“We were Born for Greater Things”
St. Stanislaus Kostka
The venerable Pope John Paul I, speaking from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica the day following his election, recalled, among other things, that at the conclave of August 26, when it was already clear that he would be the one to be elected, the cardinals standing next to him whispered in his ear: Courage! Most likely this word was the one he needed in that moment and it remained engraved in his heart, since he immediately recalled it the next day.
We too, like all Christians, need to hear this word of encouragement from time to time, especially when situations arise that require a “robust will”[1].
Naturally, it is not only the soldier who exposes himself to the risk of loosing his life in war in order to defend his homeland who is brave. It is well known that we need strength even in times of peace. This is how, for example, St. Charles Borromeo, who during the pestilence in Milan, continued exercising his pastoral ministry with great courage among the habitants of this city. Or St. John of the Cross, who when he was imprisoned in Toledo, they wanted to ‘bribe’ him by offering him a good library, a good cell, a priory and even a golden cross. But he replied firmly: “He who seeks Christ naked has no need for gold jewelry” [2]. In the same way, how many times throughout history and even today we have seen countless religious, priests and missionaries who did not ‘sell out’ -even when they were promised advantageous subterfuges-, for not denying their principles, not trampling on their freedom, in other words, for not being tributaries[3], who have known how to remain firm with great courage and strength, even in spite of the multiple threats they faced and the consequences that such a decision entailed. For this reason, it is not only in the battle camps that one much seek valiant men.
Each one of us, as members of our dear Institute, but even more so for the simple fact of being Christians, have received the noble office to “profess the faith of Christ with courage and fortitude” [4]. But this office, which is that of every Christian, takes on special connotations and a greater importance in the case of religious. Why? Because our condition as religious requires a radical and total donation, because ours “must be a courageous and clear witness” [5] to the message of Christ, which, if authentic, must necessarily contradict the world and “misunderstandings, rejections, persecutions” [6] must befall us… and, therefore, all this requires greater courage.
At this point, we would like to recall the example of St. Stanislaus Kostka, patron of youth, whose tomb is found in the Church of St. Andrew al Quirinale in Rome. It was there that he ended his life at 18 years old-this saint who was naturally sensitive and fragile, yet nevertheless was very courageous. For him, who came from a noble family, fortitude led him to choose to be poor following the example of Christ, and to place himself exclusively at His service. And although he faced great opposition in his environment, with great love and great firmness at the same time, he succeeded in realizing his purpose condensed in the motto “Ad maiora natus sum” (I was born for greater things). He arrived at the Jesuit novitiate after making his way on foot from Vienna to Rome, fleeing from those who followed him and who wanted to dissuade him from his attempts by force[7].
We too were “born for greater things” and we must know how to overcome the fear that comes to us in threatening situations, of silent but malicious persecution, when we expose ourselves to the risk of unpleasant consequences, of suffering even greater insults, as well as the possible loss of material goods or of going to prison. We were born for greater things!
1. A Letter of St. John of Avila
It was exactly this which St. John of Avila tried to persuade the religious preacher, Fr. Alonso de Vergara, O.P. in a letter[8] which he writes, consoling the preacher for a persecution which had risen up against him. Because this letter seems priceless to us on account of the wise doctrine it contains and is therefore suitable for those of us who have been called to serve the Truth[9], we will cite some of its parts and offer some commentaries in the hope that the reflective reading of these pages will imprint even more deeply in our hearts that the resounding idea is still to sacrifice ourselves! [10] Because we were born for greater things!
It had been a short time ago that Friar Alonso de Vergara had written a letter to the Doctor of Avila, but in a tone quite opposite to that of the letter we are about to refer to. In this first letter- to which St. John of Avila did not respond-the Dominican preacher was consoled, and the letter to which we are now going to consider, he was extremely disconsolate. For this reason, the first lines that the Saint writes say: “To whoever wishes to know what a man is when God helps him and gives him gifts, I will show him a letter from Your Reverence that you sent me in these past days; and to whoever wishes to know the weakness of man when he walks on his own, I will show him this one that you now sent me”. It is the same for us, and therefore, as we have been taught, we have to apply to ourselves the rules of discernment of St. Ignatius that we have so often preached to others: “7th rule: When one is in desolation, he should be mindful that God has left him to his natural powers to resist the different agitations and temptations of the enemy in order to try him. He can resist with the help of God, which always remains, though he may not clearly perceive it. For though God has taken from him the abundance of fervor and overflowing love and the intensity of His favors, nevertheless, he has sufficient grace for eternal salvation” [11]. As well as the other which says: “8th rule: When one is in desolation, he should strive to persevere in patience. This reacts against the vexations that have overtaken him. Let him consider, too, that consolation will soon return, and in the meantime, he must diligently use the means against desolation” [12].
