“One Thing is Necessary” ~ Catholic Girl’s Guide, Fr. Lasance

by Father Lasance, The Catholic Girl’s Guide

St. Philip Neri was, as everyone knows, very fond of young persons. There came to him on a certain occasion a youth whose face was wreathed with smiles.

“Your Reverence,” he began, “knew me when I was a poor orphan lad, keeping sheep in our village. I have made such progress in my studies that I am quite ready to go to the University of Bologna.”
“Very good, my young friend,” replied the saint with a genial smile, “and then?”
“I shall prosecute my studies with the utmost diligence, until I am able to take a Doctor’s degree.”
“And then?”
“My learning, eloquence and integrity will make my name famous far and near.”
“And then?”
“I shall make my fortune, marry a rich wife, and be held in great consideration by my fellow citizens.”
“And then?”
“Then I shall look forward to a very happy old age.”
“And then?” inquired the saint in a graver tone.
“Then? Then?” repeated the young man, “then I shall have nothing more to do, then—then—I shall die.”

St. Philip Neri fixed his serious eyes upon him, and said once again,

“And then?” The young man remained mute, as if struck by lightning; the solemn words “And then?” sounded continually in his ears.

In your ears also, my dear child, let these words resound. They will serve to strengthen you in the fear of God, they will make you strive more earnestly after true piety, and will constantly remind you of the one thing necessary. And what is this?

“But one thing is necessary. Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Thus spoke Our Lord to Martha. And how had Mary, the sister of Martha, chosen the best part? She sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard His words; that is, she cared more for her soul than for anything else. This therefore is the one thing necessary of which the Savior speaks.

Do you take care of your soul, and see that it suffers no injury, i.e., that it may not be defiled by sin. For, as Our Lord says: “What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul?” Care for your soul earnestly and constantly, with holy fear and humble trust.

Care for your soul with zeal and prudence. On account of its likeness to God it is the most precious, the only really precious thing which you possess. Therefore, you must take at least the same care of it which men generally take of rare and costly things. If you had a good likeness of your beloved father, or of your tender mother, and if, moreover, there were only one copy of this portrait in existence, with what care would you not preserve this treasure, how you would value and prize it!

How great then ought to be the care you take of your precious, your immortal soul, a masterpiece from the Creator’s hand: the image of our heavenly Father Himself! Above all avoid sin, grievous sin, which will deface and destroy the image of God in your soul.

But you must not only strive to preserve the image of God within you with the utmost care; you must also do this without any intermission. To save one’s soul is the work of a whole lifetime, not of a few days or hours.

You began this work in your childhood days, when for the first time you cleansed your soul of its faults and failings by means of confession. You carried on this work in a very special manner on that happy day, the happiest day of your life—I mean the day of your first communion. And you must prosecute this work with unwearied and unceasing diligence until your last breath.

Alas! there are too many unhappy young persons, who instead of making it their constant endeavor to preserve their soul from every spot and stain, deprive it of its most beautiful ornament. I mean chastity. With incredible recklessness they plunge their soul into the quagmire of vice, at the same time indulging the presumptuous hope that they will be able to cleanse it from its defilement at some later period, and thus render it fit for heaven.

Poor, blind creatures! They will probably discover, when it is too late, that he who does not constantly aim at the salvation of his soul too often ends by plunging it into eternal ruin. Guard your soul constantly! Save your soul!

St. Paul says: “With fear and trembling work out your salvation.” And, indeed, who should not fear and tremble where a matter of such infinite importance is concerned, in regard to an undertaking so momentous and so difficult?

The fall of the rebel angels, of our first parents, of David, of St. Peter, ought to teach you how easily you may fall, perhaps fall forever. If lofty cedars have been overthrown, what is to become of a feeble reed! St. Peter says: “If the just man shall scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?”

And if you think of so many young persons, who in childhood were pious and good, but now have given themselves up to sin, and may lose their souls forever, you must surely be filled with fear and trembling!

It is right that you should feel thus; but at the same time you must have a childlike confidence in God, remembering His fatherly love, His infinite goodness. For has He not said that He wills not the death of the sinner, but rather that he should be converted from his ways, and live?

Finally, behold how God Himself has proved, in the person of the Holiest of the holy, how great is His solicitude for your soul, for the souls of all men. Gaze upon Mount Olivet, and you will perceive a Man lying prone upon the ground while a sweat of blood exudes from His pores; follow Him to the court of Pilate; see how He is scourged, spit upon, insulted, and crowned with cruel thorns; accompany Him through the streets of Jerusalem, which He dyes with His blood, until He reaches the summit of Calvary, where He is fastened with nails to the cross.

Listen to His heartrending cry: “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”—see Him bow His head, and give up the ghost. For what end did Our Lord suffer all this? It was in order that our souls might be saved, in order that we might gain heaven.

Your God did all this in order that you might save your soul! Ought you not therefore to strive more earnestly to work out your salvation? Adopt as your own the words of St. Augustine: “Ever since I became aware that my soul was purchased at no less a price than the blood of the Saviour, I resolved to keep it with all care, and never to sell it to the devil by means of one single sin.”

To save my soul, be this the end
To which my hopes, my efforts tend;
My time on earth may I employ
So as to gain eternal joy.

Abandonment means to shut the eyes of your soul in peace, moving your thoughts away from your troubles, and instead of thinking about your worries and pain, let Me take over your troubles. Simply say: Jesus, You take over. To be worried, restless, and to think of the consequences of an event is the opposite of reliance, it is really contrary to it. It is like a child, who wants his mom to take care of his needs, but in the way he wants: and with his whims and childish ideas he hampers her work. Shut your eyes and go with the flow of My grace. Do not ponder over your present moment and put away thoughts of your future as a temptation; rest in Me, believe in My goodness and I swear on My Love. ~ Surrender Novena, by the Servant of God, Fr. Dolindo Ruotolo

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