We must be reservoirs of divine forces, united to God
through Sanctifying Grace. But, the state of grace is not
enough. We must be conformable to God’s Will and close to
His Heart! Before beginning the work of preaching, Our
Lord withdrew from the crowds and gave Himself over to
prayer. How many of us can kneel quietly, leaving the world
behind for a while? Before beginning his active apostolate,
St. Paul went into the Arabian Desert to pray for three years!
The twelve Apostles disappeared from sight for 9 days of
recollection and persevering in prayer with the Mother of
Jesus, until the Holy Ghost descended upon them. From
here, they went forth to set the world on fire! Words and activity are expenditure
of energy; silence and prayer are its source.
An intense prayer life is absolutely necessary for any truly apostolic activity. We
must make the truth visible. Do our fellow workers know Christ? When they see
us, they must learn something about Christianity of which they know nothing.
We are messengers of Light. “Lord, make me like crystal so that Thy Light may
shine through me.” The world drags things down to the slow poison of mediocrity
which makes it weak in the face of sin, dethrones the ideal, scorns enthusiasm,
and reduces everything to the level of commonplace. Are we not sons of God?
Are we not living tabernacles of the Blessed Trinity? This is more important than
anything else. Evil does not enrich. Sin has no beauty; the devil is not amusing! It
is sin that brings unhappiness. We must be a burning and shining light with the
stamp of heroism to make truth admirable. Like Christ, we must be heroic in our
sanctity of life, heroic in poverty and detachment, heroic in courage, heroic in
accepting suffering and heroic in love for our neighbor. He who loves gives up his
life. Humanitarianism has no consistency or laws, and has nothing in common
with the Charity of Christ. Oh, if we only knew how to love! Alas, we do not! Souls
are won not by words, but by sacrifice. The salvation of the world belongs to the
crucified. We cannot be another Christ unless we are, to some extent, crucified as
Christ was. It is sacrifice that will save the world. As an apostle, we are called upon
to sacrifice our time, our reputation and the little innocent pleasures that cater to
our likes and whims: the cigarette, dessert, light-hearted novel, that extra hour of
sleep in the morning when we might attend Holy Mass. Do we want to be apostles,
or not? We must try drinking our coffee black, and take our bread without butter.
Sacrifices are the jewels that God gives us in order to save our brethren. Upon the
number and quality of our sacrifices depends the building of the Kingdom of God.
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“You are with Me, and I have overcome the world!” Have boundless trust in
God! Have patience! Have Courage! God is with us!
I impart to all of you, my priestly blessing:
In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.
Father IVAN KOLODIY
Byzantine Rite, Greek-Catholic Church, UKRAINE