On Prudence in Works of Love for One’s Neighbor, for the Sake of Peace of Soul

The Lord said in the Gospel that He came ”to cast… fire” of love upon the earth of our heart, and that He greatly desires that this fire “might already be kindled” (Luke 12:49). Love toward God has no measure, just as the beloved God has no limit or boundary. But love toward one’s neighbor must have its own limit and boundary. If you do not keep it within fitting bounds, it can draw you away from love of God, cause you great harm, and plunge you into ruin. Truly, you must love your neighbor, but in such a way that you do not thereby harm your own soul. Do all your works simply and holily, with no other aim than the single one of pleasing God, and this will guard you in works of love toward your neighbor from every false step.

In these works, the most important thing is furthering the salvation of one’s neighbors. But here a zeal not according to knowledge frequently intrudes, bringing nothing but harm both to one’s neighbors and to oneself. Show an example of sincere faith and a God-pleasing life, and you will be, like the apostles, the fragrance of Christ drawing all to follow Him. But do not importune everyone indiscriminately with your word: by doing so you will only disturb your peace both with others and within yourself. Have a fervent zeal and a strong desire that all might come to know the truth in as full a measure as you yourself hold it—to the point of being intoxicated with this wine which God has promised and now bestows on all without price (Isa. 55:1)—maintain such a thirst for your neighbor’s salvation at all times; but it must proceed from love of God and not from unreasoning zeal. God Himself will plant such love for the brethren in your soul once it is detached from everything, and in His own time He will come to gather the fruit from it. Of yourself, sow nothing; but present to God the soil of your heart, cleared of all thorns and thistles, and He will sow upon it such seed as He wills and in such manner as He wills. That seed will bear fruit in its own time.

Remember always that God desires to see your soul detached from everything, in order to unite it with Himself. Leave Him to act in you and do not hinder Him by the intrusion of your own will. Sit without any design for yourself except one alone—always to please God by submitting to His will. Behold, the Master of the house has already gone out and seeks laborers for His vineyard, according to the Gospel parable. Lay aside all care and all thought, strip yourself of every anxiety about yourself and every attachment to anything temporal, and God will clothe you with Himself and grant you that which you cannot even conceive of. Forget yourself, as much as you are able, altogether; and let only love of God live in your soul.

Alongside this, you must with prudence moderate the ardor of your zeal for others, so that the Lord may preserve you in peace and quietness of soul. Take care that your soul suffer no loss in its chief good—the peace of the heart—through unreasonable anxiety about the benefit of others. The source from which you can draw enrichment in this good is the full submission of your soul to God, with detachment from everything. And do this not in expectation of reward: never keep in your mind at all the thought that you are doing anything worthy of such reward. God acts in all things, and from you He desires nothing except that you humble yourself before Him and surrender your soul to Him, free from all that is earthly, holding in the depth of your heart one desire alone: that the will of God be fulfilled in you in all things and through all things.