"Go and Teach"
My particular vocation may be to teach. I ought to rejoice, because it is a beautiful duty.
But if I do not have to teach, I must not think myself dispensed from making Christ known. It may not be in an official and public manner, we grant that, but it will be in a fruitful manner just the same. Elizabeth Leseur has this interesting thought: "Be an influence rather than a profession of Faith." Among her husband's friends there were people of every type of whom a goodly number were unbelievers. To speak of religion might have been both inopportune and what's more ineffectual. Understanding the situation, this great, intelligent woman made the resolution - not to preach Christ - but to spread Christ in an invisible and imperceptible manner. "An influence rather than a profession of faith."
Unless I am officially appointed to do so, it is not my duty to make official exhortations on virtue. It would be a pity, however, if one were afraid to introduce a religious subject among religious souls. I must be careful to do so without being overly solicitous; in any case, my efforts in this respect should not be too apparent, lest I give the impression of trying to convert the community or even a certain person in the community. Tact and discretion are indispensable. There should be zeal, of course, and great zeal, but it must be intelligent and adapted to persons and circumstances.
"An influence rather than a profession of faith" is a fitting motto and a very practical one for me.
This sentence was inscribed on the tombstone of a small child: "Here lies a child whose playmates used to say that it was easier for them to be good when he was with them."
May I exert this influence, O God, without its being perceived and, better still, without my suspecting it.
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Adapted from Meditations for Religious
by Father Raoul Plus, S.J. (© 1939, Frederick Pustet Co.)
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