304. Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (A)
Meditations no. 284 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
Our Lord has sown good seed in us and it should bear abundant fruit.
The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
We are the good field in which our Lord has sown the seed of his grace. This seed is divine, and when it falls into the open furrow of the soul it produces fruits of holiness. What great love God shows us in giving us his grace! For him, each of his children is the greatest treasure in the world. So great is our Lordâs loving care for us that, in order to redeem us, he did not hesitate to take our nature. St Augustine, in one of his sermons, says: The Son of Man came to seek out and save what had perished ⌠Man, in fact, had perished; and God came as Man. He worked for many years, preached his saving truth, and suffered and died for us on the Cross. Our Lord did not confine himself to telling us that he loved us. He showed it to us with deeds, with his whole life.
If God has sown this seed of grace in our souls at such a high price, it is in order that it may take root, grow, and produce abundant fruit. This is particularly the case with those who are called with a special divine vocation to be apostles, workers for Christ in the great field of the world. Apostolic soul: first, yourself. -Our Lord has said, through Saint Matthew: âMany will say to me on the day of judgement: Lord! Lord! Did we not prophesy in your name and cast out devils in your name and work many miracles in your name? Then I will declare to them: I never knew you as mine; depart from me, you workers of iniquity.â
God forbid, says Saint Paul, that I, who have preached to others, should myself be rejected.
We have to be on the watch, night and day, and not allow the enemy to take us by surprise. We have to be vigilant, if we are to be faithful to our vocation and to all the commitments it entails. Our Father said to us once: The greatest joy of my life - a big, big joy, and you are part of it - is being faithful to my vocation, whether in cold weather or in hot, with enthusiasm or without it, in fair weather or in foul. Faithful to my vocation, with the grace of God and the help of my heavenly Mother.
Lukewarmness is like a weed that stifles interior growth.
The sower sowed good seed. But while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.
God has sown in our souls a great abundance of the good seed of his grace, which should produce a fine harvest of holiness. But we so easily allow ourselves to be carried away by the torpor of selfishness and superficiality, getting wrapped up in thousands of passing experiences, that we avoid coming to grips with the real meaning of the world and life. A bad thing, that lethargy, which smothers manâs dignity and makes him a slave of sadness!
The divine vocation we have received, the precious gift God has given us, will bear fruit a hundredfold if we cooperate in getting rid of the weeds that try to smother the seed that Christ has sown in our hearts and make it ineffective. So we have to be vigilant and listen to the cry of Sacred Scripture: Custos, quid de nocte? Sentry, on the alert! We have to be vigilant, we have to hear that call. My children, we have to be on guard, we have to be vigilant ⌠You know that we are vigilant by the mere fact of doing the Norms. Iâve said from the beginning that I am utterly convinced of the salvation - the holiness - of anyone who fulfils the Norms of life of Opus Dei. And this is true even though, at times, perfectly good souls may get discouraged, and may feel that their lives are a bit of a farce; they then have to make an act of faith and keep praying and working until the last stone of the day has been set in place. Donât fall asleep! Because if you do, in the midst of good fortune evil will come upon you.
Along with the good seed our Lord has sown in us, we also find a plentiful crop of weeds which we will never be rid of until the harvest comes. That is why sanctification requires a constant ascetic struggle and a continual readiness to rectify. The enemy who sows weeds is probably not trying to do away with all the wheat at a single stroke, because he knows that that is beyond his powers. But he works away, trying to make our dedication less complete, and halting our progress by cooling down our desire for holiness. To achieve this he tries to attack us surreptitiously in matters that seem to be unimportant: aspects of our character which, if not controlled, could get worse as the years go by; carelessness in the plan of life; minor lapses in sincerity or rectitude of intention; concessions to selfishness and love of comfort; omissions in the spirit of mortification and penance. All those things are the weeds, the lukewarmness which weakens our soul and prevents us from rising higher each day towards the level of holiness God is calling us to.
The weakness that exists in us, and that we sometimes feel is spreading, like the cockle in the field of good wheat sown by Christ, should make us keep watch so that our keen desire for holiness never falters. Fight against that feebleness which makes you lazy and careless in your spiritual life. -Remember that it can be the beginning of lukewarmness⌠, and, in the words of Scripture, God will vomit the lukewarm out of his mouth.
Fighting in small things is what keeps lukewarmness at bay.
That supernatural mode of conduct is a truly military tactic. -You carry on the war - the daily struggles of your interior life - in positions that you have placed far from the main walls of your fortress.
And the enemy goes there: to a little mortification of yours, to your regular prayer, to your methodical work, to your plan of life: and with difficulty will he reach the easily assailed battlements of your castle. -And, if he does, he will arrive exhausted.
Our vigilance should extend to small things. Do you really want to be a saint? -Carry out the little duty of each moment: do what you ought and concentrate on what you are doing. Because Qui fidelis est in minimo et in maiori fidelis est - he who is faithful in what is little is also faithful in what is great. -These are words of Saint Luke which show you - examine yourself - the root cause of your strayings.
We have to keep constant and loving watch, asking our Lord to help us see clearly any small deviations which, if not corrected, could become serious. You tell me: when the opportunity arises to do something big⌠then! -Then? Are you trying to convince me, and to convince yourself, that you will be able to conquer in the supernatural Olympics, without daily preparation, without training?
A person who doesnât struggle in small things, who says: âIâm holding myself back for the big moment,â ends up making a fool of himself. The same thing happens in the spiritual life as in sport. So we have to struggle, my children. We have to be kind to people we find it hard to get on with, and avoid spending too much time with those whose company we enjoy most; and all that, without it being noticed and without any lack of charily. Take a little bit less of what you like, and a spoonful more of what you donât like. Study - when you should - the subject you find hardest; write to your parents in good time, expressing your affection for them and making them happy. And keep going when you get tired. All of that is good training for the big competition. A person who doesnât struggle will be cowardly when the major event comes along, though he may think otherwise.
As we come to the end of this period of prayer, we can make the resolution to be more faithful in the small duties that go to make up our day. Correspondence to grace is to be found also in the ordinary little things of each day, which seem unimportant and yet have the over-riding importance of Love. That is why our Father says to us: Keep up with the exact fulfilment of your present obligations. -That work - humble, monotonous, small - is prayer expressed in deeds which dispose you to receive grace for that other work - great and broad and deep - of which you dream.
Constant vigilance in small things enabled our Lady, at a later stage, to remain steadfast beside the Cross of her Son. Mary sanctifies the ordinary everyday things - what some people wrongly regard as unimportant and insignificant: everyday work, looking after those closest to you, visits to friends and relatives. What a blessed ordinariness, that can be so full of love of God!