“If man knew how much he could gain in a single day, his heart would be filled with joy as soon as he woke up, knowing that a new day had dawned in which he could praise God and multiply his reward to His glory, and he would be encouraged and strengthened throughout the day for whatever he had to do or endure” (St. Mechthild of Hackeborn).
What a wonderful way to start a new day and a wonderful remedy for laziness and gloomy moods upon awakening!
The important thing is that we immediately lift up our hearts to our Heavenly Father to fill us with such motivation in the new day that dawns. It is His day, and He makes us partakers of it. It is our day, which we want to live to give Him joy.
A new day! Sometimes, we must start by making up for what we missed or overlooked. However, the mere opportunity to recover what we have lost is reason enough to rejoice. How much more wonderful it is to have a day ahead of us to continue the work we have begun!
We can also consider the new day as such. Let’s remember St. Charles de Foucauld’s words that we reflected on a few days ago: “There is not a single instant in our life in which we cannot set out on a new course.”
Likewise, there is not a single day in our lives when we cannot follow St. Mechthild’s advice in today’s phrase. The key is to raise our gaze to our Father and not allow ourselves to be engulfed by the hustle and bustle of this world. It is also not wrong to let ourselves be motivated by the reward that awaits us. Indeed, this reward is God Himself, whose presence we can enjoy in this life and fully in the next. If we keep this in mind, a light will be kindled in our hearts. The mere joy of living one day with this motivation is a great reward in itself.