373. Twenty-third Thursday of Ordinary Time
Meditations no. 337 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
We need to have doctrine for our interior life.
My daughters and sons ⌠giving oneself to God means first of all getting to know God. So we need to study philosophy and theology, and develop our personal relationship with our Lord. When we draw close to God and begin to love him, we feel the need to learn more about him. We arenât content with a superficial knowledge, but seek to penetrate as deeply as possible into his mysteries. Piety is useless, St Gregory tells us, if it lacks the discretion of learning. An interior life not based on sound doctrine, without the âfuelâ of knowledge of God, couldnât be genuine. Its apparent blaze would be snuffed out as soon as dryness or the challenges of life were to come along.
Ever since we came to the Work, we have been urged to deepen our understanding of the faith. Our Father wrote: Without suitable formation, we canât do anything. Holiness and apostolate: these are our corporate aims. And to achieve them we need formation. For our sanctity, we need doctrine. For the apostolate, we need doctrine. And to acquire doctrine, we need time, in the right place, using the right means. We canât expect special lights from God, because he has no reason to give them when he provides us with specific human means: study, work.
Piety: an enlightened piety, our Father insists. Thatâs the goal of the formation courses and the classes in apologetics that we will always offer in our houses. We need to know our faith very well, in order to defend it without compromise, and to be able to distinguish what pertains to faith from what is a matter of opinion, however well-founded. In a word, we need to have sound judgement. Loyalty demands a real hunger for formation, because you are moved by a sincere love and you do not wish to run the risk of spreading or of defending, through ignorance, principles or attitudes which are very far from being in accordance with the truth.
If we truly assimilate the Churchâs teachings through our study, we will be able to judge trends in thought and current events from a Christian perspective. If we have supernatural outlook, the news we hear and read every day will move us to pray, give thanks, make reparation, and be more determined in our apostolate.
Keep at your books! our Father insists. With the piety of children and the learning of theologians. Make good use of the means offered to you, and put special care into fulfilling the Norms of your plan of life. Listen carefully in class and take good notes, so you can study them later at a spare moment. Be more devoted every day to Jesus in the holy Eucharist and to our Blessed Lady.
Doctrine should lead to a life of piety.
Knowledge is worth nothing, St Gregory wrote, unless it leads to piety. Everything we study has to bear on our interior life. We have to lead a life of piety. Without piety we wouldnât be able to do anything. We need to be very closely united to our Lord. Therefore we need the Holy Spiritâs help, because, in St Thomasâ words, the eternal Son as Godâs Word gave us revealed truth, but the Holy Spirit makes us capable of understanding it, and of incorporating it into our lives.
There is a certain kind of knowledge, our Father wrote, that is attained only by sanctity. And there are souls who are hidden, unknown, deeply humble, self-sacrificing and holy, who have a wonderfully supernatural outlook: I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes. A supernatural outlook which is often missing in the pompous pronouncements of supposed scholars: Evanuerunt in cogitationibus suis, et obscuratum est insipiens cor eorum, dicentes enim se esse sapientes stulti facti sunt; they became futile in their thinking and their senseless hearts were darkened; and while claiming to be wise, they became fools.
I myself am convinced, and have specific experience, that those humble, simple souls are powerful before God. By their prayers they work apostolic wonders that go unnoticed by men. We well understand what our Founder said, after speaking about our need to study sound doctrine: For my part, I would like to have the simple faith of the little old lady who sighs out of love in a church corner.
Our study of theology should be permeated with love for God. Our Founder suffered to think of people speaking about God without piety or affection, as an object of curiosity or a cheap piece of merchandise. And he taught us that truth is always to a certain extent sacred: itâs a gift from God, a divine light setting us on the path to the One who is Light by his very essence. This is especially the case when dealing with supernatural realities: we have to treat them with respect, with love.
In order to resist any tendency to superficiality, we should engrave deeply on our hearts those words of St Paul: Knowledge puffs up, but charity builds up, remembering at the same time that piety is the fruit of charity. Furthermore, our Father says, we are convinced that the divine truth we bear transcends our intellect, that our words are insufficient to express its richness. Itâs even possible for us not to understand it fully and to be carrying out the task of one who delivers a message he himself doesnât understand in its entirety. Therefore, piety, my children! You have to bear the seed of doctrine together with the seed of piety.
Doctrine and piety are needed for the apostolate.
No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, that those who enter may see the light. My son, my daughter, you are salt and leaven, and this light of yours has to reach the furthest corner of society.
I spoke to you about your need for doctrine, sound doctrine, in order to bring truth, light, goodness, love for freedom, a living sense of responsibility into every sector of society, and thus sow peace and joy. All of Opus Deiâs apostolates come down to this one thing: giving doctrine, light. Wherever a person of Opus Dei is present, there is a burning ember that spreads fire, light and warmth, acting in a way that is not noticed but is always fruitful.
No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a vessel. What can dim the bright light we bear? A lack of piety, of interior life. Therefore our Father would tell us: Your supernatural effectiveness will come from your friendship with Christ, your interior life, so that you will be able to say: and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.
Without interior life and piety, persuasive words are worthless. St Augustine advises that whoever wants to spread Godâs light should do all he can when he speaks to make his words intelligible, pleasant and easy to follow. But he should not doubt that if his words achieve anything, it is more through the piety of his prayers than by the skill of his oratory. Therefore, by praying for himself and for those whom he is to address, he is a petitioner before he is a speaker. And when the hour approaches for him to speak, before he begins to preach, he should raise his thirsty soul to God, and pour forth from what is given him.
We are to go through life as apostles, bearing Godâs light and his salt. And we should do so naturally, but with such great interior life, so imbued with Opus Deiâs spirit, that we are able to shed light, while avoiding the decay and darkness around us. Itâs not enough for us to know revealed truths: we have to meditate on them in our prayer and incorporate them into our daily life. Then we will inspire others by our living example; we will draw others and convince them.
Sancta Maria, Sedes Sapientiae - Holy Mary, Seat of Wisdom. Invoke our Mother often in that way, so that she may fill her children, in their study, work and social relations, with the Truth that Christ has brought to us.