“It can
be said that to evangelize the poor is not only to be understood as
teaching the mysteries necessary for salvation, but rather making the
Gospel effective.” (SV XII, 84)
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Clothe us with the virtue of humility
“Eternal
Father! You have willed that your Son be clothed with our flesh to be
made like us, 'he was made in human likeness and found clothed as
human being.' Clothe us with the virtue of humility, that we may be
like him.” (18 April 1659; SV XII, 200-201)
Jesus loved humility
“What
is Jesus' life, but a series of acts of humility? It is one of
continual humiliation, active and passive. He loved humility to such
an extent that he never left it while on earth. Not only did he love
it during his life, but after his precious death he left an
imperishable memorial of the humiliations of his divine person in the
crucifix, appearing on it as a criminal attached to an ignominious
cross.” (18 April 1659; SV XII, 200)
Uniting affective and effective love
“The
love of our Lord Jesus Christ... is exercised in two different ways,
one affective, the other, effective. The first does not suffice. It
is necessary to have both. Affective love must pass on to effective
love which is the service of the poor undertaken joyously,
courageously, steadfastly and lovingly.” (9 February 1647; SV IX,
593)
Uniting the love of God and neighbor
“We are called... to
separate ourselves from all that is not God and unite to our neighbor
through charity in order to unite ourselves to God's own self through
Jesus Christ.” (14 February 1659; SV XII, 127)
Let us honor Christ's poverty
“Let us be more
careful to extend the empire of Jesus Christ than our own
possessions. Let us take care of his affairs and he will take care of
ours. Let us honor his poverty, at least by our moderation, if we do
not do so by total imitation.” (9 January 1650; SV III, 527)
Charity leads us to God
“Charity leads us to
God. Charity causes us to love with the whole range of our
affections, to desire that God be loved and served by all, that
people know and love this eternal Truth, Immensity, Purity, Goodness,
Wisdom, Divine Providence.” (15 November 1657; SV III, 310)
Effectively loving the Lord
“Effective love
consists in doing the things that the person we love wishes or
orders, and it is of this kind of love the Lord speaks when he says,
'Whoever loves me will keep my word' (John 14:15). This word consists
of teachings and counsels. We show our love by loving his teaching
and publicly teaching it to others.” (SV XI, 43)
You should love our Lord tenderly and affectionately
“Affective love is
the element of tenderness present in love. You should love our Lord
tenderly and affectionately, like a child that cannot bear to be
parted from its mother and cries out, 'Mamma, Mamma,” whenever she
is about to leave it. Likewise a heart that loves our Lord cannot
endure his absence, and owes it to itself to hold fast to him with
this affective love, which gives rise to effective love.” (9
February 1653; SV IX, 593)
Loving the Lord
“Loving someone is
wanting all that is good for that person. Loving the Lord then is
wanting that his name be known and manifested to the whole world,
that his kingdom come and his will be done on earth as it is in
heaven.” (SV XI, 43)
Allow yourself to be led by the Lord
“Allow yourself to be
led by the Lord. He will direct all things through you. Trust him
and, following his example, always act humbly, gently and in good
faith. You will see everything will go well.” (4 December 1650; SV
IV, 115)
Sanctifying our works
“We must sanctify our
works by seeking God in them and by doing them in order to find him
in them, rather than just to get them done.” (21 February 1659; SV
XII, 132)
Jesus Christ is our all
“Our Lord Jesus
Christ is our father, our mother and our all.” (30 January 1656; SV
V, 534)
Practicing meekness
“Our Lord Jesus
Christ is the meek master of human beings and of angels. By the
practice of this same virtue of meekness you will go to him and bring
others to him as well.” (SV III, 168)
Do not limit your vision to yourself
“Do not limit your
vision any longer to yourself, but see the Lord around you and in
you, ready to put his hand to the work as soon as you ask for his
help. You will see that all will go well.” (19 December 1655; SV V,
488)
Human actions become actions of God
“Human actions become
actions of God when they are performed in Him and through Him.” (28
March 1659; SV XII, 183)
Resembling Christ's actions and suffering
“The more our actions
and sufferings resemble those of Christ's on earth, the more pleasing
they are to God. And as your imprisonment honors God, the Lord of
heaven honors you with his patience, in which I pray he will confirm
you.” (16 September 1650; SV IV, 81)
Shortest way to perfection
“The masters of the
spiritual life have proposed different exercises, which in fact are
practiced differently by different people. Some are very subtle. The
shortest way, though, is the practice of doing God's will in
everything. It is more excellent than everything else.” (7 March
1659; SV XII, 152)
Way to perfection
“Perfection
does not consist of ecstasies, but in doing God's will.... Now who is
the most perfect person? The one whose will is conformed to the will
of God. So perfection consists in so uniting our will to God's that
His will and ours become one. The one who excels in this point is the
most perfect.” (17 October 1655; SV XI, 317-318)
Following Divine Providence
“What great hidden
treasures there are in holy Providence and how marvelously our Lord
is honored by those who follow it and do not try to get ahead of it.”
(1629; SV I, 59)
Way to ensure the continuing blessings
“One way to ensure
the continuing blessings of the Lord is to use them as soon as we
receive them, according to his good pleasure for the greatest benefit
to our neighbor.” (22 November 1659; SV VIII, 178)
Friday, April 18, 2014
Prayer and mortification are two sisters
"Mortification is another means, which will be of great help to
you on the road to prayer. Prayer and mortification are two sisters
who are so closely united together that one will never be found
without the other. Mortification goes first and prayer follows
after." (IX, 427)
Daily prayer
"Although we cannot perfectly imitate Christ our Lord who spent
whole nights in prayer to God in addition to his daily meditations,
nevertheless we will do so as far as we are able."' (CR X, 7)
Give me a man of prayer
Give me a man of prayer and he will be capable of everything. He may
say with the apostle, " I can do all things in him who
strengthens me." (SV XI, 83).
Prayer
Prayer is "an elevation of the mind to God by which the soul
detaches itself, as it were, from itself so as to seek God in
himself. It is a conversation with God, an intercourse of the spirit,
in which God interiorly teaches it what it should know and do, and in
which the soul says to God what he himself teaches it to ask for"
(SV IX, 419).
God is simple
"God is simple. Wherever you discover Christian simplicity,
walk with confidence, whereas they that use craftiness and duplicity
are in constant fear lest their cunning be detected, and lest in
consequence other people cease to have confidence in them. For my
part - as I can affirm - long experience has demonstrated to my
satisfaction, that a strong and practical faith, and a true spirit of
religion, are more commonly found among poor and simple people. God
is pleased to enrich them with fervent faith. They believe and relish
the words of everlasting life that Christ has left us in his gospel.
As a general rule, they hear illness patiently, privations, too, and
other afflictions. Such things they endure without murmuring or
complaining, except a little and rarely. Moreover, everyone feels an
attraction for persons who are simple and candid, persons who refuse
to employ cunning or deceit. They are popular because they act
ingenuously, and speak sincerely; their lips are ever in accord with
their hearts. They are esteemed and loved everywhere ...." (SV
XI, 50; XII, 171)
Simple as doves and prudent as serpents
"Jesus, the Lord, expects us to have the simplicity of a dove.
This means giving a straightforward opinion about things in the way
we honestly see them, without needless reservations . It also means doing things without any double -dealing or manipulation, our
intention being focused solely on God. Each of us, then, should take
care to behave always in this spirit of simplicity, remembering that
God likes to deal with the simple, and that he conceals the secrets
of heaven from the wise and prudent of this world and reveals them to
little ones. But while Christ recommends the simplicity of a dove he
tells us to have the prudence of a serpent as well. What he means is
that we should speak and behave with discretion. We ought, therefore,
to keep quiet about matters which should not be made know ,
especially if they are unsuitable or unlawful ... In actual practice
this virtue is about choosing the right way to do things. We should
make it a sacred principle, then, admitting of no exceptions, that
since we are working for God we will always choose God-related ways
for carrying out our work, and see and judge things from Christ 's
point of view and not from a worldly- wise one; and not according to
the feeble reasoning of our own mind either. That is how we can be
prudent as serpents and simple as doves." (CR II, 4-5)
Simplicity... avoid all duplicity
The heart must not think one thing while the mouth says another (SV
IX, 81; IX, 605; XII, 172);
avoid all duplicity, dissimulation, cunning, and double meaning (SV
II, 340; IX, 81).
Simplicity... doing everything for love of God
Simplicity...
consists in doing everything for love of
God and having no other aim
in all our actions but His glory. All the acts of this virtue consist
in
saying things simply, without duplicity or subtlety, being
straightforward, with no evasion or subterfuge. So then, simplicity
means
doing everything for love of God, rejecting any admixture,
because
simplicity implies the absence of any composition. (22
August 1659; SV XII, 246)
Simplicity... speaking the truth
simplicity is first of all , speaking the truth (CR II, 4; XII, 172).
