List of points

You are too “cautious” and not very “supernatural” and that is why you are a bit too clever: don’t start inventing your own “snags” and trying to solve them all.

—Perhaps the person you speak to is less “clever” or maybe more generous than you are, and as he can count on God, he won’t raise so many objections.

The ploughshare that breaks up the earth and opens up the furrow sees neither the seed nor the harvest.

What a great discovery! Something you barely half-understood turned out to be very clear when you had to explain it to others.

You had to speak very gently with someone, who was disheartened because he felt useless and did not want to be a burden to anyone… You understood then, better than ever, why I always talk to you about being little donkeys turning the water-wheel: carrying on faithfully, with large blinkers which prevent us personally seeing or tasting the results — the flowers, the fruit, the freshness of the garden — confident about the effectiveness of our fidelity.

When you work in apostolic enterprises, do not build for the present alone… Dedicate yourself to these tasks with the hope that others — brothers of yours sharing the same spirit as you — may reap what you are now sowing abroad, and may crown the buildings for which you are now laying the foundations.