402. Twenty-sixth Saturday of Ordinary Time

Meditations no. 360 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

The need for supernatural prudence.

Teach me good judgement and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments. This is the prayer the Church sets before us, echoing the advice we often find in Sacred Scripture: Be prudent therefore and watchful in prayers, St Peter wrote. And in Proverbs we read: Forsake childishness, and live, and walk by the ways of prudence.

We understand this very well. For without prudence, without a calm and careful study of plans for work and apostolate, all our desires and goodwill will be fruitless. All the virtues require prudence, St Gregory says, if they are to be true virtues. Otherwise, they become blind impulses, and can even be harmful.

Our Father taught us that Opus Dei does not improvise anything. Every undertaking is preceded by thorough study and a lot of prayer and mortification. Apostolate and proselytism are also the fruit of deep, careful work, perhaps for years. The same is true of our formation, which never ends. Therefore when some said that “Opus Dei goes too quickly”, our Father replied that we go both quickly and slowly, at God’s pace, with a sense of urgency but also able to wait and allow time to pass, not giving in to haste. Urgent things can wait, he told us, and very urgent things should wait. We have to study them calmly and carefully.

Our Founder often used the image of a swift-running river which sometimes slows down in pools where the flow is much calmer for a while, only to become once again a rushing torrent. Our role in the overall apostolate of the Work is to be a quiet pool of clean water where the river continues to flow, and is slowed down only for as long as is necessary, but not a stagnant pool, a swamp of ineffectiveness, which would cut off the flow of water and dry out the land ahead; and would make it difficult, and certainly it would take longer, for the water to reach the sea. In our work we try never to become a stagnant pool that holds up what should be passed on to others. Instead, we want to facilitate other people’s work, to make it more fruitful and enrich it with our own contribution.

Calm pools, study, measure. Like that we will put into practice what St Paul tells us: Walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time.

Prudence in apostolic tasks means taking the opinion of others into account.

I am your servant; give me understanding, that I may know your testimonies. God always helps us. It is he who ensures that our sowing is fruitful and makes the fruit ripen. For as the Psalm says: The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.

God helps us when we use the means of prudence we learn in the Work for good government and the apostolate’s growth. One criterion is to take the opinion of others into account and consult them. No matter how much formation we’ve received, we should always be ready to consult others on important matters. For our life in the Work can never be reduced to applying previously-studied general principles. It would be naive to think we could resolve life’s complex questions like that. The dilemmas posed by specific problems are not mathematical equations with a single solution that one mind alone can resolve. There may be many reasonable approaches, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.

Therefore government and decision-making can never be in the hands of one person alone. Our Father wrote: It is laid down that in all our houses and Centres, in all our activities, there should be collegial government, for neither you nor I can rely exclusively on our personal judgement. This way of doing things has not come about without a specific and special grace from God. Therefore it would be a serious error not to respect this directive. Even in resolving apparently unimportant matters, it is necessary that those entitled to do so should take part, more so if it’s a question of deciding something in writing, even the wording of a telegram, though they may be tiny things. What peace of mind it gives us to do things like that!

Do not rely on your own insight, Sacred Scripture advises. Our Founder said: It makes me very happy to see that you love collegial government and abhor tyranny. Our Lord has no reason to enlighten people who have failed to train those working with them. Collegial government is an expression of humility, since it means each one does not rely on his or her own judgement.

Though we are deeply convinced of the need for collegial government, we have to be careful not to fail to practise it because of the difficulties involved: lack of time, problems in contacting someone for their opinion, finding an opportunity to meet and study a specific question. We need to overcome these obstacles, which can render our good desires ineffective. We have to know how to wait until we find the right solution, and be the calm pool of well-pondered decisions our Father speaks of. We want to be the faithful and prudent servant whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food in due time.

Advantages of working in this way.

Precious metal, our Father wrote, requires a touchstone to test its value. We test whether our judgement is fine gold by listening to advice and changing our mind when necessary. No humiliation is involved in rectifying: it is an act of honesty, showing common sense and a desire to serve God.

We human beings have a clear tendency to act dictatorially, to follow our own line of reasoning, our own criteria, our own insights: we bear a tyrant within us. You should show your good spirit by preventing tyrannies from arising in Opus Dei. It could happen that some people might try to justify their actions and ward off corrections by implying that they have received a special assignment in the Work. Don’t forget that if such special assignments exist, they are always known to everyone.

Have a great love for collegial government. I never tire of telling you this. It does not rob anyone of dynamism and achieves marvellous results, for in this way matters are studied by experts. They aren’t argued about, but studied, which is more demanding and better than just arguing. Also, when projects are not personal, they don’t die with the person but continue. If someone falls ill or is absent, the work of government is not interrupted. In collegial government, everyone is free to express their opinion in conscience without fear, which creates an atmosphere of calm and firmness; because each one, while attending to the matters they have a duty to look after, experiences the strength of the others.

It’s impossible, my daughters and sons, for God our Lord not to enlighten those in authority when they act collegially, when they study and decide upon a matter like that: humbly, working for him. The more knowledgeable your brothers or sisters are, the easier it is to carry on collegial government. Everyone knows the Directors are better informed. And if, in spite of this, someone is still worried about something, he or she speaks with the Directors and finds peace, the peace of God. Ask our Lord to give you this light, this prudence, always: Servus tuus sum ego, da mihi intellectum. I am your servant, Lord: give me, give all of us, clarity of judgement.

Together with other people’s opinions, we also have to take into account the experience of those who went before us. You should always have an eye to continuity and never let a stagnant pool form. If necessary, be a reservoir that holds up the flow of water for a short time, only in order to let it soon continue on its way. We feel an obligation to gather the experience of those who have preceded us. We can never be destructive or revolutionary, which would be madness. We want to improve the task in hand by our contribution and pass it on to others. Thus it will be a matter of pride for us that many may know more than we do and begin where we left off: we will serve as a pedestal for them.

We need this supernatural prudence in all our activities, including our professional work. Like giant dams that store up the small currents flowing from springs and streams in order to transform the water into energy and power, we need to gather within the walls of our prudence the problems and difficulties that life presents. Then we can ensure they pass through the established channels and are set on the appropriate course, which is not necessarily the quickest one. Problems often require us to study and gather experience, before passing on to others what we have learned.

Our Mother, Virgo prudentissima, Virgin most prudent and Seat of Wisdom, will help us to receive and pass on the spirit of the Work, making all our endeavours dynamic and fruitful.