It is saying things as they are (SV I, 144),
without concealing or hiding anything (SV I, 284; V, 464 ).
Make us more constant and firm in doing good
"There are no persons more constant and firm in doing good than
those who are meek and gracious. While on the contrary, those who
allow themselves to yield to anger and to passions of the irascible
appetite are usually more inconstant, because they act only by fits
and starts. They are like torrents, which are strong and impetuous
only when in full flood but which dry up immediately afterwards,
while rivers, which represent the meek and gracious, flow on
noiselessly, tranquilly and unfailingly" (XI, 65).
It makes us endure all for God
"Meekness makes us not only excuse the affronts and injustices
we receive, but even inclines us to treat with gentleness those from
whom we receive them, by means of kind words, and should they go so
far as to abuse us and even strike us on the face, it makes us endure
all for God. Such are the effects produced by this virtue. Yes, a
servant of God who truly possesses it, when violent hands are laid
upon him, offers to the divine goodness this rough treatment and
remains in peace" (XII, 192).
Gentleness toward those who approach us
Meekness is also approachability, gentleness , affability, and
serenity of countenance toward those who approach us (XII, 189).
Meekness
Meekness is the ability to handle anger (XII, 186). One can do this
either by suppressing it (XII, 186) or by expressing it (XII, 187),
governed by love (XII, 188).
How to practice humility
"How does it happen then that so few try to practice it and
still fewer possess it? It is because it is ravishing to speculate
on, but its practice is disagreeable to nature; its very appearance
is disagreeable to nature. To practice it means that we should always
choose the lowest place, put ourselves below others, even the least,
bear with calumnies, seek after contempt, love abjection; and to all
these things we are naturally adverse. Yet it is essential for us to
overcome this repugnance; it is essential for each of us to make
strong efforts to arrive at the actual exercise of this virtue.
Otherwise, we shall never acquire it." (SV XI, 54)
Meek and humble of heart
"Each one shall also show great diligence in learning this
lesson taught by Christ. "Learn of me, for I am meek and humble
of heart." By it we are reminded, as he himself affirms, that
the earth is possessed through meekness, because by the exercise of
this virtue men's hearts are well disposed to be turned back to the
Lord, something which is not accomplished by those who deal harshly
and roughly with the neighbor. Moreover, heaven is acquired by
humility, for the love of self-abasement is wont to raise us up,
leading us step by step from virtue to virtue, until we arrive at our
goal.'" (CR II, 6)
The virtue of Jesus Christ
Humility... "It is the virtue of Jesus Christ, the virtue of his holy
mother, the virtue of the greatest of the saints." (SV XI,
56-57)
Let it be our password
"Humility... let this be our particular virtue, let it be our password!" (18 April 1659; SV XII, 206).
The origin of all the good that we do
"Humility is the origin of all the good that we do." (SV
IX, 674)
God is the author of every good thing
"Be very much on
your guard against attributing anything to yourself. By doing so you
would commit robbery and do injury to God, who alone is the author of
every good thing." (15 October 1658, SV VII, 289).
Every good thing ought to be done in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
"Let us no longer say: it is I who have done this good work; for
every good thing ought to be done in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ" (8 March 1658, SV VII, 98-99).
The humble
The humble ... "realize that all the good done through them
comes from God." (SV I, 182).
Foundation of all evangelical perfection
Humility is "the foundation of all evangelical perfection, the
core of the spiritual life". (CR II, 7)
Five Virtues
"We should follow, as far as possible, all the gospel teachings,
since it is so holy and very practical. But some of it, in fact, has
more application to us, particularly when it emphasizes simplicity,
humility, gentleness, mortification, and zeal for souls." (CR II, 14)
Spare nothing to save the poor
"Spare
nothing to save the life of the souls and bodies of those poor people".
(SV IV, 511).
Go beyond the limits of charity
"It
is better to go beyond the limits of charity than to fail in it." (SV IV, 513)
Zeal
"If the love of God is the fire, zeal is its flame. If love is
the sun, then zeal is its ray."' (SV XII, 262)
Charity acts ceaselessly
"Charity, when it dwells in a soul takes complete possession of
all its powers. It never rests. It is a fire that acts ceaselessly "
(SV XI, 216).
Charity must be accompanied by justice
“You
cannot have charity if it is not accompanied by justice” (SV II,
54).
Charity cannot remain idle
“Charity
cannot remain idle, but must move us to salvation and to the
consolation of others” (SV XII, 265).
