194. Third Friday of Ordinary Time

Meditations no. 75 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

The teaching on the Mystical Body of Christ.

On his way to Damascus, Saul was nearing the city, when suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him. And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. This first revelation of Christ, in which he shows how intimately he identifies with his followers, deeply moved Paul’s heart. Later, the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ would be one of the central themes of Paul’s preaching: You were called in the one body. You are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

We Christians are not cut off from others; we are not called to sanctify ourselves in isolation. It is true that sanctity is each one’s personal responsibility; but it is sanctity in Christ. Our encounter with God is accomplished in his Son Jesus, and in him we become linked to all other Christians. United in Christ Jesus, we form a single Body with a single Soul; with one mind, one heart, one feeling, one will, one desire. Nevertheless we are many organs and members: For as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. So, we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us.

By virtue of the Soul and the Head, all the members contribute to the good of the whole Body. As the Apostle says: If all were a single organ, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”

In order to be holy we need the help of others. Christian life is essentially a meeting of the soul with its Redeemer, but it is also a merging of us all into the one love of Christ. As a result, our struggle to be holy entails the constant effort to stay united, and to help one another through genuine fraternity, the basis of which is the Love of God.

How the teaching on the Mystical Body should influence our lives.

We want to love Christ with our whole heart. But we cannot forget that the more we become “members one of another”, “mutually careful one for another”, the closer we shall be united with God and with Christ. If it ever seems hard for us to draw close to God, we should ask ourselves what effort we are putting into loving and serving others. When there is less fraternal affection and less concern for souls, when charity starts to grow cold, then it is a sign that the interior life is weakening. St Augustine says: Let your charity include everyone, if you truly want to love Christ, because Christ’s members are scattered over the whole earth. If you love only a part of the Body, you are separated from the Body. If you are separated, you are not in the Body. If you are not in the Body, you do not receive the vital influence of the Head.

As our Lord’s arms were wide open on the Cross, so too our hearts should be open to everyone. Opus Dei’s spirit is to understand, excuse, and forgive… Your love should cover all the deficiencies of human wretchedness. We don’t want to show indifference to anyone; on the contrary, we should always try to see Christ in others.

Each day our work is carried out amid the hundreds of people who cross our path from the moment we wake up in the morning until we finish our day: relatives, domestic staff, colleagues, clients, friends. We must recognize Christ in each of them, seeing Jesus our brother in each one. Then it will be easier to serve them generously, attentively, affectionately, with peace and joy.

Within the general duty to love all souls, the dogma of the Communion of Saints involves a practical requirement that should be reflected in our daily conduct: the obligation of bearing proper witness to Christ. Our Father wrote in one of his Letters: My children, each of us acts in a personal and responsible way. We must try to set a good example for each person and for society as a whole. A Christian cannot be an “individualist”, forgetting the needs of others. He cannot live selfishly, with his back turned on the world. He is essentially social, a responsible member of Christ’s Mystical Body.

A particular Communion of Saints among ourselves.

The Communion of Saints. How shall I explain it to you? You know what blood transfusions do for the body. Well, that’s what the Communion of Saints does for the soul.

Just as a blood transfusion helps to give life to every last cell of the body, so our concern for souls must extend to everyone, all of Christ’s members scattered throughout the world. But our first concern should be to look after and help the life of the others in the Work. That is how we fulfil what our Father wrote long ago: Live a special Communion of Saints, and at the moments of interior struggle, as well as during the long hours of your work, each of you will feel the joy and strength of not being alone.

Everything we do, good or bad, has its effect on others. None of you is an isolated piece, our Father says. If you stop, you make everyone else stop. And you have no right to destroy your brothers’ souls! You are responsible - in spite of your passions - for the holiness of the others, for the effectiveness of all. If we often bring this thought to our interior struggle, we will find the strength to act as we should, as true Christians, in all the circumstances of our lives. We cannot let souls down; we mustn’t cause harm to the other members of our family, the Work. As our Father stresses, our example must be constant. Everything should be an opportunity for apostolate and a means for giving doctrine, in spite of our weaknesses. Consequently, you will find it easier to do your duty if you think of how your brothers are helping you, and of the help you fail to give them if you are not faithful.

Above all, we must love one another. If you love one another affectionately, with Christ’s charity, which is tactful and perceptive, you will all help one another; and the one who was about to fall will find support and strength to be faithful.

The love we have for our Lady, who is a Mother to us all, will draw us closer to the others. The thought that we are all her children will make us even more determined to look after our fraternity much better.