George Matulaitis Journal

65 a holy life, deep interior intimacy with God, purity of spirit, and zeal should be the foundation of their apostolate. The thought keeps occurring to me whether up until now we religious have properly appreciated the importance of the parish in the life of the Church. After all, that complex organism which is the Church is made up of tiny cells—the parishes. The function of the parish as an active unit within the social structure has not yet been properly understood and appreciated. Why could the parish not be the source of spiritual renewal and rebirth? By contributing to the better organization and leadership of parishes, would we not effectively promote the welfare of the Church? Perhaps even better than in any other way! We should consider this matter carefully and experiment in this direction. Up to now, religious have usually pursued their apostolate outside the parishes, above and beyond them, leaving the actual parish work to the diocesan clergy. Suppose we joined them in the work of conducting parishes, taking special pains to do it well? Who can tell what great gains for the Church we might be able to achieve in this field? Each parish church with its rectory could become a small religious house, occupied by several priests and two or three lay brothers to assist them. What an excellent religious house that would be! What a beautiful center of spiritual life! We should seriously think this matter over. The priests could exercise their priestly ministry, while the lay brothers would serve as sacristans and organists, thus assisting the priests. Lay brothers could also teach the parish children. I have been reading how St. Francis Borgia, 1 superior general of the Jesuits, was able to coordinate his work with constant prayer. His example is worth imitating. He could not spend as much time as he wished in prayer, although he loved to pray and would find the time to do so in the midst of his arduous duties. But, then again, he would never neglect his work for prayer. He led a remarkably active life. Here is how this saint made his work a continual prayer. He would offer each hour of his day to God by making a separate intention for it. He would even jot down these intentions in his notebook. While he worked, he would constantly remind himself of the intention for that particular hour. Every day he would record his intentions—sometimes there were 24, at other times 12, or seven, or only four. 1 Third Superior General of the Society of Jesus (1510-1572), an active and zealous promoter of the Jesuit apostolate, especially in mission fields. Matulaitis was reading about him in the Latin history of the Society: Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu , vol. V, Madrid, 1911.