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USE OF FREE TIME
BY day for which the Rule or the Customs prescribe nothing particular. You may then occupy
yourself as you wish, provided your occupation is useful; but you
should never be idle. This is the proper time to take notes on
readings, to make a resume of the Exhortations, to read this Manual
or any of the books assigned for your use; in fine, you may do that
which, without passing the limits assigned to Religious, is now or
may be later on, useful to you.
Time is one of the most
admirable of God's gifts. If you appreciate it at its just value,
you will never consent to lose the least moment. Ah! those
unfortunate souls who suffer in the other life, only to expiate
their bad use of time on earth, how faithfully and profitably would
they employ even the shortest moments, were they again granted them!
A Religious would be still more culpable on this point, for in
consecrating yourself to God, you have consecrated every moment of
your life to Him; to waste time, then, would be to withdraw your
offering and to dissipate a good which is in your hands only to
fructify for the glory of God.
In the course of your day there are times of which Obedience
disposes, and there are others the disposal of which is in your own
hands. It is these latter which one is most disposed to waste. You
might think it would be better if Obedience assigned some occupation
for every instant in the day; but, besides that, this constraint
would, without doubt, fatigue the mind and dry the heart, you would
never learn what is of the utmost importance for your life, the art
of putting to profit the many hours the Institute will leave to your
discretion.
A good use of time requires three conditions: First, that you
have a definite object in view to which you constantly tend.
Incalculable is the amount of time lost by those who fly from
occupation to occupation, without any set method. Second, in the
choice you make, you must ever prefer advancement in the spirit of
your Vocation to every other satisfaction, even spiritual, which you
can find. The Third is, to be able to profit by the least moment at
your disposal. Some people commence nothing, if they see not whole
hours before them. The contrary habit is the one you must acquire.
The smallest and most scattered moments you can utilize; now look
for a word, now read a few lines, now consult an author, then return
a book, dust your desk and a thousand other things which would
consume more precious time. Those numerous volumes with which St. Alphonsus Liguori has enriched the Church are all the fruit of
little moments which he had vowed never to lose. |
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