Vigils Reading

MAKING THE MOST OF

UNFAVORABLE CIRCUMSTANCES

By Alessandro Pronzato

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I have always been impressed by this detail: “the night in which he was

betrayed“. In an atmosphere of betrayal, in a climate of tiredness and sleep, in a

difficult situation, while the shadows of suspicion, evil, vileness and fear are

thickening, Christ offers us his supreme gift. The Eucharist is instituted

precisely in the midst of unfavorable circumstances. On that night, men and

women put together a whole collection of damaged goods: opportunism,

sleepiness, dirty business, suspicious alliances, malice, stupidity and

fanaticism. And it is precisely in this gloomy situation, which is the opposite of

encouraging, that Christ gives us the gift of himself as our food.

At the moment – certainly not ideal – when man presents his most hateful

face, Christ “invents” the way to remain always at man’s disposal. At the

moment when man sells him off and abandons him, Christ assures his own

presence at man’s table.

Reflecting on this paradox, it is all too easy to discover a new occupation

for our ordinary days: to take advantage of unfavorable circumstances. We

should not wait to do something or to give our best when certain situations that

we consider “ideal” occur. Instead, look for the less favorable circumstances.

Take advantage of the less opportune moments. Yes, precisely in this paltry

environment, in this impossible climate, in the midst of the most shameless

falsehood and hypocrisy with these unbearable individuals, you are called to do

something good.

If you wait for the ideal superior, the understanding brothers, the work of

your liking, the perfect community, to do something, to fulfill yourself, to

provide your contribution to the common life, you will probably have to remain

unemployed all your life. Take advantage, then, of unfavorable circumstances…

When it seems that everything is going smoothly… a chain of disasters

rains down on you. Precisely then is the “right” moment to sing. When you are

the victim of suspicions, of unfair accusations. You find yourself involved in a

tangle of envy. You are the target of slander. Then it is the “favorable” moment

to build your inner peace. When you taste the bitter taste of disappointment

and ingratitude. You hit a wall of indifference. Then it is the “apt” moment to

offer others something else, something beautiful. When you don’t feel like

praying. You feel distrustful and dry. You have nothing to say to the Lord. You

have so many other things to think about. Then it is the “ideal” time to pray.

Do not miss…these unfavorable occasions. You would find yourself

empty-handed. And others will never receive anything from you. So, do not wait

for extraordinary, exceptional occasions. Tenaciously build your greatness with

the ordinary materials you find at hand… True greatness passes through the

seasons of your ordinary days. If you wait for it at the rendezvous of the

exceptional, you will never see its face.

Work patiently with what you have, with what you are, if you don’t want to

accumulate delays and disappointments. It is the heart you put inside that

makes even the most trivial things great… The choice is, then, between

exclusively ideal situations and situations that are less than ideal at the starting

point, but which open the possibility of encountering, along the way, the

transforming action of God.