Oct 9 Mon - Reading the New Testament

 

Oct 9 Mon
Reading the New Testament helps you to get to know our Lord better every day.
Knowing Jesus better makes it easier to love him.
Being able to love Christ, to be with him, and then to look at yourself in Christ enables you to be better every day.
And to love Christ is to assure your happiness.

Our zeal to know Christ better each day springs from our love for him. We love our Lord, and therefore want to know him: hence we meditate, we pray, and read the Gospel.

Christian life consists of falling in love with Christ, becoming identified with him. Jesus has lived among us and does so still. We contemplate each step of his earthly life: his birth in Bethlehem, his hidden life, his preaching throughout Palestine, his healing of the sick in body and soul, his proof of love on the Cross, his Resurrection and glorious Ascension into heaven. We see him with the Apostles, how he chooses them and instructs them in the mysteries of God's kingdom.

Saint Josemaría wrote: "You have often joined me as awe-struck spectators, as participants in these scenes. Right from the start, I taught you – who are also apostles, chosen by Jesus with preferential love – to get inside the Gospel story, and then live fraternally like the first Twelve."

How often we gain fresh insight while contemplating a Gospel passage we have already considered many times! Our reading of the Gospel should be marked by eagerness to learn, and to improve. It should be prayerful and reflective, and so influence our whole day. Sometimes a single word or gesture of our Lord helps us to have greater presence of God.

To meditate on the Gospel means to look attentively at Jesus in eagerness to imitate him. We seek to conform our life to his, to make his words and feelings our own, by the help of grace

Here is the goal of our sanctity. The struggle to achieve holiness is not centered on the fight against sin, although this will always be necessary. Rather it is a growing identification with Christ, begun now by sanctifying grace and brought to fullness in the glory of heaven.

We have to love what Christ loves and reject what he rejects, reproducing his life in our own.

Like our Mother Mary, who kept all these things in her heart, we want the example of Christ's life to accompany us at all times. “Remain with us, Lord!” "How sad it would be if you and I were not able to ‘detain’ Jesus who is passing by. What a shame not to ask him to stay!”

 

 

Oct 8 Sun - This world is like a vineyard entrusted by God to some farmers

 

Oct 8 Sun
This world is like a vineyard entrusted by God to some farmers to cultivate it, and gather the fruit in each season. As the owner went away, the tenants ended up thinking to be owners. All those sent by God to ask for an account were ill-treated and even murdered. Finally, the Son is sent, and him they killed with the illusion of being the only owners.

This is also our sin, often. We believe that our life is totally ours, and that we can decide our future without following any divine indication. Some see God, our Father, not as the guarantor of our well-being but as one who impedes or makes it difficultly our happiness.

Human beings tend to turn these things into gods: power, money, material success, sex... God wants to free us from this idolatry. And to be in God's hands, is a consolation because his hands are affectionate as those of a mother.

Often, we think: Nobody has to tell me what I should do or avoid! I am in charge of my life! And then we eliminate anything that implies effort.

Let's remove this tendency to cut off God and the Church from us. “Let us learn to obey, let us learn to serve. There is no better service than giving ourselves freely, being useful to others. When we feel pride swell up within us, making us think we are supermen, the time has come to say ‘no’. Our only triumph should be the triumph of humility. The joy which comes from forgetting about ourselves is the best proof of love.” (St Josemaría)

To give fruit! This is what the Lord wants from us:
To serve the Lord with joy, precisely in the place we are. If only we forget about ourselves, and try to make the others’ life pleasant with small services.
To strive that nobody feels alone.
To know the preferences of the others, with naturalness, speaking about their favorite topics.
To yield with elegance, and even with sense of humor, when friction comes up, without giving excessive importance to it

All these and so many things more are possible when we do not live dominated by egoism.
We are not the owners of our life but its stewards. If we live thus, “the peace of God, which goes beyond all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

 

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Oct 7 Sat - Apostolate of friendship and confidence

 

Oct 7 Sat
Jesus teaches us how to do the apostolate of friendship and confidence.
"And he called the twelve together ... and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God." Strengthened by the Master's grace and instructions, the Apostles went forth to spread the Gospel. And the Church continues their mission until the end of time.

