386. Twenty-fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)

Meditations no. 607 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

We must overcome evil with good.

EVERY time we read the first verses of Psalm II, we ask ourselves why so many reject God and his Anointed One: Quare fremuerunt gentes, et populi meditati sunt inania? Why do nations rise up and peoples hatch vain projects? The kings of the earth rise up, and princes conspire against the Lord and against his Anointed One. Today it is heard as a colossal non serviam! (Jer 2:20) in personal life, in family life, in work environments and in public life. The three lusts (cf. 1 Jn 2:16) are like three gigantic forces that have unleashed an imposing vertigo of lust, of the creature’s proud conceit in its own strength, and of the desire for riches.

It is often the case that those who live in this way are disturbed by the freedom of the children of God, which makes hunger capable of loving and serving God, and that they intend to harass them with all kinds of means. The first reading of the Mass reveals his thoughts and plans: let us prepare traps for the just, for he is annoying to us (…). It is a reproach of our thoughts, the mere sight of him is a burden to us (…). He separates himself from our ways as from impurity; he proclaims the end of the righteous and boasts of having God as his father. Let us see if his words are truthful (…). Let us test him with outrage. Those who speak in this way do not want to live as children of God and cannot bear that others seek to love and serve him.

When a Christian finds himself in this situation, he should not respond in kind. A child of God should not consider anyone as his enemy, but it may happen that others consider him to be an enemy, for human reasons or because he is a disciple of Christ. The Lord has already announced this: all nations will hate you because of my name. Charity then leads us to love those who persecute us, to ask God for forgiveness for them, like Christ on the Cross: Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they do; to want them to convert, not only or principally so that we may cease to be mistreated, but above all so that they may not offend God and become his good children.

In today’s Gospel, the Lord teaches us that Heaven is conquered by making oneself small for his sake. To the Apostles, who were arguing among themselves about who would be the greatest in the kingdom of Christ, Jesus says: if anyone wants to be first, let him become last of all and the servant of all. And Saint Maximus of Turin, commenting on this passage, specifies: “He who has been most patient in bearing offenses will be greater in the kingdom of heaven. One does not come to the kingdom with pride, riches or arrogance, but through humility, poverty and gentleness.”

St. Paul sums up the Christian attitude in these circumstances: do not return evil to anyone for evil: seek to do good in the sight of all men. If possible, as far as is on your part, live in peace with all men (…). Do not allow yourself to be overcome by evil; on the contrary, overcome evil with good. From these words, our Father concludes that we must understand everyone, we must live with everyone, we must forgive everyone, we must forgive everyone. We will not say that what is unjust is just, that an offense against God is not an offense against God, that what is evil is good. But in the face of evil, we will not respond with any other evil, but with clear doctrine and with good action: drowning evil in an abundance of good (cf. Rom 12:21).

Spirit of service.

IF THE first reading of the Mass has led us to consider the attitude of a Christian towards those who intend to do him harm, the Gospel speaks to us of conduct in the face of a much worse enemy.

Jesus was walking with his disciples through the lands of Galilee and they arrived in Capernaum. When he was already at home, he asked them, “What were you talking about on the way?” But they were silent, because on the way they had argued among themselves about who would be the greatest. The spirit of rivalry, envy, susceptibility, precautions, jealousy and quarrels, distrust, in a word, among those who have been called by the Lord to be with Him and to send them on an apostolic mission: all this is indeed a fearful obstacle, against which our Father warns us: in your enterprise of apostolate, do not fear enemies from without, no matter how great their power. “This is the imposing enemy: your lack of ‘sonship’ and your lack of ‘fraternity.’

To thoroughly record the lesson of humility, Jesus drew a child to him, placed him in their midst, embraced him, and said to them, “Whoever receives one of these children in my name receives me; and whoever receives me does not receive me, but the one who sent me.” The means to defeat pride, which is the true imposing enemy, is to serve others out of love for God, to voluntarily become a servant of all, in this supernatural family of which we are a part.

To serve someone is to give him a good that he needs. And the supreme good is union with God. To serve, in the proper and full sense, is therefore to help others to be holy. The material and spiritual services we render must be ordered to this good.

