Oct 25 Wed - All things have their beginning by the love of God

 

Oct 25 Wed
March 13, 1373 was an important day in the life of Lady Julian of Norwich.  She recovered from a life-threatening illness, during which she claimed to have had sixteen visions from Our Lord.  She recorded them in a text today known as "Revelations of Divine Love".  Many call it the first surviving English text by a woman.

One of Julian’s visions is evoked in a Norwich church by a small table with a hazelnut on it:

    … And in this, He [Christ] showed me a little thing, the quantity of a hazel nut, lying in the palm of my hand, as it seemed. And it was as round as any ball. I looked upon it with the eye of my understanding, and thought, “What may this be?” And it was answered, “It is all that is made.”
I marveled how it might last, for I thought it might suddenly have fallen to nothing for littleness. And I was answered in my understanding: It lasts and ever shall, for God loves it. And so have all things their beginning by the love of God.  
In this little thing I saw three properties:
The first is that God made it.
The second that God loves it. And
the third, that God keeps it.

The tiny hazel nut is all creation, “all things visible and invisible” as the Creed puts it.  For us, so often seduced by the world, the flesh, and the devil, the fact that all of creation in all its splendors can be contained in a single hazel nut puts things in perspective, a Divine perspective.

Julian’s commentary on the “three properties” of creation likewise deserves our attention.  “God made it.”  Creation is not a chance or an accident, the fortuitous emergence of Shakespeare from a typewriter pounded by monkeys.  It is a plan, a plan of Wisdom.  Creation is, as Joseph Ratzinger puts it, a “divine project.”

Nor is God some cold intellect, a supernatural Spock “ordering” things.  What God does, He does out of love because He Is Love.  The revelation Julian claims to have received affirms that: what exists does so because “God loves it.”  God is not indifferent to His Divine Project.  His Divine plan is in fact intended to advance our salvation and the universe with us, because salvation is nothing more (or less) than God drawing back, in freedom, what He loves to Himself, i.e., to a communion of persons.

Finally, “God keeps it.”  People today tend to overlook providence as an essential dimension of the theology of Creation.  Although modernity babbles a lot about “sustainability,” it frequently overlooks the fact that, without God’s sustaining it, the splendorous hazel nut of Creation would all revert to nothingness.
Fragment by John M. Grondelski

 

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Oct 24 Tue - Reflections on Psalm 2 (3) - Divine Filiation

 

Oct 24 Tue
Reflections on Psalm 2 (3) TUESDAY
Meditating on Psalm II deepens our sense of divine filiation.
"Every Tuesday, after invoking the holy Guardian Angel with a request to accompany you in your prayer, you kiss the rosary, as a proof of love for our Lady and to show that prayer is your most effective weapon. And then you recite Psalm Two. I advise you ... to use this text for your prayer on Tuesday. And you will understand, after you have prayed, why this is the cry many repeat on earth, and raise to heaven, before beginning great battles and always."

Saint Josemaría wrote this in 1939, when he was preparing to begin a new stage in the apostolate, which the three years of civil war had not interrupted. He wanted to encourage the handful of his sons who then made up the Work to undertake a daring, boundless apostolate, relying above all on God's grace.

Meditating on Psalm Two always fills us with encouragement. "I want you to prepare for the age-old battle, which is ‘militia and service’ of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Roman Church, by praying the Psalm of Christ's kingship with the spirit of a monk and a warrior, for such is the temper of our calling..."

The reflection on Psalm Two should lead us to consider "how God cares for us and is always ready to listen to us - waiting for man to speak," because He loves us as dear children.

The Blessed Trinity's loving providence led the Word to become flesh in order to redeem sinful humanity. As the fruit of his Incarnation, Life, Death, and Resurrection, Christ sent from the Father his most precious gift, the Holy Spirit, who moves us to cry out Abba! Pater! - who identifies us with Christ and makes us God's children.

While meditating on Psalm Two, we contemplate our identification with Christ and ponder God our Father's words:
“You are my son;
today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession."
St John Chrysostom said: "No longer are we given the promise of lands overflowing with milk and honey, long life, many children, wheat, wine and herds. We are promised the very riches of heaven: divine filiation and brotherhood with the only-begotten Son, a share in his inheritance, to reign and be glorified with him."

