Being Effective Instruments of Grace In his apostolic task, the Christian has to practice other human virtues if he is to be a good instrument of God in his mission of rechristianizing the world: fortitude, when we meet with the obstacles that present themselves in one way or another in every apostolic task; constancy and patience, because, like a seed, a soul sometimes takes time before it bears fruit, and because we cannot achieve in a matter of days what God has perhaps foreseen, should take months or even years; audacity, so that we introduce deeper subjects into our conversations, which may never arise if we do not bring them up at the right moment, and also that we propose higher ideals for our friends who cannot even conjecture at them for themselves; truthfulness and authenticity, without which friendship cannot exist. Our world needs men and women who are all of a piece, who are exemplary in their work, men and women without complexes, who are sober, serene, profoundly human, firm, understanding but intransigent in matters concerning Christs doctrine, courteous, just, loyal, cheerful, optimistic, generous, hard-working, simple, courageous ... In this way they will be good collaborators with Gods grace, for the Holy Spirit uses man as an instrument. Then their works take on a divine effectiveness, like a tool which of itself is incapable of producing anything, but in the hands of a good craftsman can produce a masterpiece. Imagine the joy of those men in the Gospel account as they go back with their friend cured in body and soul! Their encounter with Christ would have strengthened their friendship still more, which is what happens in all true apostolate. We should not forget that there is no sickness that cannot be cured by Christ. We can never consider the people we meet each day as fellow-students, colleagues or workmates, relatives or next-door neighbors as beyond recovery. Many of them have been, it seems, prevented from coming closer to Jesus Christ. It is up to us, with the help of grace, to lead them to him. Great love for Christ will be what moves us to an operative faith, without human respect, without our allowing ourselves to be stopped by the normal difficulties we will come up against. When we find ourselves, today, close to the Tabernacle, let us make sure we talk to the Master about those friends of ours whom we want to take to him so that he can cure them. from In Conversation with God by Francis Fernandez pp.30-31
Posted on: Fri, 17 Jan 2014 23:38:21 +0000
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