Leaving God for God
"Charity is above all the rules and it is necessary that
everything be related to it. She is a noble woman. You should do what
she orders. In such a case it is to leave God for God. God calls you
to prayer, and at the same time he calls you to the poor sick person.
That is called leaving God for God" (SV X, 595).
Christ's weapons
"Our Lord came into the world to reestablish the reign of his
Father in all persons. He won them back from the devil who had led
them astray by the cunning deceit of a greedy desire for wealth,
honor and pleasure. Our loving Savior thought it right to fight his
enemy with the opposite weapons, poverty, chastity and obedience,
which he continued to do right up to his death." (CR II, 18)
The freedom of the children of God
"Those who become detached from the desire for worldly goods,
from the longing for pleasure, and from their own will become
children of God. They enjoy perfect freedom. For it is only in the
love of God that real freedom is found. They are people who are free,
who know no law, who fly, who go left and right, who fly still more.
No one can hold them back They are never slaves of the devil nor of
their own passions. Oh, how happy is the freedom of the children of
God!" (SV XII, 301)
Willingness to go anywhere for God and for the service of the people
"We should all have in ourselves the disposition and desire to
suffer for God and for our neighbor and to wear ourselves out for
that. Oh, how happy they are to whom God gives such dispositions and
desires. Yes, we should be completely for God and for the service of
the people. We should give ourselves to God to that end and wear
ourselves out for that and give our lives to that end. We must strip
ourselves bare, so to speak, in order to put on the new man. At least
we should desire to be so disposed if we are not so already: to be
ready and disposed to come and go according to God's pleasure,
whether it be the Indies or elsewhere. Finally, we should be willing
to devote ourselves to the service of our neighbor and to extend the
rule of Jesus Christ in souls. And I myself, old and infirm as I am,
should not cease to be disposed, yes, even to set out for the Indies
to win souls for Christ, even if I should die on the way or aboard
ship" (XI, 402).
Take up the cross daily
Since Christ has said: " If anyone wishes to come after me, let
him deny himself, and take up his cross daily "; and since St.
Paul in the same spirit has added: "If you live according to the
flesh you will die, but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds
of the flesh, you will live, " everyone shall devote himself to
a continual denial of his own will and judgement, also the
mortification of all his senses.' (CR II, 8)
Mortification
Jesus did only the will of his Father, constantly mortifying himself
(XII, 214): "Gentlemen, let us keep this example before our
eyes. Let us never lose sight of the mortification of our Lord,
seeing that, to follow him, we are obligated to mortify ourselves
after his example. Let us model our affections upon his, that his
footsteps may be the guide of ours in the ways of perfection. The
saints are saints because they walk in his footsteps, renounce
themselves, and mortify themselves in all things" (XII, 227).
Put on Jesus Christ
"It is essential for you to empty yourself in order to put on
Jesus Christ " (SV XI, 343-44).
Take the cross
Let us trust that our Lord will strengthen us in the crosses that
come to us, great though they may be, when he sees that we love them
and that we have confidence in him" (SV XI, 392).
Friday, April 11, 2014
To make God loved
“It
is certain that I have been sent, not only to love God, but to make
God loved” (SV XII, 262).
For love of the Father
"To be consumed for God, to have no goods nor power except for
the purpose of consuming them for God-that is what our Savior did
himself, who was consumed for love of his Father" (SV XIII,
179).
Love God with the strength of our arms and the sweat of our brow
“Let us love God, my
brothers, let us love God, but let it be with the
strength of our
arms and the sweat of our brow. For it often happens
that the
various affective acts of the love of God and the interior
motions
of a humble heart -even if they are good and desirable-
are
nonetheless suspect if they do not result in effective love. Our
Lord himself says: 'In this is my Father glorified: that you
bring
forth very much fruit'." (SV XI, 40)
The works of God have their moment
"The works of God
have their moment. His providence does them then, and not sooner or
later.... Let us wait patiently, but let us act, and, so to speak,
let us make haste slowly in negotiating our most important affairs"
(1655, SV V, 396).
Let it be slowly
"If necessity urges us to make haste, then let it be slowly, as
the wise proverb says" (SV II, 276).
Please wait...
"All things come to the one who waits. This is true, as a rule,
even more in the things of God than in others" (SV I, 233)
Let God be active....
"The good that God wishes to be done comes about almost by
itself, without our thinking about it. Be passive rather than active.
In that way God will do through you alone what the whole world
together could not do without him" (SV IV, 122-23)
One day we will see it
"The Lord does not allow anything to happen without a reason. We
do not know it at present, but one day we will see it," (1658,
SV VII, 385).