Our Blessed Lady, protect our way. My children, Saint Josemaría insists, "invoke our Lady with all your heart, trustingly. Realize that she has been our greatest protector, our greatest recourse, ever since that second of October 1928, and even before then."

 

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Oct 23 Mon - Be faithful, be an apostle

 

Oct 23 Mon
"Be faithful, be an apostle," St John Paul II told me.

Alejandra Vanney is a lawyer and in the 1990s she moved to Poland, from Argentina, to help the beginnings of Opus Dei's apostolic work in that country.

John Paul II loved people, one by one, and had a universal heart, that led him to love every charisma of the Church. On one occasion I saw how he approached a group of Carmelites, and made a joke to them telling them: “Did you escape the cloister?” I also saw how he became an Italian with the Italians. Specifically, while receiving an Italian family he commented, "But how?" The Nono and the Nona [grandparents] are left standing? And he took care of getting a chair for each one.

He showed great delicacy in dealing with each person. At an audience where I was present, a gentleman was showing him a book. As it was very heavy, it fell to the ground. Instantly those present laughed. The Pope then looked at us surprised and made us notice our lack of charity.

He had a great ability to talk about what was of interest to each group, listening to each person. The bishops were asked about their seminarians, who they were, how they were.

Once I conveyed to him the concern I had, about a person who was far from God. Getting serious, he told me, "Are you praying to St. Josemaría for him?" “Yes, I am,” I said. "Well, trust him," he replied.

Then, with that capacity he had to go from the most sublime to the most human, changing his serious face, and with an accomplice smile assured me: "Don't worry, the Pope will pray for him, also."

When he met my parents, he was very affectionate. As soon as he saw them, he said: "I want to thank you." He was referring to having a daughter fully committed to God, and accepting that she lived in Poland, away from them.

I especially remember the time I saw him with a group of Polish women. He strongly encouraged us to be generous with God: "In these days Jesus is going to pass very close by," he said, and added: "I ask you that if He asks you to give Him everything, do not say no. I ask you this as the Vicar of the Church. I ask you as the Vicar of Christ, it is the strongest argument I have.”

The last time I saw him, a few days before his death, I told him that he had been with us more than ever, because we had prayed a lot for him. At that point his personal secretary spoke up and said, "The Pope is very happy because he knows he can count on you, the young people of UNIV, even if he cannot see you."

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Oct 22 Sun - Man should live in society

 

Oct 22 Sun
God’s plan is that man should live in society with his fellowmen. Society must be governed by an authority to coordinate the actions of the component members toward the common good. The common good is principally, though not exclusively, the material welfare of the members as a whole. As his ultimate end, however, man has his spiritual good.

Authority, this temporal power to rule and direct the human groups or societies or states, comes, therefore, from God; he wills that such societies should exist. The answer of our Lord explicitly restates this fundamental norm of the divine natural law. “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s.” The state authorities have a right to the obedience and cooperation in all things related to the material welfare of the state, as long as the rulers’ demands do not impede the spiritual welfare of the members.

As a partly spiritual being man is destined to be a citizen of a spiritual eternal kingdom, and while on this earth he has the duty and the responsibility of preparing himself for citizenship in that kingdom. And since this kingdom is of a higher and much more important nature, man’s primary aim in life must be to reach that kingdom. He must, in other words, find out and fulfill his duties toward God; he must “give to God what is God’s.”

This dual citizenship of man, and the dual obligations that arise from it, are known to us by natural law; but in the answer of Christ to the Pharisees, he makes them more explicit still; it is a precise and perfect resume.

We have duties to God and duties to our country; the fulfillment of the latter is part of the fulfillment of the former. We Christians have no doubts as to our obligations under these two headings.

We fulfill our duties to God by being faithful, loyal, active members of the spiritual kingdom, the Church, which Christ established on earth in order to lead us to our eternal kingdom.

We fulfill our duties to our country by loyally obeying the just laws of the State, by paying all lawful taxes, and by contributing our share, whenever called on, toward the common good.

Both St. Peter (1 Pet. 2: 13-14) and St. Paul (Rom. 13: 1-7), stressed the obligation on the early Christians of being an example to all in their loyalty as citizens of the state. The same necessity obliges us too.

