List of points

Nobody is happy on earth until he decides not to be. This is the way the path goes: suffering — in Christian terms! — the Cross; God’s Will, Love; happiness here and, afterwards, eternally.

You asked Our Lord to let you suffer a little for Him. But when suffering comes in such a normal, human form — family difficulties and problems… or those thousand awkward things of ordinary life — you find it hard to see Christ behind it. —Open your hands willingly to those nails… and your sorrow will be turned into joy.

Jesus came to the Cross, after having prepared himself for thirty three years, all his life!

—His disciples, if they really want to imitate him, have to convert their existence into a co-redemption of Love, with their own active and passive self-denial.

The Cross is present in everything, and it comes when one least expects it. —But don’t forget that, normally, the beginning of the Cross and the beginning of efficacy go together.

This is what Our Lord wants, for we need it if we are to follow him closely. There is no other way. This is the work of the Holy Spirit in each soul — in yours. Be docile and present no obstacles to God, until he makes your poor flesh like that of Jesus on the Cross.