I feel ashamed at times that I do not profit more by His nearness, but I know that he makes allowances for weak, inconstant nature.

COMMENT: Fr Willie occasionally wrote about what he called the “abuse of grace” – the idea that we fail to profit from all of the graces that God gives us. We are all almost certainly guilty of this failing to one degree or another.

In Ireland, and possibly in other parts of the world as well, May is the month in which children typically receive Holy Communion for the first time. How many times have we received the Eucharist since our First Holy Communion? Most practicing adults will have attended Mass at least hundreds, and probably thousands, of times since receiving the Lord for the first time. Have we profited by His nearness during all of these years? Many of us have already received the Eucharist more frequently than many of the saints did. Is there interior and exterior fruit in our lives that gives testimony to all of that grace that was on offer for us? 

Thankfully it’s never too late. As Fr Willie says, Jesus “makes allowances for weak, inconstant nature”. If we try to profit more from His nearness, we will slowly begin to reform ourselves, and our world.