86. Third Tuesday of Lent
Meditations no. 132 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
Fraternal correction produces an atmosphere of loyalty and trust, part of the spirit of Opus Dei.
Peter once asked our Lord: âHow often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?â Jesus said to him, âI do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven,â - in other words, always. This was what Jesus himself did, and continues doing. A specific example of this divine teaching is the parable which he told immediately afterwards: the story of a heartless servant who would not forgive his companion a small debt, when he himself had just been forgiven an enormous one.
Forgiveness is the result of love, and a way of showing it. I did not need to learn to forgive, because God has taught me how to love, our Father used to say. That is why, in our dealings with our brothers or sisters, we cannot, give way to bickering or grudges, which diminish fraternal love and even kill it outright. When it is needed, we have a most effective remedy: fraternal correction.
Our Founder assured us that in the Work we have all the means to tell the truth without hurting anyone, in such a way that it is supernaturally useful. You ask: May I make this fraternal correction? You may be told that itâs not appropriate because it is not objective, or because someone else has already mentioned it, or because there isnât sufficient reason, or whatever. And if youâre told âYesâ, you make the fraternal correction right away, face to face, because in the Work we never talk behind someoneâs back. We canât allow any backbiting, not even indirectly. Indirect backbiting is only found in people who are afraid to tell the truth.
There is a proverb which says: Tell the truth and lose a friend! In Opus Dei itâs just the opposite. Here we tell the truth, out of charity, alone, and face to face. And we really feel so happy and safe, well protected from behind. Never tolerate even the slightest gossip, and still less if it is about a Director.
If thereâs something about you which isnât right, the others will help you through this blessed fraternal correction. That demands very supernatural affection and a lot of fortitude, because sometimes itâs very difficult to make a fraternal correction. You will be told, loyally, what is going wrong and the reasons why. Meanwhile, behind your back theyâre saying that youâre an absolute saint, that youâre worth your weight in gold.
Isnât this something wonderful, my children? We talk about loyalty, and this is what human loyalty is about. We donât lie, and we donât say that someone has human qualities that they lack. But we will never tolerate anyone criticizing them when they are not there. We say the unpleasant things just as they are, affectionately, so that they can be put right.
Fraternal correction is an obligation of charity that may be grave at times.
Jesus was at Capharnaum, preaching to the close circle of his disciples. He was describing the lovable image of the good shepherd who has a hundred sheep, and if one gets lost he leaves the other ninety-nine in the sheepfold and goes in search of it.
Our Father commented on this allegory of our Lord: Do not forget that, as well as being a sheep in this fold, each of us is also in some way a Good Shepherd, because it is everyoneâs duty (and not just the duty of the Directors and priests) to give spiritual guidance, prudently and sometimes heroically, to their brothers or sisters around them.
It is our duty to aim for each of our brothers or sisters to be a saint, and this duty leads us to think of other people. Bonus Pastor animam suam dat pro ovibus suis. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. You too will lay down your lives, as good shepherds, practising fraternal correction with loving concern for one another. Thus you will fulfil with love Christâs command: compelle intrare (compel them to come in). And you will help them as they joyfully follow their path of dedication and service to God.
If the Lord wanted strangers to be obliged to partake of his banquet, how much more would he want you to use holy coercion with those who are your own family, and sheep in Christâs same fold! This beautiful coercion of charity, far from diminishing the freedom of others, gently helps them administer it well.
As a practical way of showing the charity of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ then taught his disciples: If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. This is repeated to us in the Letter to the Hebrews: Take care, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called âtoday,â that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
To warn our brothers or sisters of the deviations or dangers in their path towards holiness is a duty issuing from charity which at times may be grave. This is because God takes into account our frailties, our weaknesses and the weaknesses of the others. But he also relies on the fortitude of us all, if charity unites us. Love our blessed fraternal correction, which ensures us a straight path, and guarantees that our good spirit remains identical.
An obligation of justice towards the Work.
Fraternal correction is an obligation of charity towards our brothers or sisters. It is also a duty of justice towards the Work. St Thomas says: A personâs faults are harmful to himself, yet this harm also affects others who are wounded and disedified by it. It even harms the common good. Thus, seeking a brotherâs good does indeed pertain to charity. However, it is also an act of justice insofar as it relates to the common good.
You cannot give way on the things that belong to God, our Father warned us. We cannot allow anyone, out of easy-going carelessness or laziness, to acquire a habit contrary to the spirit of the Work, which might harm their own soul, the souls of other people, and the apostolate. You should be convinced that in a sense, everyone in the Work depends on each of us alone: your own behaviour can help or harm everybody else. This holy sense of responsibility should give you strength. If one part suffers, the whole is threatened. We must strive to achieve the opposite, namely, that each of us may always contribute by our behaviour to the good development of the Work. Our Father told us: When you practise fraternal correction, besides practising charity towards your brothers or sisters, you are also loving the Work, because you are sanctifying it.
The motives of charity and justice impel us not to be inhibited, but to practise fraternal correction without allowing false excuses to put us off. The doctrine is clear. After thinking about it in Godâs presence, we still have another means to ensure that our correction is objective: we consult the Director about it.
O Mother, Virgo Fidelis, Virgin most faithful, grant that we may always feel the responsibility of the Good Shepherd and act accordingly. Grant us a great concern to preserve the purity and integrity of the spirit of the Work.