Reflection before Action
Before beginning any action, we must reflect on how Jesus Christ would think, speak or work in the various circumstances of the day. We must aim at what is most perfect always and in everything. (OOCC, III, p. 42)
St. Vincent Pallotti is a wise person. According to him, every member of his congregation must live his life thoughtfully. A life without reflection can become a meaningless and fruitless one. Therefore, he proposes to every member of his community to reflect seriously before he makes any decision or plan of action. In order to make them reflective persons, St. Vincent proposes the life of Jesus Christ as the fundamental rule of the Society he founded. Keeping the life of Jesus as the ideal, every member of the Society is called to reflect upon, to learn from, and to imitate Jesus’ life. Hence, St. Vincent wants his followers to reflect on what Jesus would have thought, spoken, or done, before they perform any action. When this is done, a person by way of reflection sets before his mind the ideal behavior he needs to follow in his life. Setting an ideal that is based on the life of Jesus to guide a person’s everyday living guarantees him that his thoughts, words, and actions are in agreement with Jesus’ thoughts, words, and actions. As a result, in every situation of his life, a person acts as Christ himself acts, and his actions are as perfect as the actions of Christ. In this way, a life of reflection before action, for St. Vincent, helps a person to not only aim at what is the most perfect in everything, but also to accomplish what is the most perfect always.
Do I live my life thoughtfully? Do I think before I act? Do I accept the life of Jesus as the ideal for my reflection? Do the thoughts, words, and actions of Jesus, guide my thoughts, words, and actions? Do I aim to live a life of perfection?
The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity. (Jas. 3: 17)