609. November 28, Opus Dei, a Personal Prelature (I)

Meditations no. 536 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

The pontifical decree establishing the Prelature of Opus Dei constitutes one of the chapters of the “history of God’s mercies.”

When the people of Israel crossed the Jordan and entered the Promised Land, the Lord instructed Joshua to build a monument, made out of twelve stones taken from the river bed. And Joshua said to the Israelites: When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ Then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial for ever.

We also see a special divine Providence in the history of the Work, which is the history of God’s mercies. Therefore we are eager to know more about the important events that have marked out our path. As our Father once told us: It is such a marvellous story that it is good for us to want to know more about it. I have always said so, and also put it down in writing. But that doesn’t mean I don’t suffer when I look back on all the good things that have happened to us over these past forty-four years. There are many things you will never know about, as I have ensured that no trace be left of them. But you will know enough to be deeply moved and to give bountiful thanks to God.

In the Work’s history, everything that pertains to our juridical path is a special reason to give thanks. How evident is God’s intervention and that of his most holy Mother in preparing for us a safe way! Today we commemorate another anniversary of the papal decree erecting the Prelature-the “special intention” for which our beloved Father prayed and worked for so many years. We show our thanksgiving by striving to always keep alive the memory of the wonders God has worked for us. True milestones along our way, these anniversaries are a special opportunity to realize more fully the divine nature of our vocation. As our Father once told us: God has brought forward the Work, despite having to make use of such poor instruments as myself. But at times I’m a bit sad to think that perhaps someday (although it won’t happen to your eldest brothers, of course) all this may be recalled and looked at, while certainly with affection and enthusiasm, as if it were an archaeological find, something from the ancient past. I hope they will realize that it meant a river of tears, a huge amount of blood and prayer and sacrifice.

Our Father opened up the juridical channel for the Work by being docile to God’s will.

In the Book of Proverbs, divine Wisdom speaks of creation in these terms: I was beside him, like a master workman; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the sons of men.

Commenting on these inspired words-ludens coram omni tempore, ludens in orbe terrarum-our Father liked to say that God enjoys “playing” with his daughters and sons. In one of his letters, he wrote: The divine game I am describing is very apparent in the history of our juridical path within the life of the Church. I have not had to calculate, as if I were playing chess; among other reasons, because I have never tried to guess the other person’s moves so as to checkmate him later. What I have had to do is to let myself be led.

“Letting himself to be led,” being docile to the Holy Spirit, was an essential characteristic of our Father. From the moment he began to sense the first inklings of God’s call, he made himself completely available for carrying out the divine will. That period of his life can be summed up in two aspirations, which he repeated tirelessly: Domine, ut videam!; Domina, ut sit! Then on October 2nd, 1928, when God’s light shone with noonday clarity, he began to work without rest. And soon, with God’s grace, the first vocations started coming. Our Father understood the need to impart a deep formation to the souls God was choosing. And he knew he had to find a juridical framework that would provide the Work with a clear path on which to travel, and that would be a solid defence for the foundational charism he had received from God. With the help of God’s grace, he wanted to hand this charism down to his children in all its purity and integrity. But the existing legislation in the Church failed to provide an adequate mould. Therefore as early as 1928 or 1929 our founder was already praying for the Work’s juridical solution, even though he did not know exactly what form it would take, although the broad outlines were very clear. And this remained his special intention for many years.

The Work’s long journey through the desert, as our founder once referred to our juridical path, lasted over fifty years, before God led us to the “promised land.” Like the patriarchs of old, who left this world without having seen the divine promises fulfilled, but trusting confidently in their realization, our Father believed in God and hoped against hope: contra spem, in spem credidit. By his prayer and sacrifice, by his work and indeed his whole life, he opened up a channel for the Work. Thus the Lord’s promise was fulfilled: the barren desert and the wilderness… where the serpent had its lair once, reed and bulrush will show their green. A high road will stretch across it, by divine proclamation kept holy. Our founder left the Work of God perfect and finished, despite not having seen the juridical solution which suited its nature and spirit, and which he himself had prepared. And so that we, his daughters and sons, could travel safely and surely along this path, he even offered up the fact that he did not live to witness the Work’s definitive juridical approval by the Church. It was like the final stone in his self-giving, the crowning of his sacrifice leading to his complete identification with our Lord on the Cross. Thus he ended his life on earth, fully united to our Lord’s prayer: I accomplished the work which thou gavest me to do.

The spirit of Opus Dei has been carved in stone as a result of our Father’s holy life.

The long journey which the Work had to make before reaching its definitive juridical form obliged our founder to maintain a constant vigilance in protecting and defending the authentic characteristics of Opus Dei. Using the words of Sacred Scripture, he often said: My children, while the others sleep, cor meum vigilat (Song 5: 2), my heart is vigilant. Thus, speaking to his children about the spirit God had entrusted to him on October 2nd 1928, our Father could say: In our life, the way is clearly marked out: there is nothing that is not carved in stone. The way has been carved out as a precious jewel is worked, to bring out all of its lustre and beauty; but also like a stone for a building that has to last for centuries, for the glory of God and the service of souls.

The previous juridical formulas were inadequate because they did not correspond to our spirit. This moved our Father to be constantly vigilant, making forceful clarifications whenever necessary, exercising great prudence in governing the Work, in dealing with ecclesiastical authorities and in the admonitions and indications which he gave as part of his task as Father and Good Shepherd. It was a long and difficult struggle to avoid the danger and confusion that arose from the Work being forced to fit into an inadequate juridical framework.

As a consequence of our founder’s continual watchfulness the features of the Work-its spirit, aim and specific way of doing apostolate-came to be carved in stone, as he liked to say, with vigorous, well-rounded strokes that defined it sharply, with no ambiguity as to its identity and in accordance with its clear foundational distinctiveness.

Thus our Father could say, as he did just a short while before leaving us for heaven: You have so much of the way ahead already covered that you cannot make a mistake. With what we have done theologically-a new theology, my dear children, and of the best sort-and juridically; with what we have done with the grace of our Lord and his Mother, with the providence of our Father and Lord, St Joseph, with the help of the Guardian Angels, you can no longer make a mistake, unless you are scoundrels (Get-together, March 19th 1975).

In giving thanks today to the Blessed Trinity for our juridical framework as a personal Prelature, so well suited to the spirit of the Work, let us renew our desire to remain very faithful to our vocation at all times. We entrust this resolution to our Lady. Mother, we tell her, now that by your powerful intercession you have prepared a safe way for us, keep it free of obstacles. Don’t let anything either in our own hearts or in our surroundings ever separate us even slightly from the Love of your Son. Cor Mariae dulcissimum, iter serva tutum!