There is a Latin saying, widely used among Jesuits, that is close to my heart: "Age quod agis." Loosely translated, it means "Do what you're doing." The phrase is an encouragement to commit yourself fully to whatever task is at hand; but more than that, it can be taken as an instruction to thrive within your present circumstances instead of longing for or worrying about the future. To do well whatever assignment God has currently given you. Or, to use a modern equivalent, bloom where you're planted.
This is challenging, especially when your present situation is difficult or even painful, or if you are looking forward to a new chapter that hasn't arrived yet. I am thankful to be writing from the second perspective, but I have many friends and family members who are currently experiencing the first.
I often find myself wishing God would work faster. I struggle to embrace the in-between times, especially when I know something good is on its way. Like our son, who will be born in two months. Suddenly I am tempted to be discontent, to take my eyes off all of the blessings in front of me right now. Worse still, it becomes all too easy to neglect the people and tasks currently entrusted to my care. It's hard to love fully without being present in the moment. When my eyes and my heart are fixed on something that has not arrived yet, they aren't available for the ones who need me today: family, friends and even strangers I might meet who could use a kind word.
The phrase also speaks to me about obedience and discerning God's will on a daily basis. How can I know if I am fulfilling God's expectations of me on any given day? Father Walter Ciszek, a priest arrested and imprisoned in Russia during World War II, dealt with this same uncertainty during his long period of captivity in prisons and labor camps. He felt cut off from opportunities to serve God in the ways he had expected to, mainly to serve as a priest in a community and minister to the Russian people, whose faith was constantly under attack from the Soviet government and who he felt a special calling to serve.
Ciszek ultimately realized that God had already placed him exactly where he was intended to be at that time, even if it was far from his own desires and plans. To truly serve God, he had to overcome his fixation on what might have been and refocus on what actually was. When he did, he found that even in such a seemingly hopeless situation he was able to help those around him, often by holding clandestine Masses for fellow prisoners within the labor camp. I recommend his memoirHe Leadeth Me to any interested in a wonderful example of perseverance in faith.
The young saint Aloysius Gonzaga, who lived in the 1500s, by all accounts also embraced God's will in his life as it manifested in the everyday. Once, while playing soccer, he was asked by a companion, "Brother, if you knew you were to die just now, what would you do?" Instead of the pious answer we might expect, he replied, "I would continue playing because at this moment, it is the will of God for me." For me, this short vignette also illustrates the fact that God's will does not only consist of opportunities to serve but also includes the call to enjoy. We glorify God when we savor and take pleasure in his gifts, much like such appreciation would delight a doting human father.
I hope that you and I can learn to practice this brand of everyday holiness, grow in faith and find fulfillment simply by being ourselves right where God has put us.
