561. July 25, James the Greater, Apostle
Meditations no. 492 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
Correspondence to our vocation requires fortitude: possumus!
As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, mending their nets, and he called them.
Guided by our Father, we have often brought this Gospel passage to our prayer, recognizing in it the model of our calling to Opus Dei. Like James and John, our Lord sought us out in our everyday concerns, in our professional work, and he invited us to follow him closely and to collaborate with him in raising all human realities to a supernatural plane.
The task that awaits us is immense, and far exceeds our own strength. Nevertheless, it is Godâs will for us, and therefore we can count on his grace. Omnia possum in eo qui me confortat! I can do all things in Him who strengthens me, we should say with St Paul, with the assurance that his all-powerful help will never be lacking.
To encourage us and urge us on, especially when we sense more vividly the weight of our own weakness and wretchedness, the Church asks us today to read a Gospel passage that clearly shows the human weakness of the Apostles chosen by Christ.
Few followed him out of love, my children, our Father said. Do you recall that telling scene narrated by the Evangelist? Do you remember the petition made by the mother of two of the Apostles, with a pardonable motherly affection, but that shows she has been scheming with her ambitious sons? Command that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom (Mt20: 21). And they were Apostles, who were holy, especially afterwards.
Upstairs in the building of Uffici, as in Lagasca, there is a small banner hanging on the wall containing the word Possumus! The fruit of a meditation made many years ago, it repeats the reply of James and John when our Lord asked, Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink? (Mt 20: 22). In the background of the banner is a large field of crosses and hearts.
My children, our Lord asks you and me that same question. Perhaps he asks it of us-Iâm convinced that it is so-because I did not want to ask it of myself. Potestis bibere calicem hunc, quem ego bibiturus sum? Your self-giving! Your commitment to God! Have you made it with a completely upright intention? Have you given him your whole heart? Have you placed any conditions? Is there anything that isnât right in your life, and you know it, but that you donât want to purify?
As we meditate today on the life of the Apostle James, who after preaching Christ crucified suffered martyrdom in Jerusalem under Herod, we too feel capable of crying out with him: Possumus! United to Christ, living our dedication with fortitude, we can carry out the mission God has entrusted to us.
Even great difficulties in our apostolate shouldnât discourage us.
We read in the first letter of St Paul to the Corinthians: God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men.
We too are Christâs apostles, and we know that obstacles will always be present in carrying out our mission. Some will be objective difficulties caused by a lack of means, misunderstandings on the part of certain people, surroundings opposed to the Gospel message, and the like. But at times the greatest obstacle may lie in ourselves, in our weak faith, our half-hearted dedication, our paltry apostolic zeal.
Our Father forewarns us: We are made of earthly clay, de limo terrae (Gen 2: 7), of cheap, fragile clay. Still you have seen how ceramic pottery that has been shattered is repaired with clamps, so that it can continue being useful. Earthenware repaired this way is even more attractive; it has a special charm. It can be seen that it has been useful for something. And if it continues to be useful, that is splendid. Besides, if such vessels could think, they would never be proud. There is nothing surprising in their having been broken, and even less in their having been repaired, especially if they happen to be irreplaceable. And tell me, my child, what can replace a soul?
We should always be vigilant so that the obstacles along the way will never shatter the poor clay we are made of. This is Jesusâ lesson in the parable of the wheat and the weeds. Cum autem dormirent homines⌠We have to pay attention to everything our Lord tells us. Isnât it true that in our own life, sleepiness, a bad drowsiness, is what leads us to squander the good seed of sound doctrine and holy living? So we have to be vigilant. Custos, quid de nocte? (Is 21: 11). Sentinel, stay alert! We have to be on guard. We have to hear the cry of alarm and pass it on to others. We cannot fall asleep. Otherwise, in the midst of the good, will come the bad. Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation (Mt 26: 41).
When the experience of our fragility tries to stifle our sincere resolutions, we will latch on to Christâs strong arm and continue forward. Right now as I pray aloud, our Father said, you are not sitting there passively, like sandbags, but in your heart you are telling our Lord, âLord, how little I am worth! What a coward I have so often been! How many mistakes I have made!â Still you can say, âIt is good that you have held me by the hand as a donkey is held by a halter. For by myself I am capable of all baseness. Never let go of me! Always treat me as though I were a child. May I be a strong, upright man. But treat me as a child. Take me by the hand, Lord, and have your mother take me by the other hand!â Then, my children, we can. Possumus!
We should go to God with confidence, seeking out his strength.
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. These words, which spur our sense of responsibility, are an invitation to ask ourselves if our daily life yields the apostolic fruit that God wants to bring about in the souls of those around us, making use of us as instruments.
For the branch to be fruitful, as we well know, it must be united to the vine. Therefore Christâs words lead us to ask ourselves: How am I corresponding to the grace of my vocation? How promptly do I follow the motions of the Holy Spirit in my soul? Who will I try to draw closer to God today?
Tell our Lord that you want to use all the means. When you see that you have not known how to use them, and that you have slept (a sad thing, that sleep), it is the moment to react, with Godâs grace. Certainly our negligence didnât stem from a lack of love, but from weakness. Therefore we should immediately tell our Lord, âFrom now on, with your help I will be strong. The defeats are mine, the victories yours. I donât want evil to be present in the world. The field will be ploughed and receive the care it needs, and the seed will be generously sown.â Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies! I have fled to thee for refuge! Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God! (Ps 142: 9, 10).
We know our weakness too well to trust in our own strength. Therefore, since our strength comes from God, we ask for his help and abandon ourselves in Him. Then our own smallness doesnât matter, nor the difficulties in the environment, nor the scarcity of human means. On the contrary, the awareness of our weakness will lead us to count above all on the grace of our divine vocation. We have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us.
This consideration is the guarantee of effectiveness in our apostolate, since it leads us to seek refuge in God. If at some moment we were to become worried or uneasy, we should draw close to God and tell him that we place ourselves in his hands, like a small child in the arms of his father. It is a surrender that requires faith, hope, trust and love.
The one who fulfils our norms of life, who struggles to fulfil them, in health and in sickness, in youth and in old age, come rain or shine, when it is not difficult to do them and when it is difficult, such a child of mine is predestined if he perseveres to the end. I am sure of his sanctity.
Holy Mary, Queen of Apostles, win for us the fortitude that was always yours in Bethlehem and at Nazareth, in Egypt and beside the Cross, when your Son gave you to us as our Mother.