Hidden and obscure...

"I am only that which I am before God."
--St. Francis of Assisi



"A hidden and obscure life affords great security to those who sincerely desire to love God. Our Divine Master Himself deigned to teach us this by His own example, for He spent three and thirty years in the obscurity of Nazareth and the workshop of a humble carpenter. In imitation of their Divine Model, many saints withdrew into the desert and lived in remote caves to escape the esteem of men. The desire to put ourselves forward and merit the plaudits of men, to be regarded as very successful in our undertakings, is, according to St. Vincent de Paul, an evil which causes us to forget our God; it vitiates our holiest actions and more than anything else impedes our progress in the spiritual life."
--The 12-Steps to Holiness and Salvation (From the works of St.Alphonsus Liguori),[adapted from the German of Rev. Paul Leick by Rev. Cornelius J. Warren, C.SS.R., 1986].

It is difficult to leave 'the world' per se, yet daily, we must find our own desert or cave in which to contemplate our God--looking inward toward Him who Is and abides in us if we seek first Him. We cannot be temples of the Holy Spirit if we are occupied and preoccupied daily with the world in the material sense.
Engage we must this world, that we can be witnesses to the Truth--yet we must have a contemplative life to persevere in this.

All are necessary...

Then will the words that are written be fulfilled: "Death has been swallowed up in victory" 1 Corinthians, 15:54.
Reflection: At the scene of the first murder of Abel by Cain, the soil "opened its mouth" to swallow Abel's blood (Gen.4:10-11). At the scene of the final victory of life, it is death itself that will be "swallowed up in victory."
God is in the business of destroying death, and that is why His people work on behalf of life.
Prayer: Lord, continue to give us consolation amidst a Culture of Death, that this evil will not last forever, but will be swallowed up in victory.
--Fr. Frank Pavone, Pro-Life Reflections for Everyday (2009).

"No single person or group has a monopoly on the defense and promotion of life. These are everyone's task and responsibility."
--Pope John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae (1995).