many people a saint is an ``uncomfortable'' person to live with. But this doesn't mean that he has to be unbearable.

A saint's zeal should never be bitter. When he corrects he should never be wounding. His example should never be an arrogant moral slap in his neighbour's face.

579. There was a young priest who used to address Jesus with the words of the Apostles: Edissere nobis parabolam, explain the parable to us. He would add: Master, put into our souls the clarity of your teaching, so that it may never be absent from our lives and our works. And so that we can give it to others.

You too should say this to Our Lord.

580. Always have the courage -- the humility, the desire to serve God -- to put forward the truths of faith as they are, without watering them down, without ambiguity.

581. There is no other possible attitude for a Catholic: we have to defend the authority of the Pope always, and to be ready always to correct our own views with docility, in line with the teaching authority of the Church.

582. A long time ago someone asked me, tactlessly, whether those of us whose career is the priesthood are able to retire when we get old. And since I gave him no answer, he persisted with his impertinent question.

Then an answer came to me which, I thought, put it in a nutshell. ``The priesthood'', I told him, ``is not a career: it is an apostolate.''

That's how I feel about it. And I wanted to put it down in these notes so that -- with God's help -- none of us may ever forget the difference.

583. To have a Catholic spirit means that we should feel on our shoulders the weight of our concern for the entire Church -- not just of this or that particular part of it. It means that our prayer should spread out north and south, east and west, in a generous act of petition.

If you do this you will understand the cry -- the aspiration -- of that friend of ours, when he considered how unloving so many people are towards our Holy Mother: ``The Church: it hurts me to see her treated so!''

584. ``And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches'', Saint Paul wrote. This sigh of the Apostle is a reminder for all Christians -- for you, too -- of our duty to place at the feet of the Spouse of Christ, of the Holy Church, all that we are and all that we can be; loving her faithfully, even at the cost of livelihood, of honour, of life itself.

585. Don't be scared by it. In so far as you can you should fight against the conspiracy of silence they want to muzzle the Church with. Some people stop her voice being heard; others will not let the good example of those who preach with their deeds be seen; others wipe out every trace of good doctrine|..., and so very many cannot bear to hear her.

Don't be scared, I say again. But don't get tired, either, of your task of being a loudspeaker for the teachings of the Magisterium.

586. Become more Roman day by day. Love that blessed quality which is the ornament of the children of the one true Church, for Jesus wanted it to be so.

587. Devotion to Our Lady in Christian souls awakens the supernatural stimulus we need in order to act like domestici Dei, as members of God's family.

Victory

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588. Imitate the Blessed Virgin. Only by openly admitting that we are nothing can we become precious in the eyes of our Creator.

589. I am convinced that John, the young Apostle, is at the side of Christ on the Cross because our Mother draws him there. The Love of Our Lady is so powerful!

590. We will never achieve true supernatural and human cheerfulness, real good humour, if we don't really imitate Jesus: if we aren't humble, as he was.

591. To give oneself sincerely to others is so effective that God rewards it with a humility filled with cheerfulness.

592. Our humiliation, our self-effacement, our disappearing and passing unnoticed, should be complete, entire, total.

593. Sincere humility. What can upset a person who delights in being insulted because he knows that he deserves nothing better?

594. My Jesus: what's mine is yours, because what's yours is mine, and what's mine I abandon in you.

595. Are you able to undergo those humiliations which God asks of you, in matters of no importance, matters where the truth is not obscured? You are not? Then you don't love the virtue of humility.

596. Pride dulls the edge of charity. Ask Our Lord each day for the virtue of humility, for you and for everyone. Because as the years go by, pride increases if it is not corrected in time.

597. Is there anything more displeasing than a child acting the grown-up? How can a poor man -- a child -- be pleasing to God if he ``acts grown-up'', puffed up by pride, sure that he's worth something and trusting only in himself?

598. Certainly you can go to Hell. You are convinced it could happen, for in your heart you find the seeds of all kinds of evil.

But if you become a child in front of God, that fact will bring you close to your Father God, and to your Mother, Holy Mary. And Saint Joseph and your Angel will not leave you unprotected when they see you are a child.

Have faith. Do as much as you can. Be penitent, and be Loving. They will supply whatever else you need.

599. How difficult it is to live humility! As the popular wisdom of Christianity says, ``Pride dies twenty-four hours after its owner.''

So when you think you're right, against what you are being told by someone who has been given a special grace from God to guide your soul, be sure that you are completely wrong.

600. Serving and forming children, caring lovingly for the sick.

To make ourselves understood by simple souls, we have to humble our intellect; to understand poor sick people we have to humble our heart. In this way, on our knees in both body and mind, it is easy to reach Jesus along that sure way of human wretchedness, of our own wretchedness. It will lead us to make `a nothing' of ourselves in order to let God build on our nothingness.

601. A resolution: unless I really have to, never to speak of my personal affairs.

602. Thank Jesus for the confidence he gives you. It's not stubbornness, but God's light that makes you firm as a rock. Meanwhile, others, good as they are, present a sorry picture. They seem to be sinking in the sand. They lack the foundation of the faith.

Ask Our Lord to grant that the demands of the virtue of faith may be met both in your life and in the lives of others.

603. If I behaved differently, if I were more in control of my character, if I were more faithful to you, Lord, how marvellously would you help us!

604. Your Father God puts a longing for atonement in your soul. That longing will be satisfied if you unite your own poor expiation to the infinite merits of Jesus.

Rectify your intention, and love suffering in him, with him, and through him.

605. You have no idea whether you are making progress, or, if you are, how much. But what use is such a reckoning to you?

What is important is that you should persevere, that your heart should be on fire, that you should be more enlightened and descry farther horizons; that you should strive for our intentions, that you should feel them as your own -- even though you don't know what they are -- and that you should pray for all of them.

606. Tell him: Jesus, I cannot see a single perfect flower in my garden, all are blighted. It seems that all have lost their colour and their scent. Poor me! Face downwards in the muck, on the ground: that's my place.

That's the way, humble yourself. He will conquer in you, and you will attain the victory.

607. I understood you very well when you ended up saying: ``Quite honestly, I haven't even made the grade of being a donkey -- the donkey that was the throne of Jesus when he entered Jerusalem. I'm just part of a disgusting heap of dirty tatters that the poorest rag-picker would ignore.''

But I told you: all the same, God has chosen you and wants you to be his instrument. So your wretchedness -- which is a genuine fact -- should turn into one more reason for you to be thankful to God for calling you.

608. Mary's humble song of joy, the Magnificat, recalls to our minds the infinite generosity of the Lord towards those who become like children, towards those who abase themselves and are sincerely aware that they are nothing.

609. God is very pleased with those who recognise his goodness by reciting the Te Deum in thanksgiving whenever something out of the ordinary happens, without caring whether it may have been good or bad, as the world reckons these things. For everything comes from the hands of our Father: so though the blow of the chisel may hurt our flesh, it is a sign of Love, as he smooths off our rough edges and brings us closer to perfection.

610. When human beings have work to do they try to use the right tools for the job.

If I had lived in another century, I would have written with a quill pen: now I use a fountain pen.

But when God wants to carry out some piece of work, he uses unsuitable means, so that it can be seen that the work is his. You have heard me say this very often.

So you and I, who are aware of the massive weight of our failings, should tell him: ``Lord, wretched as I am, I still understand that in your hands I am a divine instrument.''

611. We will dedicate all the exertions of our life, great and small, to the honour of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

I am moved when I recall the work of those brilliant professionals -- two engineers and two architects -- cheerfully moving furniture into a student residence. When they had put a blackboard into a classroom, the first thing those four artists wrote was: Deo omnis gloria! -- all the glory to God.

Jesus, I know that this pleased you greatly.

612. Wherever you may happen to be, remember that the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. Be sure that anyone who wants to follow him cannot attempt to act in any other way.

613. God has a special right over us, his children: it is the right to our response to his love, in spite of our failings. This inescapable truth puts us under an obligation which we cannot shirk. But it also gives us complete confidence: we are instruments in the hands of God, instruments that he relies on every day. That is why, every day, we struggle to serve him.

614. God expects his instruments to do what they can to be fit and ready: you should strive to make sure you are always fit and ready.

615. I have come to see that every Hail Mary, every greeting to Our Lady, is a new beat of a heart in love.

616. Our life -- a Christian's life -- has to be as ordinary as this: trying every day to do well those very things it is our duty to do; carrying out our divine mission in the world by fulfilling the little duty of each moment.

Or rather, struggling to fulfil it. Sometimes we don't manage, and when night comes, in our examination, we'll have to tell Our Lord, ``I am not offering you virtues; today I can only offer you defects. But with your grace I will be able to count myself a victor.''

617. I wish with all my heart that God, in his mercy, in spite of your sins (may you never offend Jesus again!), may make you constantly live that blessed life which is to love his Will.

618. In God's service there are no unimportant posts: all are of great importance.

The importance of the post depends on the spiritual level reached by the person filling it.

619. Aren't you glad to have the sure confidence that God is interested in even the tiniest details of his creatures?

620. Show him again that you really want to be his. ``Jesus, help me. Make me really yours; may I burn and be consumed, by dint of little things that no one notices.''

621. The Holy Rosary: the joys, the sorrows, and the glories of the life of Our Lady weave a crown of praises, repeated ceaselessly by the Angels and the Saints in Heaven -- and by those who love our Mother here on earth.

Practise this holy devotion every day, and spread it.

622. Baptism makes us fideles, faithful. This is a word that was used -- like sancti, the saints -- by the first followers of Jesus to refer to one another. These words are still used today: we speak of the faithful of the Church.

Think about this.

623. God does not let himself be outdone in generosity. Be very sure that he grants faithfulness to those who give themselves to him.

624. Don't be afraid to be demanding on yourself. Many souls do so in their hidden inner life, so that only Jesus may shine out.

I wish you and I would react as that person did who wanted to be very close to God, on the feast of the Holy Family. In those days it was celebrated within the octave of the Epiphany.

``I have had a number of little crosses. There was one yesterday that hurt so much it made me weep. Today it made me think that my Father and Lord Saint Joseph, and my Mother, Holy Mary, won't have left this child of theirs without its Christmas present. The present was the light that made me see my thanklessness to Jesus in my failing to correspond to his grace; and to see how mistaken I was to resist, by my boorish behaviour, the most Holy Will of God, who wants me as his instrument.''

625. When the holy women reached the tomb, they found that the stone had been rolled aside.

This is what always happens: when we make up our minds to do what we should, the difficulties are easily overcome.

626. Be convinced that if you do not learn to obey you will never be effective.

627. When you are told what to do, let no one show more alacrity than you in obeying; whether it is hot or cold, whether you feel keen or are tired, whether you are young or less so, it makes no odds.

Someone who ``does not know how to obey'' will never learn to command.

628. It's remarkably stupid for a Director to be content with a soul rendering four when it could be rendering twelve.

629. You have to obey -- and you have to command -- always with great love.

630. Help me with your prayer. I want all of us within Holy Church to feel that we are members of the same body, as the Apostle asks of us. I want us to be vividly and profoundly aware, without any lack of interest, of the joys, the troubles, the progress of our Mother who is one, holy, catholic, apostolic, Roman.

I want us to live as one, each of us identified with the cares of the others, and all identified with Christ.

631. Convince yourself, my child, that lack of unity within the Church is death.

632. Pray to God that in the Holy Church, our Mother, the hearts of all may be one heart, as they were in the earliest times of Christianity; so that the words of Scripture may be truly fulfilled until the end of the ages: Multitudinis autem credentium erat cor unum et anima una -- the company of the faithful were of one heart and one soul.

I am saying this to you in all seriousness: may this holy unity not come to any harm through you. Take it to your prayer.

633. Faithfulness to the Pope includes a clear and definite duty: that of knowing his thought, which he tells us in Encyclicals or other documents. We have to do our part to help all Catholics pay attention to the teaching of the Holy Father, and bring their everyday behaviour into line with it.

634. I pray every day with all my heart that God may give us the gift of tongues. Such a gift of tongues does not mean knowing a number of languages, but knowing how to adapt oneself to the capacities of one's hearers.

It's not a question of ``simplifying the message to get through to the masses'', but of speaking words of wisdom in clear Christian speech that all can understand.

This is the gift of tongues that I ask of Our Lord and of his Holy Mother for all their children.

635. A few are wicked, and many are ignorant: that is how the enemy of God and of the Church reigns.

Let us confound the wicked, and enlighten the minds of the ignorant. With the help of God, and with our effort, we will save the world.

636. We have to try to ensure that in all fields of intellectual activity there are upright people, people with a true Christian conscience, who are consistent in their lives, who can use the weapons of knowledge in the service of humanity and of the Church.

Their presence will be necessary because in the world there will always be, as there were when Jesus came on earth, new Herods who try to make use of knowledge -- even if they have to falsify it -- to persecute Christ and those who belong to him.

What a great task we have ahead of us!

637. In your work with souls -- and all your activity should be work with souls -- be filled with faith, with hope, with love, because all the difficulties will be overcome.

To confirm this truth for us, the Psalmist wrote: Et tu, Domine, deridebis eos: ad nihilum deduces omnes gentes -- You, O Lord, will laugh at them: You will bring them to nothing.

These words confirm those other words: Non praevalebunt; the enemies of God shall not prevail. They will not have any power against the Church, nor against those who serve the Church as instruments of God.

