345. Twentieth Wednesday of Ordinary Time

Meditations no. 315 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Our Lord has called us to work in his vineyard.

The Gospel of today’s Mass tells of the householder who went out early to hire labourers to work in his vineyard. You know how the story continues, our Father once told us. The man goes back several times to the marketplace to hire workers. Some were called at dawn, others almost at nightfall.

All receive a silver piece, the wages that I promised you, in other words, my own image and likeness. For the image of the King is engraved on each silver piece. Such is the mercy of God. He calls each one bearing in mind their personal circumstances, because he wants all men to be saved. In our case, we were born Christians, brought up in the faith, and then we received a clear calling from our Lord. The facts are undeniable. Therefore, when you sense he’s beckoning you, even if it is at the last hour, how can you think of lingering in the marketplace, basking in the sun as so many of those workers did, because they had time on their hands?

We cannot allow the same thing to happen to us as happened to those men who spent the whole day killing time and doing nothing. In the spirituality of Opus Dei work is fundamental, because, just like a door resting on its hinge, the whole Work is founded on the exercise of a trade or occupation in the middle of the world. This is so true that if anyone says that some honest human job, whether important or humble, cannot be sanctified or be a means of sanctification, we can confidently say that God has not called that person to his Work.

The spirit the Work spreads throughout the world is deeply rooted in the Gospel. Instaurare omnia in Christo, says St Paul to the faithful of Ephesus, renew the world in the spirit of Jesus Christ, place Christ at the summit and at the heart of all things. We have come, our Father wrote, to sanctify all noble human tasks - ordinary human work - right in the middle of the world, in a lay and secular way, as a service to the Holy Church, the Roman Pontiff and all souls.

Our Lord is issuing a constant invitation to us to work. For us, work is what gives worth to our lives; and it is a duty imposed by our Creator, since man was created ut operaretur (to work). Work is a means whereby mankind becomes a sharer in the work of creation. That is why it is not only noble, whatever it is, but it is an instrument for attaining earthly perfection and supernatural perfection. Furthermore, work is a bond of union with other people and a means of contributing to the progress of mankind. It is the source of means to support one’s family; it is an occasion of self-improvement; it is - and this needs to be stated very clearly - a means and a way to holiness, something to be sanctified and which sanctifies.

We need to make good use of time.

Some were called at first light to work in the vineyard; others when the day was well advanced. You, my daughter, my son, our Father asked, when do feel you have been called? At the eleventh hour? Are you like those workers in the public square, sunning themselves because they had time to kill?

My children, we never have time to spare. Any members of the Work who have time on their hands are quite clearly lukewarm; supernaturally speaking, they are cripples. Any member of Opus Dei who wastes time has not grasped and does not observe the spirit of Opus Dei. If someone of the Work were to spend the day in flights of fancy, not in this constant dialogue we can never get tired of, but allowing their imagination to wander all over the place in silly daydreams; if they were to tell me they had time to spare, I would tell them they had irresponsibility to spare, that they were good-for-nothings, that they were lukewarm.

What souls expect of us is to lead them to Christ. We should think of all the millions who await us. Time is short for all we have to do; and although it is true, as St John Chrysostom says, that even in the things which we apparently do ourselves, it is not ourselves, but Divine Providence, which does everything, our Lord nevertheless expects us to make good use of the years he grants us. The fact is that there is always too little time to do all that God is expecting of us - which is a great deal. The days of our life are part of the “talents” we have received from God, and we have no idea how long they will last. To use St Augustine’s phrase: God has never promised tomorrow to anybody.

Our Lord urges us on, and our sense of responsibility demands wholehearted, self-sacrificing activity for the good of souls, in the service of the whole Church. Think of the amount of time you have wasted, perhaps with the false excuse that you could easily afford it, and yet you have so many brothers and sisters, your friends about you, who are overworked! Help them unobtrusively, kindly, with a smile on your lips, in such a way that it will be practically impossible for them to notice what you are doing for them. Thus they will not even be able to express their gratitude, because the discreet refinement of your charily will have made your help pass undetected.

The foolish virgins, poor things, with their empty lamps, might argue that they hadn’t had a free moment The workers at the marketplace end up wasting most of the day, because they don’t feel duty bound to render any useful service, even though our Lord was seeking them constantly, urgently, from the very first hour. When he calls us to his service, let us say “Yes” and bear the day’s burden and the heat.

Using time with serenity and supernatural outlook.

We are required to make good use of our time, while bearing in mind that neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth … and each shall receive his wages according to his labour. Therefore, since the fruits depend on God’s Will, we have to be firmly convinced that being effective does not mean rushing around madly while neglecting the Norms of our plan of life. Rather, as our Father assures us, the secret of our effectiveness is to be pious, sincerely devout. A true sense of devotion helps us to give a fully supernatural meaning to our life of intense work. When we devoutly fulfil the Norms of the plan of life, and take care of our prayer and mortification, our Lord bestows an immense value on the intellectual and manual work of his children. When everything is done in God’s presence, inspired by motives of love and service, with a priestly soul, then all a person’s actions acquire a deeply spiritual meaning, making our life one with the source of all grace.

This supernatural outlook is the basis of the serenity we need to avoid useless haste, and to make really good use of our time. In particular, on days when it seems that our head is about to explode - all those things that still have to be done, plus that other thing that has been done but has to be done again - and our soul is filled, not with a lack of peace, but with uneasiness and questioning. At such times I go up to our Lord and say: “You will do it all sooner, more, and better”; and I am filled with peace. Just put yourself in God’s hands like a small child in his father’s arms. It is a surrendering of oneself to him that requires hope, faith, confidence and love. And that peace, that serenity, is a new source of effectiveness.

Mother Most Holy, never let us forget that for a son or daughter of God, above the storm that rages on high, the sun is always shining; and beneath the turmoil and destruction of the ocean swell, there is serenity and calm. Dominus illuminatio mea, et salus mea, quem timebo? Dominus protector vitae meae, a quo trepidabo? (The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?) May we always find in God the peace of soul which is so necessary for being really effective. May we work with the right intention, so that our intense and constant labours may abound in supernatural fruitfulness.