You were praying before a crucifix, and you made this resolution: it is better to suffer for the truth, than for truth to suffer because of me.

So often it seems impossible for the truth to be true! Above all because it always has to be lived consistently.

If you are annoyed at being told the truth, then... why do you ask?

—Is it perhaps that you want to be answered with your own “truth” so your errant ways can be justified?

You say that you have a great respect for the truth... Is that why you always place yourself at such a “respectful” distance from it?

Don’t behave like a fool. No one is ever a fanatic for wanting to know better every day, and love more, and defend with greater conviction the truth he has to know, love and defend.

On the other hand — I say this without fear — those who oppose this reasonable behaviour in the name of a false liberty become sectarian.

It is as easy now as it was at the time of Jesus Christ to say No, to deny or to put to one side the truth of faith. You who call yourself a Catholic have to start from Yes.

Later, after some study, you will be able to explain the reasons for your certainty, and that there is no contradiction — there can be none — between Truth and science, between Truth and life.

Please don’t abandon the task, don’t deviate from the way, even though you have to live with people who are full of prejudices: as if you thought the basis of arguments or the meaning of words were fixed by their behaviour or by their assertions.

—Do try to get them to understand you... but if you don’t manage it, carry on anyway.

You will find people who, because of their dull stubbornness, will be very difficult to convince... But, apart from those cases, it is worthwhile clearing up discrepancies, and clearing them up with all the patience that might be needed.

Some people don’t hear — don’t want to hear — anything other than the words they have in their own heads.

The understanding that so many people demand of others is that everyone should join their party.

I cannot believe in your truthfulness if you feel no uneasiness — a disagreeable uneasiness! — when you countenance the smallest and most harmless lie. It is far from being small or harmless for it is an offence against God.

Why do you look about you and listen and read and talk with such a mean intention, and why do you try to gather up the “bad things” to be found, not in the intention of others, but only in your own soul?

For the reader who lacks an upright intention the honesty of the writer is hard to find.

The sectarian sees only sectarianism in all the activities of others. He measures his neighbour by the sickly measure of his heart.

I felt pity for that man in office. He suspected that there might have been some problems, which are, after all, to be expected in life... yet he was taken aback and annoyed when he was told about them. He preferred to remain ignorant of them, to live in the shadow or twilight of his own vision, so that he might remain at ease.

I advised him to face up to these things openly and clearly, so that in this very way they could be got rid of. I assured him that then he would truly live in peace.

You must not solve problems, your own or those of others, by ignoring them; this would be nothing short of laziness and comfort-seeking, which would open the door to the action of the devil.

Have you fulfilled your duty? Have you had a right intention? ... You have? —Then do not worry if there are twisted people who discover evil which only exists in their own minds.

Inquisitive people asked you whether you judged that decision of yours, which they considered indifferent, to be good or bad.

And, with a sure conscience, you answered: “I know only two things: that my intention is honest... and that I know how much it cost me.” And you added: God is the reason and the purpose of my life, that is why I am convinced that nothing can be indifferent.

You explained your ideals and your sure, firm way of behaving as a Catholic, and he seemed to accept and understand your way. But afterwards you were left doubting whether he might not have smothered his understanding under his not very well-ordered habits...

—Seek him out again, and explain to him that one accepts truth in order to live by it or try to live by it.

Who are they to want to try things out first?... Why do they have to be mistrustful?, you ask me. —Look, tell them this from me: they should mistrust their own wretchedness. And then you must continue along your own way in peace.

You feel sorry for them. With a complete lack of honesty they throw stones and pretend they haven’t done so.

Listen to what the Holy Spirit has to say about them: “The forgers of error shall be confused and put to shame; they will all be covered in ignominy.” It is a judgement which will be inexorably fulfilled.

You say that many people libel and slander that apostolic enterprise?... Well, as soon as you proclaim the truth, there will already be at least one person who isn’t criticising.

In the most beautiful and promising field of wheat, it is easy to weed out cartloads of charlock, poppies and couch-grass.

Throughout history, the most upright and responsible people have been the object of volumes of malice. Think, too, how much has been said and written against Our Lord Jesus Christ.

I advise you — just as with the field of grain — to collect the golden ripe ears of wheat: the true truth.

You assured me that you want to have a clean conscience, so don’t forget that to pick up a calumny without denying it is to become a refuse-collector.

You call it open-mindedness to admit easily any assertion against a person without hearing what he has to say. This propensity of yours is not precisely justice... even less is it charity.

A calumny sometimes causes harm to those who suffer it... But it truly dishonours those who invent it and spread it... And afterwards they carry a weight in the depth of their souls.

“Why do so many people spread slander?”, you ask in distress...

—Some do so through error, fanaticism or malice. —But most of them pass on the story through inertia, superficiality and ignorance.

That is why, I insist again: when you cannot praise, and there is no need to speak, keep quiet!

When the victim of the slander suffers in silence, “the executioners” are relentless in their bold cowardice.

Distrust those categorical assertions if those who utter them have made no attempt, or have preferred not to speak with the person concerned.

There are many ways of holding an investigation. With a bit of malice, by listening to slanders, ten large volumes can be compiled against any honest person or worthy enterprise. —There will be more if that person or enterprise works effectively. —And even more if that effectiveness is apostolic.

It is sorry work for the investigators, but more pitiful still is the attitude adopted by those who are ready to echo such wicked and superficial assertions.

These people, he said sadly, do not have the mind of Christ, but the mask of Christ... That is why they lack Christian judgement, cannot grasp the truth, and yield no fruit.

We, the sons of God, must not forget that the Master said: “Whoever listens to you, listens to me...” —That is why we have to try to be Christ: never a caricature of him.

In this case, as in so many others, people are doing various things and all think they are right. But God is guiding them, that is to say, over and above their own particular ideas, God’s inscrutable and most lovable Providence will win through in the end.

Allow yourself, therefore, to be guided by the Lord, without opposing his plans, even though they might go against your “basic assumptions”.

It is painful to see that some people are less concerned with learning and taking possession of the treasures acquired by science than they are in spending their time tailoring them to their own taste through a more or less arbitrary process.

But being aware of this must lead you to redouble your effort to go more deeply into the truth.

It is easier to write against people carrying out research, or against those who make new discoveries in science or technology, than to do the research oneself. —But we should not allow those “critics” to pretend at the same time to set themselves up as absolute lords of wisdom who can govern the opinions of the ignorant.

“I just don’t see that, it is not at all obvious”, he said in response to the certain statements of the others... And the obvious thing was his own ignorance.

You are afraid of hurting people, of creating divisions and appearing intolerant... and you are giving in on positions and points which — though you assure me they are not serious! — have fateful consequences for many.

Forgive my sincerity: through your behaviour, you are falling into just the foolish and harmful intolerance that you were concerned to avoid: that of not allowing the truth to be proclaimed.

God in his infinite and perfect justice and mercy treats with the same love, but in an unequal way, his unequal children.

That is why equality does not mean using the same measure for everybody.

You speak a half-truth which is open to so many interpretations that it can really be called... a lie.

Doubt, whether it concerns the field of knowledge or the good name of others, is a plant that is easily sown but very difficult to root out.

You remind me of Pilate: Quod scripsi, scripsi! — what I have written shall not be changed — after he had allowed the most horrible of crimes. You may be immovable, but you ought to have adopted that attitude before... not afterwards!

It is a virtue to act in accordance with our resolutions. But, if in the course of time we think that the facts have changed, we must also act accordingly by changing the way of looking at the problem and solving it.

Don’t confuse holy intransigence with small-minded obstinacy.

“I’ll break, but I won’t bend”, you said cheerfully and somewhat arrogantly.

—Listen to me carefully: A broken instrument remains useless, and leaves the way open to those who, with apparent leniency, afterwards impose a pernicious intransigence.

Sancta Maria, Sedes Sapientiae — Holy Mary, Seat of Wisdom. —Invoke Our Mother often in that way, so that she may fill her children, in their study, work and social relations, with the Truth that Christ has brought to us.

[CAP] Ambition

Against those who reduce religion to a set of negative statements, or are happy to settle for a watered-down Catholicism; against those who wish to see the Lord with his face against the wall, or to put him in a corner of their souls... we have to affirm, with our words and with our deeds, that we aspire to make Christ the King reign indeed over all hearts... theirs included.

When you work in apostolic enterprises, do not build for the present alone... Dedicate yourself to these tasks with the hope that others — brothers of yours sharing the same spirit as you — may reap what you are now sowing abroad, and may crown the buildings for which you are now laying the foundations.

