213. Fifth Saturday of Ordinary Time

Meditations no. 90 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

There will always be difficulties to overcome.

Adam’s sin, his disobedience to God’s command, soon met with the appropriate punishment. The Lord said to Adam: Because you have … eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, “You shall not eat of it,” cursed is the ground because of you; in to il you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return. From that moment, any form of work involves a certain difficulty; it requires effort, especially if the aim is to do it in a virtuous, sanctifying way. Jesus himself redeemed us by following a path of hardship, pain and suffering.

We should see difficulties as an ordinary feature of our lives. They shouldn’t surprise us. If we did not come up against obstacles, we would not be creatures of flesh and blood. Besides, we know very well that all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted as St Paul says. Without difficulties, without struggle, there would be no victory. An athlete does not receive the prize unless he has had to make a real effort. And as St Gregory of Nyssa teaches, the battle would be a sham if there were no adversary to be fought. Therefore, if there is no adversary there will be no crown; for there can be no victor if there is no one vanquished.

Rather than causing us to be discouraged, the setbacks and adversities we come up against should act as an added spur to our interior growth. For if - with the help of God’s grace - we overcome them, we sanctify ourselves, and everything we do gains in depth and scope. If there were no difficulties, things would have neither human nor supernatural value, our Father used to say. If a nail which is being hammered into a wall meets with no resistance, what can I hang on it? We should expect to find resistance both within ourselves and from outside, if we are to attain holiness and bear fruit. We must always expect to encounter obstacles, because the goal that God has set for us is very high; it is supernatural. It’s hard! Yes, I know. But, forward! No one will be rewarded - and what a reward! -except those who fight bravely.

Patience and tenacity in struggling against our defects.

Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. An eternity in heaven, unending bliss, is well worth a few years of effort here below. And this is what is asked of us: a constant, tenacious struggle, in which we refuse to give up, even for a moment, and even though we might frequently suffer defeats.

Hence, in Opus Dei we are convinced that, as the Apostle teaches, the ascetical struggle is not something negative and odious, but a joyful positive statement. It is a sport. This is the asceticism of the Work of God. A good sportsman doesn’t fight to win just a single victory and at the first attempt. He prepares and trains for a long time; he tries, confidently and calmly, over and over again. And even though at first he fails, he keeps at it tenaciously until he overcomes the obstacles.

Exactly the same thing holds true for our life, my beloved daughters and sons. If in your spiritual struggle, you keep starting again, as often as is necessary, you are doing well. If we keep up our morale, convinced that we’ll win in the end, if we keep fighting, and are sincere with the “Good Shepherd” and obedient, then with God’s help we will get there. There is no difficulty we cannot overcome. Vir oboediens loquetur victoriam, the obedient man will sing of victory.

It is a matter of time and making use of the right means; it is a question of being patient, constant, and persistent, like the man our Father used to talk about: I remember once giving a retreat to priests in a certain city in Spain. There was a big old house there, and I was struck by some words carved on the main facade of the building. I was told that they reflected the stubbornness of the admirable fellow who owned the house. From the building, through a little door set into the outer wall, he had a direct means of exit from the city. But the civic authorities made him block it up. He complied, but he had this inscription put over the window on the facade: Where one door closes, another door opens. There’s stubbornness for you! Are you and I like that in our affairs? When something doesn’t work out in our daily struggle, well then, tomorrow it will! My children, be stubborn. Raise your stubbornness to the supernatural level.

Many great things depend on our ascetical struggle.

I do not run aimlessly, says St Paul. I do not box as one beating the air; but I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. We need to fight - and to do so without losing hope, with supernatural stubbornness - if we are to become holy in God’s eyes. But we should never forget that our effort to achieve our personal sanctification is the holiness of the whole Work, the holiness of our brothers and sisters and of many other souls, and the holiness of God’s Church.

Ascetical struggle is never a merely personal matter. Provided we keep up the fight, and refuse to give in, many great things will come about: projects, vocations, the growth of the Work and the Church, help for the holy souls in Purgatory, the salvation of countless sinners… In order to bring about so many wonderful things, all that God expects is that his instruments do all they can to be well disposed. You must try to ensure that your good disposition is never wanting. Then all sorts of good things will multiply around you, and people’s minds and behaviour will be filled with light and salt.

My children, feel this responsibility. Feel the duty to be holy: holy, which doesn’t mean doing strange things. If you struggle every day to fulfil the Norms, you are on the way to holiness.

Let us turn to Holy Mary, our Mother, and tell her our resolutions, asking her to help us maintain our eagerness for the fight. May she encourage us every day - including today - to start once again with new determination, ready to tackle all adversity joyfully.