“O dear God, how great an abyss of miseries is man, and how few things bring him down, and how quickly he changes, like a thin cinder before a great wind! […] Your Reverence asks me if I think him as alive or if I count him as one of the dead, for I do not write to him. I answer that I do not forget him; but I kept my letter for this time, because it was not necessary for the other”. What a great truth the Saint has spoken here: how great an abyss of miseries is man, and how few things bring him down, and how quickly he changes, like a thin cinder before a great wind! We have to accept that we are weak, that we are “nothing plus sin”, as St. Catherine of Siena said, which requires humility on our part. How many religious become downhearted for a bad-sounding word spoken to them, for an apostolic failure-even though having taken all the precautions for its good turnout-for a denied permission, for unmerited criticisms from those very souls to whom we minister, the lack of support-on the part of the superiors, from peers, from subjects, -etc. In the end, there is nothing else but to confess: how many things get us down! For this reason, it is convenient to have present this wise council of our Proper Law, this time by means of the pen of St. Luis Maria Grignion de Montfort: “Do not be like those proud and conceited churchgoers, by imagining that your crosses are heavy, that they are proof of your fidelity and a mark of God’s exceptional love for you. This temptation arising from spiritual pride is most deceptive, subtle and poisonous. You must understand that your pride and sensitivity make you magnify splinters into planks, scratches into wounds, molehills into mountains, a passing word meaning nothing into an outrageous insult or a cruel slight…. that keen satisfaction you feel on considering your troubles, that self-complacency of Lucifer which makes you imagine you are somebody and so on”[13].
Therefore, the Saint continues with the response that he has reserved for this moment and he begins by making the preacher realize that he is not alone by calling to mind the example of St. Anthony: “St. Anthony complained to our Lord because in the time of battle he did not see Him, and [the latter] answered him that He was there. But He was watching how Anthony was fighting, so as to make him reign”[14]. And immediately after, he makes him see that since trials, difficulties, the things which humiliate us, are “part of the program”, they are, in a certain way, inherent to our condition as Christians and are the badge of the religious and priestly state, and therefore we must not be surprised by them. For this reason, St. John of Avila makes him reflect: “Did not Your Reverence think that he would walk alone, without a wheelbarrow and without someone else’s hand to bring him by his own? And how, Father, were you to learn to walk? Was it all to be eating children’s delicacies, chips and milk? And how could you be a perfect man? Oh, my Father, if it wasn’t because I see Your Reverence suffering, and with what good will, hearing you complain and tremble, I would laugh to myself, as one who hears a child cry and tremble because he has been surprised by a straw lion!”. Does not the same thing happen to us? We see the name of the Institute insulted in a headline, we clearly realize that they are putting obstacles in our way at every step, they publicly humiliate us-always under cloak of good-and we may be tempted to panic, to flee, to become despondent or discouraged. Are we not aware of it? The Mater of Avila tell us: “If Your Reverence, with the strength of God, has died to what the worldlings worship, and this in front of their very eyes, is he afraid of being stoned? They worship honor, self-judgment, their own spirit, duplicity, lukewarmness, self-love, self-trust[15], and other such idols they have made, which Moses –which spiritually means ‘the law of God’– calls abominable, senseless, and most ugly things; But you, Your Reverence, by the great mercy of our Lord, lives as with his own Lord, [that is,] with our God, and has truly adored not the vain idols of the world, which can give neither good things nor health, but the One who most rightly deserves to be adored. Is it hardly difficult to believe that there is contention where there is so much diversity of opinion and purpose? But this strife is raised up by her children, and the children of peace suffer it; the first biting like dogs, and the other suffering, praying, and loving like lambs; but with God’s favor, the lambs shall overcome the dogs as well as the wolves, for that is why God sent them, as lambs among wolves”[16].
