127. Second Tuesday of Easter

Meditations no. 173 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Loyalty to Jesus Christ means persevering in our dedication.

Our Lord frequently had to put up with disloyalty during his lifetime. When he announced the Eucharistic mystery of love at Capharnaum, many of his disciples said: This is a hard saying. Who can listen to it? … After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him. They went away sad: their sadness came of their having gone astray. Later, at his Passion and Death, Jesus was abandoned by his friends in those hours of sorrow and betrayal. But our Lord’s glorious Resurrection, and the sending of the Paraclete, dispelled all darkness. The Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of strength, has made them firm, strong, daring. This is the image of the first Christian community which is presented to us in the liturgy of the Mass today: Now the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the Apostles gave their testimony to the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.

We have given ourselves completely to Jesus Christ. Let us be faithful to that decision, and use all our strength to maintain the friendship which we have offered him. Let us strive to be faithful as long as we live. If at some stage we feel we are letting our Lord down, let us react and ask him for help. Then we are assured of victory, because God doesn’t lose battles. Let’s place all our wretchedness at Jesus’ feet, so he can triumph. Then you will see how high he is raised, and how he helps us divinize our earthly existence.

Our weakness is always present, even at the most sublime moments of our lives. The Gospel teaches us that nothing should surprise us. At the Last Supper, amidst our Lord’s outpouring of love and confidence to his intimate friends, those who had received the most careful formation and were his favourites, facta est autem contentio inter eos, quis eorum videretur esse maior: they began to argue among themselves over which of them was the greatest.

Consequently, when we experience any weakness in ourselves or in others, we shouldn’t be surprised. Let us remember all those who, in spite of their undeniable failings, persevered and carried the word of God to all nations and became saints, and let us resolve to keep on fighting. What counts is our perseverance.

Sincerity, an essential condition for faithfulness.

Even among the Apostles who followed our Lord closely, there was not only disloyalty but betrayal. Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot … one of the twelve, was to betray him. There is no reason to doubt that at the beginning of his vocation Judas was sincere in following Jesus Christ. It must have been later that, little by little, he turned traitor. He did not have the honesty to say openly what was going through his mind and heart. Outwardly he stayed loyal, but his thoughts were far from Christ. His life was no longer sincere; it had become an act which he was putting on to try and deceive God, but he was really only deceiving himself.

Our defects will not make our life false and hollow. We are weak, and a time may come when we abandon Jesus Christ at the hour of trial, as the Apostles did on the sad night of his Passion. Yet their honesty and loyalty brought them back. Look: the Apostles, for all their evident and undeniable weaknesses, were sincere, simple, transparent.

You too have evident and undeniable weaknesses. May you not lack simplicity.

Therefore, our Father warned: If we want to persevere, let’s be humble. And in order to be humble, let’s be sincere, sincere to God, to ourselves and to those who guide our soul, ut probetis potiora, ut sitis sinceri et sine offensa in diem Christi, that we may discern what is best and remain pure and untarnished until the end. Then we shall persevere.

Sincerity. Don’t be afraid of anything or anyone, our Father insists. If the fruit is bitter, say so. The remedy for everything, even for terrible sins, is to be found in God. Tell everything; talk, and it can be put right. The person who listens to you won’t be shocked at anything. They know that they are also made of clay and are capable of committing the same madness, if it is madness. Most of the time worries are caused by the scruples of a badly-formed conscience, which is yet another reason to speak clearly.

Always act honestly and loyally.

St Luke tells us of a sad event that happened in the early Christian community at Jerusalem. Ananias, with Sapphira, his wife, sold a piece of property and, with his wife’s knowledge, kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part, and laid it at the Apostles’ feet.

It is a tale of half-hearted dedication. We feel sorry for those two unhappy souls who wanted to appear self-sacrificing and detached, but without giving themselves completely. They wanted to show a generosity that they did not have, and to do so they had recourse to an unworthy stratagem. One cannot fool God, however, and their fraud was discovered. But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.

With complete freedom, we have chosen a way, and dedicated ourselves to Jesus Christ in his Work. Once on the way, we must be honest enough not to play with our dedication. Personal affairs have disappeared in order to make room for Christ’s concerns. If anything is not in accordance with the spirit of God, leave it immediately, our Father tells us. Think of the Apostles. They were no use, yet they did miracles in the Lord’s name. Only Judas, who may also have done miracles, strayed from Christ. He went away deliberately, because he did not want to lay aside everything that was not in accordance with the spirit of God.

We have to be faithful to the commitment we once made for our whole lifetime, so that our Lord, and the Father and our Directors in his name, can rely on us, in the knowledge that there is no guile in us, but rather, firmness and loyalty. The divine calling demands of us an untouchable, firm, virginal, cheerful and undisputed faithfulness to our faith, our purity and our vocation. Whoever perseveres to the end, he shall be saved. We must be faithful to the last moment, and like that we shall be saints.

Beata Maria intercedente, bene ambulemus! Through Mary’s intercession, may we have a safe journey! With our Lady’s help we will tread the path of our life in constant faithfulness to the vocation to which God has called us.