455. Thirty-second Friday of Ordinary Time
Meditations no. 401 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
We achieve continuous presence of God by fighting to fulfil the Norms well.
For all men who were ignorant of God were foolish by nature; and they were unable from the good things that are seen to know him who exists. The Creator of the universe has marked all of his creation as his handiwork. All creatures, whether plant, animal, or mineral, bear a divine imprint and tell us something about God. Therefore by considering created realities, man can and should reach his Creator. All noble realities, especially human activities, are means for personal holiness, union with God, contemplative life: for as we are led to the contemplation of God through his effects, as St Paul teaches -his invisible nature has been clearly seen in the things that have been made - so the contemplation of those effects is the secondary object of contemplative life, insofar as from them man is led to the knowledge of God.
Our ordinary work should be what normally channels our hearts and minds towards the things of God. Through the truly contemplative formation given by our spirit, my children should experience deep in their soul a need to seek God, and find him and speak with him at all times, admiring him lovingly in the midst of the toils of their ordinary work, which are earthly concerns, but purified and raised to the supernatural order.
From our contemplative life and filial trust in our Father God, come joy and security. All our efforts should be directed towards seeking God in everything we do, so as to maintain a constant dialogue with him. The means? our Father asked. The Norms. The fulfilment of the Norms. When a son of mine fights to fulfil the Norms, he has interior life, he has presence of God to a greater or lesser degree; he is on the way to becoming a contemplative soul, if he isnât one already.
We have to be contemplatives in the world.
Our cell is the street. And so in the street (that is, the office, the studio, the university, the laboratory, the factory, or on the land) we must live in constant union with God, Our activities should be the place where our contemplative dialogue comes about; far from being an obstacle for our constant contact with God, they should be a spur to our interior life. We have to discover the divine dimension hidden in our ordinary tasks. Our attention should be directed there, since work for us is a specific means to holiness. And our Father pointed out: what I mean by this is that we have to turn our work into prayer and be contemplative souls.
All our plan of life, our Norms and Customs, are suited to and laid down for men and women who work in the middle of the world, carrying out a professional activity. Theyâre not rigid means, that presuppose a life apart, but a flexible method which adapts wonderfully to any life of hard professional work, just as a rubber glove conforms perfectly to oneâs hand. Even more, our interior life, which is contemplative life in the middle of the world, is nourished by our external activity, our daily work.
Throughout the day you should keep up a constant conversation with our Lord which draws on the incidents of the job you have in hand. In your heart, go to the tabernacle and offer our Lord the work you are doing. Go to our heavenly Mother, and to our Father and Lord St Joseph. Ask their help to overcome the little setbacks that crop up. Entrust your companions and colleagues to their Guardian Angels. Renew your apostolic intention, making use of the breaks in your work. Ask the Holy Spirit for light to tackle the problems youâre trying to solve.
We donât separate our interior life from the apostolate: they are one and the same. Our external activity shouldnât cause any interruption in our prayer, just as our heartbeat doesnât interrupt our attention to whatever activity we are engaged in.
By working before God, in his presence, we pray unceasingly, since when we work in accordance with our spirit, we are practising the theological virtues that form the summit of Christian lifeâŠ
Thus our interior life gives new vigour to our work: it makes it more perfect, more noble, more worthy, more lovable. It doesnât take us away from our temporal occupations; it leads us to look after them better.
The Norms of always, an essential help.
For us, contemplation is not a wonderful but unattainable ideal: itâs the culmination of a life dedicated to God, the fruit that comes from years spent striving to follow the Apostleâs advice: whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. We arenât asked to give up our work but to direct everything we do to Godâs glory, acting always in the presence of the three divine Persons who dwell in our soul in grace. As St Thomas teaches: the term âcontemplativeâ is applied not to those who simply contemplate, but to those who dedicate their whole lives to contemplation, who direct all their actions to God.
We have been given the means: our Norms and Customs come first, precisely because they assure us of a close relationship with God: contemplative life. Some of them we practise âalwaysâ for we have to remember God as frequently as we breathe.â The Norms of always are an expression of our constant dialogue, with words of affection for our Lord and for his Blessed Mother, with a constant invocation addressed upwards, to the heights.
Aspirations. Many will be of our own devising, but we can also make use of the ones that our father taught us. Cor MarĂae DulcĂssimum, iter para tutum! Most sweet Heart of Mary, prepare a safe way! And now as well, Cor MarĂae DulcĂssimum, iter serva tutum! Most sweet Heart of Mary, keep our way safe! Cor Iesu SacratĂssimum et misĂ©ricors, dona nobis pacem! Most Sacred and Merciful Heart of Jesus, grant us peace!⊠And when faced by setbacks, that other aspiration which our Father also taught us: omnia in bonum! - all things work together unto good for those who love God, since he protects us.
Small mortifications, offered for specific intentions, will keep our hearts on fire and help us keep in Godâs presence and increase our apostolic zeal. Acts of reparation, responding to daily events, when we see others offend Him, and when we ourselves fail to be generous: DĂłmine, tu omnia nosti, tu scis quia amo te; Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you. And there are many other ways of keeping in Godâs presence.
The Norms of always are both a consequence of our love for God and an effective way of increasing it. We must not remain passive in our interior life. We should make use of human reminders to attain constant presence of God. Love is inventive in finding ways to increase its contact with the beloved. What our Father called âalarm-clocksâ for our interior struggle can help us at times. We find them amid our ordinary activities, and we can also remember the ones our Father used. They can be a guide for us, though it is not necessary for all of us to use them nor to do so habitually.
Our Lady is contemplating us while we work. We should often invoke her, turning to her trustingly for help for she is always in our heart. Monstra te esse matrem, show yourself a Mother, donât forget to make your presence felt whenever the need arises.