Our loyalty to the Church and to God must make us loyal also to our country. We must live with a lay mentality. Thus, more than an impediment, the exact fulfillment of our duties as citizens should be a means for our sanctification and to do apostolate. Through it, we strive to place Christ on top of all human activities.

 

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Oct 21 Sat - In the rosary we practice vocal prayer

 

Oct 21 Sat
In the rosary we practice vocal prayer. In it, the first is the prayer our divine Redeemer himself pronounced when his disciples asked him, "Lord, teach us to pray." It shows us the way to render God glory, and addresses all the needs of our body and soul. How could the eternal Father refuse to come to our aid when we employ the very words of his Son? We can ask for whatever we want: for an apostolic work, for a friend, for a personal need.

The second prayer begins with the salutes of the archangel Gabriel and of St Elizabeth, and ends with that pious supplication in which we beg our Lady's help now and at the hour of our death.
St Josemaría urges us to "think about what you are saying, who is saying it, and to Whom. Because talking fast, without pausing for reflection, is only noise—the clatter of tin cans."

Though it is true that we always say the same things in the rosary, "don't people in love always say the same things to each other...? Might it not be that you find the rosary monotonous because, instead of pronouncing words like a man, you mumble noises, while your mind is very far from God? Moreover, listen: before each decade we are told the mystery to be 'contemplated.' Have you ever contemplated these mysteries?"

Later, our contemplation of the other mysteries of the rosary should also be something very personal. "An aspiration, or a brief consideration of each mystery is enough. This will give rise to some internal words in our heart: some words from Scripture, an aspiration we know, or anything else that comes to our mind and heart in that moment. It doesn't matter if it's always the same. What's important is that we pray briefly each day about the mysteries of the rosary."

The rosary is a brief but light-filled contemplation of the life of our Lord and our Lady, a contemplation that is always very personal. "We shall hear their family conversation. We shall see the Messiah grow up. We shall admire his thirty years of hidden life. We shall be present at his Passion and Death. We shall be amazed at the glory of his Resurrection. In a word: carried away by Love (the only real love is Love), we shall contemplate each and every moment of the life of Christ."

 

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Oct 20 Fri - Running away from God

 

 

Oct 20 Fri
Running away from God
Open your eyes for a moment and you will see your God in tears. Open your eyes and you will see the utter confusion of this age in which we live. In all the history of humanity has there ever been worse chaos? Men and women, young and old, rich and poor, have all run away from their God.

Perhaps, we may think that only the uncultured and the illiterate are ignorant of the ways and precepts of God. Then we turn to men of influence, men of power: we speak to them of God. Surely, they, at least, will know His commandments.
But they are also running madly from their God. And then in their wild, irrational flight they suddenly stumble against the Cross standing dark and lonely in their path. But they keep on, escaping from this Cross.

Where are they going? They have left God far behind, and now they go about searching for something worth believing in, something to quench their thirst, but they do not know where to look for water.

The earth for them is a hateful place, and heaven is so far off. Where are they going? They seek new gods and new creeds. They try to replace the divinity of God, who is our Father, by adoring His creatures.
The ancient cry of the Holy Spirit is still new: "Two wrongs this people of mine committed; they forsook me, the Fountain of living water, and thereupon they dug cisterns of their own, leaking cisterns, that had no water to give them." Jeremiah 2, 13.

And nowadays these leaking cistern-makers are shaping the destinies of the nations of the earth. They know only hate, nothing of love. The education and formation of the men of tomorrow is in their dirty hands, and they vainly promise order and prosperity.

They speak of a great brotherhood to unite the rich with the poor, masters with their servants, children with their parents, soldiers with statesmen. They speak of this great union which ignores Christ, and laughs at His Church. These vain cistern-makers, in their mad escape from God, tell us of new magic "sacraments" which can give life to rotting skeletons!

And you? Have you too forgotten God? Do you realize that right now you are living and working side by side with saints who are trying to build their lives on a new foundation?
Whatever you may think of yourself as an individual, you must realize that you carry within you the possibility, the seed, of a marvelous human life on which the supernatural life — which is grace — can be firmly based, and which will make of you, not just one more man, but a real son of God with all the strength and courage of our prophets.

