St. Catharine of Siena

This is an excerpt from a book I'm reading. I love this book because the chapters are just 2 pages long and beautiful, inspirational messages that remind of the duty which has been given us by God. 

"We ought to be servants because we are bought with his blood. However, I do not see how our service can be profitable to him; therefore, we should be of profit to our neighbor, because the neighbor is the means by which we test and gain virtue. You know that every virtue receives life from love, and love is gained in love, that is, by raising the eye of our mind to behold how much we are beloved of God. Seeing ourselves loved, we cannot do otherwise than love. Loving him, we shall embrace virtue through the force of love, and shall hate vice and turn from it. 

So you see that we conceive virtues through God, and bring them to birth from our neighbor. You are well aware that for the needs of your neighbor you bring forth the child charity from your soul, along with patience with whatever wronds your neighbor does to you. You pray, especially for those who have done you wrong. And this we should do; even if people are untrue to us, we should be true to them, and faithfully seek their salvation; loving them by grace, and not for personal gain. In other words, do not love your neighbor for your own profit, for that would not be faithful love, and you would not be responding to the love God has for you. For as God has loved you by grace, so he wills that since you are unable to return this love to him, you return it to your neighbor, loving him by grace and not, as I already pointed out, as part of a deal. So whether you are wronged or should see that love is withheld or your joy is lessened, you must not be stingy or withhold love toward your neighbor. Instead you should love him tenderly, bear with and endure his faults. Always be reverent toward God's servants and find consolation in them. 

Take care not to behave like mad or foolish people who pretend to investigate and judge the actions and habits of God's servants. Anyone who acts this way deserves a severe rebuke. This would be the same as trying to rein in the Holy Spirit as if we could make all the servants of God walk in our own way - an impossible feat to achieve."