So, what are we to admire then, if we suffer setbacks because we are not tributaries[17], if we don’t blend the human with the divine-which is a kind of blending with which no Christian understanding should be concerned[18]– if we treasure and defend the Constitutions and the sound traditions that make up our own heritage[19] and which is exactly what the Church herself has sanctioned as being ‘of God and the Gospel’. How surprised we are that we are attacked if, having taken a firm position on the truth, those who prefer to sail on the waves of popularity instead of daring to refute the triumphant error of the moment for fear of making enemies, vociferate against us and look upon us with derision. What surprises us if, being poor and undertaking our humble works trusting only in Divine Providence, the rich and powerful look at us with suspicion. “Is it hardly difficult to believe that there is contention where there is so much diversity of opinion and purpose?”. In what concerns us, as St. John of Avila says, we are to be children of peace, suffer, pray and love as lambs, because it is these who will conquer. The Saint recalls to mind the example of the people of the city of Gibeon, how they joined with Joshua and how “five kings were allied[20] in order to fight against them; For it seemed to them a great loss to lose so great and royal a city, and that favor and peoples should be increased to Joshua, their enemy. And so the demons and worldlings have done with Your Reverence, seeing him give himself to Jesus Christ. […]They already suspect the strength that God has given them [His preachers] to wound hearts with the word of God, and the demons and wordlings weep for what they lose and Jesus Christ wins. From here is the contradiction in everything and everyone; from here, the combat of the five who join together, and with one voice say what they say and do what they do”. We have also heard the same from those who lament and are even frightened by the fact that we have vocations, and many vocations by the grace of God, and hence they begin to say that there is no selection, that we brainwash them, that we recruit them with tricks; they are scandalized by the fact that our religious, even with the minimum necessary means, undertake great works or go on mission in places where no one wants to go, and hence “all magnanimity seems prideful to them, all heroism extreme, all generosity exaggeration”[21] and they hinder everything with false arguments. From here is the contradiction in everything; from here, the combat of those who come together and with one voice say what they say and do what they do.
But this also is “part of the program” and St. John of Avila brings it to our attention with great realism. “Is Your Reverence the first to be troubled because he has gone over to Christ, or is he the first to be forsaken of those who suffer for Christ’s sake? Do you not see, my Father, that the cause for which we are persecuted is not ours, but God’s? Do you not see that honor goes to Him in it? Tell me: Why did you have so many pacifists before and now so many opponents? Undoubtedly the cause is because Your Reverence has shown himself to be on the side of Jesus Christ. For what king could there be who would not consider it a great insult if, because one had offered himself as his servant and was received, there were those who would despise and persecute this one? Is it not despising and dishonoring the king to persecute one who wants to serve him, just because he went to live with him? Does this not concern the king? Is it not his business? It is, indeed. For this reason, David said, ‘Arise, O God, plead Thy cause; remember how the impious scoff at Thee all the day’[22]! It is God’s cause and God’s dishonor those that are done to God’s servants; as it is God’s honor and His cause when we do good and honor his little ones”[23]. In short: we have signed up for this, and hence, persecutions-be of whatever kind and from whomever-should not seem extraordinary to us. As Cervantes already said, “Sancho, if they bark, it means we are riding”. (“Si ladran Sancho, señal que cabalgamos”). On the other hand, we are not the only ones who suffer nor are we those who suffer most, we are neither the first nor the last to suffer for Christ’s sake. For that reason, instead of complaining and being dejected, we must learn to see in this the great mercy that God is granting us: to imitate Him better[24] and to give Him great glory as long as “what is said against us is false”[25]. But at the same time, “we must be very careful not to return to our evils”[26]. God Himself must defend His own cause.
St. John of Avila exhorts the preacher, downcast by the intense and continuous persecutions, not to be afraid, reminding him of what the Levite said “comforting the people of Judah, who were going to war”: Fear not, and be not dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is not yours but God’s[27]. “So therefore –continues the Master of Avila– it will not be you who will fight, but only wait with confidence, and you will see that the Lord will be with you”[28]. St. John of the Cross said something similar in one of his letters: “But because it behooves us not to go without the cross, just as our Beloved did not go without it, even to the death of love, God ordains our sufferings that we may love what we most desire, make greater sacrifices, and be worth more. But everything is brief, for it lasts only until the knife is raised; and then Isaac remains alive with the promise of a multiplied offspring[29]”[30]. Therefore, sometimes it is a matter of knowing how to wait patiently for God to do his work, without getting anxious trying to solve a situation that is out of our hands, that is, that does not depend on us, without getting worn out and overwhelmed by defending ourselves.