638. Our Holy Mother the Church, in a magnificent outpouring of love, is scattering the seed of the Gospel throughout the world; from Rome to the outposts of the earth.

As you help in this work of expansion throughout the whole world, bring those in the outposts to the Pope, so that the earth may be one flock and one Shepherd: one apostolate!

639. Regnare Christum volumus!: we want Christ to reign. Deo omnis gloria!: all the glory to God.

This ideal of warring, and winning, with Christ's weapons will only become a reality through prayer and sacrifice, through faith and Love.

Well, then: pray, believe, suffer, Love!

640. The work of the Church, each day, is like the weaving of a great fabric which we offer to God: because all of us who are baptised make up the Church.

If we carry out our tasks, faithfully and selflessly, this great fabric will be beautiful and flawless. But if we loosen a thread here, a thread there, another over there|... instead of a beautiful fabric we will have a tattered rag.

641. Why don't you make up your mind to make that fraternal correction? Receiving one hurts, because it is hard to humble oneself, at least to begin with. But making a fraternal correction is always hard. Everyone knows this.

Making fraternal corrections is the best way you can help, after prayer and good example.

642. He has shown that He trusts you, by bringing you to the Church. So you have to have the balance, the calm, the strength, the human and supernatural prudence of a mature person, those qualities that it takes many people many years to acquire.

Don't forget what you learnt in your Catechism: that ``a Christian'' means a man or woman who has faith in Jesus Christ.

643. You want to be strong? Then first realise that you are very weak. After that, trust in Christ, your Father, your Brother, your Teacher. He makes us strong, entrusting to us the means with which to conquer -- the sacraments. Live them!

644. I understood you very well when you confessed to me: I want to steep myself in the liturgy of the Holy Mass.

645. How great is the value of piety in the Holy Liturgy!

I was not at all surprised when someone said to me a few days ago, talking about a model priest who had died recently: ``What a saint he was!''

``Did you know him well?'' I asked.

``No,'' he said, ``but I once saw him saying the Mass.''

646. Since you call yourself a Christian, you have to live the Sacred Liturgy of the Church, putting genuine care into your prayer and mortification for priests -- especially for new priests -- on the days marked out for this intention, and when you know that they are to receive the Sacrament of Order.

647. Offer your prayer, your atonement, and your action for this end: ut sint unum! -- that all of us Christians may share one will, one heart, one spirit. This is so that omnes cum Petro ad Iesum per Mariam -- that we may all go to Jesus, closely united to the Pope, through Mary.

648. You ask me, my child, what you can do to make me very pleased with you.

If Our Lord is satisfied with you, then I am too. And you can know that He is happy with you, by the peace and joy in your heart.

649. A clear mark of the man of God, of the woman of God, is the peace in their souls: they have peace and they give peace to the people they have dealings with.

650. Get used to replying to those poor ``haters'', when they pelt you with stones, by pelting them with Hail Marys.

651. Don't worry if your work seems barren just now. When it is holiness that is being sown, it is not lost: others will gather in the harvest.

652. Even though you gain little light in your prayer, even though it seems dry and irksome, you should consider, with a sure, ever-new insight, that you need to persevere in every detail of your life of piety.

653. You grew in the face of difficulties in the apostolate when you prayed: ``Lord, You are the same as ever. Give me the faith of those men who knew how to correspond to your grace, who worked great miracles, real marvels, in your Name|...'' And you finished off: ``I know that you will do it; but I also know that you want to be asked. You want to be sought out. You want us to knock hard at the doors of your Heart.''

At the end you renewed your resolve to persevere in humble and trusting prayer.

654. When you are troubled|... and also in the hour of success, say again and again, ``Lord, don't let go of me, don't leave me, help me as you would a clumsy child; always lead me by the hand!''

655. Aquae multae non potuerunt exstinguere caritatem! -- the great turmoil of waters could not quench the fire of charity. I offer you two interpretations of these words of Holy Scripture. First: the throng of your past sins, now that you have fully repented of them, will not take you away from the Love of our God; and a second one: the waters of misunderstanding, the difficulties that you are perhaps encountering, should not interrupt your apostolic work.

656. Work on to the end, to the very end! My child, qui perseveraverit usque in finem, hic salvus erit -- it is the one who perseveres right to the end who will be saved.

We children of God have the means we need: you too! We will finish, we will top out our building, for we can do all things in Him who strengthens us.

With God there are no f874impossibles}. They are overcome always.

657. Sometimes the immediate future is full of worries, if we stop seeing things in a supernatural way.

So, faith, my child, faith -- and more deeds. In that way it is certain that our Father-God will continue to solve your problems.

658. God's ordinary providence is a continual miracle; but He will use extraordinary means when they are required.

659. Christian optimism is not a sugary optimism; nor is it a mere human confidence that everything will turn out all right.

It is an optimism that sinks its roots in an awareness of our freedom, and in the sure knowledge of the power of grace. It is an optimism which leads us to make demands on ourselves, to struggle to respond at every moment to God's calls.

660. The Lord's triumph, on the day of the Resurrection, is final. Where are the soldiers the rulers posted there? Where are the seals that were fixed to the stone of the tomb? Where are those who condemned the Master? Where are those who crucified Jesus? He is victorious, and faced with his victory those poor wretches have all taken flight.

Be filled with hope: Jesus Christ is always victorious.

661. If you look for Mary, you will necessarily find Jesus; and you will learn, in greater and greater depth, what there is in the Heart of God.

662. When you are preparing for a work of apostolate, make your own these words of a man who was seeking God: ``Today I start to preach a retreat for priests. God grant we may draw profit from it -- and, first of all, myself!''

And later: ``I have been on this retreat for several days now. There are a hundred and twenty on it. I hope that Our Lord will do good work in our souls.''

663. My child, it's worth your while being humble, obedient, loyal. Drench yourself in the spirit of God, so as to be able to carry it from where you are, from your place of work, to all the peoples that fill the earth!

664. During a war, the courage of the soldiers facing the enemy would be of little use if there were not others who seem to take no part in the struggle but who supply the fighting men with armament and food and medicines|...

Without the prayer and sacrifice of many souls there would be no genuine apostolate of action.

665. The power of working miracles! How many dead -- and even rotting -- souls you will raise, if you let Christ act in you.

In those days, the Gospel tells us, the Lord was passing by; and they, the sick, called to him and sought him out. Now, too, Christ is passing by, in your Christian life. If you help him, many will come to know him, will call to him, will ask him for help: and their eyes will be opened to the marvellous light of grace.

666. You insist on doing your own thing, and so your work is barren.

Obey: be docile. Each cog in a machine must be put in its place. If not, the machine stops, or the parts get damaged. It will surely not produce anything, or if it does, then very little. In the same way, a man or a woman outside his or her proper field of action, will be more of a hindrance than an instrument of apostolate.

667. The apostle has no aim other than letting God work, making himself available.

668. The first Twelve, too, were strangers in the lands where they taught the Gospel. They came up against people whose world was built on foundations completely opposed to Christ's doctrine.

Look: despite these adverse circumstances, they knew that they had been entrusted with the divine message of the Redemption. And so the Apostle cries, ``Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!''

669. Our lives can effectively co-redeem, in an eternal way, only if we act with humility, passing unnoticed, so that others can discover Him.

670. When the children of God act in their apostolate, they have to be like those great lighting systems which fill the world with light, but the lamp is not seen.

671. Jesus says: ``He who hears you hears me.''

Do you still think it is your words that convince people? Don't forget either that the Holy Spirit can carry out his plans with the most useless instrument.

672. Saint Ambrose has some words that fit the children of God marvellously well. He is speaking of the ass's colt, tethered to its dam, which Jesus needed for his triumph: ``Only an order of the Lord could untie it'', he says. ``It was set loose by the hands of the Apostles. To do such a deed, one needs a special way of living and a special grace. You too must be an apostle, to set free those who are captive.''

Let me comment on this text for you once more. How often, upon a word from Jesus, will we have to loosen souls from their bonds, because he needs them for his triumph! May our hands be apostles' hands, and our actions, and our lives also. Then God will give us an apostle's grace, too, to break the fetters of those who are enchained.

673. We can never attribute to ourselves the power of Jesus who is passing by amongst us. Our Lord is passing by: and he transforms souls when we come close to him with one heart, one feeling, one desire: to be good Christians. But it is he who does it: not you nor I. It is Christ who is passing by!

And then he stays in our hearts -- in yours and in mine --and in our tabernacles.

Jesus is passing by, and Jesus comes to stay. He stays in you, in each one of you, and in me.

674. Our Lord wants to make us co-redeemers with him.

That is why to help us understand this marvel, he moves the evangelists to tell us of so many great wonders. He could have produced bread from anything|... but he doesn't! He looks for human co-operation: he ``needs'' a child, a boy, a few pieces of bread and some fish.

He needs you and me: and he is God! This should move us to be generous in our corresponding with his grace.

675. If you help him, even with a trifle, as the Apostles did, He is ready to work miracles; to multiply the bread, to reform wills, to give light to the most benighted minds, to enable those who have never been upright to be so, with an extraordinary grace.

All this he will do|... and more, if you will help him with what you have.

676. Jesus has died. He is a corpse. Those holy women had no expectations. They had seen how he had been abused, and how he had been crucified. How vivid in their minds was the violence of the Passion he had undergone!

They knew, too, that the soldiers were keeping watch over the place. They knew that the tomb was sealed shut: ``Who will roll away the stone for us from the door?'' they asked themselves, for it was a massive slab. But all the same, in spite of everything, they went to be with him.

Look: difficulties, large and small, can be seen at once. But if there is love, one pays no heed to those obstacles: one goes ahead with daring, with conviction, with courage. Don't you have to confess your shame when you contemplate the drive, the daring and the courage of these women?

677. Mary, your Mother, will bring you to the Love of Jesus. There you will be cum gaudio et pace, with joy and peace. And you will be always ``brought'', because on your own you would fall and get covered with mud: you will be brought onward, brought to believe, to love, and to suffer.

Work

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678. From Saint Paul's teaching, we know that we have to renew the world in the spirit of Jesus Christ, that we have to place Our Lord at the summit and at the heart of all things.

Do you think you are carrying this out in your work, in your professional task?

679. Why don't you try converting your whole life into the service of God -- your work and your rest, your tears and your smiles?

You can|... and you must!

680. Each and every creature, each and every event of this life, without exception, must be steps which take you to God, which move you to know him and love him, to give him thanks, and to strive to make everyone else know and love him.

681. We are under an obligation to work, and to work conscientiously, with a sense of responsibility, with love and perseverance, without any shirking or frivolity. Because work is a command from God, and God is to be obeyed, as the Psalmist says, in laetitia, joyfully!

682. We have to conquer for Christ every noble human value.

683. When a person really lives charity, there is no time left for self-seeking. There is no room left for pride. We will not find occasion for anything but service!

684. Every activity -- be it of great human importance or not --must become for you a means to serve Our Lord and your fellow men. That is the true measure of its importance.

685. Work always and in everything with sacrifice, in order to put Christ at the summit of all human activities.

686. Correspondence to grace is to be found also in the ordinary little things of each day, which seem unimportant and yet have the over-riding importance of Love.

687. You cannot forget that any worthy, noble and honest work at the human level can -- and should! -- be raised to the supernatural level, becoming a divine task.

688. As Jesus, who is our Lord and Model, grows in and lives as one of us, he reveals to us that human life -- your life -- and its humdrum, ordinary business, have a meaning which is divine, which belongs to eternity.

689. You should be full of wonder at the goodness of our Father God. Are you not filled with joy to know that your home, your family, your country, which you love so much, are the raw material which you must sanctify?

690. My daughter, you have set up a home. I like to remind you that you women -- as you well know -- have a great strength, which you know how to enfold within a special gentleness, so that it is not noticed. With that strength, you can make your husband and children instruments of God, or demons.

You will always make them instruments of God: he is counting on your help.

691. I am moved that the Apostle should call Christian marriage sacramentum magnum -- a great sacrament. From this, too, I deduce the enormous importance of the task of parents.

You share in the creative power of God: that is why human love is holy, good and noble. It is a gladness of heart which God -- in his loving providence -- wants others freely to give up.

Each child that God grants you is a wonderful blessing from him: don't be afraid of children!

692. In conversations I have had with so many married couples, I tell them often that while both they and their children are alive, they should help them to be saints, while being well aware that none of us will be a saint on earth. All we will do is struggle, struggle, struggle.

And I also tell them: you Christian mothers and fathers are a great spiritual motor, sending the strength of God to your own ones, strength for that struggle, strength to win, strength to be saints. Don't let them down!

693. Don't be afraid of loving others, for His sake: and don't worry about loving your own people even more, provided that no matter how much you love them, you love Him a million times more.

694. Coepit facere et docere -- Jesus began to do and then to teach. You and I have to bear witness with our example, because we cannot live a double life. We cannot preach what we do not practise. In other words, we have to teach what we are at least struggling to put into practice.

695. Christian: you have the obligation of being an example in everything you do: including being an example as a citizen, in your fulfilment of the laws directed to the common good.

696. You are very demanding. You want everyone else, including those who work in the public service, to carry out their obligations. ``It is their duty!'' you say. Have you then ever thought about whether you respect your own timetable, whether you carry it out conscientiously?

697. Carry out all your duties as a citizen. Do not try to get out of any of your obligations. Exercise all your rights, too, for the good of society, without making any rash exceptions.

