137. Third Friday of Easter

Meditations no. 183 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

God makes his will known through certain people to whom he gives the necessary graces.

St Paul writes to the faithful of Thessalonica: Being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God, but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us; and when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as what it really is, the word of God. Those first Christians saw St Paul as a messenger from God, and they accepted his words as coming from our Lord himself. The same was also true in the case of the other early Christian communities. St Paul bore witness to this when he wrote to the Galatians: You received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.

God gives certain people the task of government, together with the necessary grace to carry it out properly. They act on God’s behalf, as his ministers, in order to fulfil our needs. We have to obey them, as Sacred

Scripture enjoins: Obey your leaders and submit to them; for they are keeping watch over your souls, as men who will have to give account. Let them do this joyfully and not sadly, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Whoever the Directors may be, and whatever they legitimately command us, whether it is some small detail or a matter of great importance, we must see the authority of God behind it. Our Father writes: In the apostolate, obey without paying attention to the human qualities of whoever it is who asks you to do something, or to the way he asks you. Otherwise it is no virtue at all.

There are many kinds of crosses: some have jewels or pearls or emeralds on them, some are lacquered or made of ivory. But some are made of wood like our Lord’s. All deserve the same veneration, for the Cross tells us about the sacrifice of God made Man. Apply this consideration to your obedience, without forgetting that He embraced the Wood of the Cross lovingly, without hesitation! There he obtained our Redemption.

Because of this conviction, ever since we joined the Work we have tried to practise exquisite obedience towards the people who govern. Whoever the Directors may be, they represent Christ, and are the instruments chosen by God to make his will known to us.

To obey the Directors is to obey God.

I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give to your descendants all these lands, and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes and my laws. Abraham’s obedience was both steadfast and attentive. As a reward, God would raise up the Christ from among his descendants. Obedience is always fruitful.

Receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls. To do otherwise would be to cut ourselves off from God’s gifts, to spurn the help which he generously offers. It does not matter through whom or by what channel God’s will comes to us. We should always obey with the same docility, seeing God in the Directors. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed.

Our Lord asks us for obedience, but he never forces anyone, because he orders all things well. Government in the Work is likewise gentle, and respects people’s freedom. Very often all we receive is a hint, which is not repeated if we fail to respond to it. However, such a failure to respond is in itself disobedience, and an obstacle to the graces God wants to shower upon us.

Obey without so much useless brooding. Appearing sad or reluctant when asked to do something is a very considerable fault. But just to feel like this is not only no fault but can in fact be the opportunity for a great victory, for crowning an act of heroic virtue.

Our Father tells us: I have not invented this. Remember the Gospel tells us that a father asked his two sons to do the same job. And Jesus rejoices in the one who, despite raising difficulties, does it! He rejoices because discipline is the fruit of Love.

Our Lord makes use of those entrusted with the task of government to show us the way that leads to happiness. The Holy Spirit advises us through the Apostle James: Let every man be quick to hear. Thus, with an effective desire to obey faithfully and promptly, we shall also be ready to put into practice whatever God asks of us.

By obeying we share in God’s effectiveness.

At times, swayed by merely human impulses, we may find it hard to obey. That would be the time to remember Jesus Christ, our model. Right now, when you find it hard to obey, remember your Lord, factus oboediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis; he was obedient unto death and death on the Cross! Jesus did not come to fulfil his own will, but that of the One who sent him. We have to acquire a deeper knowledge of the supernatural value of obedience, and we need to exercise faith, the theological virtue which makes us discover God’s wisdom and goodness in the command we receive.

The Lord wants a definite apostolate from you, such as catching those one hundred and fifty-three big fish - not others - taken on the right hand side of the boat.

And you ask me: How is it I know myself to be a fisher of men, can live in contact with many companions, and be able to distinguish towards whom I should direct my specific apostolate, but still catch nobody? Is it Love that is lacking? Do I lack interior life?

Listen to the answer from Peter’s lips, on the occasion of that other miraculous draught: Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets. In the name of Jesus Christ, begin again. And being strengthened, rid yourself of that indolence!

Then we will share in God’s effectiveness, as our Founder, commenting on this Gospel scene, points out to us. The Apostles were on Lake Genesareth. The Lord came to them and said: Due in altum, et laxate retia vestra in capturam. (Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. ) And their reply: Praeceptor, per totam noctem laborantes nihil cepimus; in verbo autem tuo laxabo rete. (Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets. At your word, I who have caught no fish; I, who have not borne fruit, will begin to work again on what seemed sterile, and I shall bring in a full net. And they caught piscium multitudinem copiosam (a great shoal of fish). Can you see the power of obedience? Do you see the fruitfulness of obedience and the joy it brings? Those men overflowed with charity: when they saw the marvellous catch, they called others and there was plenty to go round. Everyone had their share of the catch, of the fruits, of God’s blessing.

Let us appeal to our Mother Mary, to show us the joy and effectiveness that come from obedience. Do you remember? It was in praise of her that Jesus Christ said: Whoever fulfils the will of my Father, he - she - is my mother!…

Ask of this good Mother that her answer, with the generosity it shows, may grow stronger in your soul -with the strength of love and liberation. Ecce ancilla Domini, behold the handmaid of the Lord.

These were the fruits of our Mother’s obedience.