Seeking God’s Most Holy Will
I, acting in secret and without reward, ask only that His [God’s] most holy will be done. I intend to perform the same act in all the things I would like to do, but cannot. (OOCC, X, p. 93; STA, 114)
St. Vincent Pallotti, like Christ, always sought to accomplish the will of God. Living a life whose main aim was to do the most holy will of God, meant for him that in everything he did, he constantly preferred what God wanted of him rather than what he wished to do. In other words, seeking God’s will implied, on the part of St. Vincent, a perpetual self-denial. Thus, in all circumstances of his life, he had to say ‘no’ to the diverse tendencies of himself, whenever they stood up against God’s plan for him. Besides, seeking the will of God meant that he always acted without anyone noticing what he was doing. Thus, St. Vincent Pallotti sought to do the will of God in secret and without expecting any reward. Hence, he accomplished the will of God with the purest motive. Even when, for some unavoidable reason, he was not able to do an act which he believed was God’s will for him, at least he intended and desired to do that particular act because of the love of God. In this way, St. Vincent’s food, indeed, was to do the will of God.
Do I, like St. Vincent Pallotti, always seek to do the will of God? Am I ready to say ‘no’ to my will in order to do the will of God? Do I have the pure motive of doing the will of God in secret and without expecting any reward? Do I have the intention and desire to do God’s will, though I am not able to do it in a particular situation for some reason?
Don’t work hard only when your master is watching and then shirk when he isn’t looking; work hard and with gladness all the time, as though working for Christ, doing the will of God with all your hearts. (Eph. 6: 6-7)