Jesus Christ himself did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life so that we might attain to the life of children of God. “Only service to my neighbour,” Benedict XVI wrote in his first encyclical, “opens my eyes to what God does for me and to how much he loves me.” When we serve others for the love of the Lord, we identify with him and help them to discover him.

To serve: what a beautiful thing! Therefore, you see that this good spirit of service, which is perfectly combined with the wonderful love of freedom that we have - qua libertate Christus nos liberavit (Gal 5:1), of the freedom that the Lord has obtained for us with his Cross - this good spirit of service permeates all the work of my daughters and sons in Opus Dei. And I also want it to be the most important characteristic of my poor life as a priest and as your Father: to serve.

But in today’s world, with these turmoil and trickery (…), there are many people who, when they talk or hear about serving, are frightened; because they are full of pride, and do not consider that in the world we all serve one another: there is no one on earth who does not in some way have to serve others. We all depend on others: we depend on God, we depend on those who live in our country, on those who are near and those who are far away, on those who live in other countries: on everyone. We all serve others, whether we want to or not.

Let us take advantage of this time of prayer to ask ourselves how we are helping others: if in our work we seek service or personal affirmation; if we see the tasks entrusted to us, the circumstances of our Center and all our activities, as opportunities to serve for the love of God, without thinking about ourselves; if we know how to discover what those around us need or if we do not notice it because of distraction or because we are not very attentive to others; if we go ahead to do a favor or if we wait for them to ask us or for others to take the initiative; if we easily excuse ourselves or if we look for ways to overcome difficulties in order to render a service to another. … Let us examine, in short, whether we have in us the spirit of Christ, that eagerness to serve that we see clearly reflected in the Virgin Mary.

Meaning of the motto ‘to be of service, serve’.

DISCITE benefacere!, learn to do good, the Lord tells us through the prophet Isaiah. It is not enough to want to do good, but you must know how to do it. That is why our Father reminds us of the motto: to serve, to serve. That is, to be a servant of others it is necessary to serve in the sense of being worthy or suitable for the tasks with which one is helping. Preparation is needed: one must try to be good instruments, to know one’s own trade or profession well, to be competent people

It is not only a question of technical aptitude but of competence as persons in the fullest sense, of human and Christian virtues. A person who, in addition to having the necessary knowledge and expertise, strives to work well, with order, and to be educated, cheerful, loyal. … , is in a position to serve with a Christian spirit; that is, to live charity with works. This expression is an exhortation to acquire the qualities necessary to be useful, cultivating the virtues that allow others to render suitable services.

To serve, to serve. Without this willingness to serve, one cannot be a good instrument. It is not in vain that I have repeated many times that I want to be ut iumentum, like a donkey before God. And this must be your position and mine, even if it costs us. Let us ask humility from the Blessed Virgin, who called herself ancilla Domini. Service. With what devotion do you say serviam! every day? Is it just a word, or is it a cry that comes from the depths of the soul?

The foundation of this motto is that love-the charity of God’s children-needs the virtues to be manifested in works of care for others. Charity demands that one live justice, solidarity, family and social responsibility, poverty, joy, chastity, friendship. … If a Christian were to deliberately neglect these and other virtues, he would be unable to translate good desires into works of service. The human virtues are so united in the Christian to charity that St. Augustine considers them to be nothing more than “several affections of the same love … different functions of love.” Christ Jesus expresses his infinite love through his human action: when he works, when he smiles, when he listens, … when he exercises whatever virtues belong to one who is a perfect man.

The Gospel “shows Mary engaged in a service of charity to her cousin Elizabeth, with whom she stayed for three months (cf. Lk 1:56). Magnificat anima mea Dominum, she says on the occasion of this visit - ‘my soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord’ (Lk 1:46) - and in this she expresses the whole programme of her life: not to put herself at the centre, but to make room for God, whom she encounters both in prayer and in service to neighbour; only then does the world become good. Mary is great precisely because she wants to exalt God rather than herself. She is humble: she wants to be nothing but the servant of the Lord (cf. Lk 1:38, 48)”.

If we want to serve, we must follow in the footsteps of Christ and Mary with full trust. To always be in the school of Mariano, as Don Álvaro used to say: the school of St. Josemaría, which is the school of St. Joseph, of the Virgin Mary and of Jesus in the years of his regular and ordinary life in Nazareth.