Concerning this point, there is a text by St. Thomas Aquinas in his Commentary on the Gospel according to St. Matthew in which he asks why Jesus was silent before the High Priest. Perhaps this is a text which many of you already know, but we consider it convenient to indicate it again as criteria to know how to deal with similar situations. St. Thomas responds: “He does this for three motives. First, to teach us to be cautious; for he knew that whatever he would say, they would use it to slander him; and in such cases, before those who are malicious toward us, we must be silent, as it says in Psalm 39 (38):1, I said, ‘I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will bridle by mouth, so long as the wicked are in my presence’. Another reason is that it was not the time to teach, but to bear patiently, and thus is fulfilled what it is said in Is 53:7, He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. The third reason is in order to teach us constancy when someone accuses us unjustly about something, as it says in Is 51:7-8, Hearken to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear not the reproach of men, and be not dismayed at their revilings. For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool; but my deliverance will be forever, and my salvation to all generations”[31].
Now, it is certain that those who persecute us, or attack us with their insults, at times it would seem that they do not realize the damage they do, including that they think that they are acting according to God. Pay attention to the answer that St. John of Avila, with sapiential pen, leaves in print in this letter we have just cited: “And if those who persecute think that they do not offend God by doing so, what is taken from my confidence in this, for the servants of God are expressly warned that they will be persecuted by people who think they perform a great service[32] in persecuting them? They suffer for God because they came to God; and the persecution is against God. If the persecutors think otherwise, perhaps they lessen their guilt somewhat, but not our crown; and if they, deceived, think that they serve God, we, who see things as they really are, know that we serve God”.
Fr. Alonso de Vergara then complains that one person “carries and brings” distorted information to a third person, which seems to have brought him many crosses. St. John of Avila, a theologian of great depth and a true humanist, responds not as an outsider to the scene, but knowing the pain that slander causes, since he himself went to prison in 1531 because of a misunderstood preaching of his: “What matters to you, Father, the opinions of blind men, for it is certified to be of God the doctrine you preach, and to be of God the manner in which you preach it, according to the fruit it resembles; and to be of God the spirit which you have received, for it has made you keep the law of God and has freed you from the law of sin…? Your Reverence, you who desire to correct Wisdom, behold that you do not hold in low esteem the knowledge that our Lord has given you[33], nor to let yourself be carried away or overcome, having this knowledge; But with this knowledge, rather dare to despise vain idols; and let yourself be so rich with the hidden treasure which God has revealed to you, that you may not think it evil to lose what you had for the sake of attaining it. Do not esteem God so little that you would give so little for Him, for God esteemed you so highly that He would not give less than Himself for you. Loved you were on the cross, love Him on the cross; you cost Christ dearly and with groans He bore you who won you, do not want to offer sacrifices to the Lord that do not cost labor and pain to your sensuality?”. Do you see? If we did not preach the Last Things, if we were not Thomists, if we did not denounce progressivism, if instead of elevating cultures with the values of the Gospel we only offered technical solutions, if we only fed ourselves and not the sheep; if instead of preaching the Truth, we bargained with it, cut it out, avoided it, do you think they would attack us? No. We would be doing exactly what the world wants us to do. But we do not do this, and by the grace of God-despite our misery-our apostolates bear fruit: it is enough to see the numerous vocations, many of them coming from countries lamenting a crisis of the local Church, the 101 priests which the Institute has given the Church within the last 6 years, all that which is “certified as being of God” and that is what the world and its followers are attacking and persecuting and hindering and what they want to do away with once and for all. Therefore, being aware that we have this treasure in earthen vessels[34], we must not let ourselves be overcome, we cannot stop announcing that the Word was made flesh[35], even when the world laughs at us, throws stones and speaks evil of us[36]. We must not let ourselves be carried away by what others say about us, trying to discourage us from our efforts. What difference does it make! We were born for greater things!