 

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Oct 19 Thu - The Presence of Christ in the Mass

 

Oct 19 Thu
The Presence of Christ in the Mass
The Mass contains a great treasure, especially because Christ himself is present in it. His presence is expressed in various ways; four times in the liturgy it is said: "The Lord be with you".

The original “Dominus vobiscum” could have been translated into English, as:
"[May] the Lord be with you", in the subjunctive mode; it points to a desire: hopefully Christ will be more deeply rooted in you.
Or, in the indicative mode, "The Lord is with you", that describes reality.
The Latin language includes both aspects.

(1) At the beginning of Mass: Christ’s presence IN THE ASSEMBLY.

"Where two or more are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst." It is a real presence, not merely intentional.

Every baptized person is called to be, together with other Christians –and especially on Sunday– a symbol of a communion that is above our divisions, to such an extent that St. Cyprian says that "the Church is unified in the image of the Trinity".
Every Eucharistic assembly is a local congregation of the universal Church, a sign that manifests her. The Lord is with her. He convokes it. The holy assembly is a foretaste of the heavenly Jerusalem, a figure and proclamation of a hope that will find its fulfillment beyond space and time.

(2) Before the Gospel: Christ’s presence in the proclaimed WORD

Real presence as well. In the liturgical celebration of the word of God, the presence of Christ with the Holy Spirit is affirmed. God the Father, as Irenaeus of Lyons writes, works through his two arms: the Son, and the Spirit.
He who spoke through the prophets is the same one who now speaks through the reader.

(3) In the Preface: Christ’s presence in the CELEBRANT

The Eucharistic prayer is about to begin, the moment when heaven is closest to earth. It is the prayer of Christ and of the Church, in whose bosom the whole work of our redemption is accomplished.
Now, the greeting acts as a wake-up call to help us discover that it is Christ –whom we hear in the voice of the priest– who acts.
With the greeting, the priest is overcome by the mystery that transcends him absolutely. For the community, it is an opportunity to verify whether our hearts are truly raised to participate in the eternal Liturgy of the Jerusalem of heaven.

(4) In the final blessing: Christ is present SENDING US

This last greeting confirms us that we have become what we have taken: christified. The Lord is with us, and now we are ready for our mission: "Glorify God with your lives; you can go in peace".

At the beginning of the Mass, we were "con-vocated" by the Lord; now, we are "sent" to be “the Church” in the middle of the world.

If a simple greeting opens for us unsuspected horizons, what other riches of meaning can we not find in other equally important elements of the Ordinary of the Mass? 

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Oct 18 Wed - Saling with Jesus

 

Oct 18 Wed
The Gospel narrates that Jesus walked at night on the waters of the Lake of Galilee toward his disciples who were crossing the Lake in a boat (cf. Matthew 14:22-33). Why did Jesus do this? Why did he want to walk on the water?

At that time, the seas were thought to be the place of monsters, and evil powers that man was not able to master. Particularly when storms made them turbulent, the oceans were symbols of chaos and recalled the darkness of the underworld.

Now, the disciples found themselves in the middle of the Lake when it was dark. They are afraid of sinking, of being sucked in temptation. And Jesus came, walking on the water, that is, over the powers of evil. He walked on top of the powers of evil and said to His disciples: “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid” (v. 27). I put your enemies under my feet” –sinful lifestyles, the devil, the flesh — these are the enemies, our enemies. And Jesus tramples on these enemies for us.

And so, what should we do when we see only darkness, and we feel we are going under? We need to do two things, like the disciples:
•    Invoke, call on Jesus, “Lord, save me!” (v. 30). and
•    Welcome Jesus. As soon as He got into the boat, “the wind ceased” (v. 32). In our moments of darkness, He comes to meet us, asking to welcome him.

How do I react when I am afraid, in difficulties? Do I go ahead alone, with my own strength, or do I call on the Lord with trust? And what is my faith like? Do I believe that Christ is stronger than the waves and winds? But above all: Am I sailing WITH HIM? Do I welcome Him? Do I make room for Him in the boat of my life — never alone, always with Jesus? Do I hand the helm over to Jesus?

In the dark crossings, may Mary, the Mother of Jesus, Star of the Sea, be for us the lighthouse beacon that will lead us to the safe harbor of Jesus.

