6 — HOLINESS AND ONE’S DUTIES

Presence of God. — I place myself in the presence of God with the lively desire that He help me know and fulfill His holy will.

Meditation

1 — Jesus said: “If you love me, keep my commandments... If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in His love” (Jn. 14, 15; 15, 10).

The perfection of charity consists in perfect conformity to the divine will; this divine will is expressed first of all in God’s commandments and the precepts of the Church; moreover, in a more concrete and detailed way, in the duties of my state, in the various circumstances of life. My duties of state, in particular, determine how I must conduct myself in daily life in order to be continually conformed to the divine will: duties indicated by the Rule and the laws of my Institute, by the orders of superiors, by the work obedience imposes on me, if I am religious; by the ministry to souls, if I am a priest; by the concrete demands of my family life, of my profession, of my social setting, of my responsibilities as a good citizen, if I am a simple layperson.

The will of God then comes to meet me through the circumstances of life, great or small and even very tiny ones: health or sickness, poverty or wealth, dryness or interior consolations, successes or contradictions, misfortunes, separations, mourning. And each time, according to circumstances, God presents me with particular duties of charity, patience, activity or renunciation, detachment, submission, generosity, sacrifice. Everything is permitted by God, everything is ordered by Him to my sanctification: “all things work together for good to those who love God” (Rom. 8, 28), because “everything is grace!” (T.B.G. NV).

2 — “Holiness properly consists only in conformity to the divine will, expressed in a continual and exact fulfillment of the duties of one’s state” (Benedict XV). This formula confirms for me that holiness does not consist in extraordinary things, but is essentially reduced to the line of duty: it is within my reach.

The fulfillment of my duties must, however, be exact and continual. Exact, without negligence, eager to please God in every action in order to meet His holy and sanctifying will. It is therefore necessary for me to become accustomed to seeing in each of my duties the expression of the divine will, and then everything will be for me an occasion to go deeper into the love of God and union with Him. Continual, that is, faithful fulfillment of my duties, not only when I am in a state of fervor, but also if I find myself in sadness, tiredness, dryness of spirit: to be constant I must be generous. “How uncommon a virtue is needed to fulfill with uncommon exactness—or rather, not with the common and daily inexactness, negligence, and easygoing spirit that is so frequent, but with attention, piety, and intimate fervor of spirit—the whole set of ordinary things that fills our daily life!” (Pius XI).

This unceasing generous fidelity will not always be easy for me, but, without becoming discouraged by falls, I will “begin again” every day from the start, in full trust that the Lord will finally make my poor efforts effective.

Colloquy

In spite of my misery, Lord, I feel the desire to strive for holiness being reborn ever more vividly within me. I want to become holy, not for my personal satisfaction, not to win the esteem or praise of others, but solely because You will it, You who have told us: “Be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 19, 2). Therefore, I want to become holy only to meet Your will, Your desire, to please You, to give You glory, to correspond to Your infinite love, to give You all the love You want from me and of which You want to make me capable. And You make me understand ever better that holiness does not require great outward things from me, but only a strong and generous love that allows me to fulfill Your holy will perfectly.

My God, when I think that You, Creator and Lord of the universe, deign to manifest Your will to me, who in Your sight am less than a little worm, I remain full of confusion. A King so great and almighty, speaking to the least of His slaves with the goodness with which He would speak to a beloved son! Yes, my God, You speak to me and manifest Your will through Your commandments, through the duties of my state and all the circumstances of my life. Everything around me: every incident, every event, every sorrow, every joy... everything is expression of Your will and indicates to me, moment by moment, what You want from me.

How I would like, Lord, to have a deep spirit of faith that would help me recognize in every circumstance the messenger of Your divine will!

Yes, even in those difficult encounters, in those painful situations, it is You who come to meet me and ask of me a particular exercise of charity, patience, gentleness, humility, self-denial. My God, how my life thus changes aspect! Creatures, circumstances, causes, human motives disappear and I see only You, Your holy will that unceasingly surrounds me and invites me to greater generosity. Seen in this light, even the duties most difficult and most painful to nature, even that blessed “terrible daily routine,” everything becomes lovable and sweet, everything appears easy and gentle; at every instant, on every occasion, I need do nothing but say a generous “yes” to Your sweetest and most lovable will.

I beg You, Lord, grant me the fidelity needed to persevere with humble constancy on this path of continual adherence to Your will; with Your help, I want to make this exercise the center of my interior life.

Will I fall, my God? Yes, I will still fall because I am weakness itself; but I know that You will be quicker to raise me up than I will be quick to fall. My resolution and my constancy will consist in “beginning again” every day, every instant, humbling myself deeply for my misery and rising again with full confidence in Your will to sanctify my soul.