453. Thirty-second Wednesday of Ordinary Time

Meditations no. 399 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Chastity for love of God: a virtue for everyone.

The dedication God asks of us is one of love. For the Lord, the teacher of Love, is a jealous lover who asks for all we possess, for all our love. He expects us to offer him whatever we have, following the path he has marked out for each one of us. Jesus seeks us out amid our daily circumstances and asks us to give him our heart. Whether in apostolic celibacy or marriage, all the Work’s members strive to serve God with a sincere heart and clean life.

God expects a generous response from everyone: praebe, fili mi, cor tuum mihi; give me your heart, my son, he tells us. No one is excluded from this divine petition, although the way to practise chastity is different for married people and single people. Whatever the calling, the fact is that each person, in his own place, according to the vocation which God has inspired in his soul (be he single, married, widowed or a priest), must strive to live chastity with great care, because it is a virtue for everyone. It calls on everyone to struggle, to be delicate, sensitive and strong. It calls for a degree of sensitivity which can only be fully appreciated when we come close to the loving Heart of Christ on the Cross.

We can’t allow our heart to harbour any affection that is out of keeping with our supernatural adventure as God’s children. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. St Augustine comments: What part of your heart remains for loving yourself? What part of your soul is left? What part of your mind? He says ex toto, all: the one who made you requires your all.

God gives everyone the help they need to be faithful to his Fair Love. If at times the flesh pulls us downward, grace pushes us upward: it powerfully cauterizes the wound left by sin and draws our hearts of flesh to the Love of God. Our Father told us: Generously give God your youthful heart, that wonderful, splendid life: give him your life. Let yours be the sacrifice of Abel, not that of Cain. Abel offered God the best of his flock. I love you, as your mothers do, body and soul. And thus I want to bring you to God, whole and entire, soul and body, mind and senses: I want to offer it all to God.

With God’s help, holy purity is always possible.

Along our path of love there can come moments of discouragement or physical tiredness, perhaps on account of some human setback or a seemingly insurmountable sense of mediocrity. At such times someone may be tempted to yearn for things they once dreamed of, or for other things which seem attractive and which they had renounced out of love for Christ and, in the case of married people, out of love for another person too. But we need to remember that we can no longer pose the question in the same terms as before, because what we were in a position to give away has already been given. Now we have to protect something which belongs to another, and other virtues are brought into play: loyalty, fidelity… At times like that, without losing our peace, we need to turn humbly to God.

We are all of us subject to passions, our Father wrote, and we all come up against the same sort of difficulties, no matter how old we are. That is why we have to fight. Remember what St Paul wrote: datus est mihi stimulus carnis meae, ángelus Sátanae, qui me colaphízet, he was given a sting for his flesh, which was like an angel of Satan, to buffet him, otherwise he would have become proud.

It is not possible to lead a clean life without God’s assistance. He wants us to be humble and to ask for his aid. At this very moment, you should trustingly beg our Lady, as you accompany her in the solitude of your heart, without saying anything out loud: “Mother, this poor heart of mine rebels so foolishly… If you don’t protect me…” And she will help you to keep it pure and follow the way to which God has called you.

Be humble, very humble, my children. Let us learn to be humble. We need prudence to protect our Love. We must keep a careful watch and not be overcome by fear. Many of the classical spiritual authors compare the devil to a mad dog tied down by a chain. If we don’t go near him, he cannot bite us, no matter how much he barks. If you foster humility in your souls, you will certainly avoid the occasions of sin, and you will react by having the courage to run away from them. You will have daily recourse to the help that comes from heaven, and will make lively progress along this path of true love.

Don’t forget that when someone is corrupted by the concupiscence of the flesh he cannot make any spiritual progress. He cannot do good works. He is a cripple, cast aside like an old rag. Have you ever seen patients suffering from progressive paralysis and unable to help themselves or get up? Sometimes they cannot even move their heads. Well, in the supernatural order, the same thing happens to people who are not humble and have made a cowardly surrender to lust. They don’t see, or hear, or understand anything. They are paralyzed. They are like men gone mad. Each of us here ought to invoke our Lord, and his Blessed Mother, and pray that he will grant us humility and a determination to avail ourselves devoutly of the divine remedy of Confession. Do not let even the smallest focal point of corruption take root in your souls, no matter how tiny it may be. Speak out. When water flows, it stays clean; blocked up, it becomes a stagnant pool full of repugnant filth. What was once drinking water becomes a breeding-ground for insects.

You know as well as I do that chastity is possible and that it is a great source of joy. You also realize that now and then it requires a bit of struggle. Let us listen again to St Paul: For I am delighted with the law of God according to the inner man, but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and making me prisoner to the law of sin that is in my members. Unhappy man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Cry out yourself more than he, if you have to, although without exaggerating: Súffícit tibi grátia mea, “my grace is sufficient for you,” is our Lord’s answer.

Means to practise the virtue of chastity.

If ever it becomes harder to practise the virtue of holy purity, we should make greater use of the human and supernatural means to confirm ourselves anew in our dedication. Our Founder advised: We need to know how to say “No”, for the sake of the great Love, the love of loves. Never forget this. In keeping with the laws of nature, I’ll probably die before you. So don’t ever forget this, my dearest children, don’t ever forget it.

First of all, we need to forestall such moments. On the supernatural plane the same happens as on the human level: it’s not enough simply to bring children into the world. They must also be formed well, without tying them to oneself, engendering them at the cost of sacrifice, and then not seeking anything in return. Therefore proselytism is essential for us, since it abundantly fulfils the deep human need for offspring. Who hasn’t felt, when doing proselytism, the human and supernatural joy of giving birth to a life of grace, to a life of holiness and apostolate, the joy at the birth of a child of his spirit? And what an immense blessing it is in the case of Supernumeraries too, if the one who decides upon a life of surrender to God is a child of their own flesh!

But even when one is truly dedicated, God can permit situations that demand greater struggle on our part. Then is the moment to approach our Lord like the ten lepers in today’s Gospel: they stood at a distance and lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, master, have mercy on us.”

If we ever feel full of leprosy, we should imitate their example: we have to be humble, and draw close to our Lady, and be sincere as well. If ever you were to have a corner of your soul, something kept from the person who hears your chat, you would be sharing a secret with the devil. It would be pitiful if, in serving God, you sheltered a shame which others do not have when offending him.

Our Lord responded to the ten lepers’ humble request: Go and show yourselves to the priests. He directs them to go to those in authority, and by their faithful obedience their skin becomes clean once again. Do you see? our Father asked. But by contrast, look at the sterility of those who don’t want to obey, who say they can’t obey. Perhaps at those moments their arguments sound convincing, but the underlying reality is that they don’t want to be clean, they don’t want to use the means to receive God’s grace.

Let us make the resolution to draw close to our Lady, Mater Pulchrae Dilectiónis, Mother of Fair Love; let us draw close to her Immaculate Heart, whenever our poor heart feels the tugs of a disordered passion. Then we’ll go forward, deeply convinced like our Father that we’re well rewarded for practising chastity: if you’re faithful, you’ll feel the paternity I now feel for you. My children, I’m deeply moved when I see you firm and secure on our path, doing the same things day after day, but each day with greater supernatural outlook. For us, chastity is a joyful affirmation, a triumph.