100. Fifth Tuesday of Lent
Meditations no. 146 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
Perseverance requires a free and generous response to Godâs grace.
My daughters and sons, I know that each of you has come to the Work because you wanted to, firmly resolved to give yourself, to burn your boats, so that in your heart, in your thoughts, and in your will, your only desire is for God and for the good of all souls. Those of you who have been in the Work for some time now have seen, with gratitude, how so many souls become thoroughly enthused with the spirit of Opus Dei, which we teach and try to reflect in all our actions - actions which may appear trivial and ordinary, but are in fact heroic.
You have heard me say many times that to âwhistleâ is something, but to persevere is everything. That is why I would like to warn you about a temptation some of my children may experience when they realize, as they will, that Opus Dei involves having a cross to carry. Because God asks all of us for total self-denial, and at times we find that the poor clay which we are made of becomes rebellious; especially if we have allowed our ego to creep into our work, which has to be for God.
To any of my children who feel in some way compelled to carry the cross, I would like to whisper: Si scires donum Dei! If you only knew the gift of God! My child, why donât you understand? Why is it that you seem to be unaware of the great gift that he has given you in calling you to his service, when there are so many souls who are greater than you, more dedicated than you, and who could respond with more complete generosity?
In this last week of Lent before Palm Sunday, the Gospel of the Mass recalls Jesusâ lengthy conversation with the Pharisees in Jerusalem on the occasion of the Feast of Tabernacles. St John tells how, in spite of the opposition of the scribes and Pharisees, as he spoke thus, many believed in him: To those believing Jews Jesus directs the final part of his discourse: If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. They are words we always have to keep in mind, especially if the suggestion ever arises in our life that there is a conflict between our freedom and our self-giving.
Our Father put us clearly on our guard against this false conflict. Obviously, my daughters and sons, there are certain limits to our behaviour, because we are children of God; while at the same time we feel, and really are, free. The barriers on motorways, which prevent cars from going off the road, seem like a denial of freedom only to someone who does not really want to go where the motorway is going. Only a person with no common sense would want to get rid of all limitations on the road. If a car driver said, âWhat are these barriers for?â and drove through them onto the other side of the motorway, he would be no freer for doing so, and what is more he would destroy other peopleâs freedom, while ending up killing himself.
We will ensure our perseverance, with the grace of God, if we respond faithfully to the little demands of our dedication day after day. Lord, help us to do your will, that your Church may grow and become more faithful in your service.
On earth, freedom always has its limits.
My daughters and sons, the formation that you receive in the Work, while making you simpler and less complicated, at the same time gives you rectitude in your judgement. This rectitude is expressed in unity of life and in great personal freedom, within the obvious limits of dedication to God in a specific vocation, which has no other aim than service to God and to souls.
For example, it would not be appropriate now for you to do what I did for so many years with the first people of the Work: to go to hospitals and tend sick people, cleaning and washing them. I had to give that up because it was not compatible with this other work that God is asking of me now. And for you itâs the same: on choosing to sanctify yourselves in the place where God has put you, you have to dispense with other very good things which simply are not your path.
You will ask me, âThen, Father, are we conditioned, do we have no freedom?â Look around, my children, and see if there is anyone on earth who is free in the sense of having no limitations of any kind. Our mothers are conditioned by their love for our fathers and for us. This man is conditioned by his professional work, that one by his ambition, another by his sensuality - as we would be if we didnât guard our sight, if we didnât make the effort to avoid the occasions of sin and be humble. The soldier, the teacher, the farmer, are all conditioned in some way, as are the businessman and the workman⌠Itâs the same for everyone: the sick person, the healthy, the tall, the short, the athlete and the lazy person who never does anything⌠Everyone is conditioned.
When a person chooses one particular thing, other things, which in some cases are very good, are ruled out. But this does not mean a lack of freedom; it is rather a necessary consequence of our finite nature, which cannot embrace everything - even though in choosing God, who is also the ultimate end of the natural order, we do in some way have everything. That applies to the purely human realm, the things of the earth, and with even greater reason to the spiritual realm. My daughters and sons, to look for a false freedom that ignores the consequences of the obligations we have taken on for love - because we wanted to - is neither freedom nor the smallest part of freedom. It is a sign that one loves licentiousness, that the heart has become disordered. For this reason I ask you always to work with ever-present willingness, so that every day and at every moment you confirm the choice that you made, because God called you and you said âYesâ, for the supernatural reason of unconditional love.
My children, isnât it worthwhile for us to let ourselves be conditioned freely by Love and sacrifice? When so many things are tottering and the devil has unleashed a tremendous storm against Christâs Church, isnât it marvellous to give ourselves fully to God, so that our whole life is conditioned by that desire to love God and to serve all souls? It is a condition we have imposed on ourselves, with divine grace, because we wanted to.
Letting ourselves be conditioned by Godâs love.
People who do not let themselves be bound by clean and noble ambitions which move them to take on family, professional and social obligationsâŚ, people who lack the initiative to make decisions like that, find that life takes over and imposes decisions on them against their will. Then comes a reaction of rebellion, of violence, of giving themselves up to a way that is not Christian. When all that happens, those people end up with more limitations than someone who voluntarily chose to accept commitments, commitments which appeared to restrict his freedom - I say appeared to, because at the moment of choosing, he was free, and his loyalty to his choice will be free loyalty. In any other way - donât forget this, my children - people are left more restricted, bound with chains that could seem in some circumstances to be made of gold, but which are chains nevertheless. And at other times they will merely be made of rusty old iron.
I have told you elsewhere of the sad impression it made on me to see an eagle inside an iron cage, with a piece of carrion in its claws. That bird - which in its flight is wonderfully majestic, master of the skies and soaring up to the sun - trapped in a cage as it was, and subjected to the endless taunting of some children, was an object of both revulsion and pity.
My children, believe me, all of our disordered rebellions bring us to that cage and that carrion, to degradation, to the loss of the power to fly upwards. Only by means of humble self-giving can we say with Saint John of the Cross: I flew so high, so high / that I reached my goal.
It is not something material, exterior. One can be trapped in the most horrendous and inhuman prison and yet be free, by accepting Godâs will and by loving sacrifice, thinking of all the souls on earth. How many martyrs of the faith in our own times have flown as eagles do, their body behind bars but their soul free to love God without limits!
Donât contemplate anything with merely human eyes, my daughters and sons. Donât look at things with your nose pressed up against the wall, because then you wonât see anything except a bit of wall, the ground, and the toes of your shoes, which wonât even be clean because of the dust they will have gathered along the road. Raise up your head and you will see the sky, blue or perhaps cloudy, but waiting for you to fly. The obstacles of sensuality, pride, vanity - in other words, human foolishness - are not so great that they can blind our vision completely, provided we donât let them. Whatâs more, with Godâs grace we will vault over them like a bullfighter or a good athlete.
The Work is giving you wonderful doctrine, so that if anyone fails to receive the proper formation it is because they donât want it: itâs not because they lack the means. My children, in Opus Dei there is no one who would brazenly refuse to go to the means of formation, but it is possible that, through pride, someone might fail to understand the reason for some specific way of doing things. If we allow our ego to entangle us, it is easier for us to see limitations where we are being asked for love. But with a bit of good will and with Godâs grace, which is never lacking, our minds become clear again and everything is put right. And we will have won another victory.
Let us now turn to our Lady, asking her for perseverance in our dedication. Sancta Maria, Ancilla Domini, ora pro nobis! Holy Mary, Handmaid of the Lord, pray for us!