As Christians, we all share in the mission to evangelize, and to do so, with our specific God-given apostolic means.
"I have called you friends, for I have made known to you all that I have heard from my Father. God has called us to bring his teaching to every corner of the world, to open up the divine pathways of the earth, and make Christ known to so many who as yet know nothing of him. And, in willing to have us in his Work, he has also given us an apostolic way of working that moves us to be understanding, to be forgiving, practicing attentive charity towards all souls."

Jesus is our Model. To reproduce his life in ours is to be holy and effective. Christ himself taught us by his example to have many friends. We want to make them friends of his, to save them.

"What is more, St Josemaría wrote, Our Lord wishes to make use of us – of our dealings with others, of our God-given capacity to love and be loved – so that he can continue making friends on earth."

A necessary condition for carrying out apostolic work is that our friendship be deep. We have to take a real interest in our friends' problems, working alongside them, sharing in their activities and interests, setting aside time for our friends, while overlooking the small annoyances that any relationship entails.

Thus, we will be "teaching by the example, carrying out a constant, humble, silent, but most effective work, whose fruits cannot easily be reflected by statistics."
When friendship is genuine, it soon engenders trust. How easy it is to open our heart to a person who truly loves and understands us!

If we live our apostolic dedication, as Christ showed us, we will have many people who will like to follow us, in every sector of society. "For you are a Christ-bearer, and you should carry him in your heart, in your mind, in your word, in your example."
"Our aim is to ensure that there are many souls dedicated to God's service in the middle of the world. It's time to take stock. How many of these have you brought?"

Let us ask our Lady, Queen of the apostles, to spur us on to have many friends, to be apostles, among those around us.

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Oct 6 Fri - Insist, whether you are welcome or not.

 

Oct 6 Fri
Insist, whether you are welcome or not.
"The straying sheep you have not recover; the lost sheep you have not sought." Sometimes, the sheep are insolent. The shepherd seeks out the straying sheep, but because they have wandered away, they are lost.

Then, the sheep claim that they do not belong to the Shepherd. “Why do you want us? Why do you seek us?” they ask, as if their straying and being lost were not the very reason for our wanting them, and seeking them out.
“If I have gone astray,” one says, “if I am lost, why do you still want me?”
– You have gone astray, that is why I want to recall you. You have been lost; I want to find you.

“But I want to go away,” he says: “I want to be lost.”
– So, you want to go astray and be lost? Thank God that I do not wish this for you.
You tell me that I am unwelcome. But I hear the Apostle saying: "Preach the word; insist upon it, whether you are welcome and unwelcome."
Welcome by whom? Unwelcome by whom? By all means, welcome by those who desire the truth; unwelcome by those who do not.

If I am unwelcome, I will tell you: “You want to go astray, you want to be lost; but I do not want this for you.” And the One whom I fear does not desire this.

If I were to let you go, consider his reproach: "The straying sheep you have not recovered; the lost sheep you have not sought." Shall I fear you, rather than Him? "Remember, we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ."

I will try to bring back those who went astray; I shall seek the lost. Whether difficult or easy. And should the thorns of the forests tear at me when I seek them, I shall force myself to push through; I shall put down all barriers. So far as the God whom I fear grants me the strength, I shall search everywhere.

I shall recover those who went astray; I shall seek those about to be lost. If you do not want me to suffer, do not go astray, do not get lost.
It is not only that I fear you getting lost. No, I am also afraid that I may neglect you, and get lost.

I shall face strong obstacles. Consider the passage: "And what was strong you have destroyed." If I neglect the straying and the lost, the strong faithful sheep will also try to go away, and get lost.
St Augustine, Sermon On Pastors

 

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Oct 5 Thu Scott Hahn - about Communion

 

Oct 5 Thu
Scott Hahn: Here’s a question about Communion that I was asked today, and then my response:
“Dr. Hahn, I'm in a relationship with a woman who often joins me at Mass for the vigil on Saturday, and then we go to her Methodist church on Sunday morning. She keeps asking me why she can’t receive communion at my church, but I can at hers? How do I answer? Thanks.”

