“Pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience and gentleness.” (1 Tim 6:11)

How can we succeed in living all these virtues in our daily life?

Perhaps it seems difficult to practice them one by one. Why not then live the present moment in a radical way?

If one lives the present in the will of God, God lives in that person. If God dwells in him or her, then love is alive in them.

Whoever lives in the present, as the different circumstances require, is then patient, persevering, gentle, poor, and merciful, because that person possesses love in its highest and purest form. That person truly loves God with their whole heart, soul and strength.

He or she is enlightened from within, guided by the Holy Spirit and, therefore, he does not judge nor think evil. He loves his neighbor as himself, and has the audacity to live the Gospel challenge of “offering the other cheek,” and “going two miles….”

“Pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience and gentleness.”

This advice was addressed to Timothy, Paul’s faithful collaborator, traveling companion and friend, who was so trustworthy as to become like a son to him.

“But, as a man of God, you must avoid all that,” the apostle wrote to him after having condemned pride, envy, fighting, and attachment to wealth.

He then invited him to strive to live a life in which human and Christian virtues shine forth.

In these words, we can hear an echo of the commitment we assumed at baptism to renounce evil (“avoid”) and to pursue good (“strive”). The Holy Spirit is behind this radical transformation, giving us the capacity and the strength to live out Paul’s teaching:

“Pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience and gentleness.”

The experience lived out by the initial group of young girls who started the Focolare in Trent, back in 1944, may help us understand how we can live this Word of Life, above all, living love, patience, and gentleness.

It was not always easy to love the others in a radical way. Among us, too, in our relationships with one another, at times some dust would settle down, and our unity would languish. This happened, for example, when we noticed the defects and faults of the others and we judged them, weakening that current of love among us.

In order to resolve this situation, one day we thought of making a pact among us and we called it the “pact of mercy.”

Every morning, we determined to see every neighbor that we met—in Focolare, at school, at work, and so forth—as new, totally new, no longer remembering their defects at all and covering everything over with love. This meant approaching everyone with total amnesty in our hearts, with this universal forgiveness.

It was a strong commitment that we all took together, which helped us to be the first to love as much as possible, following the example of the merciful God who forgives and forgets.

“Pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience and gentleness.” Text by Chiara Lubich