“How do you expect them to listen to you”

You run the great risk of being satisfied with living, or thinking that you have to live, "like a good boy", who stays in a cosy and neat house, with no problems, and knowing only happiness. That is a caricature of the home in Nazareth. Because Christ brought happiness and order, he went out to spread those treasures among men and women of all times. (Furrow, 952)

I think it is very natural for you to want the whole world to know Christ. But start with the responsibility of saving the souls who live with you and sanctifying each one of your fellow workers or fellow students. That is the principal mission that the Lord has entrusted to you. (Furrow, 953)

You should behave as if it all depended on you: whether the atmosphere in your place of work is to be one of hard work, cheerfulness, presence of God and supernatural outlook. Why are you so apathetic? If you come across a group at work who are a bit difficult, you lose interest in them. Perhaps they have become difficult because you have neglected them. Yet you throw in the towel and think of them as a dead weight which holds back your apostolic ideals because they do not understand you ... You may love and serve them with your prayer and mortification, but how do you expect them to listen to you if you never speak to them? You will have many surprises in store the day you decide to talk to them one by one. What is more, if you do not change, they will one day be able to point the finger at you and say quite rightly: hominem non habeo - I have no one to help me. (Furrow, 954)

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