 

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Oct 17 Tue - Reflections on Psalm 2 (2)

 Oct 17 Tue
Reflections on Psalm 2 (2)
Heaven is committed to carrying out his plan of salvation. This certainty should encourage us to be more faithful, more dedicated, and more generous, every day.
"I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession."
These are his plans. He could, of course, do it without us; but he wants to do it with us; we should be good instruments in his hands. Accordingly, he purifies us, so that we come to realize that everything comes from him and nothing from ourselves. "All the many setbacks we have suffered have never made us lose our joy or our peace for a single moment, because we found how God brings forth sweetness, wonderful honey, from the dry rocks of hardship: He filled them with honey from the rock."

"We must have certain guiding principles to come back to, regularly; to strike fire from them anew. One of them is this: we are not alone, because God exists, and he called me into existence, he holds me in being, and gives me my strength. What's more, he has chosen me out with special love, and if I trust him, he will give me constancy and firmness for my journey, because when he begins something, he completes it; all his works are perfect."

 And so, in any difficulties that may come up, tell the fearful person, if need be, those words of Isaiah: "Say to the fainthearted, take courage and fear not, because our God will always carry us forward."

The work of Redemption "will continue for as long as there are people on earth. Therefore, you and I have to put our whole lives into making sure that the Work never comes to any harm out of lack of vitality or lack of fortitude."

"You have to be balm and strength for other people, you must be ever-conscious of our Lord's words: Without me, apart from me you can do nothing." While our Lord could perfectly well do everything himself, he prefers to make use of us, and even of our shortcomings. "Look at the holy Gospel: our Lord's Apostles were useless, selfish and ignorant. You or I would never have chosen them for the job."

The same is true now, "God chose what is foolish in the world, to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world, to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are."

We look trustingly towards our Lord, confident that we are doing his Work. "Christ is under an obligation to you because of this promise, says St Augustine, and he is true and absolutely faithful."
Image: Paolo Veronese, The Wedding at Cana (1563), fragment.

 

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Oct 16 Mon - Personal responsibility when we face the gift of grace

 

Oct 16 Mon
The Christian virtues are the fibers that make up the wedding garment.
The king went in to see the guests, and noticed a man who was not wearing the wedding garment; and he said to him, "Friend, how did you get in here without wearing a wedding garment?" But he could not answer.

He had to fulfill only one condition: he must wear the simple clean white robe, which was distributed free at the entrance, and which each one placed over the garment he wore. In this way the inner joy and festivity was expressed.

What is the garment that God requires to take part in the wedding feast of his Son?
It is this: the love that proceeds from a pure heart, an upright conscience, and a sincere faith (1 Tim 1:5). This is the wedding garment.”

Thus, we should help people to develop solid virtues, to preserve the enthusiasm of their first encounter with Jesus, and move them to constantly improve. In a word, they must be taught to cultivate a solid Christian life.

"Interior life is like the wedding garment spoken of in the Gospel. The fabric is made up of each of the norms or practices of piety which, like fibers, give strength to the cloth. A garment with a tear is despised, even if the rest is in good condition. If you pray, if you work..., but you are not sacrificed –or the other way around– your interior life is not, so to speak, complete."

"No one is excluded from salvation, if he freely yields to the loving demands of Christ." Outside of Him, there is only desolation and shadows of death.

Being gratuitous, the divine invitation is an urgent and imperative call. The Lord addresses it to all men, imposing only one condition on them: that they clothe themselves with the merits of his Son as with a wedding garment.

Jesus concludes by recalling our personal responsibility when we face the gift of grace. "You know perfectly well the development of the parable. Many are invited but few are chosen (Mt 22:14). All are called, but there are many who do not want to enter the banquet hall, or come without putting on the wedding garment that the Master himself provides."

No one ever lacks the help of Heaven, but everyone must welcome God’s call with a personal response. Let us follow the advice of St. Josemaría: "Have constant recourse to the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God and Mother of humanity: and She will attract, with the gentleness of a Mother, the love of God to the souls you deal with, so that they may decide –within their ordinary work, in their profession– to be witnesses of Jesus Christ."

