Saint Josemaria
Quotations from Saint Josemaria

Here I am!

Tags: The Way, Faithfulness, books, calling
As Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:18

"Proclaim the Good News. .. I shall be with you...". It is Jesus who has said this... and he has said it to you. (The Way, 904)

Why don't you give yourself to God once and for all..., truly..., now? (The Way, 902)

Say to him: ‘ecce ego quia vocasti me! — Here I am, for you have called me!’ (The Way, 984)

Foster and preserve that noblest of ideals just born within you. Consider how many flowers blossom in the spring and how few are those that grow into fruit. (The Way, 987)


You will find yourself free

Constancy that nothing can shake. That’s what you need. Ask God for it, and do what you can to obtain it: for it is a great safeguard against your ever turning from the fruitful way you have chosen. (The Way, 990)

Discouragement is an enemy of your perseverance. If you don't fight against discouragement you will become pessimistic first, and lukewarm afterwards. Be an optimist. (The Way, 988)

To begin is easy; to persevere is sanctity. Let your perseverance not be a blind consequence of the first impulse, the work of inertia: let it be a reflective perseverance. (The Way, 983)

You cannot 'rise again'. It's not surprising: what a fall! Persevere and you will rise up. Remember what a spiritual writer has said: your poor soul is like a bird whose wings are caked with mud. It takes sunshine from heaven and personal efforts, small and constant, to shake off those inclinations, those vain fancies, that depression: that mud clinging to your wings. And you will find yourself free. If you persevere, you will 'rise again'. (The Way, 991)


Fall in Love, and you will not leave him

“My enthusiasm is gone”, you write. You have to work not out of enthusiasm but out of Love; mindful of your duty, which means self-denial. (The Way, 994)

And what is the secret of perseverance? Love. Fall in Love, and you will not leave him. (The Way, 999)

Unshakable, that is what you must be. If your perseverance is shaken by other people's weaknesses or by your own, I cannot help forming a poor opinion of your ideal. Make up your mind once and for all. (The Way, 995)

You are right. 'The peak' — you told me — 'dominates the country for miles around, and yet there is not a single plain to be seen: just one mountain after another. At times the landscape seems to level out, but then the mist rises and reveals another range that had been hidden.'
So it is, so it must be with the horizon of your apostolate: the world has to be crossed. But there are no ways made for you. You yourselves will make them through the mountains with the impact of your feet. (The Way, 928)

Absence, isolation: trials for your perseverance.
Holy Mass, prayer, sacraments, sacrifices, Communion of Saints: weapons to conquer in the trial. (The Way, 997)


The water-wheel donkey

Oh blessed perseverance of the donkey that turns the water-wheel! Always the same pace. Always the same circles. One day after another: every day the same. Without that, there would be no ripeness in the fruit, nor blossom in the orchard, nor scent of flowers in the garden.
Apply this thought to your interior life. (The Way, 998)


Read these counsels slowly. Pause to meditate their meaning. They are things that I whisper in your ear, as a friend, as a brother, as a father. We shall speak intimately; and God will be listening to us. (The Way, Prologue)

From the book The Way by Josemaria Escriva