George Matulaitis Journal

Blessed George had learned early in his priestly career the importance of the spiritual life. As he wrote in his Journal : 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. His fundamental spirituality was, as he noted in his Journal , …to seek God in all things, to do all for the greater glory of God… May God and his glory be the center of my life, the axis of all my thoughts, feelings, desires, and works. The acid test of the quality of his spirituality came in 1918, when he was informed that Pope Benedict XV had appointed him Bishop of Vilnius. He had just refused the invitation to become the rector of the seminary in Sejny because he was convinced that his sole mission was to revive the Marian Congregation. He was told that, if he tried to resign his episcopal office, the Holy Father would not accept his resignation. He later wrote in his Journal : That night I could not sleep. I felt the full weight of the burden that had fallen upon me. It was a difficult time, but I had to make my peace with God’s will. Several years ago, when I was the Archbishop of Cincinnati, I made a very important spiritual decision. I had come to realize that, while I often urged people to pray daily in order to develop an intimacy with the Lord, I myself seldom found adequate time in my busy schedule for personal prayer. One evening I shared this inconsistency with some priest friends. Instead of simply agreeing that they understood the difficulty I was facing, they challenged me to do something about it. More specifically, they told me that I should give first priority to my own spiritual life. So, I resolved to devote the first hour of each day to the Lord, and this quickly became a very special time for me in my spiritual growth. Later, when I read Blessed George’s Journal , the words alluded to above rang so true: When our spirit has cooled, nothing is left to fire our zeal, and then even our good works lose their vitality. For me, that first hour keeps me connected with the Lord throughout the day. In ways I never experienced 8