Salesian Literature

Chapter 7  :  Taking care to do things well

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Our Lord, so the early Fathers say[1], used to tell his disciples to be well-proved bankers, proving all things, holding fast what is of value.

 

No coin finds acceptance commercially, if the gold is below standard, underweight, or if the piece is illegally struck; nor can our actions have any value spiritually, unless they are suitable, graced with charity, and have a pious motive.

 

Take fasting, for instance: if I fast simply for the purpose of slimming, my fasting is debased spiritual coinage; if temperance underlies it, but I am not in a state of grace, it is still deficient, for charity alone gives weight to what we do; if I do it merely out of courtesy for the company in which I find myself, it lacks the stamp of right intention.  Let my fasting be based on temperance, my soul in a state of grace, my intention solely to please God – then my efforts will ring true, fit to enlarge my store of charity.

 

Given utmost purity of intention, a firm resolve to please God, little actions are well done; in these circumstances they lead to great holiness.

 

Some people, in spite of eating all they can, remain only skin and bone, weak, listless; their powers of digestion are poor.  Other may eat next to nothing, yet be fit as fiddles, full of energy; nothing is wrong with their digestion.

 

Some folk there are, in the same way, who do many good things, yet have little extra charity to show for it; coldness and carelessness, or instinct and inclination rather than grace or zeal, is where the blame lies.  On the other hand, there are those who accomplish little; so perfect is their will, their intention, however, their growth in charity is enormous.  They have only a little talent; but they make such careful use of what they have that the Lord rewards them for it generously (cf. Mt. 25:21, 23).

 

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[1]  Cf. Book 11, chapter 13.

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