383. Twenty-fourth Friday of Ordinary Time

Meditations no. 345 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Detachment from the material means we use.

Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, preaching and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities. And these women provided for them out of their means.

Our life unfolds in the midst of the world and, like our Lord, we too have to use material means, which are good because they are God’s handiwork. All things are yours … whether the world or life or death or the present or the future. However, we have to be detached from these things; we can allow nothing to lead us astray from our goal, for as St Paul says: all are yours; and you are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.

With God’s help, we should live in the world without being worldly, freely making use of the world’s goods, gracefully and with self-mastery, but using them to serve God and souls. Our detachment is authentic when we can cheerfully accept its consequences. For I have learned, St Paul wrote, in whatever state I am, to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in any and all circumstances. I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want. I can do all things in him who strengthens me.

We have to love the world, our Father taught us, because it’s our life’s arena, our workplace, our field for splendid battles of peace and love, where we are called to seek sanctity and to sanctify others.

To be in the world and to be of the world does not mean being worldly. Therefore those words of the priestly prayer of Christ our Lord are fully applicable to us: I do not pray that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Having left everything in God’s hands, our concern is only for sanctity and apostolate, the spreading of Christ’s kingdom. In order to maintain these intentions in our heart, we need to detach it totally from earthly goods. We must therefore love poverty and show it in countless ways in our daily lives: by fleeing from excessive comfort, or the tendency to get by with the minimum effort; by choosing the worst for ourselves; by taking care of the things we use in our work; and by giving up anything we feel our heart becoming tied to.

Trusting in God for everything, while seeking the means needed to serve him.

No one can be surprised that Opus Dei needs material means for its work. Since its supernatural task of sanctification is carried out among people and for people, the Work must also use … a minimum of material means. But our Father urged: I want you to be determined to stay completely detached from all earthly things, and to handle them only to the extent that they are for God’s service and that the Work asks you to do so.

If we are using material means for God’s glory, we should use them with detachment and not complain if ever they are absent. When God allows us to go without them, we are not less effective; nor do we lose our joy, because as St John Chrysostom says, Christ’s followers are happy and glory in their poverty more than a king in his crown.

Over the past twenty-six years, our Father said in the spring of 1955, I’ve often found myself without anything, and with no possibility of obtaining what we needed, even the most basic necessities. But how happy we were! For in seeking God’s kingdom and his justice, we knew the rest would be given us in addition. While using the means to secure what’s needed, may my children be cheerful if ever they have to suffer want! Therefore we should have great trust in God, be at peace and tranquil, but we shouldn’t lose our sense of responsibility in financial matters. As our Founder said: Since our vocation unfolds in the midst of the world, as ordinary citizens, our poverty does not consist in living off alms: the professional work we each do supplies our material needs.

In consequence, our love for poverty must also show in our determination to acquire the necessary means for the apostolate. At all times, our apostolic work should develop alongside financial support for it, and this for two reasons: the apostolate should be financially self-sufficient; and our apostolic endeavours are a professional task where those who carry them out should earn a living, Concern for financial matters in no way lessens our complete trust in God; rather, it is the result of our using the faculties God has given us to bear fruit as he wants. Work for us is a path to God. Moreover, we do not seek material means for our own comfort or whims: we want everything for the sake of God, so that we can serve him better.

Intense work is a consequence of our lay mentality and our concern to support a large and poor family. Any responsible father or mother does everything necessary to provide for the family.

Detachment, trust in God, not getting upset when money is short: all these must be complemented by our productive work to support ourselves and sustain the apostolic works.

Responsibility to be financially self-supporting.

To be contemplative and apostolic souls, we need to be detached from earthly goods: we need purity of heart, interior freedom, so that - whether the means are abundant or scarce - our confidence in God is always firm.

But far from making us oblivious to the Work’s material needs, detachment spurs us on to work. Financial means, material means, are needed for every work of zeal, our Father said, and we have to feel the responsibility to obtain them through our work. Each of my children has clear priorities: first and foremost come the Norms, which are a sure path to holiness. And at the same time, simultaneously and inseparably, they each have to support themselves financially, and help sustain the house where they live or the Centre they belong to.

In this way we’ll be able to say with St Paul: neque gratis panem manducavimus ab aliquo, sed in labore et in fatigatione nocte et die operantes, ne quem vestrum gravaremus. Nam, et cum essemus apud vos, hoc denuntiabamus vobis, quoniam, si quis non vult operari, nec manducet: we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying, but with toil and labour we worked night and day, that we might not burden any of you. For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: If anyone will not work, let him not eat.

Therefore, if we ever find that we are not earning enough through our work, we do what we can to remedy the situation or look for a better paid job. Students can seek grants or bursaries, normally available in most countries, or earn some money by part-time jobs. Each of us has the mentality of a good father of a large and poor family, and we make the intellectual and financial effort to put it into practice. Responsibility in the area of poverty is essential to the spirit of the Work. Therefore, it would be a mistake - and a serious mistake, since its consequences are also serious - if any son of mine were allowed to become a burden to the Work, by behaving in any way as a “gentleman of leisure”. We must not be “gentlemen of leisure”. We must be masters of ourselves, with the self-mastery of the children of God. I’m aware of your good spirit, my children. You know very well that the human and divine dimensions of our life are very closely united: we imitate Jesus Christ, perfect God and perfect man. And so, just as overlooking a small material detail would be a sign for you of a lack of love for God, so too you will be able to discover such lack of love at the root of certain financial deficits.

We ask our Lord and his Blessed Mother for the grace to have our heart free, not tied to earthly things. Our freedom is shown both in our detachment from material possessions and in our efforts to find the means for the apostolate, for the good of souls.