List of points

There are many Christians who are persuaded that the Redemption will be completed in all environments of the world, and that there have to be some souls — they do not know which ones — who will contribute to carrying it out with Christ. But they think it will take centuries, many centuries. It would be an eternity, if it were to take place at the rate of their self-giving.

That was the way you yourself thought, until someone came to “wake you up”.

You often ask yourself why souls who have had the great fortune of knowing the true Jesus ever since their childhood, hesitate so much in responding with the best they have: their life, their family, their ideals.

Look: you are bound to show yourself very grateful to the Lord, precisely because you have received ‘everything’ in one go. Just as it would strike a blind man if he suddenly recovered his sight, while it does not even occur to others to give thanks because they see.

But that is not enough. You have to help those around you, daily, to behave with gratitude for their being sons of God. If you don’t, don’t tell me you are grateful.

What a wonderful thing to convert unbelievers, to gain souls!…

—Well, it is as pleasing, and even more pleasing to God, to avoid their being lost.

What changeless joy you feel after having given yourself to God! But you must feel a great concern and desire for everyone to share in your joy!

I understand the supernatural and human joy of one man who had the good fortune of being in the vanguard of the divine sowing.

“It is wonderful to have the feeling of being the only one, to stir up a whole city and its surroundings”, he would often say, fully convinced.

—Don’t wait until you can count on more means, or until others come: souls have need of you today, now.

We could see, while we talked, the lands of that continent. A light was enkindled in your eyes, your soul was filled with impatience, and, thinking about those peoples, you said: Could it be possible that on the other side of those seas, the grace of God is rendered ineffective?

You then answered your own question: In his infinite goodness, He wishes to use docile instruments.

What compassion you feel for them!… You would like to cry out to them that they are wasting their time… Why are they so blind, and why can’t they perceive what you — a miserable creature — have seen? Why don’t they go for the best?

—Pray and mortify yourself. Then you have the duty to wake them up, one by one, explaining to them — also one by one — that they, like you, can find a divine way, without leaving the place they occupy in society.

You began in good heart. But little by little your spirit has shrunk… And you are going to end up in your own poor shell, if you continue to let your horizons become smaller and smaller.

—You have to allow your heart to expand more and more, with real hunger for the apostolate! Out of a hundred souls we are interested in a hundred.

Those who have met Christ cannot shut themselves in their own little world: how sad such a limitation would be! They must open out like a fan in order to reach all souls. Each one has to create — and widen — a circle of friends, whom he can influence with his professional prestige, with his behaviour, with his friendship, so that Christ may exercise his influence by means of that professional prestige, that behaviour, that friendship.

You have to be a live ember that sets fire to whatever it touches. And, when your surroundings are incapable of catching fire, you have to raise their spiritual temperature.

—If not, you are wasting time miserably, and wasting the time of those around you.

When there is zeal for souls, good people can always be found, fertile soil can always be discovered. There is no excuse!

You have spoken to one person and another, and yet another, because you are consumed by zeal for souls.

One took fright; another consulted a “prudent” man, who guided him badly… —Persevere: and no one afterwards will be able to excuse himself by saying Quia nemo nos conduxit — nobody has called us.

God wants his children to be on the offensive. —We cannot just ‘wait and see’. Our business is to fight, wherever we may be, as an army in battle array.

You have the agreeable manner of an intelligent conversationalist… But you are also very apathetic. “Nobody has come to look for me” is your excuse.

—Let me be more specific: if you don’t change and seek out those who are waiting for you, you will never be an effective apostle.

The people of that land, so far away from God and lost, reminded you of the Master’s words: “They are like sheep without a shepherd.”

—And you too were filled with a strong feeling of compassion deep within you… Make up your mind, where you are now, to give your life as a holocaust for all.

One day when you were travelling, a hearty greeting from a brother reminded you that the honest ways of the world are open to Christ. It is just a matter of launching out on them with the spirit of conquerors.

If God has created the world for his children, for them to live in and sanctify, what are you waiting for?

You should behave as if it all depended on you: whether the atmosphere in your place of work is to be one of hard work, cheerfulness, presence of God and supernatural outlook.

—Why are you so apathetic? If you come across a group at work who are a bit difficult, you lose interest in them. Perhaps they have become difficult because you have neglected them. Yet you throw in the towel and think of them as a dead weight which holds back your apostolic ideals because they do not understand you…

—You may love and serve them with your prayer and mortification, but how do you expect them to listen to you if you never speak to them…?

—You will have many surprises the day you decide to talk to them one by one. What is more, if you do not change, they will one day be able to point a finger at you and say quite rightly: Hominem non habeo — I have no one to help me!