“What greater honor, my Father, than to suffer for Christ! True glory […]. Happy is he who is mistreated because he serves God and does not want to condescend to the vain entreaties and opinions of men. This is the business of love, and love is a manner or kind of warfare, and cowards are not admitted here, of whom God commanded that they should be cast out from among the people of war”[37]. For as our Proper Law says: “The love that is not born from the cross of Christ is weak”[38].
But it is also true that when one “is reviled among one’s own”[39], when those who should defend us are precisely those who insult us, when those who should listen to us are those who turn a deaf ear to our appeals, when it is those in whom we hoped to find shelter who reject us and cast us out, who is there, however virtuous, who does not at least inwardly complain? But look at what this giant of good-spirit points out: “Of what do you complain, Father, of the words and respect of men and the judgments of the blind? Behold, in heaven is your witness who is watching you to see how you act[40], who is to be the judge of your trial, and on trial, He proves your doctrine and work as good. For, if it is God who justifies, what does it matter if everyone else condemns?[41] It is little and nothing if in this life godless men condemn us[42]. Let Your Reverence hold as nothing the low and miserable judgments that condemn you. Why should we listen to people who are to grow old like everyday clothes[43] and are to be eaten by moths?”[44]. Do we not meditate every year on the Principle and Foundation where we read: “as far as we are concerned, we should not prefer honor to dishonor”[45]? “Why tremble and faint for so few things, our great Lord having suffered so many grievous things for our love and having given us such copious rewards here on earth and then in heaven for our labors”. How can we not recall to mind in this point the comforting phrase which our Proper Law places on the lips of our most Sweet Savior: “I am your defender. Why fear adversaries”[46]?
We have been called to share weariness with our Lord Jesus Christ, we say that “we want to imitate Him until we can truly say to others, be imitators of me, as I am of Christ[47], it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me[48]”[49]. Have we fought until shedding our blood[50]? The truth is that we are not yet companions of nor are similar in our work to the Apostle, who said: I die every day[51]. “Will Your Reverence be able to recount with St. Paul the persecutions, affronts, stonings, scourgings, and imprisonments that he has undergone for Jesus Christ[52]? Why are you so delicate a soldier and so weak, fighting on behalf of Jesus Christ[53] and having as your captain this Lord, to whom his Father gave a personality and character firmer than diamonds and flints[54], so that no affronts, nor reviling, nor slaps could make Him turn back from what He had begun? So then, my Lord, let us leave this heaviness and weakness that clings to us and let us run with patience to the war that lies before us, always looking to Jesus Christ for help, who, just as He is the author of our faith, will bring it to completion and perfect it in us”.
Take note that the Master of Avila does not deny that the battle is arduous, but he also lets us know that if we patiently persevere in the battle which God Himself prophesized as real-you will weep and lament[55], in the world you will have tribulation[56]– no less true is the reward He promised us. “Cross He bids him bear, eternal reward He promises him; And if it is hard to suffer temptations with Him, it is very sweet to sit at His table with Him in His kingdom[57]. O Father! And why should we go and sit at that table of the persecuted, dishonored, the saints, those tempted, and slain by the sword[58], since we have suffered nothing? […] Let us bring something to glory in; let us bring some enterprise of love for our true Lover, so that our love may not be a love of words alone. Let us tread on this viper of tribulation and go forward, preparing ourselves for greater things”; because we have been born for greater things!
The Saint’s advice continues: “Offer, Father, your life and honor into the hands of the Crucified One, and make Him a gift of it, and He will take it as He has done to others: I know whom I have believed, says St. Paul[59]. And he was not wronged by it. It is little and momentary what one suffers[60]; and to whom it seems great, it is because he is small in love, and has false weights. Let yourself grow and eat, for this is the food of great men[61]. And though your help may be delayed, He will come and calm the sea”.
“Our Lord has willed to prove you, not to leave you; The mother hid herself behind the twill and is listening to the child crying, who cannot live without her; But she shall come forth, her heart not being able to bear it, and she shall take the child in her arms, and give him milk, and he shall be so happy that he shall forget the toils that are past, as though they never happened. And many of those who now persecute you will follow you, according to the promise of our Lord Jesus Christ: The sons of those who oppressed you shall come bending low to you”[62]. But at the same time the Master St. John of Avila warns that if the persecuted one turns back on account of the persecution, he will be gravely accused on the day of judgment, especially by those who persecuted him, who will say, “‘If we persecuted you, it was because we had no knowledge, but you, who had it, it would have been better that you did not leave it; because if we had known what you know, we would not have left it because of the persecution of those who did not know it. You harmed yourself and us, because, if you had persevered in virtue, we would have come to the knowledge of it’. And so, my Father, –continues St. John of Avila– you should strive in the Lord, and believe most assuredly [that], if you persevere, et per Christum abundat tribulatio tua, ita per Ipsum abundabit consolatio tua[63], the Lord will repay you with the gain of souls what you lose in those other things in the eyes of the worldly”.
