556. June 29, Sts Peter & Paul (III)

Meditations no. 486 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Identification with Christ led St Paul to have great heart, open to all peoples.

Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God… to the Church of God that is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that invoke the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place of theirs and ours. Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus begins the first Epistle to the Corinthians: with words that are full of charity towards all men. These words take on a special relief on the Solemnity of Sts Peter and Paul.

As we celebrate the feast of the Apostle of the Gentiles, we recall the transformation that grace worked in his soul, when Christ came to meet him on the road to Damascus. From an implacable persecutor of Christians, Paul became the zealous preacher of the wonders of Christ. He had prided himself in being an Israelite and the son of an Israelite, educated in the school of Gamaliel. He then opened his heart wide to everyone, to the point of considering himself the minister of Christ Jesus among the Gentiles… , that the oblation of the Gentiles may be made acceptable and sanctified in the Holy Spirit… ; so that from Jerusalem round about, as far as unto Illyricum, I have replenished the Gospel of Christ.

With the light from heaven that shined round about him, St Paul received a marvellous revelation: that we Christians form one only body, united by ties stronger than those of flesh and blood. This unity is founded upon Baptism, which makes us children of God and sharers in the divine nature.

Our founder loved to consider this truth. We understand perfectly those words of St Paul: vivo autem, iam non ego, vivit vero in me Christus (Gal 2: 20); I live, or better said, it is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Paul felt himself to be Christ. Those who did not like him said that he was short, slow of speech, and with squinted eyes… And he felt so great, strong, and authoritative!: de cetero nemo mihi molestus sit; ego enim stigmata Domini Jesu in corpore meo porto (Gal 6: 17); henceforth, let no man be troublesome to me, for I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus in my body. With those invisible wounds, he felt himself like alter Christus, ipse Christus. Yes, Paul, great Paul! Thank you for the doctrine you have left us because the Holy Spirit inspired it in you! You are Christ! Paul, rejoice because we Christians love you, because we are grateful to you for this treasure of doctrine!

Love of one’s country is a Christian virtue, which has nothing to do with nationalism.

I have become all things to all men, that I may save all. St Paul’s great-heartedness and limitless availability were a far cry from the racial exclusion he had lived before. However, there was no obstacle in Christianity for his lifelong patriotism, including the preference, within the hierarchy of love, for his own people and fellow citizens. Brethren, the will of my heart, indeed, and my prayer to God is for them unto salvation, he writes to the faithful of Rome. I speak the truth in Christ; I lie not, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit; that I have great sadness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I wished myself to be anathema from Christ, for my brethren; who are my kinsmen according to the flesh; who are Israelites.

We too are moved by the universal concern for all souls, something which our vocation arouses in us. A correct love of our own country is not weakened, but rather fortified. Our Father teaches us: Love your country. Patriotism is a Christian virtue. But if patriotism is converted into a nationalism which leads one to scornful alienation - without Christian charity or justice - towards other people or nations, then it is a sin.

There are, in effect, ties stronger than the noble ones we have with our own nation. On the natural level, the unity of the human race, the equality of peoples, universal peace and the aid given the needy of any race, social class or condition are reasons for considering events on a level above the specific concerns of one’s own country. Besides, the Church, obedient to Christ’s command, makes the effort to form mankind into a single family, one only People of God. And Jesus Christ himself has taught us to live together with everybody and not to reject anyone, since He wishes to save all men.

The Apostle also wrote that ‘there is no distinction between Gentile and Jew, between circumcised and uncircumcised, between barbarian and citizen, between slave and freeman; but rather Christ is all and in all’.

These words are as valid today as yesterday. Before God, differences of nationality, race, social class or status do not exist… Each one of us has been reborn in Christ, in order to become a new creation, a child of God. We are all brothers, and that is how we should behave towards each other: fraternally!

When a Christian feels and lives his vocation, no barrier is capable of separating him from the rest of mankind. Like St Paul, nothing seems too much in the effort to draw souls to our Lord. I can understand how you love your country and your people so much, and that, in spite of these ties, you long for the moment when you will cross lands and seas - far away - for your heart is consumed by the thought of the harvest.

Our mission is to foster unity and harmony amongst persons of every race and country.

True love for one’s country is a virtue which calls for great-heartedness towards all nations. To be ‘Catholic’ means to love your country and to be second to no one in that love. And at the same time, to hold as your own the noble aspirations of other lands. - So many glories of France are glories of mine! And in the same way, much that makes Germans proud, and Americans and Asians and Africans, is a source of pride to me also. Catholic: big heart, broad mind.

The truly catholic heart of Opus Dei demands of us a great, universal spirit. We must be able to draw good things from our heart’s treasure store - de bono thesauro profert bona (Matt 12: 35) - in order to overcome and combat the many mental and psychological barriers that men place against the fraternity of God’s children.

Perhaps the most dangerous of these barriers in our times is nationalism. Nationalism makes understanding and co-existence difficult. It is incompatible with real love for one’s own country and it is a big obstacle for the achievement of society’s common good.

The worst myopia and the most harmful threat would arise from carrying nationalistic tendencies to the theological level. There, unity amongst all men within the love of Jesus Christ must shine the brightest (cf. 1 Cor 10: 17).

The reality of this united, Christian charity must be shown with deeds, in every social milieu. There can be no class distinctions, much less castes or sectarianism: no more Jew or Gentile, no more slave or freeman, no more male and female; you are all one person in Jesus Christ (Gal 3: 28).

Achieving such a unity and making it last is a difficult task. It is nourished by acts of humility, by self-renunciation, by silence, by knowing how to listen and understand, by really taking an interest in others’ welfare, by forgiving as often as necessary… in a word, by knowing how to love, truly, with deeds.

We all have to contribute to this great Christian task by making a determined apostolic effort. We must help all those who approach the Work feel moved to work on behalf of unity: towards mutual understanding, which leads people to live peacefully, as well as towards spiritual and material well-being.

No one should outdo us in patriotic love. At the same time, we ought to have a universal outlook, just as Sts Peter and Paul did. Our heart should embrace everyone in all their human and supernatural needs. By divine vocation, the life of members of Opus Dei is apostolic. Thus there is born in them an ongoing desire to get on well with everyone. The charity of Christ overcomes any barrier. And there also comes the concern to do away with any kind of intolerance, force or violence in the treatment of men among one another.

Through our Lady’s intercession, we ask our Lord to enlarge our heart to be like that of St Paul; so that we learn to love and have a real concern for people of all races and nationalities.