267. Eleventh Saturday of Ordinary Time

Meditations no. 255 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Confidence that Providence will provide the means for the apostolate.

In the Gospel of today’s Mass, Christ tells us not to worry about material needs, but to place all our confidence in God. Do not be anxious about your life, he tells us, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? He invites us to look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. And the lilies of the field: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. And he concludes: Therefore do not be anxious, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

Our Lord, who came to save mankind and set us an example of how to live, shows us in his own behaviour how to use the things of this earth for his service. Jesus coepit facere et docere. Before teaching with words, he proclaimed his doctrine with deeds. You have seen that he was born in a stable, in the most abject poverty, and that the first time he slept on this earth it was on straw in a manger. Later, in the years of his apostolic journeyings, you will recall, among many other examples, the clear warning he gave to a man who offered to become one of his disciples: Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head. Nor should you forget to contemplate the Gospel scene which shows the Apostles staving off their hunger on the Sabbath day by plucking some ears of corn that were growing by the wayside.

You might say that our Lord’s approach to the mission he received from his Father was to live from day to day, just as he advised his hearers in one of the most divinely challenging statements of his teaching: ‘Do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat, nor about your body, what you shall put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.’

In Opus Dei, following Christ’s example, we are called to live from day to day, almost hand to mouth, with no strings to tie us down, trusting in God’s fatherly providence. If we don’t, we will find ourselves straying from the path. And although someone might last on for a little while in that state, the distinctive atmosphere in the Work, of all-out commitment, would reject such a person in the end like a foreign body. If ever a child of mine were to get so wrapped up in their own affairs that they considered themselves untouchable, and failed to put themselves totally at the Work’s disposal, what a poor, mean outlook theirs would be! A principal ingredient of our commitment is the habitual practice of temperance, which means that we must be modest, sober, mild, and humble; and that we must love honesty, self-restraint, moderation, meekness, and mortification.

Temperance in the use of apostolic means.

The world and the things of the world are no obstacle to holiness. The world is the sphere in which our life of dedication is meant to develop. Our Lord wants us to make good use of the things of this earth. He wants the satisfaction which they give us to be a spur for our work and to stimulate our gratitude to him, but never to be an end in itself.

Our confidence in God is the fruit of our divine filiation, and should lead us to be detached from possessions. Temperance should lead us to use what we have in God’s service and for the good of souls, with our hearts detached in practice from all our belongings. We have to use the things that everyone has at their disposal, in order to do apostolate. If we do use things in this way, temperance becomes something of enormous effectiveness for our apostolate and proselytism.

And so we try to set an example of this virtue on every occasion. For instance, we always include mortification as one of the choicest ingredients in our meals, so as to recall St Paul’s words to Titus: abnegantes impietatem et saecularia desideria, sobrie et iuste et pie vivamus in hoc saeculo (renouncing irreligion and worldly passions, and living sober, upright and godly lives in this world). You could translate this advice nicely as follows: let us be sober in the middle of the world, as a living example for the people around us; and so let us serve Jesus Christ in piety and justice.

Our Father taught us specific ways of practising this virtue: for example, at meals. By having a little -just a little - less of what we like best, and taking just a little bit more of what we don’t like - two teaspoonfuls. This isn’t a meaningless exercise, but a mortification that can well be understood by any Christian. If we are doing it for God, it is the prayer of the body, mortification; and in terms of our own lives it is character-forming: In the same way, in family life, whenever our choice passes unnoticed, we make sure we choose the worst of anything for ourselves. If we do this we will always make sure we have no more than we actually need, whether in the area of clothes, the things we use, or items we need for our work.

It will help us to take extra care of the way we practise temperance in our social life if we reflect on the need to set a good example at all times, and especially when people know that we are members of the Work. We are obliged to avoid the scandalum pusillorum, giving scandal to little ones. But there is another kind of scandal, which is pharisaical scandal; and we should avoid that kind too, in fairness to our brothers and sisters. Because once they know that we belong to Opus Dei, there are certain people who subject everything we do to minute scrutiny, and if they think, for example, that they have found one of us out in some small lack of temperance at meals, they are scandalized, and generalize from a single instance to criticize all of us.

Temperance as a living virtue for people in the middle of the world is something immensely attractive to others. We don’t go around teaching that possessions ought to be spurned, but rather that they should be accorded their due worth and no more. Our style is to make virtue something pleasant, and show the freedom of spirit that temperance confers, and how it can infuse our life with serenity. We aim to show how to put the things of this world to their right use. In this way other people, on seeing the way we behave in our work, in our social relations, and in the apostolate we do, will feel moved to live with the same degree of austerity and self-command.

For everyone around us, we have the duty of bearing witness to Jesus Christ through our conduct as souls dedicated to God. And if we are really trying to practise the virtue of temperance for the love of God, there will necessarily be the bonus odor Christi about us, which our Father speaks so much about.

Temperance and poverty in the apostolate.

Since temperance is a virtue which makes up a large part of the bonus odor Christi, the good fragrance of Christ, which is so necessary for any work with souls, it is especially important to practise it in doing apostolate. Our Father gave us some specific guidance.

Speaking of our social relations, both in our work and in our apostolate, he said: Normally it’s not a good idea to spend three hours on a visit, or when someone comes to see you. Perhaps the other person may be grateful at the time, but later they may very possibly start to think that that child of mine had no work to do; and such an impression would harm the Work. As an exception, in a given case, it might be necessary to spend as long as that with someone, out of charity and even justice; but it would always be something exceptional. We are civitas supra montem posita, a city set on a mountain-top, and people who know we belong to the Work do notice how we behave. “This person has spent the whole afternoon talking to me. Who gets him his meals? What does he do for a living? What apostolate does he do?” They forget that talking with them is itself apostolate, and are surprised at the amount of time we give them. So be especially careful about such things, so that no one can be foolishly scandalized.

Our life has to be hard-working, serene, and unostentatious, because we are the same as anyone else. Our poverty doesn’t show on the outside. If you want to, even though you may have the cilice on tight, you can still be as elegant as anyone else - as long as you don’t do it to attract attention, or overstep the mark - so that your appearance actually makes virtue attractive to look at.

On outings, in social gatherings, on journeys for our work, or when we are having a meal, we should practise temperance so naturally and with such loving care, that those who are in contact with you in your profession and in your social activity will often repeat the comment Cleophas and his companion made at Emmaus: Nonne cor nostrum ardens erat in nobis, dum loqueretur in via? Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road?

Sometimes you will have no choice but to do as your colleagues do, our Father also told us. But we can never use the need to act naturally as an excuse for neglecting the little details of poverty, good use of time, and austerity. Because if these things were lacking it would create a very false impression of our dedication to God. Set an example to all around you of Christian austerity and sacrifice. Our Lord has told us: If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. He, my children, has made us experience the fruitfulness of letting ourselves be trodden underfoot, crushed in the winepress, like grapes, in order to be Christ’s own wine!

Let us ask our Lady, who practised temperance so sensitively and naturally in her family home at Nazareth, to teach us to use the things of this earth in such a way that, far from being an obstacle, they may become for us an effective means of holiness and apostolate.