291. Fourteenth Wednesday of Ordinary Time

Meditations no. 273 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Our vocation is eminently apostolic.

And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity. The names of the twelve Apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

We too have been chosen by God. When you bring to your prayer the things I have been telling you, our Father said, you will realize that our Lord has chosen you with tremendous love and affection. To each of you he has said: ego redemi te, I have redeemed you. Et vocavi te nomine tuo, and I have called you by your name; perhaps by … your pet name. And he then adds that wonderful phrase: meus es tu! You are mine!

These considerations aren’t just idle fancy, my children, but a proof of the great love God has for us. They are words from sacred Scripture, and they have to be understood for what they are: consoling, divine, wonderful truths.

The certainty that we are called by God should lead us to have a deep sense of our divine filiation. We have the assurance that God is watching over each of us in a special way. I do not know how it strikes you, but I feel I must tell you how moved I am whenever I read the words of the prophet Isaiah: Ego vocavi te nomine tuo, meus es tu! - I have called you, I have brought you into my Church, you are mine! God himself -telling me I am his! It is enough to make one go mad with Love!

The Gospel of today’s Mass reminds us how, after choosing the twelve Apostles, Jesus gave them their orders: Preach as you go, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Our divine vocation immediately makes us feel the need to go in search of other souls, to give them a share in the happiness that fills us. We are convinced that there are so many men and women on earth, and the Master does not fail to call every single one.

He calls them to a Christian life, to a life of holiness, to a chosen life, to life eternal.

We are transmitters of the universal call to holiness for everyone around us. Because, as our Father said so often, you are not just a soul who has joined other souls to do a good thing.

That’s a lot… but still it’s little. You are the Apostle who is carrying out an imperative command from Christ.

Let us thank God for our vocation to Opus Dei, which makes our lives supernaturally fruitful. And let us ask him for the grace to be responsible, the grace to examine our consciences frequently on the quality of our apostolic activity. We will find it very useful to echo our Father’s compelling question: Child of God, what have you done up till now to help the souls around you?

Corporate works, another means for apostolate.

The field for our apostolate is our job - whatever job it is we may have. If we work in a corporate or personal work of apostolate, we still have to work professionally and competently, setting ourselves high standards.

Because, as our Father reminded us, these personal or corporate works of apostolate as such will never be the goals of Opus Dei; they are and will always be instruments, work, which we have to sanctify, and where we have to sanctify ourselves and other people.

When we are employed in a corporate work of apostolate, our overriding concern must be the same as in any other job: to do our work well, to seek our Lord through our work, and to make good friends with the people we are living and working with so as to pass on Christ’s doctrine to them. We have the additional responsibility of knowing that the doctrinal and spiritual orientation of this particular undertaking is supported and guaranteed by Opus Dei.

All this should mean that we are constantly checking our approach to our work, to make sure that we are acquiring the information and training we need, building on it, and devoting all our capacity and all our enthusiasm to our work as a professionally serious task. We need to look for perfection in the way we work, through constant improvement and initiative within our allotted scope. Only if we work like that will we be in a position to sanctify our work, and sanctify the people with whom our job brings us into contact in any way. It would not make sense for us to be passive and simply wait for instructions on how to develop our project further. And when it seems to us that some aspect needs improving, we will explain the matter clearly and simply to the right person, our sole desire being to foster unity. Nor will we allow unsupernatural remarks from anyone around us.

Our Founder left us another clear guideline: The corporate apostolates of the Work can never be considered as official Church apostolates. They can never be grouped together with such apostolates, or classified under the same heading as them, no matter what the context. In the same way, the representatives or teachers of our corporate apostolates will never form part of organisations, associations or federations which are grouped together with ecclesiastical or religious centres, nor will they attend meetings or congresses organised by such centres.

This way of acting, my daughters and sons, is a basic requirement of our spirit, because our apostolate is a pre-eminently lay apostolate, and we cannot undertake any activity which would imply giving way on that point. What’s more, this is a prerequisite for the effectiveness of our apostolic work in the service of the Church and all souls, because it is the spirit God has given us.

Therefore our educational centres will never involve the Church hierarchy, although we provide solidly Christian formation in them and take the greatest care to follow the guidance of the Magisterium in all that refers to teaching. We work as responsible secular Catholics, exercising all our rights as ordinary citizens in the service of God, and feeling in our souls the urgency of the apostolic mission which belongs to all the Christian faithful as members of the Body of Christ.

Initiative to reach every sphere.

We have Christ with us, and we are trying to identify ourselves with him. We know that all the supernatural effect of our work depends on his grace. Our Father wrote: With a sense of deep humility, relying on “the name of our God and not on our horses and chariots,” take your place fearlessly in all human activities and organizations, so that Christ is there in them. I have applied the words of Scripture to our way of working: ubicumque fuerit corpus, illic congregabuntur et aquilae (wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together), since God our Lord will call us to strict account if, out of apathy or laziness, you fail to intervene, freely, in the acts and decisions which the present and future state of society depend on.

We cannot be passive. Our vocation itself impels us to take part in the noble projects that are constantly being initiated in society, whether or not they are of major importance. Without forming a group (which you cannot do anyway because you each have unlimited freedom in worldly affairs), but individually, play an active and effective role in official or private associations, because they always have some bearing on mankind’s well-being, here and hereafter. Even a sports club or a collectors’ club, just to give an example, may be used to do a lot of good or a lot of harm. It all depends on the people who organize or inspire them.

In full freedom and with personal responsibility, as adults, as God’s sons and daughters, as apostles called by Christ to seek souls for him throughout the world, we have the duty to take an active part in every aspect of ordinary life, each in our own calling. As our Father explained, it often happens that a few enemies of God and his Church live off the fear of many good people. As we fight this battle of the children of God, we rely on our Lady’s protection. May our Mother, Holy Mary, Sedes Sapientiae, Seat of Wisdom, bless you. And may her intercession be always with you on your journey, as apostles, bearers of light, peace, and joy.