Complete dependence on God
"Let us place ourselves in complete dependence on God, with
confidence that, in doing that, everything which people say or do
against us will work out for the good" (SV IV, 393).
God will do everything for the best
"In the name of God, let us not be surprised at anything. God
will do everything for the best." (SV III, 213).
Not run ahead of providence
"The consolation that our Lord gives me is to think that , by
the grace of God , we have always tried to follow and not run ahead
of providence , which knows so wisely how to lead everything to the
goal that our Lord destines for it" (SV II, 456).
Following providence step by step
"The things of God come about by themselves , and that wisdom
consists in following providence step by step . And you can be sure
of the truth of a maxim which seems paradoxical, namely that he who
is hasty falls back in the interests of God" (6 August 1644, SV
II, 472-73).
Follow divine providence
"Grace has its moments . Let us abandon ourselves to the
providence of God and be on our guard against anticipating it. If
our Lord is pleased to give me any consolation in our vocation it is
this : I think , it seems to me, that we have tried to follow divine
providence in all things and to put our feet only in the place it has
marked out for us " ( 16 March 1644, SV II, 453).
Devotion to divine providence
"you should have such great devotion to, such great confidence
and love in divine providence" (SV IX, 74)
Follow the order of Providence
"Follow the order of providence. Oh! how good it is to let
ourselves be guided by it!" (SV I, 241).
Holy Providence
"what great hidden treasures there are in holy providence and
how marvelously our Lord is honored by those who follow it and do not
try to get ahead of it!" (SV I, 68).
Have confidence in providence
"To have confidence in providence means that we should hope that
God takes care of those who serve him, as a husband takes care of his
wife or a father of his child. That is how-and far more truly-God
takes care of us. We have only to abandon ourselves to his guidance,
as the Rule says, just as 'a little child does to its nurse.' If she
puts it on her right arm, the child is quite content; if she moves
him over to her left, he doesn't care, he is quite satisfied provided
he has her breast. We should, then, have the same confidence in
divine providence, seeing that it takes care of all that concerns
us, just as a nursing mother takes care of her baby" (SV X,
503).
Everything done in accordance with providence
"Let us ask our Lord that everything might be done in accordance
with his providence, that our wills be submitted to him in such a way
that between him and us there might be only one, which will enable us
to enjoy his unique love in time and in eternity" (1647, SV 111,
197)
To live like Jesus Christ
Remember, that we live in Jesus Christ by the death of Jesus Christ,
and that we ought to die in Jesus Christ by the life of Jesus Christ,
and that our life ought to be hidden in Jesus Christ and full of
Jesus Christ, and that in order to die like Jesus Christ it is
necessary to live like Jesus Christ" ( SV I, 295).
O how happy...
"O how happy will they be who can repeat at the hour of their
death those beautiful words of Our Lord: 'He sent me to preach good
news to the poor.' " (SV XI, 135)
For God’s glory and the good of the poor
"When we are dealing with
God’s glory and the good of the poor, we never have to be afraid to
speak the truth” (SV IX, 192).
Alms are not for those able to work
"As soon as anyone is
strong enough to work, tools of his trade are bought for him and
nothing more is given to him. And so, the alms are not for those
able to work on the fortifications or to do something else, but only
for seriously ill sick persons, orphans and the elderly” (SV IV,
182-183).
Doing justice, not mercy
“May
God grant us the grace to move our hearts in favor of the miserable
and to believe that, in giving them relief, we are doing justice and
not mercy!” (SV VII, 98).
Assisting the poor spiritually and corporally
"If there are any among us who think they are here to preach the
gospel to the poor but not to comfort them, to tend to their
spiritual needs and not to their temporal needs, I respond that we
ought to assist them and have them assisted in every way, by
ourselves and by others ... To do this is to preach the gospel by
words and by works...." (SV XII, 87)
Do everything possible for the poor
“It
seems to me that I would offend God if I did not do everything
possible for the poor country people” (SV IV, 586-587).
God loves those who love the poor
"God loves the poor, and consequently he loves those who love
the poor. For when you love someone deeply, you have affection for
his friends and his servants." (SV XI, 392)
They are our lords and masters
"Let us go and work with a new love in the service of the poor
looking even for the poorest and the most abandoned, recognizing
before God that they are our lords and masters and that we are
unworthy to render them our small services" (SV XI, 393).
