361. Twenty-second Monday of Ordinary Time

Meditations no. 327 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

We are co-redeemers with Christ.

In the Gospel for today’s Mass, St Luke recounts Jesus’ first visit to Nazareth after beginning his public life. He has spent several months in Judea and now returns to his home town to proclaim the good news. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the Sabbath day.

The prayers ended, and a reading from Scripture followed. Jesus stood up to read; and there was given him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

The blessed burden of souls weighs down on Christ; he feels urged to speak to them. Even more, he is ready to lay down his life for each of them, for that is why he came to this world. By his Passion, St Thomas writes, Christ delivered us from our sins causally, that is, he established the cause of our deliverance, whereby the sins of any age, past, present, or future, might be forgiven. Somewhat as if a doctor were to make up a medicine by which any kind of future ill could be cured.

The Church makes present to all ages the fruits of Christ’s death on the Cross. All the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, unite us to his Passion. But God also wants us to be united to his mission. He has called us to be co-redeemers. For this union to be fruitful, the personal sacrifice of each of us is needed. As our Father said: In this mystical body, in Opus Dei, if you and I fulfil our duty joyfully, even when it is hard; if we overcome ourselves, with a smile that is sometimes a mortification; then you and I will win God’s grace abundantly for souls.

To be a Christian means being united to the Cross.

St Paul tells us: Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church. To co-redeem with Christ, we have to be united to our Lord on the Cross, and not shun sacrifices in daily life. Our Father wrote: Being a Christian is not simply a way to personal contentment; it implies a mission…

Being a Christian is not something incidental; it is a divine reality that takes root deep in our life. It gives us a clear vision, and strengthens our will to act as God wants. So we learn that the Christian’s pilgrimage in the world must express itself in a continuous service in all kinds of ways, varying with each person’s circumstances, but always motivated by love of God and of our neighbour. Being a Christian means forgetting petty objectives of personal prestige and ambition and even possibly nobler aims, like philanthropy and compassion for the misfortunes of others. It means setting our mind and heart on reaching the fullness of love which Jesus Christ showed by dying for us.

Let me give you an example of the kind of attitude which develops if one is unable to penetrate this mystery of Jesus. Some people tend to see Christianity as a collection of devout practices, failing to realize the relation between them and the circumstances of ordinary life, including the urgency to meet the needs of other people and remedy injustice. I would say that anyone who has that attitude has not yet understood the meaning of the Incarnation. The Son of God has taken the body and soul and voice of a man; he has shared our fate, even to the extent of experiencing the excruciating anguish of death. Yet perhaps without wanting to, some people regard Christ as a stranger in the world of man.

Others tend to imagine that in order to remain human we need to play down some central aspects of Christian dogma. They act as if the life of prayer, the continual relationship with God, implied fleeing from responsibilities and forsaking the world. But they forget that it was none other than Jesus who showed us the extreme to which we should go in love and service. Only if we try to understand the mystery of God’s love - a love which went as far as death - will we be able to give ourselves totally to others and not let ourselves be overcome by difficulties or indifference.

The path to becoming co-redeemers with Christ is that of the Cross. We are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. There is no other way. As St Thomas writes, Christ, the principal heir, attained the inheritance of glory by his Passion. “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer and so enter into his glory?” We cannot hope to attain the same inheritance more easily. We too must reach it by way of suffering.

Self-denial: we must not seek ourselves.

True apostolate requires personal self-denial, to the point of self-sacrifice. In the words of the Second Vatican Council, Christ, sent by the Father, is the fount and origin of the Church’s whole apostolate. Clearly then, the fruitfulness of the apostolate of lay people depends on their living union with Christ … having in mind the Lord’s saying: “If any man wants to come my way let him renounce self and take up his cross and follow me”.

We have the duty to be co-redeemers. The redemption is being carried out … The earth is in darkness. And it is twenty centuries since the Light came into the world to enlighten all men! To co-redeem, we have to renounce ourselves, because opposed to Christ are our will and mind, often darkened by our passions, and the action of the devil, which is conquered through prayer and mortification.

True apostles must learn to die to themselves, urged by love: Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Anyone who does not understand sacrifice, does not understand love. I want you to be completely convinced that, if we really want to follow our Lord closely and be of real service to God and the whole of mankind, then we must be thoroughly detached from ourselves, our intellectual talents, our health, our good name, our noble ambitions, our triumphs and successes.

I would also include - because your decision ought to go that far - the high ideals that lead us to seek only to give all the glory to God and to praise him. We can ensure our detachment by tailoring our will to this clear and precise rule: “Lord, I want this or that only if it pleases you, because, if not, I’m not the slightest bit interested.” By acting like that we are dealing a mortal blow to the selfishness and vanity that lurk in every conscience. At the same time we will find true peace of soul through this selfless conduct that leads to an ever more intimate and intense possession of God.

Love captivates the soul and leads it quietly and gently to complete self-denial; and by that self-giving, the soul is purified, cleansed, divinized. Our Lord asks for generous hearts that are truly detached. We will achieve this if we resolutely cut the thick bonds or the subtle threads that tie us to ourselves. I won’t hide from you the fact that this entails a constant struggle, overriding our own intelligence and will, a renunciation which, frankly, is more difficult than the giving up of the most prized material possessions.

Mary is the Co-redemptrix by a special title and in a most eminent way. Therefore she shared in the Passion and Death of Christ as no other, as the Mother of salvation for all souls.

Marvel at Mary’s steadfastness: at the foot of the Cross, with the greatest of human sorrows - there is no sorrow like her sorrow - filled with fortitude.

-And ask her for some of that steadfastness, so that you too may know how to stand beside the Cross. The consequence of this will be that you will be living through Christ, with Christ and in Christ: only that way will you be an apostle.