– Evan, I’d like to address your question by sharing how my own understanding of Eucharistic communion developed over several years of study and prayer, as an evangelical protestant, that led me to become a Catholic.

Basically, there were three distinct stages: First: when I converted to Christ as an evangelical Christian. Second, when I became a protestant pastor. Third, when my study of Scripture and the early Church Fathers led me to the truth about Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist — and I became a Catholic.

1. As a bible-believing evangelical (at a non-denominational fellowship), I saw the Lord's Supper and communion as a profound symbol of God's love, like a divine embrace or a warm hug.

2. In becoming a minister, I came to see it as something even more sacred, like a tender loving kiss from our Lord, which is how mainline protestants generally see it.

3. Having discovered the Catholic faith, I came to see how the gift of the Eucharist is more closely analogous to the intimacy of the spouses, by which Christ, the divine Bridegroom, unites Himself — body and blood — to His beloved bride, the Church, for the purpose of consummating and renewing His 'one-flesh' covenant as a life-giving mystery with us (Eph. 5:31-32).

So, for me, in the first two stages, inviting 'non-members' to share communion was not a big deal nor an insurmountable problem. However, in the Catholic tradition, where it is seen as comparable to spousal intimacy, it is fitting and necessary to make a public act and a personal commitment to identify myself with the Catholic Church, which I profess to be the true bride of Christ. Incidentally, this perspective is reflected in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1617:
"The entire Christian life bears the mark of the spousal love of Christ and the Church. Already Baptism, the entry into the People of God, is a nuptial mystery; it is, so to speak, the nuptial bath, which precedes the wedding feast, the Eucharist. Christian marriage in its turn becomes an efficacious sign, the sacrament of the covenant of Christ and the Church. Since it signifies and communicates grace, marriage between baptized persons is a true sacrament of the New Covenant."

In retrospect, I can see why non-Catholics view our practice as a form of spiritual exclusivity; whereas for the Church Fathers, it's simply a matter of covenant integrity and marital fidelity.

Image: Last Supper by Francisco Ribalta (1565–1628). The painting includes the chalice, in the Cathedral of Valencia, thought to be the one Lord used, the Holy Grail, allegedly. Later on, was enriched. 

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Oct 4 Wed - Detachment from the material means we use.

 

Oct 4 Wed
Detachment from the material means we use.
Our life unfolds in the midst of the world and, like our Lord, we too have to use material means, which are good because they are God's handiwork. However, we have to be detached from these things; nothing should lead us astray from our goal, for as St Paul says: "all are yours; and you are Christ's; and Christ is God's."

Detachment is not only for monks or nuns; it is for all…adapting it to every particular circumstance. With God's help, we should live in the world without being worldly, freely making use of the world's goods, gracefully and with self-mastery, but using them to serve God and souls.

We must therefore love poverty, and show it in countless ways in our daily lives: by fleeing from excessive comfort, or the tendency to get by with the minimum effort; by choosing the worst for ourselves; by taking care of the instruments we use in our work; and by giving up anything we feel our heart becoming attached to.

"No one can be surprised that Opus Dei needs material means for its work. Since its supernatural task of sanctification is carried out among people and for people, the Work must also use ... a minimum of material means. But Saint Josemaría urged: I want you to be determined to stay completely detached from all earthly things, and to handle them only to the extent that they are for God's service and that the Work asks you to do so."

If we are using material means for God's glory, we should use them with detachment and not complain if ever they are absent, cheerfully accepting the consequences. It sometimes hurt…

"While using the means to secure what's needed, may my children be cheerful if ever they have to suffer want!" Therefore, we should have great trust in God, be at peace and tranquil, but we shouldn't lose our sense of responsibility in financial matters. As Saint Josemaría said: "Since our vocation unfolds in the middle of the world, as ordinary citizens, our poverty does not consist in managing to survive from alms: rather, the professional work we each do supplies our material needs."
 