They represent for you the person of our Lord
"So this is what obliges you to serve them with respect, as your
masters, and with devotion: that they represent for you the person of
our Lord, who said: ' Whatever you do for one of these, the least of
my brethren, I will consider it as done to me' " (SV X, 332).
Serving Christ in the person of the poor
"In serving the poor, you serve Jesus Christ. How true that is!
You serve Christ in the person of the poor. That is as true as the
fact that we are here " (13 February 1646, SV IX, 252; cf. X,
123).
The Son of God presents in the poor
“We
should not judge the poor by their exterior appearance, nor by their
mental capacities, because frequently they do not appear to have the
mind of educated people, but rather are vulgar and gross. But if we
turn the coin over, then, through faith, we will clearly see that
they are representatives of the Son of God who came into this world
as a poor person. There were times when Jesus did not appear to be a
human person: to the non-believer he seemed insane, to the Jews he
was a stumbling block, and yet he presented himself as the
Evangelizer of the poor: 'he sent me to proclaim Good News to the
poor.' Oh my God, how beautiful are the poor if we consider them as
children of God and esteem them in the same way as Jesus esteemed
them.” (SV XI, 725)
Our inheritance is the poor
"Our inheritance, gentlemen and my brothers, is the poor, the
poor; pauperibus evangelizare misit me. What happiness, gentlemen,
what happiness! To do what our Lord came from heaven to earth to do,
and by means of which we too shall go from earth to heaven, to
continue the work of God ... " (SV XII, 4)
Christ, Evangelizer of the Poor
"In His passion, He had scarcely the appearance of being human.
In the eyes of the gentiles He passed for a fool. To the Jews He was
a stumbling block. But with all that, He described himself as the
Evangelizer of the Poor: 'To preach the good news to the poor he has
sent me.' "' (SV XI, 32)
He sent me to preach good news to the poor
"In this vocation we are closely conformed to Our Lord Jesus
Christ, who, it would seem, made it his principal task to assist and
care for the poor: 'He sent me to preach good news to the poor.' And
if somebody asked Our Lord 'Why did you come on earth?' (he would
answer): 'To assist the poor.' 'For any other reason?' 'To assist the
poor' . . . And so, are we not then most happy to be part of the mission for the very same reason that moved God to become man?"
(SV XI, 108)
The great secret of the spiritual life
"Certainly it is the great secret of the spiritual life to
abandon to him all whom we love , while abandoning ourselves to
whatever he wishes, with perfect confidence that everything will go
better in that way. It is for that reason that it is said that
everything works for the good of those who serve God. Let us serve
him , therefore, but let us serve him according to his pleasure,
allowing him to do as he wishes. He will take the role of father and
mother for us. He will be your consolation and your strength and
finally the reward of your love." (3 March 1660, SV VIII, 256)
Nothing but God's will
"What a happiness to will nothing but what God wills, to do
nothing but what is in accord with the occasion providence presents,
and to have nothing but what God in his providence has given us!"
(10 May 1647, SV III, 188).
Road to holiness
"Oh! how little it takes to be very holy: to do the will of God
in all things " (SV II, 36).
Put on Jesus Christ
"It is essential for you to empty yourself in order to put on
Jesus Christ " (SV XI, 343-44).
Seek first the kingdom of God
Christ said: "Seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and
all those things which you need will be given to you as well."
That is the basis for each of us having the following set of
priorities: matters involving our relationship with God are more
important than temporal affairs; spiritual health is more important
than physical; God's glory is more important than human approval.
Each one should, moreover, be determined to prefer, like St. Paul to
do without necessities, to be slandered or tortured, or even killed,
rather than lose Christ's love. In practice, then, we should not
worry too much about temporal affairs. We ought to have confidence in
God that he will look after us since we know for certain that as long
as we are grounded in that sort of love and trust we will be always
under the protection of God in heaven, we will remain unaffected by
evil and never lack what we need even when everything we possess
seems headed for disaster. (CR II, 2)
The way to assure our eternal happiness
"There is no better way to assure our eternal happiness than to live and die in the service of the poor within the arms of providence and in a real renunciation of ourselves by following Jesus Christ" (SV III, 392)
Solid foundation
"The teaching of Christ can never deceive, while that of the
world is always false, since Christ himself declares that the latter
is like a house built upon sand, whereas he compares his own to a
building founded upon solid rock For this reason we shall always make
claim to act according to the maxims of Christ, never according to
those of the world." (CR II, 1)
Royal road
"Let us walk with confidence on this royal road on which Jesus
Christ will be our mentor and guide." (SV XI, 52)
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