240. Eighth Saturday of Ordinary Time

Meditations no. 111 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Perseverance stems from love for God.

The life we lead can be explained only in terms of our love for Jesus Christ. Neither our original decision to dedicate our lives, nor our perseverance in this resolve, can be accounted for except by the strength of our love. O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you. We began to follow Jesus when we first heard his invitation to accompany him. We knew that God wanted us to love him with our whole heart, our whole soul, and our whole mind, and that he desired the whole of our life. And so we cannot allow other, less supernatural, attractions to fill the place that only love should occupy.

Yet all too often we risk endangering the love we have promised God. At times we seek ourselves in our work and forget about God, and as a result we lose the sense of urgency in the apostolate. Then again, difficulties in our surroundings or in our spiritual life can take away some of the appeal of the way we are following. But none of us have the right, under any circumstances, to doubt our divine calling. God always offers his light, and he freely provides us with inner strength, because he wants to have our weakness alongside his almighty power, and the darkness of our lowly nature alongside his light. We cannot doubt that we have been deliberately chosen to be co-redeemers. Apart from all the other reasons that we have often considered, we also have an external sign: the fact that we have been labouring so willingly in his Work for no earthly gain. If God hadn’t called us, all that self-effacing work in Opus Dei would have made us fit for a mental institution. But the fact that we are sane proves that there is something physical, something external, guaranteeing that our calling is divine: veni, sequere me: come, follow me.

Our first act of self-giving sprang from love for Christ; and it is this same love that continues to ensure our faithfulness. Our own personal experience confirms the truth of those words we first read perhaps many years ago. What is the secret of perseverance? Love. Fall in love and you will not leave him.

If we are tired, it should prompt us to contemplate Christ’s sacred Humanity.

It is only natural that we should tire as a result of the sustained effort of our work, day after day. This may simply be purely physical; the body is too weak to go on. At other times we may become discouraged when we realize that, despite our sincere struggle, we still have the same faults as before. It is then that we should contemplate Christ’s sacred Humanity, in order to rekindle our hope. We ask with St Paul: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? And our falls and wretchedness will serve to increase our contrition and humility.

Sorrow inspired by love. And in the intimacy of our sorrow and humility, we dare to tell God that our life also contains a lot of love. Our fault may have been real, but the love he himself has given us, enabling us to serve him with all the strength of our heart, is also real. Nothing on earth can separate us, against our will, from the love of Christ. Yet we realize that of ourselves we can do nothing. Hence our Mother the Church invites us to fix our gaze on him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of his glory.

When we meet with difficulties, we are consoled by the example of Christ, perfect God and perfect Man. Our Father encourages us: Never tire of contemplating Jesus who so often in his life shows the weaknesses of his holy Humanity, except for sin. Look at him fatigatus ex itinere, wearied by his journey as he rests against the well at Sichar and asks for water to quench his thirst; or recovering his strength as he sleeps on a cushion in the disciples’ boat; or undergoing hunger, or weeping at the death of his beloved friend Lazarus; or becoming so filled with fear and anguish at the approach of his Passion and Death that he allows an angel, a created being, to comfort him.

Christ as Man stood firm, because of the union of his Humanity with the Divinity, and because he kept up a continual dialogue with his Father. This is the way he teaches us to follow. If we do all we can to be close to God, and we try to fulfil the Norms lovingly, nothing will be able to separate us from him. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes.

Obstacles: opportunities for us to grow in holiness.

The path that leads to our heavenly home passes through many difficulties, but none of them is insuperable. Christ has become the way for us, St Augustine tells us. Can we, therefore, lose hope of reaching our goal? This path cannot vanish; it cannot be washed away by rain and floods; it cannot become the haunt of robbers. Walk surely in Christ; do not stumble or fall or look back; do not stop on the way or become separated from him. Look after this and you will arrive safely.

If we are humble, the obstacles we encounter will become a means of progress. They will draw us closer to God, and make us seek his help and ask him to strengthen our love. When God wishes to carry out an enterprise, he uses totally inadequate means so that all may see that the work is his. Hence you and I, who know well the weary weight of our own pettiness, should say to God: “Although I see my own wretchedness, I realize that in your hands I become a divine instrument.” When faced with our own failings and with external problems, our Father teaches us to turn to Christ. Love is forged in adversity and difficulty; it grows stronger through the effort we make to overcome ourselves. God makes use of trials, as a sculptor uses a mallet and chisel, to shape his image in our souls.

Don’t be surprised when I say that I love your defects, so long as you fight to overcome them, since they lead you to be humble. Humility, the recognition that we can do nothing without God’s help, must be the foundation for our ascetical struggle and our apostolate. Despite your wretchedness, you will be victorious and make others victorious with you. Together you will all help me persevere. We will still make mistakes. But when we face up to them and ask for God’s forgiveness, they make us humble and enable us to exclaim with the Church: felix culpa! (O happy fault!)

With the humility of small children, let us turn to our Lady, whose love for Jesus never ceased to grow. Love is the reason for our perseverance; and Mary will ensure that our hearts are always filled with a love that is fervent and sincere.