We can readily see that there is a purer quality in kindness. A solicited gift pleases our neighbor, no doubt, but far less than an unasked-for gift or mark of consideration; such a present, such a consideration or attention is a double present, a double consideration, a double attention.
It always costs to ask for something, often far beyond the value of the thing obtained. Therefore he who is truly kind foresees the request and is thus doubly generous. His kindliness has a radiance of a particular quality.
Our kindliness reaches its height when we exercise it in regard to those who are less appealing. St. Therese of the Child Jesus wrote in her autobiography:
"Formerly, a holy nun of our community was a constant source of annoyance to me....Unwilling to yield to my natural antipathy, I remembered that charity ought not merely to exist in the heart but also to show itself in deeds; so I endeavored to treat this Sister as I should my most cherished friend. Whenever I met her I prayed for her, at the same time offering to God her virtues and her merits....I did not rest satisfied with praying earnestly for the Sister who gave me such occasions for self-mastery, but I tried also to render her as many services as I could; and when tempted to make a disagreeable answer, I made haste to smile and change the subject of conversation....When this temptation was particularly violent, if I could slip away without her suspecting my inward struggle, I would run like a deserter from the battlefield. The outcome of all this was that she said to me one day, with a beaming countenance: 'Tell me, Soeur Therese, what it is that attracts you to me so strongly? I never meet you without being welcomed with your most gracious smile?'"_________________
Adapted from Meditations for Religious
by Father Raoul Plus, S.J. (© 1939, Frederick Pustet Co.)
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