For Christians, the things of this world are not destined to disappear and vanish: they must be regained so that they can be drawn into the great current that must move the whole of creation towards God...
It would be naïve to believe that an evangelisation of this kind, of temporal realities, can be carried out without disagreements or struggles. They are still too much within the domain of the “prince of this world”, who has no intention of letting his prey go!
Do we think that the world of work can be led towards Christ without bitter struggles, or that the world of capital can be easily converted to the Gospel? And the world of politics, of science and of art?
This recapture of nature by grace demands that holiness be present everywhere in the modern world. The problem is this: will we have lay saints (saints... people entirely committed to Christ, indwelt by his charity, moved by his Spirit), will we have workers, farmers, industrialists who are saints, artists who are saints?
Henri Caffarel
Prier 15 jours avec Henri Caffarel
Nouvelle Cité, Parigi 2002, p. 242