Do
not let any occasion of gaining merit pass without taking care to
draw some spiritual profit from it; as, for example, from a sharp
word which someone may say to you; from an act of obedience imposed
against your will; from an opportunity which may occur to humble
yourself, or to practice charity, sweetness, and patience. All of
these occasions are gain for you, and you should seek to procure
them; and at the close of that day, when the greatest number of them
have come to you, you should go to rest most cheerful and pleased, as
the merchant does on the day when he had had most chance for making
money; for on that day business has prospered with him.
--
Saint Ignatius of Loyola
