262. Eleventh Monday of Ordinary Time
Meditations no. 250 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
Loving each other with supernatural charity and natural affection: with all our heart.
Even as I have loved you, love one another Christâs love is the model for ours. And Jesus, perfectus Deus, perfectus homo, perfect God and perfect man, has shown both divine and human love for us. Jesus is your friend. -The Friend. -With a heart of flesh, like yours. -With eyes, which look so lovingly, which wept for LazarusâŚ
-And as much as he loves Lazarus, he loves you.
We have often found passages in the Gospel which tell us of the tender love of Christ for people. Jesus is touched by the generous gift of a poor widow; he weeps tears of sorrow at his friendâs grave; out of compassion he brings the widowâs son back to life at Naim. And, alone with his disciples, his divine words take on the deep human warmth of real affection. Vos autem dixi amicos, I have called you friends, since all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
In the Work we have been taught to love each other like that. We love God, and therefore we also have a genuine love for our brothers or sisters, because when natural affection is purified in the love of Christ, it forms an integral part of Christian charity. Donât be afraid to feel a noble, holy love for one another, our Father tells us. I want you to be really fond of each other. Donât be ashamed of having a heart. We canât just put up with each other. Thatâs too little. We canât be content with cold, officious charity. Love - natural and supernatural love! We have to feel the same affection as Christ, who was on fire with love for mankind, for his Mother, for the Apostles, for Lazarus. When somebody is in trouble, then everyone comes to share it with them. And if someone is happy, then we all join in their happiness too.
We have to love everyone, because Christ shed his blood as a ransom for all. But charily has to follow its proper order, and in the first place we have to love the people who belong to our supernatural family, the people who are working with us on this divine enterprise of doing Opus Dei on earth. We follow one path, we strive in unison, and our hearts beat as one. No one can walk along the path of Opus Dei alone. Our Father said: Those who have a bond of fraternity as children of one and the same Mother, the Work, must love each other with special charity. And he added: Nothing is more persuasive than love and affection. So many Gospel passages show us Christ being won over by love! Well, my children, win over your brothers or sisters: love them with the charity which distinguishes those who are our Lordâs disciples from those who are not. This is how we should - and in fact do - love one other: with the same human heart which we have given to our Lord, with natural affection and supernatural charity. Grant us, O Lord, to live as your children, in fraternal love for everyone.
This love is shown in family life too.
We are a family united by supernatural ties. Our Centres are Christian family homes. Like any Christian family, we show respect and affection for one other, have a definite order, and set a high value on family unity.
In our daily lives together, there are little ways in which we can give ourselves to the others which demand sensitivity of soul and love for God. Jesus doesnât quote outstanding feats of charity as examples for us, but instead he talks of very small things: Give to him who begs from you, and do not refuse him who would borrow from you.
We each have our own character, our personal tastes, our temper - bad temper sometimes - and our defects. Everyone has good things about them too, and for this reason and for many others, we can love each of the others. It is possible to live together in harmony when everyone is making an effort to correct their own shortcomings and trying to pass over other peopleâs - that is to say, when there is love, which overcomes whatever might falsely be seen as a reason for division and friction.
If anyone says that they canât bear this or that and just canât keep quiet about it, they are simply exaggerating to justify themselves. We need to ask God for the strength to overcome our own whims, for the grace of self-mastery. Because once you lose your temper the danger is that you will lose control and say bitter, hurtful things, without really meaning to, which wound people and do a lot of harm.
You need to learn how to keep quiet, wait, and then say things in a positive way.
Attention for these little things has to be a constant feature of the life of anyone in Opus Dei, because although they are so small they are very necessary if we are to practise charity. A habitual smile, which never looks artificial if it is the expression of inner peace and order; the way we notice and look after little things in the home that go to make life pleasant for other people; not making unnecessary noise around the house; taking care of cleanliness and the way we dress - these and so many other little things can season our daily lives together with enjoyment.
The get-togethers and other times of family life are particularly good opportunities for taking care of such things. The get-together is a wonderful way of living our family spirit. You need to speak straightforwardly, simply, with a little supernatural sense, and include something amusing. Our Father also added: Thereâs no harm in teasing each other, as long as you donât overstep the mark or give offence. Now is a good moment to renew our resolution to practise what our Father recommended. Learn how to go out of your way, cheerfully and unobtrusively, to make life a bit pleasanter for other people. Being able to listen, having the capacity to put aside our personal concerns in order to give ourselves to the others: this is perceptive charity, and it is the fruit of living in Godâs presence and cultivating a supernatural outlook. This will lead us to do everything for God and to discover him in other people, especially in our brothers or sisters. Attentive courtesy towards other people is courtesy done to our Lord. Truly I say to you, our Lord tells us, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.
The Custom of the day on guard.
One of the Customs of the Work has as its special aim to keep alive the fraternity which should be infused in our lives: the day on guard, on which we are particularly attentive to the holiness of the others.
Custos, quid de nocte! - Watchman, how goes the night?
May you acquire the habit of having a day on guard once a week, during which to increase your self-giving and loving vigilance over details, and to pray and mortify yourself a little more.
Realize that the Holy Church is like a great army in battle array. And you, within that army, are defending one front on which there are attacks, engagements with the enemy and counter-attacks. Do you see what I mean?
During the night before our day on guard, with the last thought of our day set on God, our heart keeps watch: Ego dormio, sed cor meum vigilat, I sleep, but my heart keeps vigil. We know that unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain, and during that night we beg him to let us keep him company in our desire, as he watches lovingly over the peace and rest of our Centre from the tabernacle.
When day breaks, our first waking thought is for our Lord. From that moment on there is a firm resolve to put fresh enthusiasm into our Norms and Customs. We have the same weapons as always for this fight: prayer, mortification, and work.
We go joyously into the fray, which takes on a special meaning for us: more than ever, through charity, we are a lamp to shed light in every corner, salt that disappears to give flavour to family life. We will keep closer to the tabernacle through our constant prayer; we will be more generous in small mortifications; we will put greater love into our work in order to help the others; and we will make a special effort over fraternal correction and the Saxum prayer: the Memo rare.
If we take care of our day on guard lovingly every week, we will find that our readiness to give ourselves and serve the others - our sense of responsibility for their holiness and perseverance will grow steadily greater in our souls. This readiness to grow closer to God will lead you to turn your days, one after the other, into days on guard, our Founder says. And he adds: If you have lived in this kind of love, the charity of Christ himself, urging and compelling us on, you will persevere in your faithfulness here on earth⌠If you love one another affectionately, with Christâs 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.
Our Blessed Lady, our Mother, put true love into all her family duties. We have seen how she set off in haste to visit her cousin Elizabeth; we have meditated on her loving dedication to Jesus during the years of his hidden life. She will teach us day by day how to be better children to her, and more fraternal towards one another.