Lest You Remain

And you, who are a son of light, would you neglect eternal goods? Won’t you try to obtain eternal life, making all necessary efforts? Do you grow lazy? You should know that “the kingdom of God has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force” (Mt 11:12). The heroes do it, not fools, nor idlers but the diligent! ( Inspectio Cordis ) H OLINESS 1 “If one of you decides to build a tower, will he not first sit down and calculate the outlay to see if he has enough money” (comp. Luke 14:28). Contemplate that to achieve perfection in the Religious Life, you should first look for the appropri- ate means, before you start climbing the hill of perfection. Just as no house would be erected without the incurring some costs, so without the appropriate means, there would be no virtue. Do you want to know what means you should use on the road to perfection? None but the rules given you by God to be obeyed. There is no greater perfection than diligent obedience to the rules. Thus, if someone shapes his life far from the rule, he finds himself off the road to perfec- tion and is closer to Hell than to Heaven. May you have an unshaken rule, that there is nothing more sacred in your life, than keeping God’s commandments and religious rules, because you will go for- ward in God’s love, to the degree that you will keep the rules. ( Inspectio Cordis ) 2 Have you progressed so far in religious perfection, not as far as honors, knowl- edge, offices, superior occupations are concerned, but in poverty, humility, obedience, God’s love, self-contempt and the other virtues which constitute religious perfection? Think whether, within the scope of the graces received from God, you have progressed in the spiritual exercises, for example in prayer, contemplation or, quite opposite, have you moved backwards? L EST Y OU R EMAIN W ITHOUT W ORK IN THE V INEYARD OF THE L ORD 124