549. June 25, First Priestly Ordinations
Meditations no. 480 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
Today is the anniversary of the first ordination of members of Opus Dei.
Our first three brothers to reach the priesthood were ordained by Bishop Leopoldo Eijo y Garay on the 25th of June 1944, in Madrid. It was an important date, another landmark along the Works supernatural pathway. We thank Our Lord for it today, especially.
Our Father often recalled his sonsā first ordination, which he prepared with abundant prayer and penance. For many years I prayed, trustingly, eagerly, for your brothers who were going to be ordained and for those who would follow after themā¦ I prayed so much that I can say, that all the priests of Opus Dei are children of my prayer.
On a previous anniversary of todayās commemoration, our founder told those brothers of ours: When these three first ones were going to be ordained, they studied passionately and they had the best professors I could find. For Iāve always taken pride in the scientific preparation of my sons as the basis of their apostolic activity. They studied a lot, a lot, a lotā¦ I thank you because you have given me the holy pride, which does not offend God, of being able to say that you have had a marvellous ecclesiastical preparation.
That determination to acquire a solid doctrinal foundation has served us all as an example when assimilating the formation we receive with depth and seriousness. When I began to train the first priests of the Work, I exaggerated - if I can put it that way - their philosophical and theological formation. I did so for many reasons: the second reason was to please God; the third one, because many affectionate eyes were looking to us and I could not let those souls down. The fourth, because there were people who did not like us and who were looking for an excuse to attack us. Another is because I have always urged my sons to get the best possible professional formation, and I could not demand less in their religious formation. And the first reason - for I thought I might die at any moment - is because I have to render an account to God of what I have done, and I ardently desire to save my soul.
Several months after that date, our Father wrote: Iāve received many sincere congratulations from people of all sorts, on account of the first ordination of your brothers. ā¦ However, few realise the significance of this new pastoral phenomenon that has arisen within the Work of God: Young professional men with a university education, who could freely choose among the many prospects that lay open to them in life, who decide to serve all souls - especially those of their brothers and sisters. They will receive no remuneration and they are going to work hard. The hours of the day will not be sufficient for their spiritual task.
The need for priests in the Work.
More than once our Father told us, referring to the first ordination of his sons: I love the lay condition of our Work so much that I felt bad making them part of the clergy. On the other hand, the need for the priesthood seemed so clear that the ordination of my sons had to be pleasing to our Lord. I had a lot of joy and a lot of sadness. I felt a real sorrow. Now I am truly happy each time my sons are ordained, because they are very much needed. I suffer, because I am asked to send priests everywhereā¦ priests, priestsā¦ There is a hunger and a thirst for priests; there is an absolute need for priests.
Since it forms part of the hierarchical structure of the Church, the Prelature groups priests and lay people into an organic unity. For us, the priesthood is an accidental circumstance, because the vocation of priests and laity is the same. Priests are as absolutely necessary to Opus Dei as are lay persons. But the priesthood is the greatest gift God can give a soul. Our Most Holy Mother brought Christ to earth only once: ecce ancilla Dominiā¦ (Luke 1: 38). Priests make him come every day and they forgive sins. And in Opus Dei, they place their heart on the floor, so that their brothers and sisters may tread softly.
The Work needs priests in order to serve their brothers and sisters by their ministry: priests who have our spirit, who are well-prepared, cheerful, hard-working and effective. They have a sporting outlook on life, and they sacrifice themselves happily for their brothers and sisters, without feeling like victims.
Besides, priests are needed for the work carried out by the lay persons in seeking souls for God. Once (what our Father called) the sacramental wall is reached, the personal apostolate of the members of the Work can be completed by the ministerial work of the priest, who has the same spirit.
You initiate the work of proselytism and the priest perfects it. When you read the last chapter of the Gospel of St John, your love for the Work will increase - if that is possible - for you will see how closely we live the life of the first Christians.
