Some people have already decided of their own free will that God is not for them.  But for the rest, what begins here as an occasional token dedication of themselves to God must grow into a total dedication of themselves.

For what is true of a plant is also true of human beings as created by God.  What is important is not how old they are, but how far they have grown towards spiritual maturity, and that is reached when a person is wholly devoted to God and has been transformed into the likeness of Christ.

There are some who look back over their youth and with vain regret see how God was kept well out of those years which can never be lived again.  They echo the poignant lament of St Augustine, “Too late have I loved Thee, O Beauty so ancient, yet for ever new!” (2) For the devotion of young people and their joy in having found God when life is fresh and green is particularly acceptable to him and is one of the most attractive features in the life of the Church.

Others, on the other hand, who followed the words of Holy Scripture, “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth” (Ecclesiastes 12:1) and who in their early years were enthusiastic in their love and loyalty to Our Blessed Lord and his Church, now reflect with equal regret on their latter years as they see how far they have slipped and drifted since those far off happy days.

If so, remember what Our Lord has taught us in the Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard, many of whom were called at the eleventh hour (Matthew 20:1-16).  It is never too late to return – though one day it will be.  Now then is the time to begin, or begin again, the habit of prayer and of frequent and devout Communion, for without those two there can be no spiritual growth.  Get into the way of recollecting God’s Presence with you wherever you may be.  Turn to him from time to time in love and gratitude and adoration and receive him regularly and often with a penitent and faithful heart in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.