355. Twenty-first Thursday of Ordinary Time

Meditations no. 323 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Studying hard, with the right intention.

I give thanks to God always for you because of the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him with all speech and all knowledge. Every week in the examination of conscience in the Circle, we ask ourselves what effort we have made in our professional and cultural development, which is essential to our purpose, in our study and work, and in making the best use of our time.

We need the richness in speech and knowledge St Paul talks about to reach people’s minds and hearts. To study, to work, our Founder wrote: these are inescapable duties for all Christians. They are means of defending ourselves from the enemies of the Church and of attracting, with our professional prestige, so many other souls who, although they are good, fight in isolation. They are the most fundamental weapons for whoever wants to be an apostle in the midst of the world.

Knowledge and study will always be indispensable to form our people and to develop the apostolate Jesus asks of us, our Father would say; and the habit of study was something he proposed as a basic criterion of selection for people wishing to take part in the means of formation of the St Raphael work. Our home is not a recreation centre: we don’t have, and we won’t ever have, even an old billiard table. Rather it is an “uncomfortable” place where people are often asked if they pray, if they behave well towards their parents… and if they study, since for us study is a grave obligation.

Like Christ, we too need to increase in wisdom and age and grace before God and men. Grace and wisdom go together. As St Bernard wrote: The world by wisdom knew not God. Perhaps you consider me unduly severe and narrow in my views on human knowledge, and suppose that I am criticizing the learned and condemning the study of literature. God forbid that I should do so! I am well aware how much her learned members have benefited and still do benefit the Church, whether by refuting her opponents or by instructing the ignorant.

And I have read what the Lord says by the mouth of the Prophet Hosea, “Since you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from my priesthood”; and by his Prophet Daniel, “But they that are learned shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that instruct many to justice, are as stars for all eternity”. Nevertheless, I remember also having read that “knowledge puffs up” and that “he that increases knowledge, also increases labour”. You perceive, my brethren, that there are distinctions in knowledge … But I feel sure you would choose the knowledge that brings an increase in labour, rather than the knowledge that puffs up with vainglory.

You must study, our Father wrote, but that is not enough.

What do those who kill themselves working to feed their self-esteem achieve? Or those who have nothing else in mind but assuring peace of mind for a few years ahead? One has to study - to gain the world and conquer it for God. Then we can raise the level of our efforts: we can try to turn the work we do into an encounter with the Lord and the foundation to support those who will follow our way in the future.

In this way, study will become prayer.

Knowledge of theology is needed for the apostolate.

Our Founder instilled in us the need to know God well, to acquire solid religious-doctrinal formation, in order to lead a morally upright life. God’s great enemy is ignorance, which is found not only among the uneducated but also among those reputed to be learned: in science, history, economics, law…

Sometimes even the most prestigious in their profession suffer from this ignorance, including those who attain positions of government in countries of long-standing Christian tradition.

A certain knowledge of theology is indispensable for acting uprightly in any field of human endeavour. This science regarding God as the cause and end of all things should imbue even activities that seem to have little connection with seeking holiness, including those which God has left to man’s free decision. As St Thomas says, Divine things, which are necessary and eternal in themselves, are the rules of the contingent things which are the subject-matter of human actions. Our whole life, every action, has a moral dimension, a repercussion on our interior life and apostolate.

For this reason in the Work, besides our professional studies, we also study philosophy, dogmatic and moral theology, Sacred Scripture, patrology, canon law, Church history, sacred liturgy, etc. , so that we can more easily raise human learning to the supernatural order and make it into an opportunity for apostolate.

We can never consider our studies finished. You have to assimilate the spirit of the Work well. And also the internal studies the Work asks of you, because you need doctrinal knowledge to serve God. Have a lot of affection for our internal studies. This affection is shown in the way we continue to study and revise subjects in order to keep our knowledge fresh and relevant to the work of spreading doctrine. Our Founder specified: try to set aside some time during the day, even if just a few minutes, for studying ecclesiastical science, going over the classical treatises again and again and consolidating your grasp of the principles. And even, for a period of time each year, all my children can do their spiritual reading with a theology treatise, alternating it with another book of an ascetical nature.

Good professional training is necessary for the apostolate.

St John Chrysostom wrote: Consider how many cities and nations await you as teachers in Christ’s name! To be apostolically effective, we need human knowledge as well as divine. As our Founder explained, our task is to be present, with our knowledge of God, and by means of human knowledge and our professional work, in all human activities, wherever there is a soul to be saved.

Apart from the value it has in its own right, professional competence plays a fundamental role in spreading sound doctrine, since our apostolate is carried out in every sector of human activity. In the Work there is room for everyone, for intellectuals, office and manual workers, farm labourers: for all men and women who strive to achieve holiness in life’s ordinary circumstances. And all of us, each in our own way, need the appropriate knowledge of our profession or job to carry out our day’s task worthily.

The apostolic value of professional competence should be a powerful incentive for us never to neglect it, but to be constantly aiming at improving it. Even after obtaining a degree or qualification, we have to continue studying in order to keep up to date in our field. Our Father wrote: If you perform your professional duties well, by working and studying - and I refer to everyone, including those in manual trades, according to your specific circumstances - you will acquire the knowledge, the wisdom you need to reach your goal. We will carry out a deep and effective apostolate among the people we work with. In the normal course of professional and civil life, you will find the opportunity for a deep apostolate; and so, like the disciples on the way to Emmaus, those people will also be able to say: Nonne cor nostrum ardens erat in nobis dum loqueretur in via, et aperiret nobis Scripturas? Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us, while he opened to us the Scriptures?

We ask our Mother Mary that this may become a reality in our daily work. She who is Spes Nostra, Sedes Sapientiae, our Hope and the Seat of Wisdom, will help us gain the knowledge we need for ourselves and other souls.