You must give Christian witness in that also.

698. If we really want to sanctify our work, we have inescapably to fulfil the first condition: that of working, and working well, with human and supernatural seriousness.

699. Your charity should be likeable. Without neglecting prudence and naturalness, try to have a smile on your lips for everyone at all times, though you may be weeping inside. The service you give to others should be unstinting too.

700. That half-finished work of yours is a caricature of the holocaust, the total offering God is asking of you.

701. If you say that you want to imitate Christ|... and yet have time on your hands, then you are on the road to lukewarmness.

702. Professional work -- and the work of a housewife is one of the greatest of professions -- is a witness to the worth of the human creature. It provides a chance to develop one's own personality; it creates a bond of union with others; it constitutes a fund of resources; it is a way of helping in the improvement of the society we live in, and of promoting the progress of the whole human race|...

For a Christian, these grand views become even deeper and wider. For work, which Christ took up as something both redeemed and redeeming, becomes a means, a way of holiness, a specific task which sanctifies and can be sanctified.

703. The Lord wants his children, those of us who have received the gift of faith, to proclaim the original optimistic view of creation, the love for the world which is at the heart of the Christian message.

So there should always be enthusiasm in your professional work, and in your effort to build up the earthly city.

704. You must be careful: don't let your professional success or failure -- which will certainly come -- make you forget, even for a moment, what the true aim of your work is: the glory of God!

705. Christian responsibility in work cannot be limited to just putting in the hours. It means carrying out the task with technical and professional competence|... and, above all, with love of God.

706. What a pity to be killing time when time is a treasure from God!

707. All honest professions can and must be sanctified. No child of God, then, has a right to say: I cannot do apostolate.

708. You must draw from the hidden life of Jesus this further consequence: you must not be in a hurry|... even though you are!

First and foremost, that is, comes the interior life. Everything else -- the apostolate, any apostolate -- is a corollary.

709. Face up to the problems of this world with a sense of the supernatural, and following the principles of ethics. They do not threaten or undermine your personality: they provide a framework for it.

In this way you will bring to your behaviour a living strength which will win people over; and you will be confirmed in your progress along the right path.

710. God Our Lord wants you to be holy, so that you can make others holy. For this to be possible you need to look at yourself with courage and frankness; you need to look at the Lord Our God; then, and only then, you need to look at the world.

711. Encourage your noble human qualities. They can be the beginning of the building of your sanctification. At the same time, remember what I have already told you before, that when serving God, you have to burn everything, even ``what people will say'', and if necessary even what they call reputation.

712. You need formation, because you need a profound sense of responsibility, if you are to encourage and direct the activity of Catholics in public life and do so with the respect that everyone's freedom deserves, reminding each and every one that they have to be consistent with their faith.

713. Through your professional work, which you bring to completion with all the human and supernatural perfection that is possible, you can and should give Christian standards in the places where you carry out your profession or job.

714. As a Christian you have a duty to act and not stand aloof, making your contribution to serve the common good loyally and with personal freedom.

715. We children of God, who are citizens with the same standing as any others, have to take part fearlessly in all honest human activities and organizations, so that Christ may be present in them.

Our Lord will ask a strict account of each one of us if through neglect or love of comfort we do not freely strive to play a part in the human developments and decisions on which the present and future of society depend.

716. With a sense of profound humility -- strong in the name of our God, and, as the Psalmist says, not ``in the numbers of our chariots and of our horses'' -- we have to make sure, without regard for human considerations, that there are no corners of society where Christ is not known.

717. Freely, according to your own interests and talents, you have to take an active, effective part in the wholesome public or private associations of your country, in a way that is full of the Christian spirit. Such organizations never fail to make some difference to people's temporal or eternal good.

718. Struggle to make sure that those human institutions and structures in which you work and move with the full rights of a citizen, are in accordance with the principles which govern a Christian view of life.

In this way you can be sure that you are giving people the means to live according to their real worth; and you will enable many souls, with the grace of God, to respond personally to their Christian vocation.

719. It is a Christian's duty, and a citizen's duty, to defend and promote, out of piety and general culture, those monuments that are found along streets and highways -- the wayside crosses, the images of Our Lady, and the like. We should restore those which vandalism or the weather have damaged or destroyed.

720. We have to stand out boldly against those ``damning freedoms'' -- those daughters of licence, granddaughters of evil passions, great granddaughters of original sin -- which come down, as you can see, in a direct line from the devil.

721. For the sake of the objective truth, and to put a stop to the damage they do, I have to insist that we should give neither publicity nor hosannas to the enemies of God; not even after they are dead.

722. Nowadays our Mother the Church is being attacked in the social field and by the governments of nations. That is why God is sending his children -- is sending you! -- to struggle, and to spread the truth in those areas.

723. You are an ordinary citizen. It is precisely because of that secularity of yours, which is the same as, and neither more nor less than, that of your colleagues, that you have to be sufficiently brave -- which may sometimes mean being very brave -- to make your faith felt. They should see your good works and the motive that drives you to do them.

724. Children of God -- like yourself -- cannot be afraid of living in the professional or social surroundings which are proper to them. They are never alone!

God Our Lord, who always goes with you, grants you the means to be faithful to him, and to bring others to him.

725. All for Love! This is the way of holiness, the way of happiness.

Face up to your intellectual tasks, the highest things of the spirit and also those things that are most down to earth, the things we all of necessity have to do, with this in mind; and you will live joyfully and with peace.

726. As a Christian, you can give way, within the limits of faith and morals, in everything that is your own; you can give way with all your heart. But in what belongs to Jesus Christ, you cannot give way!

727. When you have to give orders, do not humiliate anyone. Go gently. Respect the intelligence and the will of the one who is obeying.

728. Naturally, you have to use earthly means. But put a lot of effort into being detached from everything of the earth, so that you can deal with it with your mind always fixed on the service of God and of your fellow men.

729. Plan everything? Everything! you told me. All right: we need to use our prudence. But bear in mind that human undertakings, whether they are hard or simple, always have to count on a margin of the unforeseen; and that a Christian should never shut off the road of hope, or be forgetful of God's Providence.

730. You have to work with such supernatural vision that you let yourself be absorbed by your activity only in order to make it divine. In this way the earthly becomes divine, the temporal eternal.

731. Things done in the service of God never fail through lack of money: they fail through lack of spirit.

732. Aren't you glad to feel the poverty of Jesus so close to you? How splendid it is to be lacking even what is necessary! But in our case, as in his, it should pass silently and unnoticed.

733. Sincere devotion -- true love of God -- leads us to work hard, to fulfil the duty of each day, even though it is far from easy.

734. People have often drawn attention to the danger of deeds performed without any interior life to inspire them; but we should also stress the danger of an interior life -- if such a thing is possible -- without deeds to show for it.

735. The interior struggle doesn't take us away from our temporal business -- it makes us finish it off better!

736. Your life cannot be the repetition of actions which are monotonously all the same, because the next one should be more upright, more effective, more full of love than the last. Each day should mean new light, new enthusiasm - for Him!

737. Every single day, do what you can to know God better, to get acquainted with him, to fall more in love with him each moment, and to think of nothing but of his Love and his glory.

You will carry out this plan, my child, if you never, for any reason whatever, give up your times of prayer, your presence of God, with the aspirations and spiritual communions that set you on fire, your unhurried Holy Mass, and your work, finished off well for him.

738. I will never share the opinion -- though I respect it -- of those who separate prayer from active life, as if they were incompatible.

We children of God have to be contemplatives: people who, in the midst of the din of the throng, know how to find silence of soul in a lasting conversation with Our Lord, people who know how to look at him as they look at a Father, as they look at a Friend, as they look at someone with whom they are madly in love.

739. Those who are pious, with a piety devoid of affectation, carry out their professional duty perfectly, since they know that their work is a prayer raised to God.

740. Our being children of God, I insist, leads us to have a contemplative spirit in the midst of all human activities; to be light, salt and leaven through our prayer, through our mortification, through our knowledge of religion and of our profession. We will carry out this aim: the more within the world we are, the more we must be God's.

741. Good gold and diamonds lie far down in the depths of the earth, not within everyone's reach.

Your task of holiness -- your holiness and that of others -- depends on your fervour, your cheerfulness, your everyday, obscure, normal, ordinary work.

742. In our ordinary behaviour we need a power far greater than that of the legendary King Midas, who changed all he touched to gold.

We have to change, through love, the human work of our usual working day into the work of God: something that will last for ever.

743. If you put your mind to it, everything in your life can be offered to the Lord, can provide an opportunity to talk with your Father in Heaven, who is always keeping new illumination for you, and granting it to you.

744. Work with cheerfulness, with peace, with presence of God.

In this way you will also carry out your task with common sense. You will carry it through to the end. Though tiredness is beating you down, you will finish it off well; and your works will be pleasing to God.

745. You should maintain throughout the day a constant conversation with Our Lord, a conversation fed even by the things that happen in your professional work.

Go in spirit to the Tabernacle|... and offer to God the work that is in your hands.

746. From there, where you are working, let your heart escape to the Lord, right close to the Tabernacle, to tell him, without doing anything odd, ``My Jesus, I love You''.

Don't be afraid to call him so -- my Jesus -- and to say it to him often.

747. A priest who was saying the Divine Office prepared himself for prayer in this way: ``I will follow the rule of saying, when I start: `I want to pray as the saints pray', and then I will invite my Guardian Angel to sing the Lord's praises with me.''

Try this in your own vocal prayer, and also as a way of increasing your presence of God in your work.

748. You have received God's call to a specific way: it is to be at all the crossroads of the world, while remaining all the while, and as you carry out your professional work, in God.

749. Don't ever lose the supernatural point of view. Correct your intention as the course of a ship is corrected on the high seas: by looking at the star, by looking at Mary. Then you will always be sure of reaching harbour.

Crucible

Points: 750 751 752 753 754 755 756 757 758 759 760 761 762 763 764 765 766 767 768 769 770 771 772 773 774 775 776 777 778 779 780 781 782 783 784 785 786 787 788 789 790 791 792 793 794 795 796 797 798 799 800 801 802 803 804 805 806 807 808 809 810 811 812 813 814 815 816 817 818 819 820 821 822 823 824 825 826 827 828 829 830 831 832 833 834 835 836 837 838 839 840 841 842 843 844 845 846 847 848 849 850 851 852 853 854

750. I don't ask you to take away my feelings, Lord, because I can use them to serve you with: but I ask you to put them through the crucible.

751. Faced with the marvels of God, and with all our human failures, we have to make this admission: ``You are everything to me. Use me as you wish!'' Then, for you -- for us -- there will be no more loneliness.

752. The great secret of sanctity comes down to becoming more and more like Him, the only and most lovable Model.

753. When you pray, but see nothing, and feel flustered and dry, then the way is this: don't think of yourself. Instead, turn your eyes to the Passion of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.

Be convinced that he is asking each one of us, as he asked those three most intimate Apostles of his in the Garden of Olives, to ``Watch and pray.''

754. When you open the Holy Gospel, think that what is written there -- the words and deeds of Christ -- is something that you should not only know, but live. Everything, every point that is told there, has been gathered, detail by detail, for you to make it come alive in the individual circumstances of your life.

God has called us Catholics to follow him closely. In that holy Writing you will find the Life of Jesus, but you should also find your own life there.

You too, like the Apostle, will learn to ask, full of love, ``Lord, what would you have me do?'' And in your soul you will hear the conclusive answer, ``The Will of God!''

Take up the Gospel every day, then, and read it and live it as a definite rule. This is what the saints have done.

755. If you really want your heart to respond in a genuine way, I would recommend you to enter one of the Wounds of Our Lord. In this way you will get to know him closely, you will cleave to him, you will feel his Heart beating|... and you will follow him in everything that he asks of you.

756. There can be no doubt that for us who love Jesus, prayer is the great pain-reliever.

757. The Cross symbolises the life of an apostle of Christ. It brings a strength and a truth that delight both soul and body, though sometimes it is hard, and one can feel its weight.

758. I understand. Through Love, you want to suffer with Christ: you want to put your back between him and the butchers who are flogging him; to offer your head instead of his for the thorns, and your hands and feet for the nails. Or at least you want to accompany our Mother, Holy Mary, on Calvary, and to plead guilty to deicide on account of your sins|... and to suffer and to love.

759. You tell me: I have made up my mind to go more often to the Paraclete, to ask him for his light.

Good. But remember, my child, that the Holy Spirit comes as a result of the Cross.

760. The cheerful love that fills the soul with happiness is founded on suffering. There is no love without renunciation.

761. Christ is nailed to the Cross. And you? Still taken up with your whims and fancies -- or rather, nailed by them!

762. We cannot, must not, be easy-going Christians: on earth there must be sorrow and the Cross.

763. In this life of ours we must expect the Cross. Those who do not expect the Cross are not Christians, and they will be unable to avoid their own ``cross'', which will drive them to despair.

764. Now, when the Cross has become a serious and weighty matter, Jesus will see to it that we are filled with peace. He will become our Simon of Cyrene, to lighten the load for us.

Then say to him, trustingly: ``Lord, what kind of a Cross is this? A Cross which is no cross. Now I know the trick. It is to abandon myself in you; and from now on, with your help, all my crosses will always be like this.''

765. Renew in your own soul the resolution that friend of ours made long ago: ``Lord, what I want is suffering, not exhibitionism.''

