638. Election of the Father (I)
Meditations no. 515 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
Today we feel especially united to the Father.
I will sing of thy steadfast love, O Lord, for ever; with my mouth I will proclaim thy faithfulness to all generations. Today is a feast day in the Work, because another year has gone by since God gave us a new Father, as the heir and representative of our beloved founder on earth.
Our Father once said. Our Lord frequently spoke about boats and nets, about the sea and its fish. But didnât he also speak about sheep and flocks? And he did so with such tenderness! Look at his delight when describing the Good Shepherd! He shows us that his sheep follow him trustingly, that they love him, that they recognize his voice. They know that they are well taken care of when they crowd around him, whether in the sheep pen or in the open pasture.
Well Opus Dei is also one of Christâs flocks, with its Good Shepherd and its sheep. There will always be a Father who can say: cognosco oves meas et cognoscunt me meae (Jn 10: 14). I know my children and my children know me. In Opus Dei the Good Shepherd will always be whoever is at the head: the Father, whoever he may be.
On this feast we thank God for the love which he showed the Church and the world by founding the Work. We also thank the Blessed Virgin, our Mother, who has been sheltering us with her cloak from the very beginning. And we give thanks as well to our Father for the paternal way in which he cares for and protects the Work from heaven.
With the help of divine grace, our Father was like that wise man who built his house on rock; and the rain fell, and the flood came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. In the case of our Father, the solid foundation was an unshakable faith and a burning love for Jesus Christ, which with Godâs help lives on in all of his successors. I will have to leave you some day, our Father said in 1960. I have been directing the Work for 32 years. One day, my place will be taken by one of your brothers, to whom you must show even more reverence than you show me. Kiss the ground on which he walks and love him with great human and supernatural affection. If you donât, it will mean you have lost our spirit.
My children, donât squander the treasure God has given me. Never forget what I am about to say. As I have told you so many times, in my life I have known several Popes, dozens of cardinals, who have been friends of mine, and hundreds of bishops. But there is only one founder of Opus Dei, and here I am. I donât deserve it, but that is the way God has wanted it. In spite of this, however, you must love my successor with all your heart and with even more filial affection than you show me. Be very united to him, pray for him, mortify yourselves for him and obey him.
Therefore the first resolution we can make on this anniversary is to be very united to the Father and to his intentions. Through our generous prayer and mortification he should feel the warmth of our love for him and our heartfelt, filial gratitude.
When our Father left us to go to heaven, the stage of continuity and fidelity began in the Work, which will never end.
In Opus Deiâs particular law, approved by the Holy See, our founder uses one of Christâs parables to draw an image of the Good Shepherd which his successors are to embody: sit ergo omnibus Praelaturae fidelibus magister atque Pater, qui omnes in visceribus Christi vere diligat, omnes effusa caritate erudiat atque foveat, pro omnibus impendatur et superimpendatur libenter. He is to be a teacher and a Father to all the faithful of the Prelature; he is to love them all truly, with the very heart of Christ; he is to teach and protect them all with true affection and charity; and he must relentlessly sacrifice himself and generously give himself for all of them.
Many years ago our founder said, When I die, someone will take my place. You must love him more than you love me, with more human affection as well. If not, something is wrong. I ask you to do so for the love of Jesus Christ. His hope has become such a splendid reality that the entire Work is moved to raise up a prayer of thanksgiving. We have all experienced how our heart has expanded to love the Father we now have on earth, with a truly filial affection. Our founder has obtained this grace for us from heaven, and he will continue to do so for his daughters and sons forever.
This supernatural demand stems from the very nature of our spirit. God has wanted the Work to be a real family with both supernatural and human bonds. And it is so easy to love the Father! We are direct witnesses of his complete self-denial and dedication and of his constant vigilance so that none of his children lack anything they need to improve and consolidate their interior life and apostolic spirit. By his constant example and his close union to our founder, he leads us along the sure path so that we continue to do Opus Dei on earth, in this definitive stage of continuity and fidelity which began when our Father left us for heaven. My children, the first manifestation of love and thanksgiving for the legacy which our holy founder has left us is loyalty, faithfulness to his spirit. We should have clear in our minds that the only thing our Father is asking of us is to maintain that spirit intact, in all its purity, and to pass it on in its entirety, without changing anything. And in order to do this we have to live that spirit, putting it into practice every day of our lives.
Our responsibility to safeguard the spirit of the Work.
Our Father often explained to us that our apostolate is like a chain in which each one of us is a link. Everyone should feel responsible for being strong, since a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. That is why I like speaking about chains and links so much, because we are all united to each other like links in a wonderful chain.
I taught the first members of the Work to pray continuously; and they taught those who came after. Thus was born this chain of doctrine and piety about which we spoke before, and which you must pass on to those who come after you. My children, we have to struggle. It would be a terrible thing if you or I were to break this supernatural chain. Try to be links that are as strong as steel, links that shine like gold in Godâs presence.
We have made a commitment never to allow or tolerate, in ourselves or in the other members of the Prelature, anything which could tarnish the spirit of the Work. The anniversary of the Fatherâs election is an excellent occasion for us to renew that commitment before God. Let us meditate once again on the words Don Ălvaro spoke just a few days after he was elected as our founderâs successor: In this solemn and unique moment I ardently ask God to continue granting us his mercy forever. I ask him to fill us with his grace so that, in spite of our past and present shortcomings, we be able to remain faithful and loyal in all circumstances, even unto death, if that were the case. I am sure that it will never happen that someone would try to undermine the spirit our Father left us or try to lead the Work in a direction other than the one which God showed our founder. Yet, if this were ever to occur, I ask our Lord to bring that personâs efforts to nought and to prevent him from committing such a crime, from causing damage to the Church and souls.
Recall that severe admonition from Sacred Scripture: maledictus, qui facit opus Domini fraudulenter (Jer 48: 10). I hope you understand me. We pour all our understanding, affection and prayer on a member of the Work who has the misfortune not to be faithful to his vocation. We try to help him continue, and at least do all we can so that he save his soul. But if, in addition to being unfaithful, he were to try to subvert the Work of God, to undermine its spirit and lead it in the wrong direction, then may that person draw down a divine curse upon his head.
This stage of the Workâs history will never end, since we will always have to pass on the baton to our brothers and sisters who follow us, with an ever-renewed fidelity. Our dedication will be effective if we remain united to our Father who is now in heaven. Benedictio patris firmat domos filiorum (Eccl 3: 11), the blessing which our Father gives us ensures a solid foundation for this home which is the Work. Previously, our founder was physically present among us with his word, his affection, his smile, his strength and his unforgettable gaze. He is still directing and guiding us; but now he does so from heaven and with even more effectiveness.
The graces which our Father obtains for us from God are like a shower of roses. Let us open our hearts to them, striving to be good earth to receive them. Let us make specific resolutions and renew them every day. Let us be faithful! We have to love God our Lord with our whole heart, above all created realities.
We ask the Blessed Virgin, our Mother, who is also our Queen and Protectress, to win this for us from her Son.