Dec 13 Wed
We must have a plan of life, of daily life, which includes some practices –norms– of piety. The Norms of piety are our path to union with God.
We need to keep Jesus close to us in our daily struggle. “Our life is a battle, a war, a war of peace, which needs to be waged always ‘in gaudio et pace’ (in joy and peace). We'll have this peace and joy if we are sincerely pious, learned –each of us in our specific task– hard-working, and with a sporting spirit in our spiritual life: Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we look forward to an imperishable crown."
“Thus, we are contemplative souls, with a constant dialogue, in contact with God at all hours: from the first thought of the day to the last thought at night." When we call out to him like Bartimaeus, our Lord lets us see and hear him: he smiles on us and gives us strength.
The faithful fulfillment of our plan of life is our path to find Jesus amid all our daily activities. By struggling to fulfill the Norms of piety well, we have everything we need to become contemplatives, to reach sanctity. With our Norms of piety, we are at Jesus' side all day: we get to know his life very well and are able to follow in his footsteps. And by our Norms of always we stay close to him while we are carrying out all our daily obligations.
Our desires for union with God, must be expressed in greater determination and more loving care in fulfilling our Norms. This is our path, and there is no other. If we want to become holy, we have to strive to be very faithful to our plan of life. The more we grow in desire to be saints, the greater must be our determination and loving care in doing the Norms well.
St. Josemaría wrote: “we have to find our nourishment in the Mass, which is the center of our interior life; in our encounter with Christ in the Gospel and the Holy Eucharist; in our loving trust in our Mother Mary; in our docility to the Holy Spirit's inspirations, and our filial relationship with our Father God. In a word: in the fulfillment of our Norms."
Let us renew our resolution to do the Norms very well today, and to fulfill them with fresh zeal each day. Thus, our life will always be one of Love: we have our hearts continually placed in Jesus Christ our Lord, reaching him through his Mother, Holy Mary.
Video: