List of points

Obey with docility. —But intelligently too, with love and a sense of responsibility which has nothing to do with judging those who govern and direct you.

There are many ways of sowing confusion. It is enough, for instance, to speak of the exception as if it were the general rule.

Do you think that no one else has ever been twenty years old? Do you think they were never restricted by their parents when they were under age? Do you think they avoided the problems, however great or small, that you come up against? No. They went through the same things that you are going through now, and they matured, with the help of grace. They trod down their selfishness with generous perseverance, gave in when they should, and remained loyal — with calm humility — without being arrogant or hurting anyone when they should not have done.

Whenever your will weakens in your ordinary work, you must recall these thoughts: “Study, work, is an essential part of my way. If I were discredited professionally as a consequence of my laziness it would make my work as a Christian useless or impossible. To attract and to help others, I need the influence of my professional reputation, and that is what God wants.”

—Never doubt that if you abandon your task, you are going away from God’s plans and leading others away from them!

It is not a matter of fulfilling your obligations in a hurry, but of bringing them to a finish without a pause, at God’s pace.

If we Christians really lived in accordance with our faith, the greatest revolution of all times would take place. The effectiveness of our co-redemption depends on each one of us! —You should meditate on this.

You will feel completely responsible when you realise that, before God, you have only duties. He already sees to it that you are granted rights!

May you acquire the custom of concerning yourself every day about others, and give yourself to the task so much that you forget you even exist!

Here is a thought to help you in difficult moments. “The more my faithfulness increases, the better will I be able to contribute to the growth of others in that virtue”. —How good it is to feel supported by each other.

Don’t come to me with “theories”. It is our lives that have to convert those high ideals each day into ordinary, heroic, fruitful reality.

We should indeed respect things that are old, and be grateful for them. Learn from them by all means, and bear in mind those past experiences, too. But let us not exaggerate; everything has its own time and place. Do we now dress in doublet and hose or wear powdered wigs on our heads?

Don’t get annoyed. Irresponsible behaviour often denotes poor formation or a lack of intelligence, rather than want of good spirit.

Teachers and directors should be expected to fill in those gaps with the responsible fulfilment of their duties.

—You should examine yourself… if you are in such a position.

You are in a position of authority and you go by what people say? You are a doddering old man! —First of all you should worry about what God will say; then, very much in the second place, and sometimes not at all, you may consider what others might think. “Whoever acknowledges me before men”, says the Lord, “I too will acknowledge him before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father who is in heaven.”

If you occupy a position of responsibility you should remember as you do your job that personal achievement perishes with the person who made himself indispensable.

A fundamental rule for good management is to give responsibility to others without this becoming for you a way of seeking anonymity or comfort. I repeat, delegate responsibility and ask each person to give an account of how his job is going, so that you can “render an account” to God; and to souls, if necessary.

When you are dealing with problems, try not to exaggerate justice to the point of forgetting charity.

The strength of a chain is the strength of its weakest link.

Never say of anybody under you: he is no good.

—It is you who are no good, for you cannot find a place where he will be of use.

Reject any ambition for honours. Think instead about your duties, how to do them well and the instruments you need to accomplish them. —In this way, you will not hanker for position, and if one comes you will see it just as it is: a burden to bear in the service of souls.

In the hour of rejection at the Cross, the Virgin Mary is there by her Son, willing to go through the same fate. —Let us lose our fear of behaving like responsible Christians when the environment in which we move is not easy. She will help us.