766. To have found the Cross is to have found happiness: it is to have found you, Lord!

767. What really makes a person -- or a whole sector of society -- unhappy, is the anxiety-ridden, selfish search for well-being, that desire to get rid of whatever is upsetting.

768. The way of Love has a name: it is Sacrifice.

769. The Cross, the Holy Cross, is heavy.

First there are my sins. Then the sad truth of our Mother the Church's suffering. For so many Catholics are apathetic: they want, without really wanting. And those we love are separated from us, for all kinds of reasons. And other people or we ourselves are suffering illness and trials.

The Cross, the Holy Cross, is heavy. Fiat, adimpleatur|...! ``May the most just, the most lovable Will of God be done, be fulfilled, be praised and exalted above all things for ever! Amen. Amen.''

770. When you walk where Christ walked; when you are no longer just resigned to the Cross, but your whole soul takes on its form -- takes on its very shape; when you love the Will of God; when you actually love the Cross|... then, only then, is it He who carries it.

771. Join your suffering, your Cross that comes from within or without, to the Will of God, by saying a generous Fiat! And you will be filled with joy and with peace.

772. These are the unmistakable signs of the true Cross of Christ: serenity, a deep feeling of peace, a love which is ready for any sacrifice, a great effectiveness which wells from Christ's own wounded Side. And always -- and very evidently --cheerfulness: a cheerfulness which comes from knowing that those who truly give themselves are beside the Cross, and therefore beside Our Lord.

773. You must always be aware of and thankful for that favour of the King which throughout your life marks your flesh and your spirit with the royal seal of the Holy Cross.

774. That friend of ours wrote: ``I carry a little Crucifix. Its Crucified is worn by use and by the kisses it receives. It was left to my father when his mother, who had used it, died.

It's a poor thing and much the worse for wear, so I would not have the nerve to give it away to anyone. That's why when I see it my love for the Cross will grow.''

775. There was a priest who prayed in a moment of affliction: ``Jesus, let whatever Cross You want come to me. I resolve here and now to receive it joyfully, and I bless it with all the richness of my blessing as a priest.''

776. When you receive a hard knock, a Cross, you should not be downcast. Rather the reverse: with a happy face you should give thanks to God.

777. Yesterday I saw a picture which moved me profoundly, a picture of Jesus lying dead. An angel was kissing his left hand with an inexpressible devotion. Another, at the Saviour's feet, was holding a nail torn out of the Cross. In the foreground with his back to us there was a tubby little angel weeping as he gazed at Christ.

I prayed to God that they would let me have the picture. It is beautiful. It breathes devotion. I was saddened to hear that they had shown it to a prospective buyer who had refused to take it, saying, ``It's a corpse!'' To me, You will always be Life.

778. Lord, I have no qualms in repeating this thousands of times: I want to keep you company, suffering with you, in the humiliations and cruelties of your Passion and Cross.

779. To find the Cross is to find Christ.

780. Jesus, may your Divine Blood enter my veins, to make me live the generosity of the Cross at every moment.

781. Look at Jesus hanging dead on the Cross, and pray. In this way the Life and Death of Christ can become the model and the spur of your life, and for your answer to the Will of God.

782. At the moment of sorrow or expiation, remember this: the Cross is the symbol of the redeeming Christ. It has ceased to be the symbol of evil, becoming instead the sign of victory.

783. Among the ingredients of your meal include that most delicious of ingredients, mortification.

784. To do great mortifications some days, and nothing on others, is not the spirit of penance.

The spirit of penance means knowing how to overcome yourself every single day, offering up both great and small things for love, without being noticed.

785. If we join our own little things, those insignificant or big difficulties of ours, to the great sufferings of Our Lord, the Victim (He is the only Victim!), their value will increase. They will become a treasure, and then we will take up the Cross of Christ gladly and with style.

And then every suffering will soon be overcome: nobody, nothing at all, will be able to take away our peace and our cheerfulness.

786. To be an apostle you have to bear within you Christ crucified, as Saint Paul teaches us.

787. It's true: when the Holy Cross comes into our lives it unmistakably confirms that we are his, Christ's.

788. The Cross is not pain, or annoyance, or bitterness. It is the holy wood on which Jesus Christ triumphs|... and where we triumph too, when we receive what He sends us with cheerful and generous hearts.

789. You have come to see that, after the Holy Sacrifice, it is on your Faith and your Love, on your penance, your prayer and your activity, that the perseverance, and even the life on earth of your people to a great extent depend.

Bless the Cross: the Cross that He -- my Lord Jesus -- and you and I bear.

790. Jesus, I want to be a blazing fire of Love-madness. I want it to be sufficient for me just to be present in order to set the world on fire for miles around, with an unquenchable flame. I want to know that I am yours. Then, let the Cross come|...

This is the marvellous way: to suffer, to love, and to believe.

791. When you are ill, offer up your sufferings with love, and they will turn into incense rising up in God's honour, and making you holy.

792. As a child of God, with his grace in you, you have to be a strong person, a man or woman of desires and achievements.

We are not hothouse plants. We live in the middle of the world, and we have to be able to face up to all the winds that blow, to the heat and the cold, to rain and storms, but always faithful to God and to his Church.

793. Insults hurt so much, even though you want to love them.

Don't be surprised: offer them to God.

794. You were very hurt at being slighted. That means you are forgetting too easily who you are.

795. When we think we have been accused of something unjustly, we should examine our behaviour, in God's presence, cum gaudio et pace -- calmly and cheerfully; and we should change our ways if charity bids us, even if our actions were harmless.

We have to struggle to be saints, more and more each day. Then let people say what they like so long as we can apply the words of the beatitude to their utterances: Beati estis cum|... dixerint omne malum adversus vos mentientes propter me -- Blessed are you when they slander you for my sake.

796. Someone -- I don't remember who, or when -- once said that the hurricane of slander always rages against those who are outstanding, just as the wind beats most furiously on the tallest pines.

797. Plots, wretched misinterpretations, cut to the measure of the base hearts that will read them, cowardly insinuations|... It is a picture that, sadly, we see over and over again, in different fields. They neither work themselves, nor let others work.

Meditate slowly on those verses of the Psalm: ``My God, I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother's sons. Because zeal for thy house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult thee have fallen on me.'' And keep on working.

798. It is not possible to do good, even among good people, without running into the holy Cross of gossip.

799. In silentio et in spe erit fortitudo vestra -- in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. This is what the Lord assures to those who are his own. Keep quiet, and trust in him. These are two essential weapons in moments of difficulty, when there doesn't seem to be any human solution.

Look at Jesus in his Holy Passion and Death: suffering borne without complaint is also a measure of love.

800. This is the prayer of a soul who wanted to belong wholly to God, and, for his sake, to all mankind: ``Lord, I beg you to work on this sinner, to rectify and purify my intentions, to pass them through the crucible.''

801. I was deeply impressed by the disarming frankness of that holy and learned man, by his willingness to yield as well as by his refusal to give way, when he said ``I can come to terms with anything except an offence against God.''

802. Think of the good that has been done you throughout your lifetime by those who have injured or attempted to injure you.

Others call such people their enemies. Not so you. You should imitate the saints, even in this. You are nothing so special that you should have enemies; so call them ``benefactors''. Pray to God for them: as a result, you will come to like them.

803. Listen to me, my child: you must be happy when people treat you badly and dishonour you, when many come out against you and it becomes the done thing to spit on you, because you are omnium peripsema, like the refuse of the world.

It's hard, it's very hard. It is hard, until at last one goes to the Tabernacle, seeing oneself thought of as the scum of the earth, like a wretched worm, and says with all one's heart ``Lord, if you don't need my good name, what do I want it for?''

Up to then even a child of God does not know what happiness is -- up to that point of nakedness and self-giving. It is a self-giving of love, but it is founded on mortification, on sorrow.

804. Opposition from good people? It's the devil's doing.

805. When you lose your peace and get nervous, it's like not listening to reason.

At such times, one hears again the Master's words to Peter as he sank among the waves of his own nerves and lack of peace: ``Why did you doubt?''

806. Order will bring harmony to your life, and lead you to perseverance. Order will give peace to your heart, and weight to your behaviour.

807. I copy these words for you because they can bring peace to your soul. ``My financial situation is as tight as it ever has been. But I don't lose my peace. I'm quite sure that God, my Father, will settle the whole business once and for all.

I want, Lord, to abandon the care of all my affairs into your generous hands. Our Mother -- your Mother -- will have let you hear those words, now as in Cana: `They have none!' I believe in you, I hope in you, I love you, Jesus. I want nothing for myself: it's for them.''

808. I love your Will. I love holy poverty, my own great lady.

And, now and for ever, I detest and abominate anything that might mean the slightest lack of attachment to your most just, most lovable, and most fatherly Will.

809. The spirit of poverty, of detachment from the goods of the earth, results in effectiveness in the apostolate.

810. Nazareth: a way of faith, of detachment: a way in which the Creator subjects himself to his creatures as he does to his Heavenly Father.

811. Jesus always speaks with love|... even when he corrects us or allows us to undergo trials.

812. Identify yourself with the Will of God. Then no trouble will be any trouble.

813. God loves us infinitely more than you love yourself. So let him make demands on you.

814. Accept the Will of God fearlessly. Resolve unhesitatingly to work all your life, with the materials which the teachings and the demands of our Faith provide.

If you do, you can be sure that along with the sufferings, and even along with slander, you will be happy, with a happiness that will move you to love others and give them a share in your supernatural joy.

815. If troubles come, you can be sure they are a proof of the Fatherly love God has for you.

816. All those who love find that their life is a forge, a forging in the fire of sorrow. There, in that forge, Our Lord teaches us that those who tread fearlessly where the Master treads, hard though the going is, find joy.

817. Strengthen your spirit with penance, so that when difficulty comes you may never lose heart.

818. When will you make up your mind, once and for all, to identify yourself with Christ, with Life!

819. In order to persevere in following in the footsteps of Jesus, you need always to be free, always to want, and always to make use of your own freedom.

820. You are amazed to find there are many different goals that can be pursued within each field in which improvement is possible.

They are other ways within the way, and they help you to avoid possible routine and bring you closer to Our Lord.

Be generous: aim for the highest.

821. Work with humility. I mean, count first on God's blessings, which will not fail you. Then, on your good desires, on the plans you have for working -- and on your difficulties! Do not forget that among those difficulties you must always include your own lack of holiness.

You will be a good instrument if every day you struggle to be better.

822. You told me, in confidence, that in your prayer you would open your heart to God with these words: ``I think of my wretchedness, which seems to be on the increase despite the graces you give me. It must be due to my failure to correspond. I know that I am completely unprepared for the enterprise you are asking of me. And when I read in the newspapers of so very many highly qualified and respected men, with formidable talents, and no lack of financial resources, speaking, writing, organizing in defence of your kingdom|... I look at myself, and see that I'm a nobody: ignorant, poor: so little, in a word. This would fill me with shame if I did not know that you want me to be so. But Lord Jesus, you know how gladly I have put my ambition at your feet|... To have Faith and Love, to be loving, believing, suffering. In these things I do want to be rich and learned: but no more rich or learned than you, in your limitless Mercy, have wanted me to be. I desire to put all my prestige and honour into fulfilling your most just and most lovable Will.''

I then said to you: don't leave this merely as a good desire.

823. Love for God invites us to shoulder the Cross squarely: to feel on our back the weight of the whole human race, and to fulfil, in the circumstances of our own situation in life and the job we have, the clear and at the same time loving designs of the Will of the Father.

824. He was the greatest madman of all times. What greater madness could there be than to give oneself as he did, and for such people?

It would have been mad enough to have chosen to become a helpless Child. But even then, many wicked men might have been softened, and would not have dared to harm him. So this was not enough for him. He wanted to make himself even less, to give himself more lavishly. He made himself food, he became Bread.

Divine Madman! How do men treat you? How do I treat you?

825. Jesus, the madness of your Love has stolen my heart. You are small and helpless, so that those who eat you can become great.

826. You have to make your life essentially, totally eucharistic.

827. I like to call the Tabernacle a prison -- a prison of Love.

For twenty centuries He has been waiting there, willingly locked up, for me and for everyone.

828. Have you ever thought how you would prepare yourself to receive Our Lord if you could go to Communion only once in your life?

We must be thankful to God that he makes it so easy for us to come to him: but we should show our gratitude by preparing ourselves to receive him very well.

829. Tell Our Lord that from now on, every time you celebrate Mass or attend it, and every time you administer or receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist, you will do so with a great faith, with a burning love, just as if it were to be the last time in your life.

And be sorry for the carelessness of your past life.

830. I can understand your keenness to receive the Holy Eucharist each day. Those who feel they are children of God have an overpowering need of Christ.

831. While you are at Mass, think that you are sharing in a divine Sacrifice. For that is how it is: on the altar, Christ is offering himself again for you.

832. When you receive him, tell him: Lord, I hope in you: I adore you, I love you, increase my faith. Be the support of my weakness: You, who have remained defenceless in the Eucharist so as to be the remedy for the weakness of your creatures.

833. We should dwell on those words of Jesus, and make them our own: Desiderio desideravi hoc Pascha manducare vobiscum: I have longed and longed to eat this Passover with you. There is no better way to show how great is our concern and love for the Holy Sacrifice than by taking great care with the least detail of the ceremonies the wisdom of the Church has laid down.

