In his book The Soul of the Apostolate, Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard wrote about the interdependence of the active and interior lives. As a young priest, he learned from a zealous and experienced priest, Canon Timon-David, the key to success in the apostolate.
Canon Timon-David said, “Take my advice, do not be afraid to aim as high as you possibly can, and you will be astonished at the results … Let your ambition be, first of all, the noble one of making a certain number of them, at any cost, take the firm resolution of living as fervent Christians; that is, of making their mental prayer every morning, going to Mass every day, if they can, and doing a little spiritual reading, besides going frequently to Communion, and fervently too. Put all your efforts into giving this select group a great love for Jesus Christ, the spirit of self-denial, prayer, vigilance over themselves; in a word, solid virtues. And take no less trouble to develop in their souls a hunger for the Holy Eucharist. And then stir up these young men to act upon their companions.”
Dom Chautard wrote, “Just as the love of God is shown by acts of the interior life, so the love of our neighbour manifests itself by the works of the exterior life, and consequently the love of God and of our neighbour cannot be separated, and it follows that these two forms of life cannot exist without one another.”
In the saints, action and contemplation merge together in perfect harmony. St. Bernard was the most contemplative and yet at the same time the most active man of his age. One of his contemporaries described: “Contemplation and action so agreed together in him that the saint appeared to be at the same time entirely devoted to external works, and yet completely absorbed in the presence and the love of his God.”
Sacred Scripture states: “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm” (Song 8:6). Dom Chautard used this biblical image of heart and arm to describe the relationship between contemplation and action.
Dom Chautard pointed out that the heart is far more noble and more necessary than the arm. In the same way contemplation is much more excellent and perfect, and deserves far greater esteem than action.
He wrote, “The heart goes on beating day and night. Let this all-important organ stop, even for a moment, and immediate death would result. The arm, however, merely an integral part of the human body, only moves from time to time. And thus, we ought sometimes to seek a little respite from our outward works, but never on the other hand, relax our attention to spiritual things.
“The heart gives life and strength to the arm by means of the blood which it sends forth; otherwise, that member would wither up. And in the same way, the contemplative life, a life of union with God, thanks to the light and the constant assistance the soul receives from this closeness to Him, gives life to our external occupations, and it alone is able to impart to them at the same time a supernatural character and a reed usefulness. But without contemplation, everything is sick and barren and full of imperfections.”
Dom Chautard pointed out that in order to achieve the unity contemplation and action, we must not neglect a number of precautions: “We must not undertake anything that is beyond our strength. We must habitually, but simply, see the will of God in everything. We must never get mixed up in works that are not willed for us by God, but only when, and to the extent that, He wants to see us engaged in them, and only out of the desire to practice charity. From the very start, we must offer our work to Him, and during the course of our labors, we must often make use of holy thoughts and ardent aspiratory prayers to stir up our resolution to act only for and by Him.”
聖人協調默觀和行動
在『使徒靈魂』一書中，若翰肖塔爾院牧寫有關行動和內在生命的相互關係。作為一位年青的神父，肖塔爾院牧從一位熱心，有經驗的蒂蒙-達味神父學到了做使徒事業成功的要決。
蒂蒙-達味神父說：『聽我的勸告，不要害怕把目標定在你最高的可能，你將會驚訝成果…讓你首要的意願是崇高的不惜任何代價使一些人定下堅決的意志活出熱心的基督信徒生命；就是使他們每天早晨作心禱，如可能的話每天參與彌撒，並作一些靈修的閱讀，除此外更經常，熱心地領受聖體。把你所有的能力去為這被選的一群送上對耶穌基督的大愛、棄絕自己的精神、祈禱、警
覺；換句話說是確實的德行。要不遺餘力為他們靈魂發展一份對聖體的饑渴。然後激發這群年青人去為他們的同伴採取行動。』
肖塔爾院牧寫道：『只因為內在的生命顯示天主的愛，所以愛我們的鄰人為外在生命作工所彰顯，因此天主的愛和鄰人的愛是不能分開的，隨後而來的是，這兩種生命的形式是不能獨自存在的。』
在聖人裡面，行動和默觀是完滿協調的結合。聖伯爾納鐸在他的年代，是位最善默觀，但同時也是最具行動的人。他的一個當代的人，這樣描述說：『在他內，默觀和行動是那般的配合，讓這位聖人像是在同一時間完全投入工作，但也完全浸在天主和祂的愛中。』
聖經說，『請將我有如印璽，放在你的心上，有如印璽，放在你肩上』（雅歌8:6）肖塔爾院牧以這聖經心和肩的形象去形容默禱和行動的關係。
肖塔爾院牧指出內心是遠較肩膀更為高尚和需要。同樣，默觀是更為優秀和完滿，比行動更被氣重。
他寫道：『心日夜繼續跳動。讓這全部最重要的器官停頓，甚至是一小刻，結果就是死亡。肩膀，僅是身體的一部份，只會不時活動。所以，我們的外在工作要時作暫停，但在靈性事情的關注上總不要稍作鬆弛。從血液的運行，心臟給手和肩帶來力量；不然軀體便便損毀。同樣，默觀的生活，一個與天主結合的生活—因與主接近的而得到的光照和恆久的幫助—傳送生命到外在的工作中，並且只有默觀生活能同時賦予外在工作超性的性質和效能。可是如果沒有默觀，一切都是病的，荒蕪的充滿不完美的。』
肖塔爾院牧指出，要能達到默觀和行動的合一，我們不要忽略要加防範的一些事物：我們不要做任何我們能力所不及的。我們不要習慣性地，單純地，以為在所有事上都看見天主的旨意。我們應該永遠不要混沌那些不是天主願意我們作的事，但只懷著愛德作天主願意我們參與的事。開始時，我們應該奉獻我們的工作給祂，在這勞役期間，我們要經常以神聖的思想和熱切渴望的祈禱去激發我們的決心只為祂和靠祂工作
