Be who you are and be it well

Everyone desires fulfillment; at the most basic level of existence this is an expression of desire to love God. This desire may not be articulated in explicitly religious language, but fulfillment ultimately can be found only in love of God. St. Francis de Sales writes in the Introduction to the Devout Life: “It is an error, or rather a heresy, to wish to banish the devout life from the regiment of soldiers, the mechanic’s shop, the court of princes, or the home of married persons…. Wherever we may be, we can and should aspire to a perfect life.”

This is also a central teaching of Vatican II: “All in the Church are called to holiness.”

St. Francis exhibits his usual “inspired common sense” here. If one’s vocation or state in life is God’s will, then this will is centered in the exigencies and duties which cluster around that vocation. His advice is blunt: “Let us be what we are and be it well!”

Whatever we are (spouse, friend, parent, teacher, engineer) let us be the best we can be. Our Christian and human energies must largely be focused on living out our vocation.