So what’s your spiritual horizon like, Jeff,” his mentor asked.
“Oh, I want to be an engineer!” Jeff had heard ‘professional’ instead of spiritual.
His mentor didn’t correct him immediately and added, “…and after that?”
“Hmmm, maybe I can go to some business school and…,” Jeff started thinking.
“And afterwards?”
“…perhaps, my own business…have a family…kids…,” the student couldn’t add more.
“So if that is your professional trajectory, what would your spiritual goal be?” His mentor followed up the original question delicately.
“Spiritual…?” Jeff gave his mentor a long and pensive look.
“…so what will it be?” His mentor broke through the mantle of his thoughts.
“I guess, to go to Heaven?”
“So how are you going to go about it?”
“Uuuh… Pray?”
“That’s good, but pray for what?” His mentor helped him to be more concrete.
“…to go to Heaven?”
“Okay, but that sounds like going in circles, doesn’t it?”
“So, like how should it be?”
“I know that going to Heaven isn’t as simple as choosing and getting on a bus to go to a specific place. But as much as this might sound crazy, going to Heaven is something we can actually achieve easily here and now.”
“Heaven now? Don’t we have to die first?” Jeff asked.
“Yes, to die and in God’s grace,” his mentor added.
“So how can that be?”
“Let’s go back to the things you were dreaming about of becoming one day,” the mentor said.
“But first I have to get good grades and graduate, right?”
“Precisely! But there’s an element of time involved in everything we want to achieve in this life.”
“An element of time?”
“I mean that everything we ambition for is always set for a future time,” his mentor started nibbling on his sandwich. He slowly chewed as though trying to extract some ideas from his lunch.
“Heaven too?”
“Yes, but unlike earthly ambitions and goals, we can somehow already touchland in heaven!”
“How?” Jeff was all ears.
“Because Jesus said so.”
“Like where?”
“Do you remember when He said that whoever eats His Body and drinks His blood has eternal life?”
“So…?”
“Don’t you see, Jesus says HAS, and not WILL HAVE. He’s telling us that in some mysterious way, we are already living eternal life, but not yet as it is.
“That’s amazing!”
“True, but what’s more amazing is that unlike earthly goals, you can already be great before God now. To be an engineer, a doctor or a lawyer will take some years to achieve. But when we are empowered by God’s grace, and especially through the Mass, we can already do and offer great things to God without waiting for years to pass.”
“Awesome!” Jeff’s almost choked on his cheeseburger.
“Yep, it is indeed awesome. But unfortunately many do not realize this wonderful celestial panorama. They continue to live within a flat earthly perspective thinking that spiritual concerns are something they will attend to later someday, perhaps, when they are old and retired.”
“I wouldn’t want to wait that long,” Jeff remarked.
“Indeed, neither would I,” his mentor agreed.
“But how exactly can one do something great before God when nothing extraordinary happens to us every day?”
“Men do not become engineers, doctors and lawyers overnight. They have to wait to gain their degree before they can exercise their profession. Saints on the other hand, can already become great before God when they do what is expected of them.”
“So every moment for a Christian can become a great one?”
“Yes and unfortunately no for some who choose to rebel against God’s will,” the mentor lamented.
“Now I get it!” Jeff suddenly realized.
“What…?”
“That’s why you asked me to read those points from The Way of St. Josemaría!”
The mentor gave Jeff an affirmative smile.
“Now everything is becoming clearer to me. For example in one point he says: ‘Many great things depend -don’t forget it- on whether you and I live our lives as God wants.’ And in another, ‘Great’ holiness consists in carrying out the ‘little duties’ of each moment.’ These two seem to conclude in the last one you pointed out: ‘Great souls pay much attention to little things.’
“I’m glad things are taking shape in you now.”
“But could you give me some idea of what little things I could accomplish to become great before God?”
“That’s easy. What about getting up on the dot in the morning, fixing your bed, sorting out your own laundry, cutting down on junk food, doing more exercise, coming home on time, listening less to your playlist… Shall I go on?”
Jeff shrugged his shoulders. “I guess I just have to learn how to be small again to do great things.”
“Small, but with a heart with a great love.”