I really love this quote for its simplicity.
How often do we complicate the spiritual life? We get these grand ideas of being missionaries or preachers or great mystics - but forget that God has called us to holiness in our everyday life.
We are all here for a purpose, created by God out of his living goodness, to find love, give love, and discover who we are called to be through relationship with eachother.
St Therese has the story of a nun who used to really annoy her by her breathing and grinding of teeth, so she went out of her way to offer that sister a smile and to pray for her. This is the heroism we are called to as Catholics. We need to be a living example of Jesus love to other people, and the paradox in this is that the more we love others then the more we discover and experience God’s love for us.
If you are struggling with a lack of direction or feeling despondent. Never forget that God has called you in his living plan of provide to be exactly where you are right now. This is where he is calling you to holiness and divine intimacy. Not in some distant far away perfect time “over there”, but right here and right now.
- Do you work with someone who has little mannerisms that frustrate you? Pray for them and offer to help with tasks at work
- Does your spouse frustrate you by not understanding your needs? Try to understand that they may not be deliberately ignorant of your emotional needs, and so try to do one thing a day for them that you know they love. They will begin to appreciate you more and even reciprocate
- Do you live with family and find they don’t respect your space? Try to make them a tea/coffee once a day without them asking you, or offer to sit with them and watch their favourite show with them
These little acts of penance for us, turn into acts of charity and slowly transform us. The day to day life is a struggle and believe me I struggle with lack of patience and charity the same as anyone else. But we never know in what moment that our act of service for someone else could be the exact moment they needed to feel God’s love for them. As Mother Teresa used to say, we aren’t all called to do great deeds, but we can do little deed with great love.
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you today to see where he is calling you in your everyday life to grow in holiness. All of us are called to a purpose, we are also called into relationship with God and in others. None of us exist in isolation. The beauty of holiness attracts other people.
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