Note to God

In the Work all this comes true if the Mass is the centre and root of our interior life ... so that for us our whole day is a continual act of worship, a prolongation of one Mass and a preparation for the next one. This overflows into aspirations, visits to the Blessed Sacrament, and the offering of our work, and into all the Norms of piety and Customs with which our life is interwoven.

It is easy to get bogged down trying to find the optimal plan for change: the fastest way to lose weight, the best program to build muscle, the perfect idea for a side hustle. We are so focused on figuring out the best approach that we never get around to taking action. As Voltaire once wrote, “The best is the enemy of the good.”

St Josemaria  Serviam  Crossing forehead, lips and heart All my thoughts, all my words, all my works are given to you O Lord. Allow me to give them out of love. 

Mindset shifting - transition feeling of burden into moments of opportunities I have to pray I get to pray The key point is that both versions of reality are true. You have to do those things, and you also get to do them. We can find evidence for whatever mind-set we choose. I once heard a story about a man who uses a wheelchair. When asked if it was difficult being confined, he responded, “I’m not confined to my wheelchair—I am liberated by it. If it wasn’t for my wheelchair, I would be bed-bound and never able to leave my house.” This shift in perspective completely transformed how he lived each day. Reframing your habits to highlight their benefits rather than their drawbacks is a fast and lightweight way to reprogram your mind and make a habit seem more attractive.

Let us strive resolutely, in both great and small things, to prevent a materialistic culture from smothering the good soil of our heart and of the places where we live (cf. Mt 13:22). When poverty is neglected, the desire to help God’s love take root in other souls inevitably fades. In this regard, St. Josemaría linked this virtue very directly with apostolic zeal: “Detach yourself from the goods of the world. Love and practice poverty of spirit: be content with what enables you to live a simple and sober life. Otherwise, you will never be an apostle” (The Way, no. 631). A lack of apostolic zeal often reflects a life softened by material compensations that dull the soul

Daily we pray “let them look up and see only Jesus,” but how often we look in and see only Jesus in us? Do we see Him in using our eyes, mind, & heart, as His own? Are we so given to Him—that we find His eyes look through ours, his tongue speaking, His Hands working, His feet walking, His Heart loving? Do we really see only Jesus in us? You have to be in the world and yet not of the world.46 The light you give must be so pure, the love you love with must be so burning—the faith you believe with must be so convincing—that in seeing you they really see only Jesus. Your apostolate is so beautiful to give Jesus. You can give Him—only if you have surrendered yourself totally to Him.—Often, very often, I pray for you—that you may be the fruit of Christ’s love in the world—That you may grow in holiness—so that in you Christ’s joy may be fulfilled