God: The Beginning and End of All Actions
In all my actions … I intend that there be no other beginning or end than God alone, even in those actions that are called indifferent. (OOCC, X, p. 27; STA, 40)
St. Vincent Pallotti recognized God as the beginning and end of all his actions. In other words, for him, God is the origin and culmination of everything he did. He always attempted to perform his actions motivated by this truth. As a result, before he thought of performing any action, he looked towards God as the starting point of his actions. Similarly, while the action was executed and reached its termination, he fell back on God, in whom this act gets its completion. The attitude of looking up to God before, during and after an action is performed, made St. Vincent do every action with the mind of God. His thoughts became similar to that of God; his will always chose those actions that were corresponding to the will of God; his sentiments were like that of God; and his mode of action resembled that of God. As a result, there was hardly any selfishness in the actions St. Vincent performed. He never performed any action for his own satisfaction or pleasure. But his actions were done with the purest motivation. His actions were always aimed at bringing greater good to the other and greater honor to God. Spending his whole life for the twin purposes of the glory of God and the good of all God’s creatures helped St. Vincent to accept God as the beginning and end in his everyday living.
Do I recognize God as the beginning and end of my life? Do I perform my actions looking up to God as their origin and culmination? Do I accomplish everything having God’s thoughts, his sentiments and his mode of action? Do I perform actions for my personal satisfaction or pleasure? Do I perform every action with the purest intention?
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the Ending of all things”, says God, who is the Lord, the All-powerful One, who is, and was, and is coming again. (Rev. 1:8)