2. First Monday of Advent

Meditations no. 2 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

The liturgical year: not merely a recollection of Jesus’ life.

The beginning of the liturgical cycle is an invitation for us to set out again on our annual journey. We shall consider once more the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries of Christ’s life, from the expectation of his Birth, through to his Death, Resurrection and Ascension, and then on to Pentecost.

As we advance through the year, the liturgy will point out the main events and mysteries of Jesus’ life. As we contemplate them we will always find new virtues to imitate, new reasons for giving thanks, new invitations to deepen in our love. The liturgy will also show us the glory and beauty of the Virgin Mary, our Mother, as we celebrate her feast days, and it will provide us with encouragement through the example of the saints. What heroism and love we see throughout the long procession of the saints’ feast days! The saints were men and women who fought as we do, though usually they had to follow paths very different from the one God wants for his children in Opus Dei.

We are beginning a new liturgical cycle. But we know that this annual repetition of the mysteries is much more than a pious recollection. In the words of Pope Pius XII: It is not a cold and lifeless representation of things belonging to times past, nor is it the simple commemoration of a former age. It is, rather, Christ himself living in his Church. Iesus Christus heri et hodie, Ipse et in saecula: Jesus is the same yesterday and today and for ever. Jesus Christ is alive; and his life continues on earth, above all in the Sacrifice of the Altar. Thus our Father’s words take on their full meaning: I understood you very well when you confessed to me: I want to steep myself in the liturgy of the holy Mass.

During these days of Advent we eagerly await the Messiah. The Church announces that his time is close at hand. In today’s Gospel, Jesus repeats to each one of us what he said in Capharnaum to the centurion whose servant was gravely ill: I will come and heal him. Jesus comes especially to those who await him lovingly; to those who make ready to receive him. The liturgy invites us to await him with a sense of expectation: let him find us alert in prayer, joyfully proclaiming his glory. Christ is near. Every year he brings us new gifts, together with greater demands. St Augustine writes: We must hear him in our hearts, listening to him with the attentiveness he requested when he said, “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Love lies behind the annual cycle of mysteries.

I will not leave you desolate our Lord promised. I am with you always, to the close of the age. Jesus Christ is always here, present among us, continuing his life on earth through the Church, his Mystical Body. The Church, his Bride, looks towards the Saviour, her eyes aglow with eager longing for redemption.

The Second Vatican Council teaches: Christ is always present in his Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. He is present in the sacrifice of the Mass, not only in the person of his minister - “the same now offering, through the ministry of priests, who formerly offered himself on the Cross” - but especially in the Eucharistic species. By his power he is present in the sacraments so that when anybody baptizes it is really Christ himself who baptizes. He is present in his word since it is he himself who speaks when the holy Scriptures are read in the Church. Lastly, he is present when the Church prays and sings, for he has promised “where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

During the course of the year, we will contemplate the different mysteries of our faith under the guidance of the liturgy. This will be a great help for stirring up our devotion. Our hope will be awakened by Jesus’ imminent arrival. Our joy will increase at the knowledge that he is in our midst. Our faith will be enkindled when we consider that he is the hidden God. Our wonder will grow at seeing the way in which divine Wisdom reveals itself. Sorrow will well up inside us as we contemplate his Passion and Death. A sense of victory will be ours as we behold the Resurrection. And Pentecost will provide us with a powerful stimulus, sending us forth in all directions as it did the Apostles.

But above all, we want to understand the true meaning behind each and every event we are going to relive. God wants us to grasp - more deeply and more devoutly than ever - the fundamental truth that permeates the entire Gospel: having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” Christ’s love is the key to everything. It should also be the key to our lives.

Advent is here. What a marvellous time to renew your desire, your sincere longing for Christ to come -for him to come every day to your soul in the Eucharist. The Church encourages us: Ecce veniet! He is about to arrive!

While we wait, we should try above all to renew our love, sweeping away whatever might render the Saviour’s coming less fruitful. We should prepare, not in words alone, but in deed and in truth. Ours should be the spirit of atonement that comes of conquering ourselves daily, offering tiny sacrifices for love.

Meditating on the liturgical texts helps us reach God.

Your prayer should be liturgical. Our piety should be imbued with a liturgical spirit. The continuous praise offered by the Church to the Blessed Trinity is the most sublime action we can share in. This is where our personal devotion should be leading us.

Liturgical life and interior life are intimately linked. Both of them glorify God, our last end; both of them enrich the soul with divine gifts. The liturgy pours out a wealth of graces by means of the sacraments and sacramentals. It enlightens our minds with the splendour and wonder of the divine mysteries. It moves our wills and captures our hearts as it reminds us of the glory won for us by Christ. And it stirs our senses with its beautiful ceremonies, its harmonious music, and the austere solemnity of its rites.

Venerate and respect the Church’s holy liturgy and ceremonies. Observe them faithfully. Don’t you see that, for us poor creatures, even what is greatest and most noble must enter through the senses? As we relive the mysteries of Jesus and Mary and admire the lives of the saints, let us enter wholeheartedly into the liturgy, and nourish our devotion from this rich source of interior life.

I cannot see how anyone could live as a Christian, our Father says, and not feel the need for the constant friendship of Jesus in the word and in the bread, in prayer and in the Eucharist. And I easily understand the ways in which successive generations of faithful have expressed their love for the Eucharist, both with public devotions, making profession of their faith, and with silent, simple practices in the peace of a church or the intimacy of their hearts.

One way of uniting liturgical life to our personal piety, a way we have been taught in the Work right from the start, is that of bringing the liturgical texts to our prayer, striving to make our own the words of the Church as she prays and teaches, and putting our own feelings, our very life, into them. How I would like to see you using the psalms and prayers from the missal, rather than private prayers of your own choice. But we should avoid any form of anonymity. As our Father taught us, the liturgical words should prompt us to offer our own personal prayer, raising our hearts to God. The Church knows her children’s hearts; and we will often find her words helping us to talk to Jesus and stirring up our love.

As this new liturgical year begins, let us ask our Lady that each day and each hour of the liturgy may help us progress in our knowledge of and our love for her Son.