Intense work is a consequence of our lay mentality and our concern to support a large and poor family. Any responsible father or mother does everything necessary to provide for the family.

We ask our Lord and his Blessed Mother for the grace to have our heart free, not tied to earthly things. Our freedom is shown both in our detachment from material possessions, and in our efforts to find the means for the apostolate, for the good of souls.

 

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Oct 3 Tue - Envy

 

Oct 3 Tue
The early workers of the vineyard were envious of the late comers. Envy is a certain sadness which one entertains seeing another’s well-being, thinking that one’s own excellence is in consequence lessened. “I’m sad because you are happy,” or “I’m happy because you are sad.”

If not eliminated, envy leads to hatred, to curse the other, to desire his death or other evil. From envy there spring hatred, grumble, slander, joy at the misfortunes of a neighbor, and sadness at his prosperity.

Envy also produces resentment. People grow envious over somebody’s qualities, such as intelligence, talent, or charm. They envy the other’s height, physique, sex appeal, strength, or other physical attributes. They can even wax envious over other’s spiritual qualities, such as their faith, their hope, or their charity. And so, they reduce the other’s merit, or exaggerate his defects.

The paradox is that envy hurts only the envious person; it does not harm the other. It is like a worm that eats out the heart of the envious man.

But what is the source of envy? – Satan. The Book of Wisdom says that it was “through the envy of the devil that death entered the world, and those who belong to his company experience it” (Wis 2:24). That’s a dash of cold water, isn’t it? When we give in to envy, we are aligning ourselves with the devil against God, and all those whom God loves.

To fight envy we must foster charity, appreciating the qualities of the others. But, above all, we human beings have to give glory to God consciously, by a free decision of our will.

How is a humble man? – He is not the prisoner of any passion. Neither anger nor vainglory nor envy nor resentment can trouble him. And what is greater than a person free from these passions?

The proud man, in contrast, is ruled by all of them, like a worm squirming in the mud. Envy and anger constantly torment his soul. Who, then, is greater, the one who is above his passions or the one who is their slave?
 
Yet if the winds of temptation rise, if you are in the midst of the reefs and shoals of tribulation, fix your gaze on the star, call upon Mary. If you are tossed by the waves of pride, of detraction, of ambition or envy, look at the star, call upon Mary. If the billows of anger, of envy or lust batter the tiny ship of your soul, look at Mary. Let her name be always on your lips and the thought of her always in your heart. And in order to obtain the benefits of her intercession, do not turn away from the example of her virtue.

 

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Oct 2 - The Guardian Angels

 

Oct 2 Mon
Speaking of devotion to the holy guardian angels, Saint Josemaría said: "For years I have experienced the constant, immediate help of the guardian angel, even in the smallest material details."

As the ally of our sanctification, our guardian angel constantly helps us. "You seem amazed because your guardian angel has done so many obvious favors for you. But you shouldn't be: that's why our Lord has placed him at your side." He makes up for our ignorance and neglect, and encourages us in the difficulties of each day.

Our life is spent in the middle of the world, at work, and in our daily occupations. We are constantly dealing with our colleagues, our friends and the many others to whom we want to bring the good aroma of Christ, characteristic of a Christian life. Without our angel's company, our mission would be much more difficult. "You say there are many occasions of going astray in such surroundings? That's true, but aren't there many guardian angels as well?"

The presence of the guardian angel gives a supernatural tone to our activity. "If you would remember the presence of your guardian angel and those of your neighbors, you would avoid many of the foolish things you let slip into your conversations."

In moments of temptation, we should go to our guardian angel. For he will not permit you to be tempted beyond your strength, but will bear you up in his hands so that you may get over the obstacles.... Whenever you foresee any temptation or trial, call on the guide, the protector that God has given you for moments of need and affliction.... May you never go away from his hands, forgetting that he holds you up, lest even greater harm befall you.

Our guardian angel will always assist us on our journey towards God. He looks upon the face of God, and will present to Him our prayers, our good desires, our needs. “How joyfully the holy guardian angels must have obeyed that soul who said to them: ‘Holy angels, I call upon you, like the Spouse of the Canticle of Canticles, to tell Him that I am dying with love’."

