June 29 Thu
Today is the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. “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. He had a universal concern for all souls, something which our Christian vocation arouses in us. A correct love of our own country is not weakened, but rather fortified by it.
St Josemaría: “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.”
“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!”
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.”
“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.
“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.”
No one should outdo us in patriotic love. At the same time, we ought to have a universal outlook, as Sts. Peter and Paul did.
I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.
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.
St Paul dazzled by the light by Caravaggio