When you truly become filled with the Christian spirit your ambitions will be put right. —You will feel no longer a hankering after celebrity, but a desire for perpetuating your ideal.

It would not be worth giving oneself unless it were to build up a great work which is very much for God — your own holiness.

That is why the Church, when canonising saints, proclaims the heroism of their lives.

When you work in earnest for the Lord, your greatest satisfaction will be that there are many others competing with you.

In this time of God, the time when you are in this world, make up your mind in earnest to do something worthwhile; time is pressing and the mission of men, of women, on earth is so noble, heroic and glorious when it enkindles withered and rotten hearts with the fire of Christ!

—It is worthwhile taking peace and happiness to others through a robust and jubilant crusade.

You are ready to give your life for your honour... Be ready to give up your honour for your soul.

Through the Communion of Saints you should feel very closely united to your brothers. Defend that holy unity without fear!

—If you were alone, your noble ambitions would be doomed to failure. A sheep on its own is nearly always a lost sheep.

I was amused by your vehemence. Faced by the lack of material resources to set to work, and with no one to help you, you said: “I have only two arms, but I sometimes feel impatient enough to become a monster with fifty arms to sow and reap the harvest.”

—Ask the Holy Spirit for that effectiveness... for he will grant it to you!

You found yourself with two books in Russian, and you felt an enormous desire to learn that language. You imagined the beauty of dying like a grain of wheat in that nation, now so arid, which in time will yield great harvests of wheat.

—I think that those ambitions are good. But, for now, dedicate yourself to the small task and great mission of every day, to your study, your work, your apostolate, and, above all, to your formation. This, since you still need to do so much pruning, is neither a less heroic nor a less beautiful task.

What use is a student who does not study?

When you find studying is an awfully uphill task offer that effort to Jesus. Tell him that you continue poring over your books, so that you may use your knowledge as a weapon to fight his enemies and so gain many souls for him... You can then be sure that your study is well on its way to becoming prayer.

If you waste hours and days, if you kill time, you are opening the doors of your soul to the devil. That way of behaving is equivalent to saying to him: “Make yourself at home.”

I grant you it is difficult not to waste time. But notice that God’s enemy, the “other side”, does not rest.

What is more, remember the truth that Paul, a champion of the love of God, proclaims, Tempus breve est! This life is slipping away through our fingers, and it is impossible to recover it.

Do you realise how much depends on whether you are soundly prepared or not? Many, many souls!

—And now will you cease to study or work with perfection?

There are two ways of reaching the top: one — the Christian way — by the noble and gallant effort of serving others; the other — the pagan way — by the mean and ignoble effort of dragging down your neighbour.

Don’t try to convince me that you live facing God, if you do not try always and in everything, to face men, any man, with sincere and open fraternity.

Those who are “ambitious”, with small, personal, miserable ambitions, cannot understand that the friends of God should seek to achieve something through a spirit of service and without such “ambition”.

You are anxious for one thing: to hurry and soon be forged, moulded, polished and hammered into the piece that fits and will fulfil effectively the work it has been designed to do. This work is the mission it has been assigned to...in the vast field of Christ.

I pray a great deal that this desire of yours may spur you on when you are tired, when you fail and in the hour of darkness... for “the mission it has been assigned to in the vast field of Christ” cannot change.

Fight courageously against that false humility — you should call it spirit of comfort — which stops you from behaving like a good son of God. You have to grow out of it!

Are you not ashamed when you see that your elder brothers have spent years in dedicated work, and you are not yet able, or do not want to be able, to lift a finger to help them?

Allow your soul to be consumed by desires — desires for loving, for being forgotten, for holiness, for Heaven. Do not stop to wonder whether the time will come to see them accomplished, as some pseudo-adviser might suggest. Make them more fervent every day, for the Holy Spirit says that he is pleased with men of desires.

Let your desires be operative and put them into practice in your daily tasks.

If the Lord has called you a friend you must respond to the call and walk with a hurried pace, with all the urgency needed, at God’s pace! Otherwise you run the risk of becoming a simple spectator.

Forget about yourself... May your ambition be to live for your brothers alone, for souls, for the Church; in one word, for God.

In the middle of the rejoicing at the feast in Cana, only Mary notices that they are short of wine... A soul will notice even the smallest details of service if, like her, it is alive with a passion for helping its neighbour, for God.