The first step has to be mine ... to live in such a way that others find Christ in me, his love, and are attracted by him. I have to draw near to others in such a way that they realise I do not know them according to the flesh (cf 2Cor 5:16), I am not looking for my own interests, nor help, nor completion, I am not letting myself be guided by sympathy or antipathy, but I welcome them like the Lord himself.
The others ought to experience that I live by Jesus, that I follow his voice and not my own ideas or opinions of others. They will see that my life is based on the Word, on his sacraments, that I listen to him in what he wants to tell me through witnesses and emissaries of the Church. And above all I seek him where he has loved me the most, in difficulties, in the dark times which are for me “the sacrament” of his abandonment on the cross, and his death.
Sooner or later ... I will meet others who adhere to this life... and they are people that I have not myself chosen. The circle is widened and new cells of people, meeting together in the name of Jesus, are formed.
Klaus Hemmerle
Der Himmel ist zwischen uns
Neue Stadt, München 19782, pp. 64-65