George Matulaitis Journal

42 October 25 The children of this world are more astute in the way they conduct their business than the children of light 1 are in their efforts. How often does it happen that the children of this world surpass us in diligence, zeal, boldness, and daring as they work to achieve success in their pursuits. Faced with such resourcefulness, what should we not try to do for God? Is it not our duty to go wherever we can gain more for God, where we can save more souls, that is, where godlessness, immorality, lack of faith, and indifference toward the Church abound? Should we not try to get in, even to force ourselves into any place where it is possible to gain something for Christ and for His Church? If we find one road blocked, let us look for another. If one door is closed to us, let us make another; if one window is nailed down tight, let us break open another to let the light in. How should we, who call ourselves the followers of Christ and also His soldiers, blush with shame when we look at what people are willing to do to make more money. They leave their country, relatives and friends, even their wives and children to sail across the seas to foreign lands; braving heat and cold, they burrow under the earth, risking their life and health. . . and for what? For the sake of such a trivial thing as a few dollars. Should we not, then, do our best to find our way into any place, get in somehow, wherever there is any hope of gaining something for Christ and for His Church: into all kinds of associations and institu- tions, into every land and nation—and especially into the cities where there are universities and young people to bring Christ to? Just as these places have become the sources of misleading philosophies, they could become springs of the true teaching of Christ; into workers unions and organizations so that these become strongholds of the Christian faith defending and upholding the Church rather than hotbeds of sedition used to promote the causes of all sorts of revolutionaries; and into any other place where the greater glory of God demands that we go. Under the present conditions it is difficult for us to get organized and to continue our spiritual formation, so why not look for a better and more suitable spot somewhere else? If we are not able to make our novitiate 1 Cf., Lk 16: 8.