Christ-centered Activity: The Heart of Christian Life
Let my whole life be destroyed. May the life of Jesus Christ be my life. (OOCC, X, p. 618; STA, 270)
Every activity of a Christian must be centered on Christ. If Christ- centeredness is missing in Christian life, it becomes empty and meaningless. Hence, Christ-centered activity is the heart of Christian life. St. Vincent Pallotti, realizing this truth, attempted to perform every activity of his life centered on Christ. He took the life of Jesus as his model in everything he did. The life of Jesus provided for him the topics of his meditations. Every study project he undertook, whether it was secular or religious in nature, was aimed at bringing glory to God through Christ. Any apostolic task he embarked upon for the enrichment and growth of the Church was meant to beget the glory and honor of Jesus, the Lord. The prayer of St. Vincent was always centered on the prayer of Jesus, as he always prayed through and in the name of Jesus. His conversations with others always manifested the sympathy and concern of Christ for the poor and the needy. The various works of mercy he was engaged in also manifested the very charity Jesus showed towards the poor in his merciful acts. In this way, Christ-centeredness was the marked quality that we find in the personal, relational and apostolic life of St. Vincent Pallotti.
Is my Christian life Christ-centered? Are the various activities that I perform each day in the personal, relational and apostolic aspects of my life done with the motive of bringing glory and honor to God through Christ? Do I realize that my activities are fruitless unless they are Christ- centered?
As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, rooted in him and built upon him and established in the faith as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. (Col. 2: 6-7)