344. Twentieth Tuesday of Ordinary Time
Meditations no. 314 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
Total self-giving relictis omnibus! makes us worthy of Godâs promises.
My children, you must realize that Jesus Christ is forever accompanying each of us as he did the Apostles, although in a different way, because our Lord is very much present in our lives. Thanks to his presence we can be both very supernatural and very human: we can put into our work, our friendships, and our fraternity, that divine salt, that supernatural meaning which will lead others to seek Christ, to get to know him and to love him. And so I would like to engrave one very clear idea firmly on your minds, because if we are not convinced it is true, we will get nowhere: we have to give our Lord everything, absolutely everything.
Total, full, unconditional self-giving is absolutely essential for souls who, like ourselves, have been called by God with a divine vocation. Just as he did with the Apostles, our Lord has made us impressive promises; and to make them come true, all he expects in return is our loyal and unselfish response.
That is the teaching of the Gospel which the Church proposes to us in todayâs Mass. Then Peter said in reply, âLo, we have left everything and followed you. What then shall we have?â And Jesus replied: Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my nameâs sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.
With the grace of God, which is superabundant, all of us in the Work try to renew our self-giving frequently. But, as our Father reminds us, we cannot forget that sometimes the devil sees to it that people who should be completely detached are not really so. I have told you this many times. Meditate on those passages of the Gospel that tell us about the calling of the Apostles. Notice how they leave behind the omnibus, all things. At times this is what we fail to do. At the beginning, perhaps we donât realize it; but then, as the years pass, we find weâre not as happy as we ought to be, because there is something in our lives we havenât managed to break away from or give up.
I tell you in Godâs presence that, if any of my children feel unhappy, it is because they want to, because they have kept something back for themselves, as a result of some little concession to selfishness or stupidity. We really have to give ourselves, my children. And thatâs something weâre always in time to do. We have to get off the omnibus and travel the world without attachments, ready to be nothing and to have nothing, for love of Jesus Christ.
Our self-giving gives us a great feeling of peace and confidence. That is why I usually say that Opus Dei, without the omnibus, is a wonderful place to live and a wonderful place to die. We are not afraid either of life or of death. Many people around us are afraid of life, and a great many more are terrified at the thought of death. In the Work neither of those two fears is allowed. The only one who could be afraid would be the one who has kept something back and not given everything to God our Lord.
With that, you have a bit of divine light and insight. Examine your conscience a little. Look into your heart, ready to uproot and remove whatever is necessary, and you will be happy on earth, and will ensure your happiness in heaven.
How to overcome the danger of becoming comfort-loving.
One danger you may encounter only after many years in the Lordâs service is falling prey to a comfort-loving mentality. Donât ever give in to it, my children! You always need to have high ideals, just as you did at the beginning. Perhaps now your ideals are not as ardent in appearance, but they are stronger and more theologicalâŚ
My children, now that there is so much lack of love around, I would like to remind you that we have to be able to love, and love with all our heart. If we give our Lord our whole heart, lovingly, we will have no problem about opening it wide in prayer and in spiritual direction, with all its wretchedness and weaknesses, so as to show what we are like completely and fully, in all humility, and learn to love even more and make up for what we have been unable to undertake or failed to achieve.
The way to vanquish a comfort-loving mentality is the path of self-giving: renewing our noble ambitions, until the end of our earthly journey, through the devout fulfilment of the Norms and our daily struggle. It is your father who is telling you this, who at âsevenâ years of age has to struggle just like you, and perhaps even more, because I am worse than you.
I would like you to feel encouraged and supernaturally responsible. Donât worry when you find the going hard. Think - with pleasure - of the fact that God has entered your heart, and that he is asking you for it completely. And donât ever forget you are doing the same divine work as those first
Twelve who accompanied Jesus. Thatâs how to be very happy always.
In this life we will never lack joys or sorrows. But donât forget that if our Lord sends us a joy it is because he loves us; and if he sends us some sorrow it is to see if we really love him.
As long as we are wayfarers we will necessarily have victories and defeats. But we recover our supernatural peace the moment we return to God, the moment we come close to our Lord, fleeing the little consolations which earthly things can offer. People are happy when they really give themselves to God.
