God gives his gifts so we can serve

Our Lord asks all of us for an exquisite fidelity to his commandments, and wants us to be ready to fulfil this duty: unusquisque proprium donum habet ex Deo, alius quidem sic, alius vero sic (1 Cor 7:7); each one has his own gift from God, this one in one way, this other, another.

Respect for the freedom of others

For this reason, because we have to serve, I always remind you that in order to be useful, it is necessary to serve. To be of use to the Mystical Body, what is needed is a correctly formed, upright conscience, which yields the fruit of good works and is able to respect the freedom of others’ consciences.

Interior life and doctrine

We need a rich interior life, which is a sure sign of friendship with God and an indispensable condition for any apostolate with souls. We urgently need to acquire doctrine and live by faith so we can pass it on, and thus prevent souls from falling into error through ignorance or a distorted “pietism” which disfigures the face of true piety with its vain, sentimental or superstitious devotion.