Dominican Life_Joret_OCR_CK.pdf - the Catholic Kingdom!

26 DOMINICAN LIFE
assumed ;
the religious vows we have taken ;
the Profession
we have made to follow the Rule of the Third
Order : these and countless other less important circumstances
differentiate our state of life and thereby diversify
the positive schedule of our duties. In addition to the
duty which is incumbent on all the human race, there
are particular differences according to the different
states of life in which men are placed.
Dominican Tertiaries,
for instance, constitute one of these states.
And in each state, however lowly it may be, there are
still as
many differences as there are individuals
differences which arise primarily from the interior condition
of each one. In every soul, when grace reaches
a certain level, and when love attains a certain strength,
they tend by virtue of their actual vitality to produce
acts corresponding to their power. If I fail to perform
these acts when the occasion presents itself and I have
no reasonable motive to justify their omission, I am to
that extent escaping from the pursuit of the supreme
life from the
goal, I am withdrawing a little of my
attraction of the great end, I am ceasing to concentrate
upon it as I ought. Even if the act set before me
is to be regarded as of counsel rather than of precept,
I must not disregard it, once my conscience shows me
that it is right
present time.
for me in the state in which I am at the
"
Quench not the Spirit," says St. Paul.
Individual duty may be modified from one day to
another. An omission which was formerly justifiable,
and was consequently not a venial sin, might be culpable
to-day because my heart has grown larger. I am like
a traveller who started out on his journey when he was
still a child. Naturally enough, he covers more ground
when he has grown to manhood. He advances in proportion
to the length of his legs. I must love God with
all my heart. And if
my heart is more capable of love
than in the past, it
ought to love more and give evidence
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