461. Thirty-third Tuesday of Ordinary Time

Meditations no. 405 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

We want to do good to everyone.

During his final trip to Jerusalem, Jesus entered Jericho, and was passing through it. Many throng to see him, but our Lord doesn’t only look at the crowd: he seeks out souls one by one, especially those most in need of him. So, he quickly discerns Zacchaeus, a leading tax collector and a wealthy man who, because he was small, had climbed up a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way.

St Luke relates Zacchaeus’ encounter in great detail: how Jesus begins the conversation, invites himself for dinner, and in the end wins the man’s conversion.

Our Lord’s consuming zeal for souls has to be echoed by all Christians, especially those personally called to apostolic dedication, as we have been. Close to hand we have the example of our Father, who perfectly incarnated this zeal to save souls. Today in our prayer we call to mind some words from his final years on earth, which can be a spur to our apostolic zeal.

My children, I’m weighed down with sorrow for the Church, and for souls. At this time, I don’t want to do anything but beseech God, and I try to do so constantly: by prayer, work, mortification, even rest. It’s a time for prayer. It’s a time for reparation, because they’re treating God our Lord so badly. And it’s also a time for thanksgiving, because Jesus wants to rely on us.

We need to be very vigilant, our souls wide awake, our faith alive, shown with deeds, spreading doctrine boldly and without fear. Each of us has an obligation to ensure that the blood of God’s children flows through our veins, so we can give this life of Christ to others.

In these times of confusion, and always!, but especially now, there’s no alternative but to do apostolate and proselytism. If not, it means you’re dying out, that you don’t have life in you. When an ember doesn’t set fire to its surroundings, it’s a sign that it’s cooling down, that it’s almost all ash. And this can happen even though a person has burned for years in our Lord’s service. But winning souls makes us young, like freshly lit embers.

My children, there’s no alternative but to draw those around you: your friends, colleagues, neighbours. If not, our Lord isn’t happy, and it’s a sign of lukewarmness on your part.

We have to be always enkindled, ready to offer those around us the message Christ has entrusted to us by calling us. We have no right to harbour thoughts or plans that relegate to a second plane what is our principal concern: the salvation of all souls.

The supernatural means are the foundation for the whole of the apostolate.

The primary means for our apostolate is always to persevere in prayer, with the stubbornness of a person who really wants to get something. We should recall those people in the Gospel who approach our Lord with sincerity: they insist, they keep on asking, and Jesus cannot deny them.

Let’s be stubborn in prayer, convinced that if we pray in this way, all united, our Lord’s promise cannot fail to be fulfilled: If two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name. My children, it would be unthinkable for our personal cooperation to be lacking, for it to be anything less than complete.

I pray to the Angels, I invoke them every day, and I seek the intercession of the Guardian Angels of my children, asking them to teach all of us how to render homage to our God. Like that we’ll be zealous, determined to bring the consolation of God’s doctrine to all men and women. We can’t fall asleep, or stop, or take a vacation - in this or in anything - for the devil never takes vacations, and now - you don’t have to be too clever to see it - the devil is very active.

My daughters and sons, to have a comfort-loving spirit, to lack zeal in our life, is to be disloyal to God. Even worse than this: the comfort-seekers or those who have become such do us harm; they’re an obstacle to the effectiveness of all the work we do.

I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already enkindled. To fail to catch Christ’s spirit, to disregard his specific plea, would mean blocking the spread of the fire he wants to enkindle in souls.

Let’s strive to be good children of God and his good friends, with all the consequences that lead us to fulfil our duties toward souls. We should be full of desire to make reparation and to ask forgiveness, with a sincere effort to play the role of the prodigal son, as soon as we realize we’ve gone astray from God.

My children, there’s a need for many people who truly know how to love, and we’re among those whom our Lord has called to this. For the world is becoming very pagan, with no interest in knowing about God. We have to pray a lot, with love and zeal for the salvation of souls. We need to ask God with faith to put an end to this time of trial, and have recourse to the Blessed Virgin Mary as well.

Be pious. Drown the lack of love which reigns in many people with your sincere love. Let them see in our genuflexions and bows of the head that we’re not play-acting. May they see, even in these externals, that we’re certain, really certain, in the midst of the blessed obscurity of our faith.

Generous self-giving in the apostolic work, without fear of the environment.

Don’t let yourselves be ruled by the environment. Take Christ’s atmosphere with you everywhere. Leave a trace of God behind you, putting things right with charity, with affection, and with clarity.

At times it may seem that we’ve exhausted the apostolic possibilities of some of the circles in which we move. Or perhaps, faced with a particularly cold environment, or little responsiveness among people we are in touch with, we may need to go apparently slowly in our apostolic work, though we must always go at God’s pace. Such circumstances, however, should never be used to “justify” a lessening of our apostolic fervour.

It’s true that sometimes circumstances can be especially adverse. But in such cases it is also true that God’s grace abounds all the more. We must nevertheless flee from the danger of “adapting ourselves” to what is false. Evil cannot be made use of. What we have to do is to sow goodness by the fistful, with love and fortitude. Even if we don’t reap the fruit right away, we know that nothing is lost: the moment for storing up good wheat in the granaries will certainly come.

With the gift of tongues, give doctrine, the same doctrine as always, God’s doctrine, true doctrine, which is not old, but is eternally young and up-to-date, perennial like Christ himself, who never becomes antiquated: Iesus Christus, heri et hodie, ipse et in saecula (Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever). My children, don’t let the glittering mirage of what seems new wrest the piety from your lives.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide. We can never be pessimistic. We work with optimism, serenity, and joy, for we live with God, and he - as you’ve heard me say so often - doesn’t lose battles, nor does he pass away. During these years of working, we have faced difficulties, sometimes seemingly insurmountable. Nevertheless, we have always felt completely secure, both when we were very few and devoid of human means and when our Lord was blessing us with many vocations. And the explanation for all this lies in our Lord: when we truly love, we think only about fulfilling his Will.

What joy to give oneself and to die so that this Work of God can go forward. The love that our Lord gives us makes up for so much duplicity, so much calumny, so much commotion which some people create. Electi mei non laborabunt frustra; my chosen ones will not labour in vain. Spend yourselves generously, day by day, in constant service, making a holocaust of your lives. I’ve seen daughters and sons of mine die joyfully, offering themselves to our Lord right to the last moment. I repeat: I’ve seen them die joyfully. But Opus Dei is essentially for living, for living joyfully and serving all souls; and thus it’s also for dying joyfully. In the Work, if someone is unhappy or sad, it’s their own fault, because the means to serve in laetitia (with gladness) are within everyone’s reach.

My daughters and sons, love the Lord, the Lather, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Love the Blessed Trinity, one God. And also that “trinity” on earth, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, all closely united. They will help us stay strong, even in these moments, to keep up our struggle, and to sustain so many souls, leading them to the love of God.