"The Way" (IV)

People see only the flat surface. Their vision is two-dimensional and fixed to the ground. When you live a supernatural life, God will give you the third dimension: height, and with it, perspective, weight, and volume.

If you lose the supernatural meaning of your life, your charity will be philanthropy; your purity, decency; your mortification, stupidity; your discipline, a lash; and all your works, fruitless.

A little diversion! You’ve got to have a change! So you open your eyes wide to let in images of things, or you squint because you’re nearsighted! Close them altogether! Have interior life, and you’ll see the wonders of a better world, a new world with undreamed-of color and perspective… and you’ll draw close to God. You’ll feel your weaknesses; and you’ll become more God-like… with a godliness that will make you more of a brother to your fellow men by bringing you closer to your Father.

To reform. Every day a little. This has to be your constant task if you really want to become a saint.

If you are not master of yourself—even if you’re powerful—acting the master is to me something laughable and to be pitied.

It is hard to read in the holy Gospel that question of Pilate’s: “Whom do you wish that I release to you, Barabbas or Jesus, who is called the Christ?” But it is more painful to hear the answer: “Barabbas!” And it is more terrible still when I realize that very often—when I have wandered away—I, too, have said, “Barabbas!” And I’ve added, “Christ?... Crucifige eum!—“Crucify him!”

Don’t be afraid to call our Lord by his name—Jesus—and to tell him that you love him.

Withdraw into yourself. Seek God within you and listen to him.

A missionary. You dream of being a missionary. You vibrate like a Xavier, longing to conquer an empire for Christ—Japan, China, India, Russia; the peoples of North Europe, or of America, or Africa, or Australia! Foster that fire in your heart, that hunger for souls. But don’t forget that you’re more of a missionary obeying. Geographically far away from those apostolic fields, you work both here and there. Don’t you feel your arm tired—like Xavier’s!—after administering Baptism to so many?

What zeal men put into their earthly affairs! Dreaming of honors, striving for riches, bent on sensuality! Men and women, rich and poor, old and middle-aged and young and even children: all of them alike. When you and I put the same zeal into the affairs of our souls, then we’ll have a living and working faith. And there will be no obstacle that we cannot overcome in our apostolic works.