Little Things
1. Very few people are destined to great things by Almighty God. Most
of us must offer ourselves in the relatively unimportant walks of life
in which we have been placed by Providence. Only some of the Saints were
endowed with exceptional virtues and miraculous powers which attracted
the attention and admiration of the world. In the normal course of
events Christian perfection must be
acquired little by little through the practice of ordinary virtues and
unspectacular good actions. There is always scope for these. An upsurge
of anger can be suppressed from the motive of the love of God and of our
neighbour. We can behave courteously towards people who are
unsympathetic towards us or who offend us by their unmannerly conduct.
We can combat pride by acts of humility and egoism by acts of charity.
We can mortify ourselves in speech, in behaviour, and at table, and we
can give alms to the poor, good advice to the ignorant, and comfort to
the afflicted.
All these virtuous actions are insignificant in
the eyes of men, but they are great in the sight of God. The blades of
grass and the flowers in the meadow are tiny things, but joined together
they constitute the pasture which provides nourishment for the herds
and flocks. Let us perform these small actions every day and so
cultivate the ordinary virtues. We shall attract the attention and
favour of God, Who will help us to advance step by step towards the peak
of Christian perfection.
2. Just as there are very ordinary
acts of virtue, so there are very ordinary sins. But it would be rash to
regard acts of deception, vanity and impatience as insignificant. Every
deliberate sin is an offence against God, our highest good and our
Redeemer.
How can God be indifferent to these ungrateful
violations of His law? After all, even as He has assured us that a cup
of cold water given in His name to a thirsty man will have its reward
(Cf. Mt. 10:42), so He has assured us that not even the slightest trace
of sin can enter into eternal glory. We shall not be condemned to Hell
for venial sins alone, but we shall suffer a decline in grace and shall
be obliged to expiate our sins either in this life or in Purgatory.
3. Our eternal salvation will probably be determined by these ordinary
acts of virtue and these ordinary sins. Jesus compared the kingdom of
Heaven to a mustard-seed which grows into a tree. Similarly, many Saints
began their spiritual ascent by following up one simple inspiration,
and many souls, perhaps, have found themselves condemned as a result of
having neglected the commonplace virtues and inspirations.
Ordinary virtue may develop into heroic virtue, but if a man has
neglected to train himself to act well in small matters, how will he
behave in a time of great spiritual trial? Experience also teaches us
that smaller vices can develop into great vices. “He who wastes the
little he has will be stripped bare.” (Ecclus. 19:1) A man who is not
faithful to God in little things will not be faithful in greater things.
We are either going up or down in the way of perfection; it is almost
impossible to stand still. If we sincerely wish to make progress, let us
resolve to avoid the least suggestion of sin and to enrich ourselves
daily by tiny acts of virtue.
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