Diligence: August 28
One of the many ways of doing everything well is to perform each action as though it were the last act of your life. Ask yourself before every act, "If you knew that you were going to die immediately after this action, would you do it? Would you do it in this manner?"
A certain priest used to go to confession every morning before celebrating Mass. Having fallen ill, he was advised to go to confession to prepare himself for death. "May the Lord be praised!" he exclaimed. "For thirty years I have been going to confession as though I were going to die right afterwards. Hence now all I have to do is to confess myself as though I were to say Mass."
