We should at long last rouse ourselves, prompted by the words of
Scripture: Now is the time for us to rise
from sleep. Our eyes should be open
to the God-given light, and we should listen in wonderment to the message of
the divine voice as it daily cries out: Today,,
if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts; and again, If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to
what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
And what does the Spirit say?
Come my sons, listen to me; I will
teach you the fear of the Lord. Hurry,
while you have the light of life, so that death's darkness may not overtake
you.
The
Lord seeks the one who will do his work among the throng of people. And, if you say I will, God says to you: If you desire true and everlasting life, keep your tongue from evil and your lips
from deceit; turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. And when you have done these things my
eyes will be upon you and my ears will be attentive to your prayers; and before
you call upon my name I shall say to you:
Behold, I am here.
What could be more delightful, dearest
friends, than the voice of our Lord's invitation to us? In his loving kindness he reveals to us the
way of life. And so, girded with faith
and the performance of good works; let us follow in his paths by the guidance
of the Gospel; then we shall deserve to see him who has called us into his kingdom.
If we wish to attain a dwelling-place in his kingdom we shall not reach
it unless we hasten there by our good deeds.
Just as there
exists an evil fervor, a bitter spirit, which divides us from God, so there is
a good fervor which sets us apart from evil inclinations and leads us toward
God and eternal life. We should put this
fervor into practice with an overflowing love.
Whenever you do any good work, you should first of all make a most
pressing appeal to Christ our Lord to bring it to perfection. For we must always serve him with the good
things he has given us. From the Rule
of Benedict, abbot
Here we have
another view of how to demonstrate our faith.
Begin with prayer. Ask for
Christ's blessing on our good work. But,
this good work is by invitation. To
receive the invitation to do Christ's will, we have to be quiet, listen, then
act. Do we follow his paths guided by
the Gospel? Do we do the good works as
invited?
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