May 26 Mon
How should the teaching on the Mystical Body shape our lives?
When there is less fraternal affection and less concern for souls, when charity starts to grow cold, then it is a sign that the interior life is weakening. St Augustine says: Let your charity include everyone, if you truly want to love Christ, because Christ's members are scattered over the whole earth. If you love only a part of the Body, you are separated from the Body. If you are separated, you are not in the Body. If you are not in the Body, you do not receive the vital influence of the Head, Christ.
As our Lord's arms were wide open on the Cross, so too our hearts should be open to everyone. Our spirit should be to understand, excuse, and forgive... Your love should cover all the deficiencies of human wretchedness. We don't want to show indifference to anyone; on the contrary, we should always try to see Christ in others.
Each day, our work is carried out amid the hundreds of people who cross our path from the moment we wake up in the morning until we finish our day: relatives, domestic staff, colleagues, clients, and friends. We must recognize Christ in each of them, seeing Jesus, our brother, in each one. Then it will be easier to serve them generously, attentively, affectionately, with peace and joy.
Within the general duty to love all souls, the dogma of the Communion of Saints involves a practical requirement that should be reflected in our daily conduct: the obligation of bearing proper witness to Christ. St. Josemaría wrote in one of his Letters: “Each of us acts in a personal and responsible way. We must try to set a good example for each person and for society as a whole. A Christian cannot be an ‘individualist’, forgetting the needs of others. He cannot live selfishly, with his back turned on the world. He is essentially social, a responsible member of Christ's Mystical Body.
The Communion of Saints; how shall I explain it to you? You know what blood transfusions do for the body. Well, that's what the Communion of Saints does for the soul.
Just as a blood transfusion helps to give life to every last cell of the body, so our concern for souls must extend to everyone, all of Christ's members scattered throughout the world. But our first concern should be to look after and help the lives of the others closest to us. That is how we fulfil the New Commandment.
Live a special Communion of Saints, and at the moments of interior struggle, as well as during the long hours of your work, each of us will feel the joy and strength of not being alone.
Everything we do, good or bad, has its effect on others. None of us is an isolated piece. If you stop, you make everyone else stop. And you have no right to destroy the souls of others!
We are responsible, despite our passions, for the holiness of others, for the effectiveness of all. We cannot let souls down; we mustn't cause harm to others. Our example must be constant.
We will find it easier to do our duty if we think of how others are helping us, and of the help we fail to give them if we are not faithful.