96. Fourth Friday of Lent

Meditations no. 142 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

We will meet obstacles in the apostolate, but they can always be overcome.

After this, Jesus went about in Galilee; he would not go about in Judea because the Jews sought to kill him. The moment of the Passion, the hour fixed by God for the redemption of the whole human race, is drawing close, and the Pharisees and chief priests are increasing their hostility against our Lord. This had already been announced by the prophet many centuries before. Ungodly men reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves, “Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law, and accuses us of sins against our training. He became to us a reproof of our thoughts; the very sight of him is a burden to us, because his manner of life is unlike that of others, and his ways are strange.”

Such was the life of Jesus, and such should be the life of his apostles, since a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you. Moreover, our Lord calls us to do apostolate in all surroundings, and to make a particular effort to do it in the most difficult environments, those which are farthest from Jesus Christ. It is not surprising, therefore, if we habitually meet difficulties, resistance and obstacles.

Our Founder said: My children, the Father knows more than anybody else about the beginnings of the Work in any country: the difficulties and the hopes. And I can assure you that humanly speaking, all the Regions offer better conditions and more means than when I started on that 2nd of October 1928. You can’t imagine how difficult it was to get the Work started. But what a marvellous adventure it all is! It’s like clearing new ground for cultivation. First you have to cut down trees, then root out the wild grass, and remove the stones. Then you plough the earth thoroughly, and put down fertilizer…

Once ploughed, the earth has to be left to rest, so that it is aerated. Then comes the sowing, and the thousand things that have to be done to take care of growing crops: protecting them from pests, and the threat of storms… It takes a long time and a lot of hard work and suffering before the wheat can at last be stored in the granaries.

St Paul tells the Corinthians that his vocation has often left him in danger from rivers, danger from robbers … danger in the city, danger in the wilderness … in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure; and he adds: apart from other things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches.

St Augustine comments: But in the midst of all the persecutions of the world, the Apostles continued to find peace in Christ. Seeking refuge in him, they did not abandon him … In them was fulfilled what Christ had said, “Have confidence, I have overcome the world.” They trusted in him and they conquered. How else could they have conquered? For he would not have overcome the world if the world had conquered his members. For this reason, the Apostle says: “Thanks be to God who has granted us victory”, adding immediately afterwards, “through our Lord Jesus Christ,” who told his own: “Have courage, I have overcome the world.”

With this firm conviction, we too will overcome every obstacle. Jesus Christ has overcome evil. By his blood he has redeemed all mankind. And we want to bring redeemed humanity to him. We want to bring him all souls, one by one.

We must forgive other people’s shortcomings and help them to improve.

We work in all environments with all sorts of people. In everyone we must see a soul to be redeemed, a soul called to be a living member of Christ’s body, although they may, at present, be a sick member and therefore in need of special affection and help. All human beings have defects and failings. We cannot be shocked by anything in anyone; although offences against our Lord hurt us deeply. As we live in Christ, we feel in ourselves the wounds which sin inflicts on his Body, and we therefore have to reject anything that does not please the Lord. Yet we must not be scandalized by anything, nor be discouraged by other people’s shortcomings (which are very like our own, past or present).

We may sometimes be tempted to think that this is very nice but an impossible dream. I have spoken to you about renewing your faith and hope. Remain steadfast, in the absolute certainty that our dreams will fall short of the marvels God will work. But it is indispensable for us to cling truly to the Christian virtue of hope.

None of the evident human shortcomings that we meet along our way should discourage us. They should remind us that ours is a supernatural undertaking. They should move us to seek God so as to work more effectively. Moreover, alongside all this weakness, this human clay, there is always some breath of divine life to be found, some hidden spark, some light to be enkindled. Our awareness of our own shortcomings should teach us to have a big heart which understands and forgives. The fact that we too have weaknesses should lead us never to be scandalized about anything. It should move us to understand, to forgive, to look at things in a positive way, since God’s saving will is above everything. Therefore, as our Father says: Forward, joyfully, determinedly. No one in the world can stop us. To those who love God everything is good. In life everything can be put right, everything except death, and for us death is Life.

Human frailty, far from causing us to give up, should instead be a stimulus in our effort to draw souls to Christ. You say that he is full of defects. Very well… but, apart from the fact that people who are perfect are found only in heaven, you too have defects, yet others put up with you and, what is more, appreciate you. That is because they love you with the love Jesus Christ had for his own, and they had a fair number of shortcomings.

Learn from this.

Our failings should not delay us: fruitfulness comes from being God’s instruments.

Unshakeable: that is what you must be. If your perseverance is disturbed by other people’s weaknesses or by your own, I cannot but form a poor opinion of your ideal. We cannot be people who are indecisive, because God does not lose battles.

We need to examine our conscience to see if our strength fails us through discouragement over our own defects; if the memory of past sins weakens our present fight; or if we are put off by difficulties in the apostolate. Then we should raise our heart to God with more humility and trust. Jesus is the one who acts, and he is relying on us. He knows how little we are worth, but he has chosen us to be witnesses to his mercy with our words and lives.

The apostolic zeal which Christ has put in our hearts must not be diminished or extinguished by a false humility. Maybe we experience the dead weight of our personal failings, but our Lord takes into account our mistakes. In his merciful gaze he realizes that we are creatures with limitations, weaknesses and imperfections, that we are inclined to sin. But he tells us to fight, to acknowledge our weaknesses, not to be afraid, but to repent and foster a desire to improve.

We must also remember that we are only instruments. What is Apollo? What is Paul? They are servants who brought the faith to you. Even the different ways in which they brought it were assigned to them by the Lord. I did the planting, Apollo the watering, but God gave the growth. The teaching, the message which we have to communicate, has in its own right an infinite effectiveness which comes not from us, but from Christ. It is God himself who is bent on bringing about salvation, on redeeming the world.

We must, then, have faith and not be dispirited. We must not be stopped by any kind of human calculation. To overcome the obstacles we have to throw ourselves into the task so that the very effort we make will open up new paths. Personal holiness, giving oneself to God, is the one cure which overcomes any difficulty.

Being holy means living exactly as our Father in heaven wants us to live. You will say that it is difficult. It is. The ideal is a very high one. And yet it is also easy. It is within our reach. When a person becomes ill, there may be no appropriate medicine. But in supernatural affairs, it is not like that. The medicine is always at hand. It is Jesus Christ, present in the holy Eucharist, and he also gives us his grace in the other sacraments which he established.

Let us say again, in word and in action: “Lord, I trust in you; your ordinary providence, your help each day, is all I need.” We do not have to ask God to perform great miracles. Rather, we have to beg him to increase our faith, to enlighten our intellect and strengthen our will. Jesus stays always by our side and is always himself.

Our Lord will receive these petitions kindly, if we make them through his Mother, who is also our Mother.