153. Sixth Sunday of Easter
Meditations no. 199 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
Supernatural outlook and the right intention in apostolate.
There was a man named Simon who had previously practised magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all gave heed to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, âThis man is the power of God, which is called Great.â And they gave heed to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. But what Simon was preaching was himself; and his successes were only apparent. When Philip the deacon came and preached the Christ to them, Simon the magician was utterly ruined, since they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, and they were baptized, both men and women.
It was all done in the name of Christ. We should work in his name, so that he may show forth his divine power and effectiveness in the souls of the people we do apostolate with. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. If we followed our personal criteria in the apostolate and in the task of winning new apostles, we would soon end up in discouragement and failure. The apostle is Godâs instrument: God is the one who has the doctrine, the love and the advice which souls need. And that is what we have to give them. What a pity if in the end you had carried out âyourâ apostolate and not âHisâ apostolate!
Rectitude of intention is absolutely necessary in the apostolate and in the task of winning new apostles. We have come to do Godâs will, not our own. We do not act in our own name, but as messengers of Christ. Our Father writes: I assure you that God will make us into instruments that can work miracles, and, if necessary, miracles of the most extraordinary kind. We will give sight to the blind. Who could not relate thousands of cases of people, blind almost from the day they were born, recovering their sight and receiving all the splendour of Christâs light? And others who were deaf, or dumb, who could not hear or pronounce words fitting to Godâs children⌠Their senses have been purified and now they listen and speak as men, not animals. In nomine Iesu! In the name of Jesus his Apostles enable the cripple to move and walk, when previously he had been incapable of doing anything useful; and that other lazy character, who knew his duties but didnât fulfil them⌠In the Lordâs name, surge et ambula, rise up and walk.
Another man was dead, rotting, smelling like a corpse: he hears Godâs voice, as in the miracle of the son of the widow at Naim: Young man, I say to you, rise up. We will work miracles like Christ did, like the first apostles did. Maybe you yourself, and I, have benefited from such wonders. Perhaps we were blind, or deaf, or paralyzed; perhaps we had the stench of death, and the word of our Lord has lifted us up from our abject state. If we love Christ, if we follow him sincerely, if we stop seeking ourselves and seek him alone; then in his name we will be able to give to others, freely, what we have freely received.
Christ himself does the apostolate: we have to seek only the glory of God in everything.
Donât expect peopleâs applause for your work, our Father wrote. What is more, sometimes you mustnât even expect other people and institutions who, like you, are working for Christ, to understand you.
Seek only the glory of God and, while loving everyone, donât worry if there are some who donât understand you.
We should do everything for Godâs glory. We have to be like those holy men who felt impelled to do good things for others, but who referred everything to God, so that it was not they themselves who were glorified, but only their heavenly Father. We should always do our apostolate for God, as it is written in the Gospel, not seeking honour, praise or glory, but bearing the Lord always in mind. Now is a good moment to repeat the prayer our Founder taught us: My God, from this moment on I renounce all human gratitude and reward.
There is a Gospel passage which shows us vividly how we should seek Godâs glory alone in our apostolate. Our Lord, after rising from the dead, appeared to a group of Apostles who were out fishing, as before. Following the Masterâs instructions, but without yet recognizing him, they cast their nets to the right of the boat, and straight away their nets were filled. They bring in the catch and immediately place it at our Lordâs feet, because it is his. This is a lesson for us, so that we may learn that souls belong to God; that no one on earth has that right over souls; and that the Churchâs apostolate, by which it announces and brings about salvation, is not based on the prestige of any human beings but on the grace of God.
Jesus questions Peter three times, as if to give him a triple chance to atone for his triple denial. Peter has learned his lesson from the bitter experience of his wretchedness. Aware of his weakness, he is deeply convinced that rash claims are pointless. Instead, he puts everything in Christâs hands. Lord, you know well that I love you. Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you. What is Christâs reply? Feed my lambs, feed my sheep. Not yours, Peter; not yours: mine! Because he created man; he redeemed man; he has bought each soul, one by one, at the cost, I say once again, of his blood.
We are not doing our apostolate. If we were, what could we possibly say? We are doing Christâs apostolate, because God wants it to be done and because he has commanded us to do it: Go out all over the world, and preach the Gospel to the whole of creation. The errors are ours; the fruits are his.
We also have to redirect to our Lord the gratitude of the people we do apostolate with. Contempt for praise is what we have to learn first and foremost. When we are praised, we should channel it to God, as our Father teaches us. We have to disappear. In order to do so, we need humility and a good grasp of the spirit of the Work.
Apostolic fruits of obedience come from supernatural outlook and the right intention.
It is Christ who does the apostolate, and we need to obey him so as to fulfil what he wants. Jesus was talking to the crowd one day from Peterâs boat on Lake Genesareth. When he had finished his preaching, he told Simon: Put out into the deep, and lower your nets for a catch. Christ is the master of this boat. He it is who prepares the fishing. It is for this that he has come into the world, to do all that he can so that his brothers may find the way to glory and to the love of the Father. It is not we who have invented the Christian apostolate. If anything, we get in the way, through our clumsiness and lack of faith.
Simon answered him, âMaster, we have toiled all night, and caught nothing.â A reasonable enough reply. The night hours were their normal time for fishing, and this time the catch had yielded nothing. What was the point of fishing by day? But Peter has faith: nevertheless, at your word I will let down the net. He decides to act on Christâs suggestion. He undertakes to work relying entirely on the word of our Lord. And what happened? When they had done this, they took a great quantity of fish, so that the net was near breaking, and they must needs beckon to their partners who were in the other boat to come and help them. When these came, they filled both boats, so that they were ready to sink. The miraculous catch belonged completely to God, but it is also true that it would not have occurred without Peterâs obedience.
When Jesus went out to sea with his disciples he was not thinking only about the catch of fishes. And so when Peter falls down at his feet and humbly confesses: Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man, our Lord replies: Do not be afraid; henceforth you shall be a fisher of men. In this new task of fishing, all the power and effectiveness of God will also be at hand: the apostles are instruments for the working of great wonders, in spite of their personal shortcomings.
The fruits of the apostolate come from God, from obeying the Directors who represent him. If we have a supernatural outlook, and work with a pure intention, we will find it natural and obvious to obey in the apostolate, and we will not worry about the results. We will put all our efforts into our apostolic task, but at the same time we will leave everything in Godâs hands, certain that we will always be victorious, if we see things through the eyes of faith.
If we have been straightforward and obedient, souls will come close to Jesus Christ and the apostolate will bear fruit, because it will receive the blessings of our Lord and our Lady. It may take time for the harvest to come, but the fruits are assured. Our Father says: If you are faithful, when the years have gone by and you are old, you will feel a paternal tenderness towards the young people around you, because, through Godâs grace, your âyesâ will have been fruitful.