Meant to Lie Fallow

“It does not matter what kind of task we have, or whether it seems important or not. Our Lord could have brought more tangible results out of his work at once, and made a stir in the world as a whole, but this was not his task. He did only what the Father wanted. Some people have more spectacular tasks than others, but we must not assess the value of our lives in the sight of God by the world’s values. We may not even be meant to use all our talents in this life, for some may be meant to lie fallow, so let us not fret if our lives do not seem to provide us with much opportunity to display them. We only have to do what we are asked, just as our Lord did: He lived in a corner of Palestine, putting up with the scribes and Pharisees. He saw infinite possibilities in his work, but some were left undone during his lifetime because he concentrated everything on doing precisely what the Father wanted.

The only way to glorify God is our Lord’s way. That is, we the adopted children have to become as much like the Only Begotten Son as possible, and so in our own little way reflect the loving relationship of the Son and his Father. We can only do this if we grow in sensitivity to our Father’s will. His will must become our food, as it was for our Lord: it must sustain and nourish us, give us life, knowledge, and love. But it cannot become our real nourishment until and unless we make frequent acts of union with our Father’s will. Thus our wills, through these acts, will become more and more united to his will and endowed with all the perfections of his. Our will too will become wise, faithful, strong, beautiful, just, and, above all, loving, a flame of love.”—Fr. Bonaventure Perquin, from Abba, Father