George Matulaitis Journal

position, another would take that one, and so on. Before we realized it, no one would be left to work in the Congregation or to guide it. We need not worry that the world will ever run short of candidates for places of honor and influence. Let us, rather, take our places next to Jesus, who led a life of poverty, obedience, hard work, suffering, and humil- iation. We can follow Him and stand by Him in accepting those positions that others are unwilling to take, those places which are the most despised and scorned, where all seems to be lost. Let us do our utmost to train and provide enough candidates for those positions which are held to be the most humble and insignificant in the eyes of men. Just as some consider it a great honor to attain high office, so let us deem it the greatest of God’s graces to receive an assignment to a place that demands the most self-sacrifice, where we will have to endure and suffer more for Jesus, and where our lot will be more hard work, trouble, scorn, humiliation, poverty, and so on. Let us make certain that we never run short of candidates from among our ranks to fill these posts— and not only willing candidates, but enthusiastic ones. O Jesus, give us this great grace! Superiors have a duty to protect both themselves and their subjects from the lure of high office and honorable positions. I am sincerely convinced that we can achieve more good for the Church by following in the footsteps of Christ by a life of humility, poverty, and self-denial than by occupying high positions. And, God forbid that any of us should accept tokens or titles of honor! In these matters we must strictly observe the Constitution and Instructions. We must not only reject all honors that might hamper us, but also avoid any position which could impede the pursuit of our goal: to work for the greater glory of God and the good of the Church. We must particularly guard against becoming too involved in all kinds of women’s organizations, sodalities, and societies, etc., by accepting positions of leadership in them. This type of work requires a great deal of time and burdens the mind so that one is no longer able to do anything else. The superiors of other communities know this from experience, as do I myself. At most, we can accept invitations to conduct women’s retreats or consent to be extraordinary confessors, but only with the permission of our superiors. But these duties should not interfere with our proper assignments. 76