George Matulaitis Journal

good for others. Sometimes the person allows himself to become so involved in this whirlwind of good works that he has no time left for himself. Living in this frantic activity, the spirit gradually diminishes and dries up, becomes weak and dissipated. When our spirit has cooled, nothing is left to fire our zeal and then even our good works lose their vitality. That is why our spiritual life should always come first. Just as easily as we neglect our spiritual life in favor of all kinds of peripheral activities, so can these become the occasion for us to relegate the needs of our own Community to second, third, or even last place. But that can never be a good thing either for our Community, for us or even for those same activities in which we have become negligent. The Community supports us and our work; it is the foundation of our life. The better our Community is organized and directed, the more the Spirit of God can work in it; then we too will grow and develop spiritually and even our work will be more successful, fruitful and will rest on a firm foundation. No institution can grow and develop as it should unless it has people who are devoted to it. Similarly, our Congregation will not grow and develop unless there are enough members willing to dedicate themselves to it. The larger it gets and the more difficult become the conditions under which it has to live, the more of its members must be willing to serve it wholeheartedly. These totally dedicated people need the cooperation of all the others: their good example, initiative, moral support, good ideas, and best efforts in maintaining the spirit and discipline of the Community. The more effort the members of a Community put forth to help build, adorn, furnish, and order their little spiritual home, the more pleasant will it be for all to live there. The greater their love of God and one another, the more fervent will each one be to bear that fire which enkindles others. To sum up: it seems to me, that it would be best if we would order our life in the following way: I. (1) God must be the center of our life: His greater glory must be everything to us. (2) The object of our concern, our work, and our best efforts must be the Church, the Kingdom of God here on earth, and all her 37