Persecution suffered over a long period of time, the wear and tear – humanly speaking – of physical strength due to missionary work can take its toll on the missionary spirit. Therefore, in the last paragraphs of this letter, which are in a very human and compassionate tone, St. John of Avila recommends a few things to Fr. Alonso de Vergara which we also can put into practice if God does us the favor of allowing us to suffer something for Him.
The first recommendation is this: “an outing to Escalceli or some such place, where you could relax yourself for just a day”. Our Proper Law also has the same suggestion: “particularly when they see that a missionary has slackened in spirit or shows signs of fatigue. A few months in another community or doing other activities, under the guidance and supervision of a qualified Superior, can restore to the missionary the spirit and strength that may have been worn out in apostolic battles”[64].
The second recommendation: “and if this is not enough, I would like you to have the company of Father Fray Luis”. Our Directory also suggests that the missionary, during this time of prolonged rest, have the opportunity whenever possible to resort more easily to the company of good friends[65].
The third practical recommendation of St. John of Avila is the reading of Sacred Scripture: “To you-says the same Lord-it has been given to know the secrets of the Kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables[66]. Who are these ‘you’? You, My disciples, who do not live willingly in this world and who despise it, grief-stricken on My account and made the dregs of this world[67]. […] And without this it profits nothing to read. It seems to me that by reading St. John and St. Paul and Isaiah, these who know the Scriptures […] I no longer know what to tell you, Father, except to read these; and when you do not understand them, have recourse to some holy interpreter about them, and especially read St. Augustine, Against Pelagians and others of that sect; and place a crucifix before you and in Him, understand everything, because He is everything and all preach Him. Pray and meditate and study”. In this sense does our Proper Law say that the time of rest, “it is not a time in which ‘nothing is done’; but a time in which the missionary can recover his physical energies, resume his intellectual work-perhaps somewhat neglected-, give testimony of his missionary life, etc”[68].
The Master of Avila finishes his letter to the persecuted preacher telling him: “And do not weary yourself in being occupied with yourself, nor give many excuses in favor of your innocence, for the Lord says: The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be still”[69].
2. Great Confidence
According to Pope Benedict XVI, St. John of Avila was the “promoter of the spirituality of confidence”[70]. The same is done by the Proper Law throughout all its documents exhorting us to have “total trust”[71] in the Incarnate Word.
It is very convenient in times of great trial and if we do not want to offend Christ, to cling to His goodness and trust in His infinite mercy. We would be very blind if after so many blessings which God has given us, on an individual level as well as an Institute, if we did not love the Incarnate Word with devotion, and great would be our weakness if after having experienced so much mercy, we did not trust in Him.
All the goods which God has been pleased to grant us are means to incite us to love Him more, and at the same time, they are a call to strengthen us toward greater confidence, because if God has given us all the goods that He has given us in the past, He has called us to follow Him more closely and has placed us-so to speak-in this race, He will also give us the opportunity to complete it because “God will take care of His property, for it belongs to no other owner”[72] and the Owner “will not abandon those who so trustingly give themselves to Him”[73].
Now that we are beginning Lent, let us take advantage in order to dedicate ourselves to the profound meditation on the Passion of Our Lord without rushing, since it is there that the infinite goodness of the Father is manifested, “he who did not spare his own Son; [and] from which must spring a limitless trust in the overflowing generosity of the Father: will he not also give us all things with him[74]?[75]
Christ suffered and died for love of us! Therefore, we say with the Master of Avila, “let all doubt, all weakness of heart, and all distrust be put far away; for as much is the virtue of His Passion, so much are our merits, for it is ours since He gave it to us. There I boast and trust, and there I make a mockery of my enemies, there I pray to the Father by offering the Son, there I pay what I owe, and I have more than enough. And though my pains are many, there I find greater remedy and cause for joy than the sadness”[76].