This is for Love: but we should also feel the f874need} to become like Christ, not only inside ourselves but also in what is external. We should act, on the wide spaciousness of the Christian altar, with the rhythm and harmony which holy obedience provides, the holy obedience that unites us to the will of the Spouse of Christ, to the Will of Christ himself.

834. We should receive Our Lord in the Eucharist as we would prepare to receive the great ones of the earth, or even better: with decorations, with lights, with new clothes|...

And if you ask me what sort of cleanliness I mean, what decorations and what lights you should bring, I will answer you: cleanliness in each one of your senses, decoration in each of your powers, light in all your soul.

835. Be a eucharistic soul!

If the centre around which your thoughts and hopes turn is the Tabernacle, then, my child, how abundant the fruits of your sanctity and apostolate will be!

836. The objects used in divine worship should have artistic merit, but bearing in mind that worship is not for the sake of art: art is for the sake of worship.

837. Go perseveringly to the Tabernacle, either bodily or in your heart, so as to feel safe and calm: but also in order to feel loved|... and to love.

838. I copy some words which a priest wrote for those who followed him in an apostolic enterprise: ``When you contemplate the Sacred Host exposed on the altar in the monstrance, think how great is the love, the tenderness of Christ. My way to understand it is by thinking of the love I have for you: if I could be far away, working, and at the same time at the side of each one of you, how gladly I would do it!

But Christ really can do it! He loves us with a love that is infinitely greater than the love that all the hearts of the world could hold; and he has stayed with us so that we can join ourselves at any time to his most Sacred Humanity, and so that he can help us, console us, strengthen us, so that we may be faithful.''

839. Don't think that turning your life into service is easy. This good desire needs to be translated into deeds, for ``the kingdom of God does not consist in talk, but in power'', as the Apostle teaches us. Moreover, the practice of constantly helping other people is not possible without sacrifice.

840. You must always have, in everything, the same ``instinct'' as the Church. For this, you must acquire the spiritual and doctrinal training that you need, which will make you a person of sound judgement in temporal matters, humble and quick to correct yourself when you realise you have made a mistake.

Correcting your own mistakes, nobly, is a very human and very supernatural way of using your freedom.

841. There is an urgent need for spreading the doctrine of Christ.

Store up your training, fill yourself with clear ideas, with the fulness of the Christian message, so that afterwards you can pass it on to others.

Do not expect God to illuminate you, for he has no reason to when you have definite human means available to you: study and work.

842. Error does not only darken the understanding: it also sunders wills.

But veritas liberabit vos: the truth will set you free from the partisan spirit that dries up charity.

843. You spend your time with that companion of yours who is scarcely even civil to you: and it's hard.

Keep at it, and don't judge him. He'll have his ``reasons'', just as you have yours, which you strengthen so as to pray for him more each day.

844. You make such a mess of your own life -- how can you be surprised if other people are not angels?

845. Be lovingly on your guard, in order to live holy purity, because a spark is more easily put out than a roaring blaze.

But all human care, and mortification, and the cilice, and fasting, which are essential weapons, how little all these are worth without you, my God!

846. Constantly call to mind that at every moment you are cooperating in the human and spiritual formation of those around you, and of all souls -- for the blessed Communion of Saints reaches as far as that. At every moment: when you work and when you rest; when people see you happy or when they see you worried; when at your job, or out in the street, you pray as does a child of God and the peace of your soul shows through; when people see that you have suffered, that you have wept, and you smile.

847. Holy coercion is one thing; blind violence or revenge is quite another.

848. The Master has said it already: if only we children of the light were to put at least as much effort and obstinacy into doing good as the children of darkness put into their activities!

Don't complain. Work instead to drown evil in an abundance of good.

849. The charity that harms the supernatural effectiveness of the apostolate is a false charity.

850. God needs men and women who are sure and strong, on whom he can lean.

851. We do not live for the world, or for our own honour, but for the honour of God, for the glory of God, for the service of God. It is this that should be our motive!

852. Ever since Jesus Christ Our Lord founded the Church, this Mother of ours has suffered continual persecution. Perhaps in other times persecution was carried out openly, while nowadays it is often done surreptitiously: but today as yesterday the Church continues to be attacked.

How great is our obligation to live every day as responsible Catholics!

853. Use this prescription for your life: ``I don't remember my own existence. I don't think of my own affairs, because I haven't the time.''

Work and service!

854. These are the characteristics that define the incomparable goodness of our holy Mother, Mary: a love taken to the extreme, fulfilling the Will of God with tender care; a complete forgetfulness of herself, for she is happy to be where God wants her to be.

For this reason, not even the slightest gesture of hers is trivial. Learn from her.

Selection

Points: 855 856 857 858 859 860 861 862 863 864 865 866 867 868 869 870 871 872 873 874 875 876 877 878 879 880 881 882 883 884 885 886 887 888 889 890 891 892 893 894 895 896 897 898 899 900 901 902 903 904 905 906 907 908 909 910 911

855. Committed. How much I like that word! We children of God freely put ourselves under an obligation to live a life of dedication to God, striving that He may have complete and absolute sovereignty over our lives.

856. Whenever sanctity is genuine, it overflows from its vessel to fill other hearts, other souls, with its superabundance.

We, the children of God sanctify ourselves by sanctifying others. Is Christianity spreading to those around you? Consider this every day.

857. The Kingdom of Jesus Christ: that is our task. So, my child, be generous: do not be anxious to know any of the many reasons he has to want to reign in you.

If you look at him, it will be enough for you to consider how much he loves you. You will feel a hunger to correspond to his love, crying aloud that you really love him here and now; and you will understand that if you don't leave him, he won't leave you.

858. The first step towards bringing others to the ways of Christ is for them to see you happy and serene, sure in your advance towards God.

859. A Catholic man or woman can never forget this key idea: we have to imitate Jesus Christ in every sphere of society, without rejecting anyone.

860. Our Lord Jesus wants it: we have to follow him closely. There is no other way.

This is the task of the Holy Spirit in each soul, in yours too. You have to be docile, so as not to put obstacles in the way of your God.

861. A clear sign that you are seeking holiness is what I might call `the healthy psychological prejudice' of thinking usually about others (while forgetting yourself) so as to bring them closer to God.

862. It should be engraved deeply on your soul that God doesn't need you. His calling is a most loving mercy of his Heart.

863. Treat those who are in error with loving kindness, with Christian charity. But do not compromise with anything that goes against our holy Faith.

864. Have recourse to the sweet Lady Mary, Mother of God and our Mother also, entrusting to her care the cleanliness of soul and body of all mankind.

Tell her that you want to call upon her, and want others to call upon her continually. And that you want to conquer always, in the bad moments -- or the good, very good moments -- of your struggle against those who are hostile to our being children of God.

865. He came on earth because omnes homines vult salvos fieri, he wants to redeem the whole world.

While you are at your work, shoulder to shoulder with so many others, never forget that there is no soul that does not matter to Christ!

866. ``Lord,'' you were telling him, ``I like to say thank you. I want to be grateful to everyone, always.''

Well, look: you aren't a stone or a speechless tree, or a mule. You are not one of those created things whose life is completed here on this earth. This is because God chose to make you a man or woman, a child of his. And he loves you in caritate perpetua, with an eternal love.

So you like to be grateful? And are you going to make an exception of your Lord? Make sure that your thanksgiving comes pouring out from your heart every day.

867. Understanding is real charity. When you really achieve it, you will have a great heart which is open to all without discrimination. Even with those who have treated you badly you will put into living practice that advice of Jesus: ``Come to me all you that|... are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.''

868. Be loving towards those who are ignorant of the things of God. And with all the more reason treat those who do know him in the same way. If not, you cannot do the former either.

869. If you really loved God with all your heart, then that love for your neighbour, which you sometimes find so hard to have, would come as a necessary consequence of your Great Love. You would never feel hostility towards anyone, nor would you discriminate between people.

870. Have you that urge, that divine madness, to bring souls to know the Love of God? In your ordinary life, then, offer up mortifications, pray, carry out your duty, and conquer yourself in all kinds of tiny details.

871. Tell him slowly: Good Jesus, if I am to be an apostle, and an apostle of apostles, you have to make me very humble.

May I know myself. May I know myself and know you.

Then I will never lose sight of my nothingness.

872. Per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum: through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. That is the way you should do things: through and for Jesus Christ!

It's good that you have a human heart. But if you act merely because it's a particular person, that's bad. You should certainly also do it for that brother of yours, for that friend of yours: but above all do it for Jesus Christ!

873. The Church expects a lot from you, as do other people --people of all lands, and of all times, present and to come. But you should have it very firmly fixed in your head and in your heart that you will be fruitless if you are not a saint or, let me put it better, if you don't struggle to be a saint.

874. Let yourself be formed by the rough or gentle strokes of grace. Strive to be an instrument rather than an obstacle. And, if you are willing, your most Holy Mother will help you; and you will be a channel for the waters of God, rather than a boulder which diverts their flow.

875. Lord, help me to be faithful and docile towards you, sicut lutum in manu figuli, like clay in the potter's hands. In this way it will not be I that live, but you, my Love, who will live and work in me.

876. Jesus will enable you to have a great affection for everybody you meet, without taking away any of the affection you have for him. On the contrary, the more you love Jesus, the more room there will be for other people in your heart.

877. The closer a creature comes to God, the more universal it feels. Its heart expands, making room for everything and everybody in its single great desire to place the whole universe at the feet of Jesus.

878. When Jesus died on the Cross he was only thirty-three years old. Youthfulness can be no excuse!

Anyway, with each day that passes you are ceasing to be young|... though with Him you will possess his eternal youth.

879. You must reject that form of nationalism which hinders understanding and harmony. In many moments of history it has been one of the most evil of barriers.

You must reject it yet more strongly, since it would be all the more harmful, when it tries to set foot within the Body of the Church, where the unity of everyone and everything in the love of Jesus Christ ought to shine out most clearly.

880. Child of God, what have you done up to now to help the souls around you?

You cannot be content with that passiveness, with that idleness of yours. He wants to reach others through your example, through your words, through your friendship, through your service.

881. Sacrifice yourself, give yourself, and work at souls one by one, as the jeweller works on precious stones: one by one.

Indeed you should exercise even more care, because you are dealing with something of incomparable value. The purpose of that spiritual attention you give is to prepare good instruments for the service of God: and they, each one of them, have cost Christ all of his Blood.

882. To be a Christian, and in particular to be a priest --bearing in mind, too, that all of us who are baptized share in Christ's priesthood -- is to be at all times on the Cross.

883. If you were consistent, now that you have seen his light you would want to be as great a saint as you were once a sinner: and you would struggle to make those desires a reality.

884. It is not pride, but fortitude, when you make your authority felt, cutting out what needs to be cut out, when the fulfilment of the Holy Will of God demands it.

885. Hands must sometimes be tied, with respect and with temperateness, without insult or discourtesy. Not out of revenge, but as a remedy; not as a punishment, but as a medicine.

886. You looked at me very seriously. But at last you understood, when I told you: ``I want to reproduce the life of Christ in the children of God, by getting them to meditate on it, so that they may act like him and speak only of him.''

887. Jesus has remained within the Eucharist for love|... of you.

He has remained, knowing how men would treat him|... and how you would treat him.

He has remained so that you could eat him, so that you could visit him and tell him what's happening to you; and so that you could talk to him as you pray beside the Tabernacle, and as you receive him sacramentally; and so that you could fall in love more and more each day, and make other souls, many souls, follow the same path.

888. You tell me that you want to live the virtue of holy poverty. You want to be detached from the things you use. Ask yourself this question: have I got the same affections and the same feelings as Jesus Christ has, with regard to riches and poverty?

I told you: as well as resting in the arms of your Father-God, with all the confident abandonment of one who is his child, you should fix your eyes particularly on this virtue in order to love it as Jesus does. Then, instead of seeing it as a cross to bear, you will see it as a sign of God's special love for you.

889. At times some Christians do not give the commandment of charity its full scope and value in their actions. In that last wonderful discourse of his, we find Christ surrounded by his chosen ones and leaving them these words as a form of testament: Mandatum novum do vobis, ut diligatis invicem -- a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another.

Then he went further: In hoc cognoscent omnes quia discipuli mei estis -- by this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

If only we would make up our minds to live as he wants!

890. Piety is the bond which ties us close to God and, for his sake, to others too since we see Christ in them. Without it, disunity comes inevitably, and with disunity the loss of all Christian spirit.

891. Be grateful to God from the bottom of your heart for those wonderful and awesome faculties he chose to give you when he made you -- your intellect and your will. They are wonderful, because they make you like him; and awesome because there are human beings who turn their faculties against their Creator.

It seems to me we could sum up the thankfulness that we owe as children of God by saying to this Father of ours, now and always, serviam!: I will serve you.

892. Without interior life, and without formation, there is no true apostolate and no work that is fruitful. Whatever work is done will be fragile, fictitious even.

How great, then, is our responsibility as children of God! We have to hunger and thirst for him and for his doctrine.

893. Someone told that good friend of ours, seeking to humiliate him, that his was a second- or third-rate soul.

As he was convinced of his nothingness, he was not upset. Instead he reasoned this way: ``Each man has just one soul. I have mine, just the one. So for each one his own soul is first-rate. I'm not going to lower my sights. So, my soul is of the very very best: and with God's help, I want to purify it and whiten it and set it on fire, to please my Beloved.''