I especially ask those of you, my children, who have already spent some years working in our Lordâs service, to serve even more readily and to be happy doing so. Donât fall asleep, and above all donât become comfort-seeking. Our Lord expects you to renew your self-giving afresh every day. Tell him you are going to love him more. You have to do things now with at least the same effort and enthusiasm as when you first started out along this divine path. Moreover, people are watching you, and while you shouldnât let that influence what you do, as you go about trying to do Godâs Will, others are learning from your dedication and are being helped by it.
Talk to Jesus Christ, to the Father and to the Holy Spirit, and open your soul completely to the person whose duty it is to listen to you. Speak out in all sincerity, without hesitating, and without entertaining scruples: donât tolerate them, because that would mean belittling the Heart of Christ. I am completely convinced that Opus Dei is a sign of heavenâs mercy towards us; and I can see, with ever-increasing clarity, that everything in the Work leads us straight towards the hands of God.
Full sincerity facilitates total self-giving and brings about apostolic fruitfulness.
My daughters and sons, do you know what is the worst enemy of souls dedicated to God? Doing things half-heartedly. When someone doesnât give everything, at the first hurdle their imagination goes wild: they find it hard to understand something that is obvious to a ten-year old, and begin to think they arenât understood. My children, speak out, and then you will see how in fact you are understood. Might it not be - because of momentary circumstances, and because your pride wants to shake off some ârestrictionâ - that you donât really want to be understood?
For the love of God, speak, speak out! Our personal struggle has to be very decisive. If an idea ever occurs to you which affects your dedication, you have to knock it aside, like a poisonous wasp, just as quickly as you would reject (forgive me) any thought against your motherâs honour. Sometimes we let our imagination run wild, dwelling on some silly trifle, and not fighting properly, perhaps because we lack the determination to give ourselves completely. We have to go straight away to the chat and Confession and say: look, this happened to me, and though itâs really stupid I found it hard to overcome; I havenât managed to brush it off and put an end to it. My children, if you always act like that I am sure of both your fidelity and your happiness.
We have seen in the Gospel how the Apostles followed our Lord relictis omnibus, (having left everything). We have to burn everything, everything! And not only once, but many times, in different ways. Some people give the impression of having got stuck on the omnibus, and that too has to he set on fire: everything, everything, everything! Our heart, in the first place. When a soul really gives itself, and does so wholeheartedly, really wholeheartedly, and tells our Lord to take possession of it, then the affection which arises is always holy: we find that we love all souls, and in a special way this supernatural family of ours, passing through that burning filter which is the open Heart of Christ, and the sweet and immaculate Heart of Mary most holy âŚ
My children, be humble, be dedicated! Accept and love the limitations that are a consequence of our completely free decision, and which enable us to put up with the burden of the day and the scorching heat in our work for Holy Church. Have no other wish than to serve, to be useful. And to serve means forgetting about yourself, it means to put your heart on the floor as a soft carpet for others to walk on, it means forsaking all personal gain for the salvation of souls. Father, you will say, in that case - what an awful life! Look, my daughters and sons, souls who live like that are extremely happy; and whatâs more, it turns out that nobody walks on them either. Itâs wonderful. Our Lord is happy with just our good will, with good intentions. He allows a few small trials to come our way, and when he sees that we react generously he is very lenient. He is happy with just a little flame. Donât be reluctant to serve. Rather, serving should be the favourite characteristic of your vocation, the donum Dei, the gift of God, like Christ himself: non veni ministrari, sed ministrare: we have not come to the Work to be served, but to serve.
Be very close to one another: consummati in unum (perfectly made one). Nowadays itâs just as important as it was when the Church was founded that those of us who believe in our Lord should live in unity, one in mind and heart, each being determined to make a clean break with anything that could jeopardize our unconditional self-giving. Jesus Christ and souls have need of us. How pleased our Lord and his blessed Mother will be with your good resolutions, a sure sign that you have the souls of apostles, ordinary people who go unnoticed but who carry that divine fire to the four corners of the earth! As I think of all my daughters and all my sons, and of your self-denial and sacrifice, I am reminded of that song of my youth, ignem veni mittere in terram, et quid volo nisi ut accendatur (I came to cast fire upon the earth, and would that it were already kindled). I see you, my children, spreading the blaze.