The Daily Path to Holiness

(Snowy Wheat Field - found here)

CHRIST:

MY CHILD, live your daily life in My presence by trying to be constantly aware of My nearness to you. The more you strive to develop this virtue, the more I will help you to acquire it. With this grace you will grow in love and kindness toward others. Your faults will become smaller and less frequent, and your goodness will shine before the world.

2. This daily labor for virtue requires a continual effort. You must go on trying, like a man swimming against the current. To stop trying, even for a little while, is to lose ground. Without a determined and constant effort there will be no progress.

3. Do not be afraid of work, inconvenience, or suffering. My way to Heaven was the way of prayer, work, and suffering. My love is symbolized by the cross and My pierced heart. Let your love for Me use the same symbols. Live a life of prayer, work, and suffering. As I chose to make personal sacrifices for you in My daily life, so too should you seek daily opportunities to make personal sacrifices for Me.

THINK:

. . . A lively consciousness of God’s presence will help me to control and direct my likes and dislikes. Gradually there will be less and less unguarded moments, less slips into my old faults. I shall gradually come to see God’s Will in every event that comes along. God desires to grant me this wonderful grace. I must prepare myself for it by beginning today to practice acts of faith in God’s presence, and acts of self-offering in my daily activities. Too many people make a feeble effort to improve themselves, and then give up because of repeated failures. Others claim they feel too small and unworthy of such a gift from God. Their real reason, however, is not a virtuous one. They are afraid of the effort required or the sacrifice involved. It is God who wants me to aim this high. It is therefore my duty to follow His Will by trying my best over and over again.

PRAY:

My Jesus, help me to become aware of Your nearness to me throughout the day. I do not wish to fail You. You want me to aim at the highest perfection. You said: “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect!” That means I must never feel that I am good enough, no matter how virtuous I may become. I intend to start trying today, trying to be more like You in everything I do. You are my Model because You also said: “He that sees Me, sees the Father also.” You are the perfect image of Your heavenly Father. By imitating You, I shall become more God-like. My efforts will be much easier if I can become constantly aware of Your nearness to me throughout the day. Grant me this wonderful grace, so that I may become what You desire, a true man of God. In this way every moment of my earthly life will be a step toward Heaven’s perfect life. Amen.

~Anthony Paone (from My Daily Bread: A Summary of the Spiritual Life, Simplified and Arranged for Daily Reading, Reflection and Prayer)