You must not forget this: you cannot `lower your sights' either, despite the fact that you see yourself full of wretchedness.

894. You complain that you are alone, and that your surroundings militate against you. Think of this, then: Jesus, the Good Sower, takes each of us, his children, and holds us tight in his wounded hand, like wheat. He soaks us in his Blood. He purifies and cleanses us. He fills us with his ``wine''! And then he scatters us generously throughout the world, one by one, for wheat is not sown by the sackful, but grain by grain.

895. I insist: ask God to grant us, his children, the `gift of tongues', the gift of making ourselves understood by all.

You can find the reason why I want this `gift of tongues' in the pages of the Gospel, which abound in parables, in examples which materialise the doctrine and illustrate spiritual truths, without debasing or degrading the word of God.

Everyone, both the learned and the less learned, finds it easier to reflect on and understand God's message through these human images.

896. God wants us, now and always, to spread his seed, a divine sowing in all surroundings. But he also wants it to maintain its quality while it gains in quantity.

You, very clearly, have a supernatural mission of helping to ensure that this quality is not lost.

897. Yes, you're right: how base your wretchedness is! By your own efforts, where would you be now, where would you have got to?

You admitted: ``Only a Love that was full of mercy could keep on loving me.''

Cheer up. He will not deny you his Love or his Mercy, if you go to him.

898. Your aim should be that there be many souls in the midst of the world who love God with all their heart.

It's time to do your sums: how many souls have you helped to discover that Love?

899. The children of God are present and give witness in the world to draw others, not to be drawn by them. They should spread their own atmosphere, the atmosphere of Christ, not let themselves be won over by a different atmosphere.

900. You have a duty to reach those around you, to shake them out of their drowsiness, to open wide new horizons for their selfish, comfortable lives, to make their lives more complicated (in a holy way, that is), to make them forget about themselves and show understanding for the problems of others.

If you do not, you are not a good brother to your brothers in the human race. They need that gaudium cum pace, that joy and that peace, which maybe they do not know or have forgotten.

901. No son or daughter of Holy Church can lead a quiet life, without concern for the anonymous masses -- a mob, a herd, a flock, as I once wrote. How many noble passions they have within their apparent listlessness! How much potential!

We must serve all, laying our hands on each and every one, as Jesus did, singulis manus imponens, to bring them back to life, to enlighten their minds and strengthen their wills: so that they can become useful!

902. I didn't think God would get hold of me the way he did, either. But, let me tell you once again, God doesn't ask our permission to complicate our lives. He just gets in: and that's that!

903. Lord, I will trust in you alone. Help me to be faithful to you. I know that I can look forward to everything as a result of being faithful in your service, abandoning all my cares and worries in your hands.

904. Let us thank God deeply and often for the wonderful calling we have had from him. May our gratitude be deep and genuine, closely joined to humility.

905. The privilege of being numbered among the children of God is the greatest happiness there can be: and it is always undeserved.

906. That cry of the Son of God, lamenting that the harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few, is always relevant. How it tears at our heartstrings.

That cry came from Christ's mouth for you to hear too. How have you responded to it up to now? Do you pray at least daily for that intention of his?

907. To follow Our Lord you need to give yourself once and for all, stoutheartedly and without holding anything back. You need to burn your boats once and for all, so that there is no chance of going back.

908. Don't be scared when Jesus asks you for more, even the happiness of your own family. You must be convinced that from the supernatural point of view he has the right to override all your people, for the sake of his Glory.

909. You say that you want to be an apostle of Christ.

I'm very glad to hear it. I pray that God may give you perseverance. Remember that from our mouths, from our thoughts, from our hearts, no single thing should issue that is not of God, of hunger for souls, of themes that lead us one way or another to God -- or at least, that do not take us away from him.

910. The Church needs priests, and always will. Ask the Blessed Trinity for them each day, through Holy Mary.

And pray that they may be cheerful, hard-working, effective; that they may be well trained: and that they may sacrifice themselves joyfully for their brothers, without feeling that they are victims.

911. Turn constantly to the most Holy Virgin, the Mother of God and Mother of the human race; and she, with a Mother's gentleness, will draw down the love of God on the souls you deal with, so that they may make up their minds to be witnesses for Jesus Christ, in their profession, in their ordinary work.

Fruitfulness

Points: 912 913 914 915 916 917 918 919 920 921 922 923 924 925 926 927 928 929 930 931 932 933 934 935 936 937 938 939 940 941 942 943 944 945 946 947 948 949 950 951 952 953 954 955 956 957 958 959 960 961 962 963 964 965 966 967 968 969 970 971 972 973 974 975 976 977 978 979 980 981 982 983 984 985 986

912. You should correspond to God's love by being faithful, very faithful! And this faithfulness should lead you to transmit the Love you have received to other people, so that they too may rejoice at meeting God.

913. My Lord Jesus, grant that I may feel your grace and second it in such a way that I empty my heart, so that you, my Friend, my Brother, my King, my God, my Love|... may fill it!

914. If your prayers, your sacrifices and your actions do not show a constant concern for the apostolate, it is a sure sign that you are not happy, and that you have to be more faithful.

The man who possesses happiness, and the good, will always seek to give it to others.

915. When you really trample on your own self and live for others you will become a good instrument in God's hands.

He called -- and is calling -- his disciples, commanding them ut eatis! -- ``Go and seek all men.''

916. Make up your mind to set the world ablaze -- you really can do it -- with a love that is pure, and so you will make all mankind happy by bringing them really closer to God.

917. In modico fidelis! -- faithful in little things. My son, your job is not just to save souls but to bring them to holiness, day after day, giving to each moment -- even to apparently ordinary moments -- the dynamic echo of eternity.

918. We cannot separate the seed of doctrine from the seed of piety.

The only way to inoculate your work of sowing doctrine against the germs of ineffectiveness is by being sincerely devout.

919. Just as all the powerful machinery in dozens of factories is brought to a standstill and rendered useless when the electricity fails, so does apostolate cease to bear fruit when prayer and mortification fail, for they are what move the Sacred Heart of Christ.

920. If you follow faithfully the promptings of grace, you will yield good fruit, lasting fruit for the glory of God.

To be a saint necessarily entails being effective, even though the saint may not see or be aware of the results.

921. Rectitude of intention consists in seeking ``only and in all things'' the glory of God.

922. The apostolate -- which is a sure sign of spiritual life --means being constantly on the lookout so as to supernaturalize each detail of the day, whether big or small, by putting the love of God into everything one does.

923. As a bookmark for whatever book he happened to be reading, he always used a strip of paper with the following phrase written on it in a bold and energetic hand: Ure igne Sancti Spiritus! --Inflame with the fire of the Holy Spirit! You could almost say that, rather than writing the words, he had engraved them.

O Christian, I wish I could leave this divine fire emblazoned upon your soul, burning on your lips and setting alight everything you do.

924. You should try to have the holy shamelessness of a child who knows that his Father God always sends him what is best.

That is why he doesn't worry when even the apparently most essential things are lacking; and with complete serenity he says: At least I still have the Holy Spirit with me.

925. Please say a prayer each day for the following intention: that all of us Catholics may be faithful and determined to struggle to be saints.

It is so obviously reasonable. What else are we to desire for those we love, for those who are bound to us by the strong ties of the faith?

926. When I am told that there are people dedicated to God who are no longer striving with fervour for sanctity, I think that -- if there is any truth in this -- their lives are heading towards great failure.

927. Qui sunt isti, qui ut nubes volant, et quasi columbae ad fenestras suas? -- ``Who are these that fly like clouds, and like doves to their nesting places?'', asks the Prophet. And a certain author comments: ``Clouds come up from the sea and from rivers, and after circling about or following their course for a certain length of time, return once more to their source.''

And I say to you that this is what you have to be: a cloud which makes the world fertile, making it live the life of Christ. Those divine waters will bathe and drench the very depths of the earth, and filter out the many impurities without themselves being dirtied. They shall give forth sparkling springs which will later become streams and mighty rivers able to slake the thirst of mankind. Afterwards you shall return to your shelter, to your boundless Sea, to your God, knowing that the fruits will continue to ripen thanks to the supernatural watering done by your apostolate, and to the fruitfulness of the waters of God which will last until the end of time.

928. My child, offer him even the sorrows and sufferings of other people.

929. Woes? Setbacks deriving from one thing or another? Can't you see that this is the will of your Father-God, who is good and who loves you -- loves you personally -- more than all the mothers in the world can possibly love their children?

930. Sincerely examine the way you are following the Master. Ask yourself if your self-surrender is of a dry, officious type, with a faith that has no sparkle to it; if there is no humility or sacrifice, nor any good works throughout your day; if you are all show and pay no attention to the details of each moment|... In a word, if you lack Love.

If this is the case, your ineffectiveness should come as no surprise to you. React right away, and be led by the hand of Our Lady.

931. Whenever you are in need of anything, or are facing difficulties, whether great or small, invoke your Guardian Angel, asking him to sort the matter out with Jesus, or to carry out the particular service you may require.

932. God is right there in the centre of your soul, and mine, and in the soul of everyone who is in a state of grace. He is there for a purpose, that our salt may increase, that we may acquire more light and that from the place we each find ourselves in we may be able to share out these gifts from God to others.

And how can we share out these gifts from God? With humility and piety, and by being very united to our Mother the Church.

Do you not recall the vine and the branches? How fruitful is each branch when united to the vine! What large bunches of grapes! And how sterile the broken-off branch that dries up and becomes lifeless!

933. Jesus, may my poor heart be filled from the ocean of your love, with waves which can cleanse me and expel all my wretchedness. Pour those most pure and ardent waters of your Heart into mine, until my desires for loving you are fully satisfied and I can no longer hold back my response to your divine ardour. My heart shall surely break then, dying for Love, and pour out that Love of yours which, in irresistible and most fertile, life-giving torrents, will reach other hearts that will beat through contact with these living waters, with the pulsating force of Faith and Charity.

934. Practise and live the Holy Mass!

You may be helped by a consideration which that priest, in love, used to repeat to himself: ``Is it possible, my God, to take part in the Holy Mass and not be a saint?''

And he would continue, ``Each day, in fulfilment of an old promise, I will remain hidden in the Wound of Our Lord's Side!''

Shouldn't you do the same?

935. You can do so much good, and yet also so much harm!

You will do good if you are humble and you give yourself cheerfully, with a spirit of sacrifice: good for yourself and for your fellow men, and for that good Mother of yours, the Church.

But how much harm you will do if you allow yourself to be led by your pride.

936. Please don't let yourself become bourgeois, for if you do, you will be a hindrance. You will become a dead weight for others in the apostolate and, above all, a source of suffering for the Heart of Christ.

You must not stop doing apostolate, nor must you abandon your effort to do your work as best you can, or neglect your life of piety.

God will do the rest.

937. From time to time you have to deal with souls as you would with a fire in the hearth, giving it a good poke to get rid of the embers, which are what shine most but are causing the fire of the love of God to die down.

938. Let us go to Jesus in the Tabernacle where we can get to know him and assimilate his teaching, and then be able to hand out this food to souls.

939. When you hold Our Lord in your breast and you taste the delights of his Love, promise him that you will strive to change the course of your life in whatever way is necessary, so that you can bring him to the masses of people who do not know him, who live without ideals and who, unfortunately, go on behaving like animals.

940. ``Where charity and love are found, there is God'' we sing in the liturgical hymn. Here is what a certain soul noted down: ``Fraternal love is a great and marvellous treasure. It is not simply a consolation -- which it certainly often has to be -- but it really brings home the certainty of having God close to us, and shows itself in the charity our neighbours have for us and in the charity which we have for them.''

941. Shun public display. May your life be known to God, for holiness passes unnoticed, even though it is most effective.

942. Try to ensure that people don't notice when you lend a helping hand; try not to be praised or seen by anyone|... so that, being hidden like salt, you may give flavour to your normal surroundings. And thus, as a result of your Christian outlook, you will be helping to give to everything about you a natural, loving and attractive tone.

943. For this world of ours to set its course in a Christian direction -- which is the only one worth while -- we have to exercise a loyal friendship with all men, based on a prior loyal friendship with God.

944. You have heard me speak many times about the apostolate ad fidem.

I still think the same way. What a marvellous field of work awaits us throughout the world with those who do not know the true faith and who, nonetheless, are noble, generous and cheerful.

945. I often feel like crying out to so many men and women in offices and shops, in the world of the media and in the law courts, in schools, on the factory floor, in mines and on farms and telling them that, with the backing of an interior life and by means of the Communion of Saints, they ought to be bringing God into all these different environments, according to that teaching of the Apostle: ``Glorify God by making your bodies the shrines of his presence.''

946. Those of us who bear in our hearts the truth of Christ have to put this truth into the hearts, and minds and lives of others. Not to do so would show a love of comfort and bad tactics too.

Think it over once again: Did Christ ask you permission before coming into your soul? He left you free to follow him, but he was the one who sought you out, because he chose to.

947. With our acts of service we can prepare an even greater triumph for the Lord than that of his entry into Jerusalem. For there will be no repetition of the Judas episode, or that of the Garden of Gethsemane, or of that dark night. We will succeed in setting the world alight with the flames of that fire which he came to cast upon the earth. And the light of Truth -- which is our Jesus -- will enlighten men's minds with a brightness that never fades.

