Lesson from Fr. Paulus | A Worthy Life Is a Simple Life

 St Dominic Savio's Simple Wisdom

The Christian life has to be simple, because we are all called to be saints. If it were complicated, only the more intelligent of us would even have a chance to become a saint.

But the facts show that even children, even the uneducated and un-intelligent, can reach the very heights of sanctity and lasting happiness.

St Dominic Savio is a perfect example. He lived a simple Christian life, but he lived it so energetically that soon after he died at the young age of 15, he was canonized a saint. Dominic heard the call to the priesthood while just a boy, living in northern Italy in the 1800s.

He was encouraged to join a Catholic boys' school (called an oratory), which was being run by St John Bosco. There he lived a simple boarding school life, but he filled it to the brim with love for God and neighbor. He started a club called The Company of the Immaculate Conception, dedicated to daily prayers and to helping the oratory run smoothly.

Club members volunteered to wash floors, to take care of classmates who were sick or had special needs, and to put up with the discomforts of boarding school life (heat in the summer, cold in the winter, sickness, the bothersome ways of other people) with a spirit of humility and faith - seeing in those discomforts a chance to share in the cross of Christ.

St Dominic used to say, "I can't do big things. But I want all I do, even the smallest thing, to be for the greater glory of God." His personal motto, from the time he received his First Communion at nine-years-old, was equally simple - just three words: "Death before sin!"

That's the kind of simplicity we can all learn from.

Go and Do Likewise

Christ told his questioner in today's Gospel that if he will "Go and do likewise," if he will be like the Good Samaritan, he "will live."

Let's do an experiment this week. Let's erase all the complicated self-help theories from our minds and actually try to follow this simple formula for living a life that is truly alive.

There are two ways we can do that. First, we can carry out our normal, everyday responsibilities with the right intention. Often, we forget that most of our daily duties are actually Good-Samaritan-like deeds.

The mother running a household is being a Good Samaritan for everyone under her care. Every laborer or professional dedicates 8 or 10 hours every day to providing some kind of service for other people who need it.

The kid who is faithful to his chores and his other activities is forming his character and getting ready to go out into the world to serve his neighbors.

When we see our normal responsibilities from Christ's perspective, they take on their true, Good-Samaritan-like meaning. When we live them like that, we experience a deep sense of joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment; our lives suddenly shift into gear, and we feel like we're really going somewhere.

The second way to implement Christ's simple formula is to decide right now, enlightened by the example of this parable and strengthened by the Holy Communion we are about to receive, that when we run across someone in need this week, we will lend them a hand.

Whether friend or stranger, whether the need is material or spiritual, let's promise Jesus today that at least this week we will not just walk by on the other side of the street, but instead we will "Go and do likewise."