Peter and Thomas, called Didymus, and Nathanael and the sons of Zebedee and another two disciples are at the Sea of Tiberias. Peter had told them: vado piscari, I am going fishing. Venimus et nos tecum, we are going with you, said the others. And that night, they caught nothing. Mane autem facto, stetit Iesus in littore, but when morning came, there was Jesus standing on the shore and he told them: Cast to the right of the boat, and you will have a catch. So they cast the net, and found before long they had no strength to haul it in, such a shoal of fish was in it.
You are in the Tiberias of this world; you have heard Peterās vado piscari and you have cast your netsā¦ uselessly. It is night. The day will dawn when your brothers, the priests, will be on the shore. Their mission is to pass unnoticed and to disappear. They will tell you where you must cast the nets.
Consult them in every case, and then you will bring big fish, one hundred and fifty three of them, to āfirm groundāā¦ to lay them at the feet of those other Christs, the priestsā¦ like Peter, like John, like Thomasā¦ In the words of Scripture, the net will not be broken. That is to say, your interior life will suffer no detriment, nor will your professional work, when you dedicate part of your activity to that miraculous catch of men: et faciam vos fieri piscatores hominum (Mark 1: 17).
We should ask God that the Prelature never lack the priests it needs.
If a Numerary or Associate is invited by the Father to become a priest, he enjoys the full freedom to accept this calling or not. There must be concurrence amongst the three wills involved -that of God, that of the Father, and that of the person concerned. No one can take on himself such a privilege as this; his vocation comes from God, as Aaronās did.
We must all pray so that the necessary priests are never lacking in Opus Dei. Pray that they may be faithful and have plenty of work. Pray a lot, pray in laetitia, wrote our Father. We must take this desire to our prayer, and we cannot forget that God our Lord wants us to ask his help, so that our desire may become a reality: petite, et dabitur vobis; quaerite, et invenietis; pulsate, et aperietur vobis (Matt7: 7): ask, and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you. And I ask for priests; I call priests; I seek priestsā¦ who are made according to the measure of Christās Heart. That is to say, with the spirit of Opus Dei, they gladly serve all souls, especially their brothers and sisters. We need them, since God is giving us many vocations.
Pray too so that no one in the Work feels any pressure to take on the priesthood. At the same time, pray that there are always some who readily listen to the whistle of the Good Shepherd calling themā¦ with a forcefulness that is divine, gentle and affectionate. Help me to urge our Lord and his Most Holy Mother with our petitions, such that they attend to this need. I love all my sons equally, but the priests are especially sons of my prayer.
May the priests of the Work go to receive Holy Orders with full freedom. Although the vocation is accepted passively, they should know that they are most freeā¦ they can turn back even at the last momentā¦ Should anyone see that he hasnāt the strength, and takes a step backwards, he does very well. It doesnāt displease our Lord that you are not priests. On the other hand, many holy and learned laymen are needed.
Our prayer today goes up to God laden with petition for all priests in the Church, especially for those of the Prelature. It is a petition that should find expression in the offering of some special mortification, as is our Custom on this date. We want our brothers to be faithful to their specific priestly calling within our supernatural family. We want them to harbour in their hearts the same sentiments as our Father had: in Opus Dei we are all equal. There is just one practical difference: the priests have a greater obligation than the others do to put their hearts on the floor like a rag, so that their brothers and sisters can tread softly.
Itās worthwhile praying for them, because they truly are their brothersā slaves. Do you know how a tapestry is made? Thereās a tough, sturdy embroidery canvas. Upon that they put the decorative part: the flowers, the coloursā¦ when it is finished, the canvas is not seen, but thatās what supports the whole thing. Well, the priests of the Work are like the canvas: they give of themselves so the others shine forth with their professional and social work, so colourful and effective.
Before finishing our prayer today, we want to show profound gratitude to our Lord. And we invoke our Lady, asking her that we never lack the necessary priests, so that they help this family of ours to have only one heart and only one soul. Pray a lot so that all the priests in the world may be holy. We love them all. But especially, those in Opus Dei, for this is well-ordered love. And ask that we never lack priests, but that we always have enough of them.