138. Third Saturday of Easter

Meditations no. 184 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

The Apostle’s concern to form the new members of the Church.

It was only a few days ago that we recalled how the new followers of Christ received the waters of Baptism during the Easter Vigil.

How clearly St Augustine’s fatherly affection shone forth as he spoke to the new Christians of his day who were the fruits of his apostolate! I address myself to you, who are like new-born babes, siblings in Christ, new children of the Church, gift of the Father, fruit of the Mother. All you who are in the Lord are a beloved support, a new people, the flower which graces us and the fruit of our work, my joy and my crown. And to you I now speak with the Apostle’s words: “Clothe yourselves with our Lord Jesus Christ and do not seek to satisfy the desires of the flesh be dressed in the life of the one from whom you have been clothed in the sacrament.”All those who have been baptized in Christ, are clothed anew in Christ.”

From the very start, the Church was eager to maintain the faith of those who had come to believe, and to educate them to be true disciples of Christ. This is the same solicitude which St Paul shows in his letter to the Galatians: My little children, with whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you! Driven by this consuming zeal, the Apostle prays, mortifies himself, writes, travels from place to place, and sends trusted people when he himself is unable to go. We were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s servant in the gospel of Christ, to establish you in your faith and to exhort you. All sacrifices are small when it is a question of strengthening the vocation of those souls that have been won for Christ.

The Apostles felt the urgency of strengthening the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith. Those disciples needed to be formed well from the very first moment. If good doctrine is impressed on the soul when it is still young and tender, says St John Chrysostom, then later, when the doctrine is consolidated, nobody will be capable of rooting it out. When the Apostles were gathered together at

Jerusalem for the first Council in Church’s history, they established the norms by which their new brethren in the faith were to live. Together with this clear teaching, they wanted those who were beginning to learn about the faith to receive the warmth and personal help of others who were close to them, and who could understand them, encourage and strengthen them. Hence, the Apostles sent them experienced brethren who were already formed, to teach them how to live the doctrine. They wrote: We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will tell you the same things by word of mouth.

The need to help young vocations.

The concern of the Good Shepherd is to give the souls who have just come to the Church full training in the faith. Like the early Christians, we too feel the same sense of urgency. Our Father has taught us that our fundamental and best apostolate is to ensure that the vocations which our Lord sends to his Work receive, from the beginning, the necessary formation in order to respond to their calling and persevere along their way.

This obligation of justice is the first task of all the members of Opus Dei and especially the Directors.

Only in this way will the effectiveness of our apostolic works be multiplied.

We find an echo of early Christianity in the personal classes which our Father arranged for us all to receive from the beginnings of our vocation. These talks must be fraternal conversations in which an older and experienced brother or sister explains to a younger one our way to sanctity, the means we have for following it, the difficulties which we can meet, etc.

With fraternal affection, we follow closely the little difficulties which may arise, and we help the young vocations to overcome them. In this way no one will ever lack words of encouragement which will spur them on fraternally and affectionately in their daily struggle.

We have to pass on what we have received. In the first place, it is a demand of justice towards those who ask for admission to the Work, since they have the right to receive from our Mother the Work all the formation they need in order to be saints according to the spirit of Opus Dei. The Directors and priests strive to look after them even more assiduously than before they asked to join. Not to do so would be gravely imprudent, a sin against justice, and a lack of love for the Work.

This also helps us to improve every day ourselves, since, in the words of St Gregory, those who by reason of their jobs must say lofty things, are obliged for that very reason to practise those same things; and thus, by our prayer and example, others will be encouraged to press on in their struggle.

We must all help form our brothers or sisters.

This formation is indispensable for our sanctity. As we are all good shepherds of one another, giving formation is a task which affects everybody, albeit in different ways. Hence our Father reminds us: Not only must you let yourselves be led by the Good Shepherd and respond loyally when he calls you by name, but you have an equally strong duty to contribute to the sanctification of the others. It is a joyful duty which we must carry out with particular care when it is a question of helping souls who have just come to the Work. They need our help in a special way.

We can never forget, our Father writes, that if we continuously need to receive the means prescribed in the Work for our sanctification, young vocations are still more urgently in need of these means; your new brothers or sisters are like new-born babes, and they need the nourishment of doctrine, the example of your piety, in addition to affection and understanding from everyone.

Our Father also gave some advice which he wanted to engrave deeply on our souls. He referred to a false legend which claimed that in one ancient kingdom, when a baby was born, it was left out on the balcony overnight. If it was able to survive the night’s cold and damp, not even a lightning-bolt would kill it. We cannot do that to those newly born to the Christian life or to their vocation to the Work. In the early moments we have to take special care of people who are still very small. We must shelter them with the warmth of our prayer and diligent affection. Then the Lord will make them stronger and stronger.

We must be aware that we are instruments in God’s hands. We must also be convinced that he is the one who sanctifies. On the basis of sincere humility and our conviction that it is God who does everything, we will be able to take up this marvellous task, and have the joy of seeing how the fruit ripens.

We have to mould the spirit of those who have begun to live a life of apostolate in the Work. This is not something we do according to our own tastes or opinions. We do it in conformity with a divine model which respects and even strengthens each individual personality. It is a divine task which should be a real concern for everyone, since it is the early formation a person receives that lays the foundation for their perseverance, and forms the basis for their sanctification and apostolic effectiveness. It is a task which bears much fruit but which at the same time demands prayer and good example, together with the faithful fulfilment of the particular task we have been given.

Let us seek the intercession of our Lady, Regina Operis Dei, Queen of Opus Dei, and entrust the formation of our brothers or sisters to her in a special way, because mothers take especially good care of their smallest children.