Reborn through baptismal waters as a child of God and a living temple of the Trinity, every member of the faithful is a light in the darkness of the world and a member of the Church Militant, battling to establish Christ’s Kingdom on earth. Each of us, therefore, has a unique, irreplaceable and magnificent vocation within the immense framework of creation!
We ought to fulfil this vocation with love, pride and complete dedication, for the greater glory of God. However, it may happen that someone, instead of thanking the Creator for the mission he has mercifully received, should instead complain: “I do not feel called to anything… Poor me! I have been cast aside by God…”
Such a thought arises not because the person is lacking an important role to play, but rather because he would prefer to follow other paths which, despite being opposed to God’s will, are more appealing to his pride…
With the aim of warning his spiritual children against this dangerous state of spirit, in a lecture given in the 1980s, Dr. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira converted an idea set out in a book by the French writer Edmond Rostand into an interesting metaphor, which we will attempt to reproduce in this article.
Letters and souls
Have you ever analysed a drop cap, dear reader? The opening of a chapter is undoubtedly an important part of a book, and for this reason it is often emphasized with a distinctive character that gives that text the prominence and emphasis it deserves. When rendered with elegance and exquisite craftsmanship, the illuminated initial resembles certain souls called upon by the Creator to initiate historical periods, to change the course of world events or to be a kind of hyphen between a past and future era.
Abraham, patriarch of the chosen people and father of the righteous of the Old and New Covenants; Moses, who spoke face to face with the Lord like a friend (cf. Ex 33:11); and David, the prophet-king from whose descendants the awaited Messiah was born, are examples of “initial” souls who made particularly important contributions to the realization of the divine plan. The Apostles, the Fathers of the Church, the Popes and many founders also became “sculpted lettering” on the pages of Church and human history.
However, next to the striking illuminated initial, it is normal to find simple and discreet lower case letters. The disproportion of this combination – sometimes even shocking – could not be more symbolic: how often might not the sacrifice of small and inconspicuous, but generously sacrificial souls be a decisive factor in sustaining great vocations?
They pass unnoticed to human eyes, as if hidden in the shadow of the huge “letters” they admire; but they shine with incomparable brilliance before God, who knows them individually and cherishes them as rare treasures. In this way they fulfil God’s plan, according to which souls with greater callings stimulate and give purpose to lesser ones, each being, in its own way, a necessary complement for the fulfilment of the other’s mission.
Another significant characteristic of letters is that some have meaning on their own or modify a noun; most of them, however, only have real meaning when joined together with other letters to form words. This detail can illustrate two realities: that of souls who are placed by God in situations where they have to lead the way for a group with their good example; and that of those who need to unite themselves with others to achieve a certain goal.
The “little things” are always big
Having finished the chapter on letters, other characters, which are also very important, now enter the scene: punctuation marks and symbols.
For our generation, so accustomed to lazy abbreviations, slang, emoticons and so many other aberrations that have become commonplace in today’s communication, these special characters may seem superfluous. For example, many show disdain for the use of the comma. They view it with indifference and, at best, take a breath when they notice its presence; but any further concern for it is out of the question. The period is also frequently overlooked…
It is true that a period does not fill a page in a book, nor does a comma open a chapter. However, when misused, these signs can alter the meaning of a text or even make it ambiguous. How many lawsuits have been lost because a period or a comma was used improperly in a contract! In fact, when missing or out of place, they are capable of rendering even the most ornate illuminated initial useless, whereas, when in their proper place, they contribute to the good presentation of the entire chapter.
These small signs are can stand for the apparently modest roles that we are all called upon, at times, to fulfil. They are occasions when we must be faithful in the “little things”, otherwise we will end up being unfaithful in the big things in our lives (cf. Lk 16:10).
Neither mediocre nor proud…
Applying this metaphor to the concrete lives of his followers, Dr. Plinio concluded: “Sometimes we are put in the position, in the course of our lives, to play the role of an illuminated initial, and we have to know how to do it; sometimes it falls to us to be the capital letter of a sentence, and we must do it; sometimes we are called upon to take the role of a simple lower case letter, or even a period or a comma! Now, a text is composed of all these elements. […] So we have to know how to be a period, a comma, a symbol, a lowercase or uppercase letter, or an illuminated initial; and we have to represent them in the splendour appropriate to each one!”1
In fact, dear reader, can you imagine what would happen to a text in which some characters were seized with a disordered desire for independence and decided to separate themselves from the words to which they belonged in order to live “their own life”? There would be astonishing mutilations and gaps that no one could understand!
Let it not happen to us that, feeling called to fight in bold battles, we refuse the role of being a “capital letter” out of mediocrity and end up being an ink blot on the pages of history… Or again, when we perceive that we are being used as a “period” in a given circumstance, let us not wish, instead – with no other merit than our pride – to outshine even the most beautiful illuminated initial. For we will only be characters worthy of appearing in the great Book of Life if we know how to serve well any of the roles presented to us by Providence, at the time and place He determines. Otherwise, we will be useless!
Let us do God’s will!
It may be that you will never look at a text in the same way again…
However, if at the end of reading this article you simply ask yourself “Which letter am I?”, then I am sorry to tell you that you have completely missed the point.
The correct question that every soul should ask itself – not just now, but at all times – is this: “What letter does God wish me to be in His book today?”
Then we will all be in our proper places, completing and embellishing the Creator’s work! ◊
Notes
1 CORRÊA DE OLIVEIRA, Plinio. Conference. São Paulo, 23/1/1985.
