In a previous chapter of  Flexo,  we discussed the beginning of point 815 of The Way, which begins with a direct question: “Do you truly want to be a saint?” The answer is clear and brief: “Fulfill the small duty of each moment. Do what you must, and be faithful to what you do.”

This chapter delves deeper into the second part of that phrase. Holiness does not consist in performing extraordinary works, having mystical experiences, accumulating training, or achieving outstanding evangelizing effectiveness. It is simply fulfilling what we must at every moment and doing it with full attention and love. It may seem like little, but it is everything.

Do what you must

“Doing what you ought” doesn’t mean living under an endless list of obligations, but rather responding to what God proposes to us in each moment: whether easy or difficult, pleasant or painful. This is the core of Christian discernment: recognizing God’s will in specific circumstances.

Discernment has different levels:

• Key moments in life, such as choosing a vocation or career.

• Important, but not final, decisions, such as accepting a job or choosing where to spend your vacation.

• Daily discernment, which consists of discovering God’s will throughout the day in the little things: the weather, a setback, a joy or a difficulty.

Christ’s lifestyle was based on this attitude: listening to the Father and responding affirmatively. The Gospel illustrates this on numerous occasions, such as at the wedding at Cana, where he acts not according to his own plan, but because the time has come according to God’s will.

The commandment, Deuteronomy reminds us, is close at hand: in the people and circumstances around us. Christian discernment consists in not “passing by” like the priest and the Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan, but rather in heeding what God proposes in each situation.

It’s in what you do

It’s not enough to simply do it: you have to do it with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. It’s not a question of doing it mechanically, but of putting your whole person into it. As the Norwegian writer Jon Fosse explains about literature, form and content must coincide; in the Christian life, action and love must go hand in hand.

Saint Josemaría Escrivá summed it up this way: “People of the Work strive not to work, but to love.” Their outward action may seem the same as anyone else’s, but the inner driving force is different: it is love for God. And this love can be experienced in work, in conversation, in prayer, or in rest.

Holiness, then, is a way of walking: doing what we must and being in what we do. In this way, we illuminate the world, console God, and radiate a joy that attracts others, like the light of fireflies in the night.

The example of Mary

The Virgin Mary perfectly embodies this teaching. She did not perform works that were conspicuous to the world. If we were to ask her how she became the Mother of God, she would answer simply: “I did what I had to do, and I was doing what I did.”

In difficult times, Saint Teresa of Jesus said, “These are difficult times, times of saints.” The answer is not fear or complaint, but personal commitment: to be light in the midst of darkness, starting with the simplest and most constant things.