 

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Oct 15 Sun - Accepting God's call

 

Oct 15 Sun
In the parable, three invitations were sent forth. The first two were given to special invited guests. These “invited guests” refer especially to the people of Israel who were raised in the faith handed down from Moses and the prophets. We should also see in them those who have been raised within the Christian faith today. Those invited refused to come. After the second invitation, some who were invited reacted with indifference, while others reacted with hostility. These responses are common today.

The tone of the parable is compelling. Accepting the King's invitation is not just a private matter for the guests, who might decline the summons according to their personal preferences. It is, certainly, a personal decision, but it affects other people as well. Accepting God’s call is a duty that takes precedence over any other occupation, no matter how important it may seem.

We, as St Josemaría wrote, "must cry out, with all the strength and urgency that may be necessary, lest the scene of the parable be repeated: And they refused the invitation: someone, because he went to his own selfish pursuits, to his own comfort (Mt 22:5): some other, because he became absorbed in his professional task, without knowing how to make of it a divine path on earth – no one taught him; without knowing that work is a very principal part of our divine vocation as a Christian; without realizing that it is precisely in our profession or in our job that the Lord wants us to sanctify ourselves."

"We must teach all men that to be a Christian is something amazing, because the soul of the believer is God's holy temple (cf. 1 Cor 3:17), where the Most Blessed Trinity dwells (cf. Jn 14:23). But, if one wants to attain Christian perfection, it is necessary to fight the battles of the interior life with courage, because the kingdom of God is attained only by effort."

To refuse the King's invitation is a great mistake that will bring many misfortunes to the ungrateful guests and, by imitation, to so many other people.

Thus, this is a call to personal responsibility. "Keep in mind, my son, that you are not just a soul who joins with other souls to do a good thing."
"That is much..., but still, it is little. –You are an Apostle who fulfills an imperative command of Christ."  On our fulfillment of God's Will depends our earthly and eternal happiness, and the happiness of so many other people. "On you and me behaving as God wants – don't forget – many great things depend." 

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Oct 14 Sat - Embracing the Cross

Oct 14 Sat
On Sep 14, The Church commemorates the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the recovery of the Holy Cross, which had been placed on Mount Calvary by St. Helena, and preserved in Jerusalem, but then had fallen into the hands of Chosroes, King of the Persians. The precious relic was recovered and returned to Jerusalem by Emperor Heraclius in 629.

Emperor Heraclius was carrying the Cross on his shoulders back to Jerusalem. He was clothed with costly garments and with ornaments of precious stones. But at the entrance to the city a strange incident occurred. Try as hard as he would, he could not go forward. Zacharias, the Bishop of Jerusalem, then said to the astonished monarch: “Consider, O Emperor, that with these triumphal ornaments you are far from resembling Jesus carrying His Cross.” The Emperor then put on a penitential garb and was able to continue the journey.

To follow Christ, we must take up His cross, step on his footprints, and become obedient until death, even if it means death on the cross. We identify with Christ on the Cross and become co-redeemers, sharing in His cross.

We must venerate more and more deeply the mystery of the Cross, to understand life; since the crucified Christ knew both the absolute joy of the beatific vision (He is God), and the full measure of human suffering.

Embracing the cross, we reach to understand that there is no opposition between faith and reason, but that one demands the other. Faith without reason withers into myth and superstition.

The Cross warns reason against a proud self-sufficiency, just as it warns faith against the decay happening once reason is abandoned.
The Cross turns charity into a blazing fire of compassion and self-sacrifice.

"The Cross on your chest? … Very good. But the Cross on your shoulders, the Cross in your flesh, the Cross in your mind. Only then will you live for Christ, with Christ and in Christ; only then will you be an apostle."  St. Josemaría

We make the Sign of the Cross before prayer, which helps to fix our minds and hearts to God. After prayer, we resume our ordinary occupations; we make the Sign of the Cross to go on, close to God.

During trials and temptations, our strength and protection is the Sign of the Cross. At Baptism, we are sealed with the Sign of the Cross, signifying that the Cross has bought us back from the Devil, and that we belong to Christ.

Let us look to the cross frequently, find Mary there, and realize that when we make the Sign of the Cross, –like her– we give our entire self to God — mind, soul, heart, body, will, and thoughts.
 

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