I, Caterina, a useless servant, am in agony with desire as I search the depths of my soul; I grieve and weep when I see and really understand our foolish apathy, our failure to give our love to God after He has given us such great graces with so much love. So, dearest brothers, don’t be thankless and unappreciative, because this could easily dry up the fountain of piety within us. Oh heedless indifferent people! Rouse yourselves from this evil sleep! Let’s go out to receive our King, Who comes to us humble and meek. Oh let us who are proud behold the Master of humility coming to us seated on an ass! For our Savior has told us that one of His reasons for coming on that beast was to show us what our humanity had become by sin, and to show us how we should treat this ass, our humanity. Really, there is no difference between us and this good-for-nothing beast! Because of sin, our reason has become an animal! Oh ancient Truth, you have taught us how we should treat this beast! I want you… to get on top of this ass; master yourselves; be humble and meek. And on what feet shall we get up there, sweetest love? On hatred of apathy and love of virtue.

But let’s do this… the channel is open and flowing; so, since we need to provision the ship of our soul, let’s proceed to provision it there, at the sweetest of channels, the heart and soul and body of Jesus Christ. We will find that this channel flows with so great a love that we will easily be able to fill our souls. So I say to you: don’t be slow to put your eye to this open window. For I assure you that supreme Goodness has prepared the times and the ways for us to do great deeds for Him. This is why I told you to be eager to increase your holy desire, and not to be satisfied with little things, because He wants great things!

He loves, He hopes, He waits. If He came down on our altars on certain days only, some sinner, on being moved to repentance, might have to look for Him, and not finding Him, might have to wait. Our Lord prefers to wait Himself for the sinner for years rather than keep him waiting one instant.

There were only two classes of people who heard the cry that night; shepherds and wise men. Shepherds: those who know they know nothing. Wise men: those who know they know everything. Only the very simple and the very learned discovered God…The simple shepherds heard the voice of an angel and found their Lamb; the wise men saw the light of a star and found their Wisdom.