The Voice of God in the Voice of My Neighbors

God speaks through others; through saints, through the Mass, through His holy priests, and as my husband recently reminded me, through people we encounter in the day to day. This last one is particularly important because though I expect to hear God through saints, the Mass, etc., the last place I look to find His word and consolation for my soul is in my fellow, fallen Christians. {I have to remind myself that the saints, too, were fallen at one point.} Re-submitting to this truth has brought me more consolation and wisdom than I imagined.

I bring this up because my friend Erin at Humble Handmaid and my own sister Jennifer have recently compelled me to read the works of St. Josemaría Escrivá and in perusing this page and the official site of Opus Dei, my soul has been sucker-punched to a dizzying point. I find myself reoriented to truth and goodness rather than selfishness and pride. I’m usually hesitant and skeptical to consider God speaking through others, but since being more open to prayer and the Holy Spirit, my quieted soul hears such love and faith to soften me.

And so I offer the following, the very first bit of writing I’ve encountered from St. Josemaría. Check out his daily meditations – there is something in there for EVERYONE:

{Make a Good Examination of Conscience:}

Take a good look at the way you behave. You will see that you are full of faults that harm you and perhaps also those around you. Remember, my child, that microbes may be no less a menace than wild beasts. Just as bacteria are cultivated in a laboratory, so you are cultivating those faults and those errors, with your lack of humility, with your lack of prayer, with your failure to fulfill your duty, with your lack of self knowledge. Those tiny germs then spread everywhere. You need to make a good examination of conscience every day. It will lead you to make definite resolutions to improve, because it will have made you really sorry for your shortcomings, omissions and sins. (The Forge, 481)

Conversion is the task of a moment; sanctification is the work of a lifetime. The divine seed of charity, which God has sown in our souls, wants to grow, to express itself in action, to yield results which continually coincide with what God wants. Therefore, we must be ready to begin again, to find again — in new situations — the light and the stimulus of our first conversion. And that is why we must prepare with a deep examination of conscience, asking our Lord for his help, so that we’ll know him and ourselves better. If we want to be converted again, there’s no other way. (Christ is Passing By, 58)

I underestimate my impact on the lives of my family members, both my immediate and extended family. Not to say, of course, that I’m so very great and influential, but I know that my action or inaction affects others; especially the sweet blessings living under the same roof. Just as bacteria are cultivated in a laboratory, so you are cultivating those faults and those errors…Those tiny germs then spread everywhere. I’ve been feeling this lately, knowing that my little decisions throughout the day to do laundry or not, or read an extra book with my sons or not, or do the dishes or not, pile up. I think the world and undoubtedly Satan himself would have us believe that the Christian life of virtue is too hard, so why bother? I have to consistently remind myself in order to overcome myself that Christ is hope; and His “task is easy and burden light,” especially compared to the weight of self-centeredness (Matthew 11:30). To imitate Him is joy beyond measure and peace above persecution.