449. Thirty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)

Meditations no. 621 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Act with right intention so as not to lose the supernatural value of good works.

OUR Lord, in today’s Gospel, warns us of the danger that works lose their value in God’s eyes for lack of rectitude of intention. Beware of scribes, who like to walk around dressed in long tunics and who greet them in the squares; the first seats in synagogues and the first places at banquets. The right to honor is something different, which implies on the part of others the recognition of the excellence of those who hold legitimate authority, even in the Church. That is why our Father wrote: let us not confuse the rights of office with those of the person. The former cannot be renounced.

Before God, who scrutinizes hearts, what is decisive is the witness of an upright conscience, but before men external signs are also required. In any case, we must be vigilant so that vanity, ostentation, and self-indulgence do not creep in. In this sense, the conduct of Pope St. Leo the Great was exemplary, who adopted the expression servus servorum Dei-servant of the servants of God-as the proper title of the office of Successor of St. Peter.

It is also logical that in civil and professional life there is a certain consideration in treatment, a certain external honor, which usually accompanies the person who has some degree of excellence. For this reason, our Father explains, if you have an official position, you also have rights, which arise from the exercise of that office, and duties.

“You depart from your apostle path if, on the occasion-or with excuse-of a work of zeal, you fail to fulfill the duties of the office. Because you will lose my professional prestige, which is precisely your ‘fisherman’s hook.’

The spirit of the Work teaches that humility is the virtue that leads to the discovery that signs of respect for the person - for his honor, for his good faith, for his intimacy - are not external conventions, but the first manifestations of charity and justice. It will be necessary, then, to be attentive in order to keep one’s intention right in the exercise of one’s attributes; to ensure that one rightly seeks the common good through work and the decisions it implies; to avoid, in any case, that the heart is filled with vain conceit. And this, for a Christian who has to sanctify himself in the bosom of society, is an excellent way to live humility. The Lord wants us to be humble. But that humility does not mean that you do not get where you should in the professional field, in ordinary work, and, of course, in the spiritual life. It is necessary to arrive, but without seeking yourself, with rectitude of intention.

Let us examine the motives that move us to act and recognize, when necessary, that we must rectify it. We have always said that holiness is union with God, and in order to have it we must never lose this point of view, which is the supernatural vision. Just as the hunter does not lose his sight, if he wants to catch the game. For this great supernatural hunt for our holiness, we cannot lose this point of view which is the supernatural vision, which is the rectitude of intention.

Seek the glory of God and help others by good example.

It is established that men die only once, and that afterwards there is a judgment, we read in the passage from the Epistle to the Hebrews that the Church proposes to us today. What we have meditated on so many times comes to mind, by the hand of St. Josemaría: Does not the desire shine in your soul that your Father-God will be happy when he has to judge you? In fact, we want, and we say this now to the Lord, that the desire to give him joy shines more and more strongly in our souls, and not only at the decisive moment of judgment, but in every instant of our life on earth. That is why, because the desire to give glory to God is what moves us, we are always ready to rectify our intention, so that giving all the glory to God is the main purpose of our actions.

St. Paul expresses this idea precisely: we speak not as one who seeks to please men, but as God, who sees the depths of our hearts. There is a link between rectitude of intention and the presence of God. To act in the presence of God means to know that we are always before those who see the depths of our hearts. It is true that this same action can be witnessed by human spectators, and we will always be exposed to their judgments of applause, censure or indifference. That is why our Father tells us: I do not doubt your rectitude. “I know that you act in the presence of God. But there is a but: your actions are witnessed or can be witnessed by men who judge humanly. … And they must be set a good example.

We must take into account human judgments, for example, so as not to scandalize someone by our imprudence, or so as not to disconcert unnecessarily; and always, in a positive way, to set a good example that encourages others to practice virtue. But let us not forget that human judgments occupy a secondary and subordinate place to God’s judgment, the one that really matters to us: the one who judges me is the Lord. This thought will help us to reject human respect when it comes to setting a good example or when it is necessary to speak of God openly, clearly. With the Lord there is no possibility of fear, nor of human respect. He, above all, always, and in any circumstance.

If concern for the judgments of others - what they will say - were to become the predominant or decisive motive of our conduct, to the point of displacing the desire to please God, it would be a sure sign that our intention has been twisted, as Jesus warns us in the Gospel: beware of doing your righteousness before men so that they may see you; otherwise you will have no reward from your Father who is in Heaven. On the contrary, our Father advised, behave as your conscience dictates, in such a way that you please God and then do not have the remorse of cowardice. In this way you will do much good to souls, the Lord will help you, and you will walk in the ways that the Lord wants the souls of Christians to lead.

Even good intentions need to be purified of attachments that are not born of the desire to please God. See that your good intention is always accompanied by humility. For good intentions are often joined by harshness of judgment, an almost inability to yield, and a certain personal, national, or group pride.

Loving little things and passing unnoticed, signs of upright intention.

Jesus sat in front of the gazophylacius, and watched as the people poured copper coins into it, and many rich men put in a lot. And when a poor widow came, she threw in two small coins, which make a quarter of the ace.

The figure of this woman condenses the attitudes that we want the Lord to find in our hearts. Have you not seen the lights of Jesus’ gaze when the poor widow leaves her little alms in the temple? “Give her what you can give: the merit is not in the little or in the much, but in the will with which you give it. Certainly, her alms are very humble, and yet I tell you,” Jesus commented, after soliciting the attention of his disciples, “that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have put into the Treasury”.

The love of small things and the desire to pass hidden are clear signs of true rectitude of intention. St. Josemaría advises that everyone, young and old, should frequently consider the intention with which they carry out their work, keeping in mind that they are manifestations of a lack of rectitude of intention: moving for human reasons, not taking care of small details, neglecting family life or apostolic tasks, not taking advantage of their professional work-prestigious or not-to do a profound work of apostolate.

Jesus praises the minuscule alms of the poor widow, for all have put in some of their surplus; she, on the other hand, in her need, has put in all that she had, all her sustenance. And St. Paulinus of Nola comments: “She gave all that she had to possess invisible goods. She offered what is corruptible in order to acquire what is immortal (…). For this reason, the Lawgiver himself did not forget her; indeed, the Judge of the world anticipated her sentence and foretold in the Gospel that he would give her the crown on the day of judgment.”

The contrast between the scribes’ disordered desire for social prestige, described in this Sunday’s Gospel, and the humble generosity of the poor widow, at the end of the same Gospel passage, helps us to understand what God expects of us: our love in the fulfillment of his Will, even in the smallest details. For this, in the first place, we must be pious, very pious. Pray, pray, pray to give glory to the Lord and to always work with rectitude of intention. If we are immersed in God, with prayer and work that merge in service to the Lord, we will never lose our right direction. You can see that prayer continues to be, and will never cease to be, the means by which we do everything. Without this constant and renewed relationship with God, nothing can come of course.

If we live in conversation with the Lord, we will be detached from everything, to be more and more of Him. It will give us great joy to live in one place or in another; to have the opportunity to have certain means, such as lacking them. And in all circumstances our gratitude to God will be evident, because we will feel the reality that we are instruments to do good to souls.

The Blessed Virgin will help us, so we beg her, to effectively direct all our actions, thoughts and desires to the glory of God. Deo omnis gloria!