271. Twelfth Monday of Ordinary Time

Meditations no. 257 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Charity creates an atmosphere of trust around us.

At that time, Jesus said to his disciples, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgement you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.

Our Lord speaks to us today about how our judgements and speech should always abound in charity, because ours is a way of love, my children - of love for God our Father; and of sincere, constant and sensitive fraternal charity. You are to practise charity always and in everything, because that is how our heavenly Father constantly pours out his charity into our hearts.

Unfortunately, both in civil and in ecclesiastical society, many people don’t give much importance to this command from our Lord, and end up by falling into disloyalty or calumny. They forget that the tongue is a little member and boasts of great things. How great a forest, writes St James, is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is an unrighteous world among our members … With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brethren, this ought not to be so.

Through God’s grace, in Opus Dei we always try to live very differently. Faithful to Jesus Christ’s teaching, we foster an atmosphere of trust and loyalty around us in our own families, where we work, and in our social life. People can feel at ease with us, because we never criticize anyone behind their back or allow others to do so. Referring to this, our Father wrote: I don’t mean to dwell at length here on the marvels of supernatural charity and the real, affectionate love that have been part of your life from the very beginning of the Work. Many souls have discovered the Gospel in the Christian warmth they find in our home, where no one can feel alone, and no one can suffer the bitterness of other people’s indifference …

If we work like that, fraternally, loyally, shoulder to shoulder with everyone, and teach other people to do the same, we will be showing the Holy Church as a living reality, which lives in a special way in her saints, for there are always saints in some part of the Mystical Body.

Sincere love for all mankind - a necessary manifestation of the love we have for God; and love for the world we live in too: love for all the noble realities of the earth, which are also the object of God’s love. So just forget about your own smallness and wretchedness, my daughters and sons, and set your eyes and heart on this surging river of living water, the Work, which is doing all it can to fill humanity with charity, joy and peace.

Fraternal correction cuts out criticism at its root.

Fraternitatis amatores, lovers of the brethren: so the Apostle St Peter says we should be. And our Father told us from the start: If I don’t see you practise that blessed brotherly spirit that I preach to you constantly, I shall remind you of those affectionate words of Saint John: Filioli mei, non diligamus verbo neque lingua, sed opere et veritate - My little children, let us not love by word nor with the tongue, but in deed and in truth.

To protect and strengthen our fraternity we have the practise of fraternal correction, which cuts out any possible disloyalty or criticism within the Work. I know that you behave well, my children, but watch out for grumbling! If a child of mine grumbles and criticizes, they are doing a lot of harm, to themselves, to those around them, and to the Work.

But what you do have is the right and duty to talk to people face to face. You can go to the Director and say: “This is happening” - bearing in mind that you may be right and you may be wrong. They won’t be cross. They will listen to you and, not straight away, but perhaps the next day, they will call you and say, “You’re right,” or else, “You’re mistaken.” Because everyone sees things from their particular point of view, but those who are higher up have a better perspective of the whole.

If we are trying to climb to the top of a mountain, we might easily, with the best will in the world, head straight for a precipice, because we can’t see the whole mountain from below. But people who are already up there can see it all, and can direct us - this way, or that way, or over there.

So, through God’s grace, those who govern have more light; but they too know that they may get things wrong, just as I know I can too. Therefore you do well to tell them things nobly, face to face. And what’s more you can then be at peace, having unburdened your mind.

Talk whenever there is something that might harm your soul, whatever it is. You might have something on your mind that you turn over and over: go and tell the Director about it, simply and openly; and everything can be sorted out. As soon as you talk about it you find great tranquillity and peace. And then, when they give you an answer, whether it is yes or no, a complete answer or only a partial one -whatever it may be, because no one wants to deceive you - you will be confirmed in happiness, and you will be really thankful that you didn’t criticize.

Don’t you find criticizing and grumbling repellent? Don’t you see how destructive they are? It’s so easy to get a pickaxe and start demolishing a wall. But to build a wall, to build a house: for that you need skill, hard work and God’s help.

My children, hold grumbling and criticizing in abhorrence. “But Father, we never criticize or grumble.” I know; I’m not accusing you of doing it Perhaps someone may have fallen into it through weakness at some stage, but they mustn’t worry: they won’t do it again …

You also need to make fraternal corrections on this point every time. If anyone starts criticizing or grumbling, interrupt them straight away, and help them to see that that’s not good spirit; it’s wrong for a child of God to do that They need to go and tell the Director about whatever it is, face to face, with love and respect.

Charity on earth is the prelude to charity in heaven.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage! United in charity, with the same sentiments and the same path to travel, our life in the Work is like a foretaste of heaven. None of you is alone, none of you is a verse in isolation; we are verses of the same poem, a divine epic. And we are all concerned to keep this marvellous unity intact, this harmony that makes us so strong and effective in God’s service, ut castrorum acies ordinata, as an army in battle array.

Now I’m speaking to you individually, in confidence: remember, my daughter or my son, that because we are consummati in unum,” perfectly made one, your weakness, and other people’s weakness, and my own weakness, are all united in God’s love, and are turned into tremendous strength. Because a brother who is helped by his brother is like a walled city: frater qui adiuvatur a fratre quasi civitas firma!

It is our great resolution to persevere in charity, in love for God and love for one another. Love never ends, St Paul says: it crosses the boundaries of death and finds its fullness in the glory of the world to come, which far surpasses anything that we can put into words or even conceive. No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him. Heaven itself is the crown and reward of love. We desire it with all our heart, for ourselves and for everyone.

Veni, Domine lesu! Come, Lord Jesus! Come now, and always, to our heart; come, after we have worked long years for you on earth, and take us to our heavenly Father’s kingdom. Gather all your saints, whom you have numbered from all eternity, and lead them to where God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more. Come, Lord, to raise our bodies in glory like your own, so that our eyes may see the new heaven and the new earth that you have promised us.

Father, guide and protector of your people, grant us an unfailing respect for your name, and keep us always in your love. And our Lady, our Mother: increase the charity in our hearts still more, so that through being united on earth we may come to live with you in heaven for ever, in union with the Blessed Trinity.