948. Don't look so alarmed. As a Christian you have the right and the duty to provoke a wholesome crisis in souls so that they live their lives with their eyes on God.

949. Pray for everyone, for people of every race and tongue and of every creed, for those who have only a vague idea about religion and for those who do not know the faith at all.

This zeal for souls, which is a sure and a clear sign that we love Jesus, will make Jesus come.

950. When they heard of work with souls in far-off lands, how their eyes sparkled! They seemed ready to cross the ocean in one leap. And indeed the world is very small when Love is great.

951. Not a single soul -- not one -- can be a matter of indifference to you.

952. A disciple of Christ can never think as follows: ``I try to be good; as for others, if that's what they want|... let them go to hell.''

Such an attitude is not human. Nor is it in keeping with the love of God, or with the charity we owe our neighbour.

953. When a Christian understands what catholicity means and practises it, and he realises the urgent need to proclaim the Good News of salvation to all creatures, he knows that as the Apostle teaches, he has to make himself ``all things to all men, that all may be saved.''

954. You have to love your fellow men to the point where even their defects, as long as they do not constitute an offence against God, hardly seem to you to be defects at all. If you love only the good qualities you see in others -- if you do not know how to be understanding, to make allowances for them and forgive them -- you are an egoist.

955. You must not destroy the souls of your fellow human beings through your neglect or your bad example.

In spite of your passions, you have a responsibility for the Christian life of your neighbour, for the spiritual effectiveness of everyone, indeed for their very sanctity.

956. Physically far away and yet feeling very close to them all, ``very close to them all'' you cheerfully repeated.

You were happy thanks to that communion of charity which I spoke to you about, and which you must not get tired of keeping alive.

957. You asked me what you could do to prevent the loneliness of that friend of yours.

I will tell you what I always say, because we have at our disposal a marvellous weapon which is the answer to everything: prayer. In the first place, you must pray. And then you must do for him what you would like others to do for you if you were in similar circumstances.

Without humiliating him, you must help him in such a way that the things he finds difficult can be made easy for him.

958. Put yourself always in your neighbour's shoes. You will then see the various issues or problems calmly. You will not get annoyed. You will be more understanding. You will be able to make allowances and will correct people when and as required. And you will fill the world with charity.

959. We cannot give way in matters of faith. But don't forget that in order to speak the truth there is no need to ill-treat anyone.

960. When the good of your neighbour is at stake you cannot remain silent. But speak in a kindly way, with due moderation and without losing your temper.

961. It's not possible to comment on events or doctrines without making personal references|..., although you are not judging anyone: qui judicat Dominus est -- it is God who has to judge.

Don't worry, then, if now and again you come across someone who lacks an upright conscience and -- either in bad faith or through lack of discernment -- takes your words for gossip.

962. Some poor people seem to get annoyed by the good works you are doing, as if a thing ceases to be good when it is not being carried out or organized by themselves.

This lack of understanding cannot be an excuse for you to slacken off in what you are doing. Try to do it even better, right now. When you get no applause on earth, your work will be all the more welcome in Heaven.

963. At times, fifty per cent of the work is lost because of in-fighting stemming from a lack of charity, and from tales and back-biting among brothers. Furthermore, yet another twenty-five per cent of the work is lost by constructing buildings which are unnecessary for the apostolate. Gossip should never be allowed and we shouldn't waste our time building so many houses. People will then be apostles, one hundred per cent.

964. Pray for the priests of today, and for those who are to come, that they may really love their fellow men, every day more and without distinction, and that they may know also how to make themselves loved by them.

965. I have been thinking of all the priests throughout the world. Help me to pray for the fruitfulness of their apostolates.

``My brother in the priesthood, please speak always about God and, when you really do belong to him, your conversations will never be monotonous.''

966. Preaching -- the preaching of Christ crucified -- is the word of God.

Priests need to prepare themselves as best they can before carrying out such a divine ministry, the aim of which is the salvation of souls.

Lay people should listen with very special respect.

967. It made me very happy to hear what they said about that priest: ``He preaches with all his soul|... and with his body too.''

968. Let this be your prayer, apostolic soul: Lord, may I know how to lean on people and get them all to burn like fires of Love, which will then become the driving force of all our undertakings.

969. We Catholics have to go through life being apostles, with God's light and God's salt. We should have no fear, and we should be quite natural; but with so deep an interior life and such close union with Our Lord that we may shine out, preserving ourselves from corruption and from darkness, and spread around us the fruits of serenity and the effectiveness of Christian doctrine.

970. The sower went out to sow, to scatter the seed at all the crossroads of this earth. What a blessed task we have. We have the job of making sure that in all the circumstances of time and place the word of God takes root, springs up and bears fruit.

971. Dominus dabit benignitatem suam et terra nostra dabit fructum suum -- the Lord will grant his blessing and the earth will bring forth its fruit.

That blessing is indeed the source of all good fruit, the necessary climate for producing saints, men and women of God, for this world of ours.

Dominus dabit benignitatem -- the Lord will grant his blessing. Notice, however, that he goes on to point out that he awaits our fruit -- yours and mine. Nor is this crop to be meagre or blighted because we have not really given ourselves completely. He expects abundant fruit since he fills us with his blessings.

972. You saw your vocation like one of those pods that contain the seeds. The moment to expand will come and then the seeds will spread out and take root all at once.

973. You are to be yeast within the great multitudes that make up humanity -- remember we are interested in all souls. In this way, with God's grace and your own correspondence to it, you will act as leaven throughout the world, adding quality, flavour and volume to the bread of Christ so that it can nourish the souls of others.

974. The enemies of Jesus -- and even some who call themselves his friends -- come decked out in the armour of human knowledge and wielding the sword of power. They laugh at us Christians, just as the Philistine laughed at David and despised him.

In our own days too, the Goliath of hatred, the Goliath of falsehood, of dominating power, of secularism and indifferentism, will also come crashing to the ground. And then, once the giant of those false ideologies has been struck down by the apparently feeble weapons of the Christian spirit -- prayer, expiation and action -- we shall strip him of his armour of erroneous doctrines, equipping our fellow men instead with true knowledge, with Christian culture and the Christian way of life.

975. In the campaigns against the Church there are many organizations which conspire together, sometimes going hand in hand with those who call themselves good. They influence people through newspapers, leaflets, satire, calumnies and spoken propaganda. They then take people where they wish -- to hell itself. They try to turn people into an amorphous mass, as if they had no soul. They are a pitiful sight.

However, since people do have souls, we have to snatch them out of the claws of these organizations of evil and place them at the service of God.

976. Quite a considerable proportion of the people who go to Church read bad publications|...

Calmly and with love of God we need to pray and teach them sound doctrine so that they don't go on reading that diabolical stuff, which they claim their families buy -- for they are ashamed of it -- though perhaps it is they themselves who do so.

977. Defend the truth with charity and firmness when the things of God are at stake. Practise holy shamelessness in denouncing errors, even though at times they are no more than insinuations; at other times they will be odious utterances of the most blatant ignorance, and, normally, a sign of man's frustration at not being able to endure the fruitfulness of the word of God.

978. In times of general confusion it may seem as though God is not listening to your pleading with him on behalf of his souls, and is turning a deaf ear to your calls. You even reach the point of thinking that all your apostolic labours have been in vain.

Don't worry! Carry on working with the same cheerfulness, the same energy, the same zeal. Allow me to insist: when you work for God, nothing is unfruitful.

979. My child, all the seas of this world are ours and the places where it is harder to fish are the places where it is all the more necessary.

980. Through your Christian doctrine, your upright life and your work well done, you have to give good example to the people around you -- relatives, friends, colleagues, neighbours, pupils -- in the way you carry out your profession and fulfil the duties your job entails. You cannot be a shoddy worker.

981. That close intimacy you have with Christ means that you have a duty to bear fruit.

And yours will be a fruit that will satisfy the hunger of men who come up to you in your work, in your day-to-day life and in your family environment.

982. When you carry out your duties in a cheerful and generous way you obtain abundant grace from God for other souls also.

983. Make an effort to spread your Christian spirit to the world about you, so that there may be many friends of the Cross.

984. As well as having given you abundant and effective grace, the Lord has given you a brain, a pair of hands and intellectual powers so that your talents may yield fruit.

God wants to work miracles all the time -- to raise the dead, make the deaf hear, restore sight to the blind, enable the lame to walk|... -- through your sanctified professional work, which you will have turned into a holocaust that is both pleasing to God and useful to souls.

985. The day you no longer strive to draw others closer to God -- since you ought to be a burning coal all the time -- you will become a contemptible piece of charcoal, or a handful of ashes to be scattered by the slightest puff of wind.

You have to be on fire; you need to be a thing that burns, producing flames of the love of God, of faithfulness and apostolate.

986. Invoke the Blessed Virgin. Keep asking her to show herself a Mother to you -- monstra te esse Matrem! As well as drawing down her Son's grace, may she bring the clarity of sound doctrine to your mind, and love and purity to your heart, so that you may know the way to God and take many souls to him.

Eternity

Points: 987 988 989 990 991 992 993 994 995 996 997 998 999 1000 1001 1002 1003 1004 1005 1006 1007 1008 1009 1010 1011 1012 1013 1014 1015 1016 1017 1018 1019 1020 1021 1022 1023 1024 1025 1026 1027 1028 1029 1030 1031 1032 1033 1034 1035 1036 1037 1038 1039 1040 1041 1042 1043 1044 1045 1046 1047 1048 1049 1050 1051 1052 1053 1054 1055

987. A son of God fears neither life nor death, because his spiritual life is founded on a sense of divine filiation. So he says to himself: God is my Father and he is the Author of all good; he is all Goodness.

But, you and I, do we really act as sons of God?

988. I was delighted to see that you understood what I had said to you: you and I have to work and live and die like people in love, and we will live in this way for all eternity.

989. God always wins. If you are his instrument, you too will win, because your battles will be his battles.

990. Sanctity consists precisely in this: in struggling to be faithful throughout your life and in accepting joyfully the Will of God at the hour of death.

991. When you receive Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, thank him from the bottom of your heart for being so good as to be with you.

Have you ever stopped to consider that it took centuries and centuries before the Messiah came? All those patriarchs and prophets praying together with the whole people of Israel: Come, Lord, the land is parched!

If only your loving expectation were like this.

992. Even in our times, despite those who deny God, earth is very close to Heaven.

993. You wrote: ``Simile est regnum caelorum -- the Kingdom of God is like a treasure|... This passage from the Gospel has taken root in my soul. I had read it so many times before, without grasping its meaning, its divine flavour.''

Yes, everything. The prudent man has to sell everything to obtain the treasure -- the precious pearl of Glory.

994. Talk with Our Lady and tell her trustingly, O Mary, in order to live the ideal which God has set in my heart I need to fly very high -- ever so high!

It is not sufficient to detach yourself, with God's help, from the things of this world, recognising them as the merest clay. More is needed: even if you were to put the whole universe in a pile under your feet to get closer to Heaven|... it wouldn't suffice!

You have to fly, without the support of anything here on earth, relying on the voice and the inspiration of the Spirit. And you will tell me: But my wings are stained and smeared with the clinging mud of many years.

And I repeat: Turn to Our Lady. Mary, you should say to her again, I can hardly get off the ground. The earth draws me like an accursed magnet. Mary, you can make my soul take off on that glorious and definitive flight which has as its destination the very Heart of God.

Trust in her, for she is listening to you.

995. Think how pleasing to Our Lord is the incense burnt in his honour. Think also how little the things of this earth are worth; even as they begin they are already ending.

In Heaven, instead, a great Love awaits you, with no betrayals and no deceptions. The fulness of love, the fulness of beauty and greatness and knowledge|... And it will never cloy: it will satiate, yet still you will want more.

996. With a supernatural outlook, with serenity and peace. That is the way to see things, people and events -- from the viewpoint of eternity.

And then, whatever barrier blocks your way -- even if it is, humanly speaking, enormous -- when you really raise your eyes to Heaven, how tiny it becomes!

997. If we are close to Christ and are following in his footsteps, we will wholeheartedly love poverty, privation and detachment from earthly things.

998. In our spiritual life, we often have to be ready to lose on earth so as to win in Heaven. This way we always end up winning.

999. Men lie when they say ``forever'' in temporal matters. The only true ``forever'', in the complete sense, is the forever of eternity.

And that is the way you have to live, with a faith that brings a foretaste of the sweet honey of Heaven whenever you think about that eternity which is truly everlasting.

1000. If this were the only life we had, life would be a cruel joke. It would be hypocrisy, evil, selfishness, betrayal.

1001. Keep going forward cheerfully and trying hard, even though you are so little -- nothing at all!

When you are with Him nobody in the world can stop you. Consider, moreover, how everything is good for those who love God. Every problem in this world has a solution, except death, and for us death is Life.

1002. Lord, you died on the Cross to save mankind. And yet for one mortal sin you condemn a man to a hapless eternity of suffering. How much sin must offend you, and how much I ought to hate it!

1003. Saint Teresa assures us that ``anyone who doesn't pray doesn't need any devil to tempt him; while whoever prays, even if only for a quarter of an hour each day, will necessarily be saved.'' This is because our conversation with Our Lord -- who is so loving, even in times of difficulty or dryness of soul --enables us to see things in their proper perspective and discover the true proportions of life.

Be a soul of prayer.

