List of points

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!

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 don’t leave out a single one.

Charity succeeds always. Without charity nothing can be done.

Love, then, is the secret of your life… Do love! Suffer gladly. Toughen up your soul. Invigorate your will. Make sure that you surrender yourself to God’s will, and efficacy will follow.

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 off violently and courageously from what was out of harmony with God’s spirit.

When you find yourself tired and exhausted, approach Our Lord confidently, as that good friend of ours did, and say: “Jesus, see what you can do about it. Even before I begin to fight, I am already tired.”

—He will give you his strength.

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.

Any time is the right time to make an effective resolution, to say “I believe”, to say “I hope”, to say “I love”.

Even the most insignificant mortification seems an epic to you. Sometimes Jesus uses your “peculiarities” and silly little fads, to help you mortify yourself, by making virtue out of necessity.

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 will never tire of repeating it — will always have to struggle, always, until the end of our lives. So we will come to love peace, and we will spread peace around us, and we will receive our everlasting reward.

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.

You don’t know whether you are making progress, nor 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 see more light and wider horizons; that you should work hard 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.

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.