128. Second Wednesday of Easter

Meditations no. 174 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Interior difficulties should not discourage us.

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. St Paul’s words can help us today to be filled with optimism and daring in our struggle for holiness and apostolate. St Thomas Aquinas says: If we consider these sufferings in themselves, they are a far cry from the great glory which awaits us. “For a brief moment I forsook you,” says Isaiah, “but with great compassion I will gather you.” If we consider them insofar as they are borne voluntarily for God, out of the love the Holy Spirit enkindles in us, then they serve to help us merit eternal life. For the Holy Spirit is the “spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

This should be our attitude in the face of adversity. Our everyday difficulties, the little pinpricks which our Lord allows, become a pledge of glory, steps along the way to Life, when they are offered up for love of God.

Don’t complain if you suffer. It is the prized and valued stone that is polished.

Does it hurt? Allow yourself to be cut, gratefully, because God has taken you in his hands as if you were a diamond. An ordinary pebble is not worked on like that.

What is more, the consolidation and spread of Christian doctrine has always been achieved through difficulties. The infant Church had not even spread beyond Jerusalem when the high priest rose up and all who were with him, that is, the party of the Sadducees, and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in the common prison.

No ideal becomes a reality without sacrifice. Even in purely human affairs, nothing worthwhile is ever accomplished easily. What major project is achieved without effort? The root of effectiveness is a capacity for conscious, silent sacrifice. We see this every day in those around us. People who set themselves high goals often have to suffer to achieve them, even though they would rather avoid such suffering. But for a Christian whose goal is the love of Christ, suffering should act as a stimulus.

From every point of view, mortification has an extraordinary importance.

Considering it humanly, anyone who does not know how to control himself will never be able to have a positive influence on others. He will be a man without energy, incapable of any great effort when required.

Considering it before God, do you not think it appropriate for us to show, with these small acts, how much we love, obey and respect the One who gave everything for us?

Sacrifice brings joy, since it unites us to Christ on the Cross and leads us to achieve our end.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me, uttering slanders against me, my adversaries and foes shall stumble and fall. We work with our eyes set on heaven and we cannot allow anyone or anything to slow us down. We will reach our goal because heaven is pledged to its fulfilment. No sacrifice will seem too great for us if we have really set our heart on attaining our aim. This supernatural conviction of the divinity of the undertaking will give you such enthusiasm and intense love for the Work, that you will feel delighted to sacrifice yourselves in order to carry it out.

We can understand the emotion which a poor priest felt some time ago when he heard within his soul the divine locution: et ego, si exaltatus fuero a terra, omnia traham ad meipsum; and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself. At the same time, he clearly saw the meaning which our Lord wanted to give those words of Scripture at that moment: we have to put Christ at the summit of all human activity. He understood clearly that, by our ordinary work in the very heart of civil society, we have to reconcile the world to God in such a way that worldly things, while remaining worldly, are at the same time turned into something sacred, consecrated to God, the final end of all things.

For all creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God, we read in the Letter to the Romans; for creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in hope; because creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God. St Thomas Aquinas comments: Material creation is ordained to an end which goes beyond its natural form. Thus, just as the human body will be clothed in supernatural glory, so all creation, in that glory of the children of God, will receive a certain newness of glory, as is said in the Apocalypse: “I saw a new heaven and a new earth.

This is our goal: that all creation should give glory to God, and that we should be happy in heaven. What we give up is very little. We should give ourselves entirely, joyfully uniting our own sufferings to the sufferings of Christ on the Cross.

Optimism in the face of difficulties.

It is true: we are worth nothing, we are nothing, we can do nothing, we have nothing. And, at the same time, in the midst of our daily struggle, obstacles and temptations are not lacking. But the joy of your brothers will banish all difficulties, as soon as you are back with them, because you will see them firmly relying on Him: Quia tu es Deus fortitudo mea -because you, Lord, are our strength.

This is the source of our optimism and daring whenever we are faced with obstacles. We have to get going, my children; we have to get things done. With courage, energy and joy, because love casts out fear, with daring, without hesitation … You have to avoid both the attitude of the foolhardy who think everything is easy because they trust too much in themselves; and the attitude of the timid, who see insuperable difficulties everywhere because they lack self-confidence.

The victory of Christ over the devil, sin and death is the guarantee of our victory if we truly rely on him. The spirit of the Work forms you so that, in your own surroundings, each of you becomes a leader with initiative, courage and drive. You should respond to this formation with determination and energy. Without the firm resolve to do your part, all the spiritual resources in the world would go for nothing. Recall the phrase which you frequently see engraved on old daggers: Don’t rely on me if you lack a stout heart.

Be resolute, tenacious and persevering, and never take no for an answer.

If we keep this marvellous supernatural perspective of the love of Christ, of co-redemption, and of the sanctification of all human realities, no suffering in this life will discourage us. On the contrary, it will fill us with optimism, because it guarantees that we are fulfilling a divine mission, united to Christ on the Cross. As our Father has told us, to find the Cross is to find Christ. And with him there is always joy, even when we are faced with injustice, misunderstanding, or physical suffering. Hence our Founder’s insistence: Optimism? Yes, always! Even when things seem to turn out badly: perhaps that is the time to break into a song, with a Gloria, because you have sought refuge in him, and nothing but good can come to you from Him.

Beside the Cross of Christ stands our Mother Mary, who encourages us and gives us the assurance of her constant, all-powerful intercession on our behalf