WE have just celebrated the birthday
of Opus Dei founder,
St. Josemaria Escriva (1902-1975), last January 9. A maverick priest
who under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit rocked the Church with
his bold campaign about the universal calling to sanctity in the
middle of the world, he openly talked not only about being unafraid
but more about passionately loving the world.
In one stirring homily, he said, “God is calling you to
serve him in and from the ordinary, secular and civil activities of
human life. He waits for us everyday in the laboratory, in the
operating theatre, in the army barracks, in the university chair, in
the factory, in the workshop, in the fields, in the home and in all
the immense panorama of work.”
He continued, like dropping a bombshell, given the
dominant mentality of the time. “Understand this well: there is
something holy, something divine hidden in the most ordinary
situations, and it is up to each one of you to discover it.”
We all need to have a more positive attitude toward the
world in general, however its state and condition may be in a given
moment. This is not, of course, a call for us to be worldly, but
rather to love it the way God loves it.
We should not just love the world, or portions of it, when
it happens to be in good condition or when it is favourable to us in
the many aspects it can be considered—politically, socially,
economically, and even morally and spiritually. We have to love it
even more when it happens to stray from God’s will, which is usually
the case.
Let’s remember what the Gospel says about God in relation
to the world. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that
whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (Jn
3,16) It continues, “For God sent the Son into the world, not to
condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”
(3,17)
We need to have this mind of God toward the world. We just
cannot remain complaining about its problems and evils. Nor to be
indifferent to them. We have to have the attitude of saving the world,
transforming it from the inside.
Its problems and evils should not turn us off. Rather,
they have to turn us on. We have to convince ourselves that precisely
the irregularities and anomalies it has are the materials that need to
be sanctified, first of all, by intensifying our prayers and
sacrifices, and by looking for concrete ways in which all these evils
can convert into goodness.
Yes, a lot of patience is needed. We have to learn to live
and work in an environment that will always have dirt, if not, a lot
of dirt. We need to see quickly whatever is good and salvageable in a
situation that may be dominated by evil.
In this, we should not exaggerate the evils we find in
this world. We have to remember that the worst evil, the killing of
the Son of God, has already taken place. Whatever evil we have in this
world can only be a reflection of that one.
This will require grace, of course, but also a change of
attitude. We may not be too aware that we tend to look at things from
the point of view of our likes and dislikes, our preferences and pet
peeves. Human as we are, we may not be completely freed from that
tendency, but we can always try to develop, with God’s grace, God’s
universal mind and heart that loves everyone.
This requires a lot of training. We have to learn to be
tolerant, to be broad-minded, to be very positive and optimistic about
things even when they look gloomy. If one tack or plan fails, let’s
try another. May our failures not discourage us.
Let’s remember that God has underwritten everything. He
has given everything to us. This is a truth of faith that we have to
continually strengthen because, again, we tend to forget it or to take
it lightly.
We just have to do our part as actively, generously and
even heroically as possible. For sure, this active cooperation with
God will give full meaning and joy to our life. We have to give our
all. This is the law that should govern our life. We have to be wary
of being complacent and calculating. These can only give us false joy.
We have to love the world the way God loves it.
St. Josemaria Escriva (1902-1975), last January 9. A maverick priest
who under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit rocked the Church with
his bold campaign about the universal calling to sanctity in the
middle of the world, he openly talked not only about being unafraid
but more about passionately loving the world.
In one stirring homily, he said, “God is calling you to
serve him in and from the ordinary, secular and civil activities of
human life. He waits for us everyday in the laboratory, in the
operating theatre, in the army barracks, in the university chair, in
the factory, in the workshop, in the fields, in the home and in all
the immense panorama of work.”
He continued, like dropping a bombshell, given the
dominant mentality of the time. “Understand this well: there is
something holy, something divine hidden in the most ordinary
situations, and it is up to each one of you to discover it.”
We all need to have a more positive attitude toward the
world in general, however its state and condition may be in a given
moment. This is not, of course, a call for us to be worldly, but
rather to love it the way God loves it.
We should not just love the world, or portions of it, when
it happens to be in good condition or when it is favourable to us in
the many aspects it can be considered—politically, socially,
economically, and even morally and spiritually. We have to love it
even more when it happens to stray from God’s will, which is usually
the case.
Let’s remember what the Gospel says about God in relation
to the world. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that
whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (Jn
3,16) It continues, “For God sent the Son into the world, not to
condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”
(3,17)
We need to have this mind of God toward the world. We just
cannot remain complaining about its problems and evils. Nor to be
indifferent to them. We have to have the attitude of saving the world,
transforming it from the inside.
Its problems and evils should not turn us off. Rather,
they have to turn us on. We have to convince ourselves that precisely
the irregularities and anomalies it has are the materials that need to
be sanctified, first of all, by intensifying our prayers and
sacrifices, and by looking for concrete ways in which all these evils
can convert into goodness.
Yes, a lot of patience is needed. We have to learn to live
and work in an environment that will always have dirt, if not, a lot
of dirt. We need to see quickly whatever is good and salvageable in a
situation that may be dominated by evil.
In this, we should not exaggerate the evils we find in
this world. We have to remember that the worst evil, the killing of
the Son of God, has already taken place. Whatever evil we have in this
world can only be a reflection of that one.
This will require grace, of course, but also a change of
attitude. We may not be too aware that we tend to look at things from
the point of view of our likes and dislikes, our preferences and pet
peeves. Human as we are, we may not be completely freed from that
tendency, but we can always try to develop, with God’s grace, God’s
universal mind and heart that loves everyone.
This requires a lot of training. We have to learn to be
tolerant, to be broad-minded, to be very positive and optimistic about
things even when they look gloomy. If one tack or plan fails, let’s
try another. May our failures not discourage us.
Let’s remember that God has underwritten everything. He
has given everything to us. This is a truth of faith that we have to
continually strengthen because, again, we tend to forget it or to take
it lightly.
We just have to do our part as actively, generously and
even heroically as possible. For sure, this active cooperation with
God will give full meaning and joy to our life. We have to give our
all. This is the law that should govern our life. We have to be wary
of being complacent and calculating. These can only give us false joy.
We have to love the world the way God loves it.
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