The guardian angels are also powerful collaborators in our apostolate. They share our zeal for bringing souls to God. The guardian angel of a friend is our accomplice as well, since he ardently wishes to save the person entrusted to his care. "You should try to win over the guardian angel of the person you want to draw close to God, because the guardian angel is always a great ‘accomplice.’ I know some truly beautiful cases."

As usual, we ask with renewed conviction, "My immaculate mother, St Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me."

 

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Oct 1 Sun - Unity

 

Oct 1 Sun
Unity among us. Nothing is dearer to God than mutual union and concord among men.
Love for unity is one of our ruling passions, since we love the Church with all our heart and wish her the greatest good possible. We want St Paul's appeal to all Christians to be true of Opus Dei forever: "Be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call."

This reality is shown in the Prelature's moral, spiritual, and juridical unity. It is God's will that all of us are under the same head, and form a single body. St. Josemaría stressed: "I want you to have a sense of being members of a single body. We, though many, are one body: all of us are but one thing."

Unity between priests and laity too, since we all have "a truly priestly soul and a fully lay outlook ... In the Work we all form a single class… We can truly consider this fact as one of the marvels that God, by his grace and providence, has wrought in our Work, crystallizing it in our Particular Law."

Unity, finally, of all the members with one another, since by God's will every one of us without exception is called to foster the unity of each with the others and of all with Christ.

"Be convinced, my son, that for us disunity is death. Unity is the secret of our effectiveness and one of the greatest blessings God has bestowed on his Work."
We each promote unity when we stay where God wants us, like "those great diamonds that remain wherever they are set, in whatever place they are put, without protesting and without pride."

We must never be a piece or link that is out of place. "To promote unity, which is the guarantee of our effectiveness, we need to ensure first of all that there is order. Each in our own place, not meddling in the affairs of others, and each responsible for our own behavior. It's all the same to us to be hand or foot, tongue or heart, since we are all in every part of the body, because we are one single thing through the charity of Christ that unites us."

We are like the branch our Lord speaks of in the Gospel. "A branch not united to the vine, instead of being a living thing, is a dry stick good only for the fire, or for herding animals, in the best of cases, and to be trodden underfoot by everyone. Be very united to the vine! close to our vine, which is Christ Jesus, through prompt obedience.”

 

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Sep 30 Sat - Holy purity is an action of love.

 

Sep 30 Sat
Holy purity is an action of love.
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” St Paul invites us to focus our hope in heaven, where God reigns in glory, and to detach ourselves from material things. For this, chastity is necessary, “in a positive way, as a consequence of our love, our self-giving to God, body and soul, with all our faculties and senses.” Only love can lead us to live our life for God and to be concerned for others. Only love for God is capable of preserving the purity of heart we need for our life of service.

Purity “is not a renunciation, but a joyful affirmation, a free and cheerful self-giving. Your chastity cannot be limited to avoiding falls and occasions of sin..., it cannot in any way be a cold and mathematical denial. Do you realize that chastity is a virtue, and that, as such, it ought to grow and be perfected? It's not enough, then, for you to be continent, according to your state in life: you must be chaste, heroically so. It is an affirmation, a positive act, a response to God's plea: my son, give me your heart, and set your eyes on my ways.”

St Augustine says: “There is a war being waged in our very bodies; our lives are a dangerous battleground. And victory is impossible without the help of the One who loves us ... Do you want your flesh to obey your soul? Then have your soul serve God. In order to govern yourself, you must let yourself be governed by Him.” Here lies the positive struggle in the area of purity which Saint Josemaría showed us to be so necessary.

“Holy purity is given by God when it is asked for with humility. We will advance with the help of God's grace, not like angels - that would be a disorder, since angels have a different nature from ours - but like clean, strong men and women, normal people! What so many people do for the sake of their home, what our parents did through their life of Christian fidelity, let us also do for the sake of the Love of all loves.

Therefore, have a great love for holy purity! Invoke the Virgin Mary, Mother of Fair Love, and we will persevere -cheerful and supernaturally fruitful- along this divine Path God wants for us.”

