219. Sixth Wednesday of Ordinary Time
Meditations no. 94 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
The confidential chat: its origin and need.
The Gospels give us many examples of the conversations our Lord had with all sorts of different people. We see how he speaks to them and how they confide in him - especially those he had personally chosen as Apostles. Jesus pours out his love. He forms their minds, strengthens their wills, corrects their faults and sets their intentions straight. Finally he sends the Holy Spirit, making them the pillars on which to build his Church.
For their part the Apostles approached Jesus with the utmost simplicity, when things went well or when they seemed to go badly. Even the devils are subject to us in your name, they exclaimed in a moment of joy. But when on another occasion they were unable to expel a devil, they took Jesus aside and asked: Why could we not cast it out?
This is how the fraternal chat sprang up in the Work: spontaneously, naturally, like a spring of water: the water is there and it cannot stop flowing because it is part of our life.
How did this Custom first arise? At the time, our Father has told us, there were no priests in the Work apart from myself. I didnât want to hear your brothersâ confessions because if I did it meant my hands were tied: I wouldnât have been able to say anything to them until their next confession. That is why I used to send them elsewhere. âGo to confession wherever you want,â I told them. They found it hard because when they accused themselves, for example, of having neglected the examination, or some other minor fault, some priests responded brusquely or sarcastically: âThatâs no sin.â And some other zealous priests or religious with good spirit - their own good spirit -would ask them: âDonât you think you might have a vocation to our order⌠?â
Your brothers preferred to tell me things simply and clearly outside confession. After all, thatâs what people often do in a group of friends, or in a get-together, or over coffee, or at a dance! They speak uninhibitedly and even exaggerate.
In the fraternal chat you should be just as uninhibited.
The virtues of simplicity and sincerity are needed for us to do the chat well.
In order to make proper use of this supernatural means of formation, we must practise the virtues that help us gain its full benefit. In our confidential talk we speak as simply as we do to God in our prayer. We never mistake what we would like to be, for what we in fact are. As the Catechism of the Work says, we avoid making reference to our virtues or achievements in a self-satisfied fashion in order to be praised for them. Nor do we look for sympathy, since very often this is a sign of pride.
Sincerity is all-important. What does a sick person do when he wants to be cured? He goes to a doctor who knows him. And if the patient isnât a madman, he will briefly tell the doctor all the symptoms and circumstances that he thinks are relevant, even the most trivial ones. If we want to be cured, we wonât hide anything, however difficult it might be for our pride, or however insignificant a particular thing might seem. Otherwise you will tie yourself up in knots, and what started out as nothing will end up as something huge.
Open up your hearts, our Father always used to say. It is the best way to reach the goal safely. Let yourself be known for what you are! Donât keep anything inside. Say everything: talk about the things that make you feel tired, or cause you suffering; talk about your worries, and anything that upsets you. If we open our hearts completely and sincerely, God will ensure that the light of his grace enters our lives, and that we are filled with the vital, active force of the Holy Spirit. God makes use of the Directors so that, along with the spirit of Opus Dei, all the activities of his chosen ones are seasoned with grace and supernatural salt.
Donât let the dumb devil take control. The devil tries to separate us from God; and if we allow him to gain the upper hand, other people will turn aside as they do from the friends of Satan and those possessed by him.
Remind everyone of the Gospel scene. The dumb devil stops people from hearing and tries to keep them from speaking; he doesnât want to let go of his prey. I will go on repeating the same advice, which comes from my motherly and fatherly affection for you. Open up your hearts to Godâs grace, and let it purify and burn. That is what will make us fit instruments for apostolic work.
Like any other virtue, sincerity can and should steadily increase. If we are faithful to grace, we will come to know ourselves better each day, and we will learn how to talk about our interior dispositions in a more concise and straightforward way. It will be easier for us to let ourselves be known. And we will find that the confidential chat is a powerful aid for us as we forge ahead in our struggle.
We need to be simple and straightforward, humble and sincere. As one Father of the Church says, we should have no hesitation in trusting those who have accepted responsibility before God for guiding us to holiness.
To be sincere we need to examine our consciences well.
Our Father tells us that our trusting conversation with the Director is no whim; we need it If we open our hearts, we are sure of victory at the hour of struggle. Open your heart! You have a Father who loves you, and a Director who will understand you. As the Psalmist reminds us, the one who speaks truth from his heart, who does not slander with his tongue, is the one who will rest in the Lord.
Sincerity goes hand in hand with a thorough examination of conscience. The Catechism of the Work reminds us that before doing the Confidence, one has to be convinced of its benefits and its necessity; and that to get the most out of it, one should desire it ardently and consider in the presence of God the points one ought to cover.
In this way we will avoid the danger of presenting things in a confused or superficial way, through not having prepared them properly. What it really means is that we do the chat beforehand with our Lord in the tabernacle. We talk to him about how the past week has gone; what use we have made of the talents he has given us and the time he has placed at our disposal; how we have taken advantage of the opportunities that arose to do good to others; how we have fulfilled the Norms; and the state of our interior dispositions. There is a world of difference between examining ourselves without Godâs help, and placing ourselves in his presence in order to give him an account of our actions and omissions, while asking him for pardon and holding on to his hand more tightly.
In the chat it will simply be a question of going over the same things as we have already pondered in front of the tabernacle. And it will be easy for us to take the advice we are given as if it were coming from our Lord Jesus Christ himself. After thanking God and engraving that advice on our hearts, we will try to put it faithfully into practice.
We can never be grateful enough for the human and divine assistance that the Work offers us. Let us ask our Lady for an ever greater appreciation of this wonderful means of formation, together with the grace to say all that we need to, with complete sincerity and simplicity, and to be as faithful as possible in carrying out the advice we receive.