2025: Striving for Greatness

I was picking berries one day and since I could barely reach the tall Mulberry tree, I had to hold down a branch with one hand and grab the berries with the other. At a certain point a big beautiful and ripe berry fell on the ground and I almost let go of the branch to bend down and pick it up, but decided to hold on to the branch since it was full of other berries. It might sound like a silly comparison, but I immediately reflected on our spiritual life. At times we can get attached to things that are beautiful, holy, attractive, fun, and pleasurable. They might not necessarily lead us to sin but they might take us farther from whatever God has in store for us.

Woman Grasping Fruits, Abraham Brueghel, 1669
Louvre Museum, Paris, France. Public domain.

This opulent composition is a definitive masterwork of the high Baroque, demonstrating Brueghel’s influential role in transforming traditional northern still lifes into theatrical, Italianate spectacles. Painted in Rome and explicitly signed and dated “A. BREUGEL. FECIT ROMA 1669,” the work integrates a classicized female figure into a dense, sprawling abundance of Mediterranean flowers, pomegranates, and figs. By utilizing a rich, luminous color palette and strong chiaroscuro shadows, Brueghel elevates a sensory celebration of natural harvest into a dramatic statement on fertility, luxury, and the fleeting nature of earthly indulgence. 

In over 20 years of conversations with young people who are open to doing God’s will in their lives, I’ve seen so many who grabbed that “attractive piece of fruit” of the moment, for fear of losing it, instead of holding on to the branch (God) that had many more other fruits for them. It was sad to see how many people made choices for fear of being unhappy or because they were afraid of having a harder life but then ended up unfulfilled and unhappy.

My spiritual mother, Chiara Lubich (foundress of the Work of Mary/Focolare Movement) used to quote St. Catherine of Siena: “Don’t be satisfied with little things because He, God, wants great things.” She would emphasize the importance of striving for greatness in one’s life and faith, rather than settling for mediocrity. She used to encourage us young adults saying: “You have only one life, it’s worthwhile spending it well. Don’t be satisfied with little joys; seek the great ones; seek the fullness of joy,” which is the joy that only God can give.

I have to say that joy was one of the characteristics that helped me to take the next step on my discernment journey. I guess my “little joys” at that point were parties, and affections from my many friends and boyfriends, and it was not so simple to let go of those little joys. But after experiencing the fullness of joy that Jesus put in my heart, I never regretted leaving those things behind and moving forward towards what He had planned for me. For one of my friends, that “attractive piece of fruit” was for her consecrated life – she wanted to consecrate herself to God because it was a more perfect state of life, but she later understood that God wanted her fulfillment in marriage life instead.

While it is true that your future is not completely in your control, the choices you make now can greatly impact it. Not just those choices between good and evil, but above all those choices between good things, those fruits of life. Choose what will lead you to holiness and fulfillment in this life; choose what God wants for you. You’ll leave behind a streak of light of witness for others to follow.