July 20 Thu
Sanctity and apostolate: To this we have been called, to be God's children and heirs to his glory with Jesus Christ. The early Christians, men and women of the first century, were perfectly clear about this. “From the moment when Jesus Christ said that he was the Way, the Truth and Life, and invited everyone to follow him, there burst forth in the souls of many faithful, right from the earliest times of the Church's life, the desire to make a reality of the search for the evangelical perfection which was practiced by Christ himself as our model: the life of personal holiness and apostolic action.”

“And so, the genuine spirituality of the Gospel started to produce abundant fruits of holiness in every sphere of the pagan society which the early Christians lived in. They were men and women who practiced their faith sincerely, and as a result brought new members into the Church. They worked alongside everyone else, as citizens, if they were citizens... They practiced fraternity to an exquisite degree and dedicated themselves to God and to the spreading of the Good News, in the measure of the gifts they had each received. The result was that the whole of pagan society was Christianized.” St Josemaría

Like the first Christians, we too have received God's call to cooperate with Christ in sanctifying people and institutions here on earth. “God wants each of you, to try to be holy in your own specific circumstances and position in life: this is God's Will, your sanctification. A holiness that will often be hidden – without outward show – but one that is fought for every day, a heroic holiness: to co-redeem with Christ, to save souls with him, to put order with him into all human affairs.”

Thus, personal sanctity: love for God and love for all souls for his sake. If we weren't trying to be closer to our Lord every day, our apostolic efforts would be in vain, and all our external works useless.

Nothing is unimportant in God's eyes: everything is an opportunity for sanctity and apostolate. Everything – no matter how insignificant it may appear – has an eternal value. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Be faithful in the small things because it is in them that you must fight the battle.