“If you ever sense that this gift from God is in danger, don't be surprised, since as I've already told you, we are made of clay. Advance, in your commitment to control your imagination, and in so many small but effective details that both safeguard and reflect the quality of your determination.”
And do not forget, modesty and temperance are necessary for purity. 

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Sep 29 Fri - St Michael, give us strength in the battle

 

Sep 29 Fri

St Michael, give us strength in the battle, and preserve us in God's grace. Today we should ask him, our patron, to help us to watch over our brothers and sisters with the same generous vigilance he maintains over the Church.

 

Concern for the happiness, the fidelity and perseverance of the others, is not a task exclusively for the priests. Rather it falls on all of us.

 

St. Josemaría: “None of you is alone, none of you is an isolated verse. We are all verses in the same divine epic poem. And each of you, as I am, is concerned that this unity, this harmony, not be broken, that we be united like a great flock, like a great army, like sheep and soldiers of Christ, on the path of holiness.”

 

“We have to watch and be attentive, my children. It would be a crime; a lack of charity and fraternal justice not being concerned about the physical life of the others. But it would be an even greater crime were we to allow a brother of ours to remain in a state of spiritual weakness, and even to die. I've often said, and now I repeat it, that I don't excuse from sin—which can at times be serious—those who live alongside someone in these sad circumstances, and who don't help that brother of theirs to persevere. And I'm not exaggerating. I'm being objective.”

 

“For wherever you are, scattered throughout the world, you are very close to the wounds of Jesus; and, bathed in his precious Blood, you will hasten to cure the wounds of your brothers”.

 

“You will use the same tone, the same sincerity, the same zeal and fervor you were given; the same Blood of Christ that has come rushing to our wounds to heal them. How quickly our blood flows when we have a wound! This is what you will do, what God and this beautiful Mother of ours will do, when you hasten with your charity and affection to purify the wounds of your brothers.”

 

“You will tell them that they have to love one another, that they have to help one another; that it doesn't matter if they are weak, since they can rely on God's strength. In addition, they will have the strength of humility.”

 

“We have to look at God, and then look at ourselves, acknowledging that we are capable of every wretchedness. Then we’ll find it very easy to understand and forgive the weaknesses of others, and we help them to overcome them, so that they in turn will help us.

Then forward! Forward on this divine path that God, in his goodness, has wanted to mark out for us on earth!”

 

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Sep 28 Thu - Christ instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist

 

Sep 28 Thu
Christ instituted the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, in which his Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity are really, sacramentally present. Every day, the same Jesus comes down to our altars, under the appearance of bread and wine, to nourish us on our earthly pilgrimage.

As a result, St Josemaría speaks of the hidden but effective presence of our Lady in the Mass. “Each day, when he comes down into the hands of the priest, Christ renews his real presence among us, with his Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity: the same Body and Blood that he took on in the womb of the Virgin Mary. During the sacrifice of the Altar, our Lady's participation is similar to her silent reserve when she accompanied him throughout Palestine.

“The Mass is an act of the Blessed Trinity: by the will of the Father, with the cooperation of the Holy Spirit, the Son offers himself up in a redeeming sacrifice. And within this unfathomable mystery we can make out, as if veiled, the most pure face of Mary, Daughter of God the Father, Mother of God the Son, Spouse of God the Holy Spirit.”

“In Jesus’ veins runs the blood of his Mother, the blood that is offered in the sacrifice of the redemption, on Calvary and in the Mass.”

But “when Jesus is present there, defenseless, even more defenseless than when He lay in the crib in Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph do not leave Him alone. Somehow, the Mother of God and the one who was a father to Him on earth are present. They are close to you! Close to us! I thank them for keeping you company! I cannot separate the Host from the Holy Family, the Family of Nazareth, which I love so much, which so moves me, and which is like the heart of our family of Opus Dei.”

We thank our Lady with all our heart and ask her to teach us how to attend Mass and receive her Son each day with the same dispositions with which she received Him in her most pure womb. 

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