This detachment must be effective, with well-defined results that are not achieved without sacrifice. It must also be natural and discreet, as befits Christians who live in the middle of the world and who must use goods as tools for work or in apostolic tasks. It is a **positive detachment**, because all earthly things appear ridiculously small and insufficient compared to the immense and infinite good we seek to attain. It is also **internal**, affecting our desires; **actual**, because it requires frequent examination of where we have placed our heart and taking concrete steps to ensure interior freedom; and **joyful**, because our eyes are fixed on Christ—an incomparable good—and because it is not a mere deprivation, but spiritual wealth, mastery over things, and fulfillment.
Detachment is born from the love of Christ and, at the same time, makes it possible for this love to grow and live. God does not dwell in a soul full of trinkets. Therefore, a steadfast labor of vigilance and interior cleansing is necessary. This time of Lent is very appropriate for examining our attitude toward things and toward ourselves:
* Do I have unnecessary or superfluous things?
* Do I keep a record or control of my expenses to know how I invest my money?
* Do I avoid everything that signifies luxury or mere whim, even if it is not so for someone else?
* Do I habitually practice almsgiving to needy people or apostolic works with generosity, without stinginess?
* Do I contribute to the support of these works and the worship of the Church with a contribution proportionate to my income and expenses?
* Am I attached to the things or instruments I must use in my work?
* Do I complain when I do not have what is necessary?
* Do I lead a sober life, proper to a person who wants to be holy?
* Do I make useless expenses out of haste or lack of foresight?
The detachment necessary to follow the Lord closely includes, in addition to material goods, **detachment from ourselves**: from health, from what others think of us, from noble ambitions, and from professional triumphs and successes.
> "I am also referring (...) to those pure illusions, with which we seek exclusively to give all glory to God and praise Him, adjusting our will to this clear and precise norm: Lord, I want this or that only if it pleases You, because if not, why should it interest me? Thus, we deal a mortal blow to selfishness and vanity, which slither through every conscience; meanwhile, we achieve true peace in our souls, with a detachment that culminates in the possession of God, ever more intimate and more intense."
Are we detached in this way from the fruits of our labor?
Christians should possess things as if they possessed nothing. Saint Gregory the Great says that "he possesses, but as if he possessed nothing, who gathers everything necessary for his use, but cautiously foresees that he must soon leave it behind. He uses this world as if he did not use it, who disposes of what is necessary to live, but does not let it dominate his heart, so that all of it serves, and never diverts, the good progress of the soul, which tends toward higher things."
**Detachment from physical health.** "I considered how much it matters not to look at our weak disposition when we understand the Lord is being served (...). What are life and health for, if not to lose them for such a great King and Lord? Believe me, sisters, things will never go wrong for you by following this path."
Our hearts are for God, because they were made for Him, and only in Him will they satisfy their longing for happiness and the infinite. "Jesus is not satisfied with 'sharing': He wants it all." All other pure and noble loves that constitute our life here on earth—each according to the specific vocation received—are ordered and nourished in this great Love: Jesus Christ our Lord.
"Lord, You who love innocence and restore it to those who have lost it, draw our hearts to Yourself and set them ablaze with the fire of Your Spirit."
HCD