1004. ``So you are a king?''|... Yes, Christ is the King, the King who not only grants you an audience whenever you like, but even in the madness of his love ``gives up'' -- you know what I mean -- his magnificent palace in Heaven, which you cannot yet reach, and waits for you in the Tabernacle.

Don't you think it is absurd not to hurry to speak to him, and not to do so more assiduously?

1005. I am every day more convinced that happiness in Heaven is for those who know how to be happy on earth.

1006. With crystal clarity I see the formula, the secret of happiness, both earthly and eternal. It is not just a matter of accepting the Will of God but of embracing it, of identifying oneself with it -- in a word, of loving the Divine Will with a positive act of our own will.

This, I repeat, is the infallible secret of joy and peace.

1007. How often you will find yourself inundated, intoxicated with God's grace -- and what a sin if you do not respond!

1008. In the hour of temptation, practise the virtue of Hope, saying: For my rest and enjoyment I have the whole of eternity ahead of me. Here and now, full of Faith, I will earn my rest through work and win my joy through suffering. What will Love be like in Heaven!

Better still, you should practise your Love by saying: What I want is to please my God, my Love, by doing his Will in all things, as though there were neither reward nor punishment --simply to please him.

1009. Whenever the worrying thought enters your head that you lack rectitude of intention -- sometimes it may come like a flash of lightning, at other times like a filthy pestering fly which you brush off but which keeps coming back -- always make acts of right intention straight away, and carry on working calmly for Him and with Him.

At the same time, even though you might feel you are only pronouncing the words mechanically, say slowly: Lord, I want nothing for myself. May everything be for your glory and for your Love.

1010. It is all the same to you, you tell me, to be here or in China.

Well then, try to be always where you are fulfilling the Holy Will of God.

1011. Much depends on you too. If you respond many will remain in darkness no longer, but will walk instead along paths that lead to everlasting life.

1012. Get into the habit of praying to the Guardian Angel of each person you are following up. Their Angel will help them to be good and faithful and cheerful, so that when the time comes they will be able to receive the eternal embrace of Love from God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit and from the Blessed Virgin.

1013. Like the grain of wheat, we too have to die in order to become fruitful.

You and I, with the help of God's grace, want to open up a deep furrow, to blaze a trail. That is why we have to leave behind our poor animal man and launch out into the sphere of the spirit, giving a supernatural meaning to every human undertaking and, at the same time, to all those engaged in them.

1014. Jesus, let my distractions be the other way round. Instead of recalling the world when I am engaged in conversation with you, let me rather recall you when I am engaged in the things of this world.

1015. You became a bit frightened when you saw such dazzling light, so bright that you thought it would be difficult to look, or even to see.

Disregard your obvious weaknesses, and open the eyes of your soul to faith, to hope and to love. Carry on, allowing yourself to be guided by God through whoever directs your soul.

1016. Be generous. Don't ask Jesus for even one consolation!

You ask me why. And I reply, because you know very well that even though this God of ours seems to be far away, he really is seated in the very centre of your soul, imparting a divine character to your whole life.

1017. I was telling you that even people who had not received baptism had been moved to say, ``I can well understand that saintly souls must be happy, for they look at events with a vision that is above the things of this world. They see things with the eyes of eternity.''

May you not lack that same vision, I added afterwards, so that you can respond to the special love with which the Blessed Trinity has treated you.

1018. I assure you that if we want to, as children of God, we can make a powerful contribution towards lighting up the work and the lives of men with the divine and eternal splendour which it has pleased the Lord to place in our souls.

But ``he who says he abides in Jesus ought to walk the same way He walked'' as Saint John teaches. It is a path which always leads to glory. But it also always passes through sacrifice.

1019. What a disappointment awaited those who saw the light of the pseudo-apostle, and wishing to come out of their darkness, were drawn to his light. They raced to get there. They may have left shreds of their skin along the way. Some in their eagerness for that light may also have left behind some shreds of their very souls. And now, having reached the pseudo-apostle, they find cold and darkness. Cold and darkness which will eventually congeal the broken hearts of those who for a while had believed in that ideal.

It is an evil deed the pseudo-apostle has done. Those disappointed men who had been ready to give their very flesh in exchange for those glowing fires, for that gleaming ruby of charity, drop once more, instead, back to the earth from which they had come. Down they go, with a saddened heart, with a heart that is a heart no longer -- just a chunk of ice shrouded in a darkness which will eventually cloud their minds.

You false paradoxical apostle, see what you have done: because Christ is on your lips but not in your deeds; because you attract with a light which you yourself lack; because there is no warmth of charity in you, and you claim to be concerned about outsiders while all the time you are neglecting your own; because you are a liar, and lying is the daughter of the devil. And so, you are working for the devil, causing bewilderment to those who follow the Master, and even though you may triumph frequently here on earth, woe to you on that day which is approaching when our friend Death will come, and you shall see the anger of the Judge whom you have never deceived. Paradoxes, no, Lord: paradoxes, never.

1020. This is the sure way: through humiliation to the Cross; then, from the Cross, with Christ, to the immortal Glory of the Father.

1021. How much I savoured the epistle of that day! The Holy Spirit through Saint Paul teaches us the secret of immortality and of Glory. All of us human beings yearn to live on.

We would wish to make those moments in our lives when we are happy last forever. We would wish the memory of our deeds to be glorified. We would like our cherished ideals to become immortal. And so it is that when we seem to be happy, when something consoles us in our distress, we all naturally say and desire that it should last forever, forever.

Oh the wisdom of the devil! How well he knew the human heart. You will be like gods, he said to our first parents. That was a cruel deception. Saint Paul in his Epistle to the Philippians teaches us a divine secret by which to attain immortality and Glory: Jesus|... emptied himself, taking the form of a slave|... He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on the Cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him a name which is above every other name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in Heaven and on earth and under the earth|...

1022. If we are to accompany Christ in his Glory, in his final triumph, we have first of all to share in his holocaust, becoming identified with him, who died on Calvary.

1023. Don't let yourself be distracted, don't give free rein to your imagination. Live the life within you and you will be closer to God.

1024. Help me repeat in the ear of this person and of that other one|... and of everyone: a sinner who has faith, even if he were to obtain all the blessings of this earth, will necessarily be unhappy and wretched.

It is true that the motive that leads us (and should lead everyone) to hate sin, even venial sin, ought to be a supernatural one: that God abhors sin from the depths of his infiniteness, with a supreme, eternal and necessary hatred, as an evil opposed to the infinite good. But the first reason I mentioned to you can lead us to this other one.

1025. You will have as much sanctity, as you have mortification done for Love.

1026. Violent persecution had broken out. And that priest prayed: Jesus, may every sacrilegious fire increase in me the fire of Love and Reparation.

1027. When you consider the beauty, the greatness and the effectiveness of apostolic work, you say that your head aches thinking of the amount of ground that still has to be covered --there are so many souls who are waiting! But you feel so happy offering yourself as a slave to Jesus. You have a great desire for his Cross and for suffering, for Love and for souls. Without thinking about it, in an instinctive gesture -- which was one of Love -- you stretched out your arms and opened the palms of your hands, ready for him to nail you to his Holy Cross. You were ready to be his slave -- serviam -- which is to reign.

1028. I was moved by the heartfelt petition that came from your lips: My God, my only desire is to be pleasing in your sight; nothing else matters to me. My Mother Immaculate, may I be motivated exclusively by Love.

1029. With your whole heart, ask for death, and a thousand deaths, rather than offend your God.

And not because of the punishment due to sin, which we deserve so much, but because Jesus has been and is so good to you.

1030. My God, when will I love you for yourself? Although when we think about it, Lord, to desire an everlasting reward is to desire you, for you give yourself as our reward.

1031. Taste and see that the Lord is good, the Psalmist says.

Spiritual conquest, which is Love, has to be a desire for the Infinite, a desire for eternity -- in big things and small.

1032. Jesus, I don't want to think of what ``tomorrow'' will be like, for I don't want to put limits on your generosity.

1033. Make those reflections of your friend your own. He wrote: ``I was considering how good God was to me and, full of interior joy, I was ready to shout out loud, there in the street, for everyone to know about my filial gratitude: `Father! Father!' And though not in fact shouting out loud, I kept calling him so --`Father!' -- in a low voice, many times, quite certain that it pleased him.

I seek nothing else. I only want to please him and give him Glory. Everything for him. If I desire my salvation and my sanctification it is because I know that he desires it. If in my Christian life I hunger for souls, it is because I know that he has this great hunger. I say this in all truth: I will never set my sights on the prize. I don't desire a reward: everything for Love!''

1034. How that sick woman whom I tended spiritually loved the Will of God! She saw her many, long-lasting and painful illnesses (not a single part of her body was healthy), as a blessing from Jesus and a sign of his special love. Although in her humility she used to say that she deserved punishment, the terrible sufferings that she felt all over her were not a punishment, but a mercy.

We spoke of death. And of Heaven. And of what she was going to say to Jesus and to Our Lady. And how she would be working much more from up there than she could down here. She was ready to die whenever God wanted|... but, she exclaimed, full of joy, ``If only it could be today!'' She looked forward to death with the same joy as one who knows that when we die we go to meet our Father.

1035. Do not fear death. She is your friend!

Try to get used to the fact of death: peer into your grave often, looking at and smelling, and touching your own rotting corpse there, a week, no more, after your death.

Remember this especially when you are troubled by the impulses of your flesh.

1036. When he bared his soul to me he said, ``These days I have been thinking about death as a rest, in spite of my crimes. And I thought that if I was told: `The time has come for you to die', I would gladly reply: `The time has come for me to Live'.''

1037. To die is a good thing. How can anyone with faith be, at the same time, afraid to die? But as long as the Lord wants to keep you here on earth, it would be cowardice for you to want to die. You must live, live and suffer and work for Love: that is your task.

1038. At least once a day, cast your mind ahead to the moment of death so that you can consider the events of each day in this light.

I can assure you that you will have a good experience of the peace this consideration brings.

1039. You became very serious when you heard me say: I accept death whenever God wants it, the way he wants it, where he wants it; and at the same time I think it is too easy to die early, because we should want to work many years for him, and because of him, in the service of others.

1040. To die?|... That's too easy, I say once more.

Say, just as that holy bishop did when he was old and sick, non recuso laborem -- Lord, as long as I can be useful, I do not refuse to keep on living and working for you.

1041. You shouldn't want to do things to gain merit, nor out of fear of the punishments of purgatory. From now on, and always, you should make the effort to do everything, even the smallest things, to please Jesus.

1042. Desire ardently that, when that unavoidable good sister of yours, death, comes to render you the service of taking you to God, she will not find you attached to anything on this earth!

1043. If you long to have life -- eternal life and happiness --you must not leave the barque of Holy Mother Church. Look, if you go beyond the confines of the ship you end up in the waves of the sea, heading for death, drowned in the ocean. You cease to be with Christ. You lose that friendship of his which you freely chose when you realised that it was he who was offering it to you.

1044. Jesus came down to this earth to suffer|... and so that others might avoid sufferings, even earthly ones.

1045. There is no greater self-mastery than to make oneself a servant, the willing servant of all souls!

This is how to gain the greatest honours, both on earth and in Heaven.

1046. In the face of suffering and persecution, a certain soul with supernatural sense said, ``I prefer to take a beating down here rather than get it in purgatory.''

1047. If I love, there will be no hell for me.

1048. How good it is to live on God's bounty! How good it is to desire nothing other than his Glory.

1049. If you really want to attain eternal life and honour, you must learn in many cases to put aside your own noble ambitions.

1050. Don't keep on talking about your health, your family name, your career, your work, or your next step|... How annoying this can be! It would seem you have forgotten that you don't have anything, that everything is His.

When you feel sometimes -- perhaps without reason -- that you have been humiliated; when you think your opinion should prevail; when you notice that at every moment your ``self'' keeps cropping up: your this, your that, your something else|... convince yourself that you are wasting, killing time, and that what you should be doing is killing your selfishness.

1051. I advise you not to look for praise, even when you deserve it. It is better to pass unnoticed, and to let the most beautiful and noble aspects of our actions, of our lives, remain hidden. What a great thing it is to become little! Deo omnis gloria! --All the glory to God.

1052. In moments of disappointment, that soul said to Our Lord: ``My Jesus, what else could I give you apart from my honour, if I had nothing else? If I had had a fortune I would have given it to you. If I had had virtues, I would have built up each one to serve you better. The only thing I had was my honour and I have given it to you. May you be blessed! It's clear that it was safe in your hands!''

1053. It is from clay I come and the earth is the inheritance of all my lineage.

Who but God deserves praise?

1054. When you feel self-love -- pride! -- stirring within you, making you out to be a superman, it is time to cry out: No! In this way you will savour the joy of the good son of God who goes through life with not a few faults, but doing good.

1055. Sancta Maria, Stella maris -- Holy Mary, Star of the sea, be our guide.

Make this firm request, because there is no storm which can shipwreck the most Sweet Heart of Mary. When you see the storm coming, if you seek safety in that firm Refuge which is Mary, there will be no danger of your wavering or going down.

*** THE END ***

Table of Contents

Introduction

Dazzled (1)

Struggle (58)

Defeat (158)

Pessimism (216)

You Can (286)

To Fight Once More (377)

Recovery (475)

Victory (588)

Work (678)

Crucible (750)

Selection (855)

Fruitfulness (912)

Eternity (987)

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