The following is an excerpt from Hope for Your Grandchildren: Talking to the Third Generation About What Matters by Stephen Gabriel.
My Dear Grandchildren,
My life story will probably never appear in any book on the lives of the saints. I really don’t expect to be canonized, although, I must say, that is my goal. Every day I struggle to overcome my defects and try to grow in the virtues. I don’t get discouraged. Rather, I take great consolation in Jesus’ words proclaiming that “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Lk 5:32). Jesus sought out sinners for their friendship. So, I fit right in.
Please, don’t ever get discouraged by your sinfulness. When we fall, we can go to the sacrament of mercy, where we unburden our souls and seek our Lord’s forgiveness, which he readily gives.
As followers of Christ, which is exactly what we are as Christians, we must take the message of the Gospels to heart. The Son of God did not become man, spend about three years of his life teaching us to become holy, and then suffer and die an excruciating death on the cross so we can be mediocre Christians.
Jesus reaches out to us and invites us to be his friend. Have we really accepted his invitation? Our friendship with Christ can never really occur unless we have a relationship with him. The only way we can have a relationship with him is to communicate with him. In other words, we have to pray. We have to converse with him. And because he is not simply a friend, but the friend, we have to center our lives on him. He made this very clear to us. He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me” (Jn 14:6). Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean that we all have to live in a monastery. Jesus offers his friendship to everyone—students, husbands, wives, single people, priests, and nuns.
When I was a young man in college, I didn’t have much of a prayer life at all. In fact, I wandered from the Faith for several years. Even so, I recall admiring Muslims whom I saw taking time out during the day to pray. I never for a minute considered converting to Islam. But it seemed to me that they had something right. To me, they appeared to be living their faith. It just made sense. It appeared to be consistent. This is probably why the teaching of St. Josemaría Escrivá appealed to me when I was introduced to Opus Dei early in my marriage.
St. Josemaría Escrivá taught that everyone is called to holiness, including the laity. Of course, this is totally consistent with the gospel message. But that message seemed to be forgotten for a long time prior to St. Josemaría’s emergence on the scene. And, of course, this universal call to holiness was ultimately taught at the Second Vatican Council and is now widely understood, although not widely practiced.
