434. Thirtieth Tuesday of Ordinary Time
Meditations no. 384 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
We must be leaven for the multitude.
The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened.
From a merely human viewpoint, the contrast between the first few Apostles and the universal spread of the Church is astounding. But this is Godâs way of working. St Paul writes to the Corinthians: modicum fermentum totam massam corrumpit, a little leaven leavens the whole lump.
Something similar has happened with the Work. It was born very small, but it embodies a universal mission destined to leaven the whole world till the end of time. Our Father said: leaven doesnât produce its effect all at once. Tell this to your brothers and sisters in Regions where theyâre beginning, where theyâre having a hard time of it because theyâre still few. It doesnât produce its effect violently or partially, but acts with its own power throughout the whole of the dough, in a quiet, unviolent way. It makes the dough become light and tender, and makes it rise and suitable for eating. Without it, the flour and water would yield only a dense and indigestible, unhealthy lump.
Sometimes the leaven seems to work more slowly, and even to be scarcely noticeable. Faith assures us then that if we enlist the supernatural and human means proper to our spirit, the fruit will always come. In a meditation given in 1962, our Founder, using some old preaching notes, helped a group of our brothers to consider the Workâs growth at the start. Iâm looking at a note of mine written in 1935 which, though it may no longer be applicable to the Work as a whole, still applies to the situation in many Regions. It is a thought which will bring joy and peace to my daughters and sons who are beginning the Work in different parts of the world. Our mission is divine; our mission is an effective and victorious mission. But -this is what is written on this index card - We are few ⌠And then I added: Do we want to be more? - it seems a superfluous question⌠- Well, let us be better!
My dearest children, if we live with this sense of responsibility, trying to be better each day, weâll obtain from God, more abundantly each day, the grace of a vocation for so many people, and so be better and more, and no longer just a few.
The Work is already a mature tree, but it needs to grow constantly until the end of time.
The kingdom of heaven is also like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.
The parable symbolizes and explains the development of Christâs Church, and also the growth of Opus Dei, which is a living branch of the Church. On the second of October, 1928, there was only Godâs explicit desire that a small, hardly perceptible seed should germinate and grow. Our Founder alone was aware of it, convinced that he had to carry out a universal undertaking from pole to pole.
My beloved children, he wrote in 1934, when the Work was still a tiny seed hidden in the furrow, in my conversations with you, Iâve repeatedly made it clear that the enterprise we are engaged in is not a human enterprise, but a great supernatural enterprise, which from the beginning fulfilled exactly all the conditions to be truly called without boasting the Work of God. We form part of this Work by divine election: ego elegi vos (I chose you), in order to be imitators of our Lord Jesus Christ in the world, sicut filii carissimi, as dearly beloved children.
For its foundation, the Work has stones rejected by the builders. Here you will not find dignitaries of the Church or men of national prestige. Its labour can hardly be seen on the face of the earth: it is growing inside, below the surface. But the moment for it to rise will come!
The seed grew, and the young plant overcame the stones, the thorns, the treading of careless feet. Today it has become a broad, splendid tree, because Christ, the divine Gardener, has watched over it with immense care, and its branches have spread to many nations. Now, like a new Pentecost, we can hear many different languages spoken, a sign of the Spirit of God, of the catholicity of our spirit. People from all over the world find shelter in the divine shade of her branches, since the tree and its fruits of holiness are meant for everyone. Our Work is so beautiful that it satisfies the aspirations of every soul. Many years have gone by, and God has confirmed our faith. He has given us as much as we saw then, and more.
We no longer need faith in the growth of that small seed, since owing to Godâs goodness Opus Dei is now a tree with deep roots, drawing plentifully from the currents of grace. But we must not set human limits to the works of God. God wants the Work to spread much further throughout the world, both in depth and extension. Opus Dei, our Father wrote, is a marvellous instrument for bringing happiness to mankind and to ourselves, if we are faithful. If youâre faithful, what a sowing of peace there will be!
We well understand our Lordâs parable, and ask his help to be faithful in the daily battles of love we wage to extend his kingdom to all hearts.
Responsible fidelity for effective proselytism.
Our union with Christ is the source of all our apostolic effectiveness. Just as the sun brings out special brilliance in the crystal which it touches and penetrates, St Basil writes, so does the Holy Spirit brighten the souls in whom he dwells: by his presence, they become shining lights that spread the grace of charity around them. Interior life translates into apostolate: leaven is useless if it doesnât ferment the dough. Holiness and apostolate are two sides of the same coin: they share the same root, and stem from the same Love, the same zeal for the glory of God.
We couldnât become saints if we werenât apostles; and our apostolate would be empty if not backed up by a vigorous interior battle. Our Father wrote: with this unity of life, with this contemplation in the middle of the world - in the middle of the street: in the open air, under the sun and rain - not only will you be dominated by the desire to keep at your temporal task and not distance yourselves from earthly realities, but you will be spurred on by an apostolic zeal to enter all these secular realities courageously, in order to bring their divine dimension to light. Youâll teach others that the fraternity of the children of God - for human fraternity has a supernatural meaning - is the great solution on offer for the worldâs problems; to draw people out of the shell of their selfishness; and as regards those who are, as it were, dissolved in the mass, it ensures and preserves for them the personality they need and true freedom: qua libertate Christus nos liberavit (the freedom by which Christ has set us free). In a word, you will open to all men and women the divine paths of the earth.
We want to seek only the glory of God in everything. And we start by giving God our whole life day by day. We also strive to get many others around us to give their lives to him and thus become leaven. For, as our Father taught: there is a great need for leaven. Even many of those who call themselves disciples, even those who are officially devout, have need of leavening.
The world will always stand in need of leaven. And to be leaven, you have to overcome the concupiscence of the flesh, and be detached from earthly honours, and spurn riches. You have to stifle the triple concupiscence St John points to: omne quod est in mundo concupiscentia carnis est et concupiscentia oculorum et superbia vitae: all that is in the world, is the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. Many people donât want to be leaven, because to be effective, leaven has to disappear and go unnoticed, without receiving thanks or human esteem. To be leaven, you need a lot of supernatural life and a great spirit of sacrifice.
As always, we end our time of prayer by turning to our Lady. We ask Mary to enkindle our prayer, to fill it with apostolic and proselytistic effectiveness. Fill yourself with confidence, our Founder advises. The Mother we have is the Mother of God, the most Blessed Virgin, the Queen of heaven and earth.