We are all weak, I admit, but the Lord places in our hands the means by which we can easily remedy this debility, if we so desire. There are priests who would wish to possess that integrity of life that their state requires, to be continent and lead an angelic life, as their condition demands, but who do not think of employing the means necessary for this: fasting, prayer, avoiding bad company and harmful or dangerous relationships.
Seek to banish distractions
Others complain that when they pray the psalmody or celebrate Mass, a thousand things come to their mind, which distract them from God. But before going to the choir or celebrating Mass, what did they do in the sacristy? How did they prepare? What means did they employ to keep their attention recollected?
Would you like me to teach you how to grow from virtue to virtue and, if you are already attentive in choir, how to be even more so the next time, so that your worship will be more pleasing to God? Listen to what I tell you: if even the smallest spark of divine love burns in you, do not expose it to the wind, but keep the hearth protected so that it may not lose its heat and become cold; in other words, banish distractions as much as possible, remain recollected with God, avoid useless conversations.
Do not forget to care for yourself
Are you dedicated to preaching and teaching? Study and concern yourself with everything needed for the good exercise of this task; seek before all else to preach with your life and your habits, so that people may not observe that you say one thing and do another, and thus scoff at your words, shaking their heads.
Are you employed in the care of souls? Do not as a consequence forget to care for your own, nor give of yourselves so freely to others that nothing remains for you, for you must be mindful of the souls you guide, without being forgetful of yourself.
Know, brothers, that nothing is so necessary for clerics as mental prayer; it should precede, accompany and follow our actions: I will sing the psalms, says the prophet, and I will understand. If you administer the Sacraments, brother, reflect on what you do; if you celebrate Mass, meditate on what you offer; if you recite the psalms in choir, reflect on what you say and to whom; if you direct souls, meditate on the Blood that has washed them, so that everything you do will be done with love. In this way you will easily overcome the innumerable difficulties that we inevitably experience every day, since they are inherent to our state. Thus we will have strength to bring Christ to birth in ourselves and in others.
St. Charles Borromeo
