List of points

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.

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!

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.

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 spurn or disregard a contrite and humbled heart.

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.

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!

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.

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. And you are cultivating those errors and those mistakes — just as bacteria are cultivated in a laboratory — 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.

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.