We commit a great offense toward God when we do not trust totally in Him. St. John of Avila will say, “we are worse than brutes”! Is it possible that we do not believe that He will give us everything and even more then what we ask, after all that He has already given us? “Shall we not believe that You will defend those whom You have brought forth from hell? Will You not feed those whom You have taken for Your children? Will You not teach the race to those who, having being led astray, You put in it? Will You not give what they ask of you for your service to those to whom You gave many things while walking outside Your service, and when they offended You, You defended them, and when they fled from You, you followed them and brought them to Yourself, and You cleansed them and gave them Your spirit, and filled their souls with joy, and kissed them with peace? And why all this? Certainly, it is so that they may believe that since you reconciled them to You through Christ while they were enemies, You will guard them through Christ while they are friends”[77].
We must engrave in our heart an immense confidence in God, even when we do not feel the sweetness of consolations. “Do we feel weak? Let us hope in God, and we shall be strong. Do we not know what we ought to do? Let us trust in God, and light will be given us, as Isaiah says: [he] who walks in darkness and has no light, yet trusts in the name of the Lord and relies upon his God[78]; and in another part it is written: those who trust in him will understand truth[79]. Are we in tribulations? Let us hope in God, and we shall be delivered, as God says by David: Because he cleaves to me in love, I will deliver him[80]. In which words we must see that God asks no other merit to deliver us but to wait”[81].
“O souls, created for these grandeurs and called to them! What are you doing? How are you spending you time? Your aims are base and your possessions miseries! O wretched blindness of your eyes! You are blind to so brilliant a light and deaf to such loud voices because you fail to discern that insofar as you seek eminence and glory you remain miserable, base, ignorant, and unworthy of so many blessings!”[82]. We were born for greater things!
* * * * *
We need strong men, valiant men! Let us persevere constantly in the struggle. Let us make an effort to keep our hearts in peace without being troubled by any of the events of this world, for all things must come to an end[83]. If we place all our love in Christ, there we will find peace even in the midst of the cruelest affronts, since He is the foundation of all: all things were created through him and for him…and in him all things hold together[84]. For this reason, our Proper Law says that “Peace should be sought internally, not externally. It should not be sought by filling our hearts with useless worries and resentments against everything around us, because our soul’s peace does not depend on the removal of external obstacles, but rather on the elimination of the affection for sin”[85]. And if at times we feel in a harsher way the bitterness of abandonment, we must remember that Christ is watching how we fight in order to one day make us reign.
May the Virgin Mother, who persevered immovable at the foot of the cross, obtain for us the grace to persevere courageously and in peace, even when the storms rage, because we know to Whom we have entrusted ourselves. May the company of our ever-loving and ever-solicitous Mother infuse us with much courage and remind us always that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us[86].
We were born for greater things!
[1] St. John of the Cross, Collected Letters, Letter 16, To M. Mary of Jesus, OCD, July 18, 1589.
[2] José Vicente Rodríguez in St. John of the Cross- Biography, ch. 13, p. 181.
[3] Cf. Constitutions, 214.
[4] Directory of Spirituality, 132.
[5] Directory of Consecrated Life, 282.
[6] Directory of Missions Ad Gentes, 147.
[7] Cf. John Paul Ii, General Audience (11/15/1978).
[8] St. John Of Avila, Complete Works of St. John of Avila, IV, BAC Maior, Spanish Edition, pp. 60-68. Kindle Edition. From now on this will be the corresponding citation each time we include the text of the aforementioned letter.
[9] Cf. Evangelii Nuntiandi, 78. Cited in the Directory of Missions Ad Gentes, 138.
[10] Cf. Directory of Spirituality, 146.
[11] Spiritual Exercises, [320].
[12] Spiritual Exercises, [321].
[13] Constitutions, 125; op. cit. Saint Louis Marie Grignion De Montfort, Circular Letter to the Friends of the Cross, 48.
[14] Saint Atanasius, Vita et conversatio, S.P.N. Antonii 10: MG 26,280; vers. De Evagrio, c. 9: ML 73,132.
[15] From Latin, fiducia: trust.
[16] Lk 10:3; cf. Mt 10:16.
[17] Constitutions, 214.
[18] Cf. Directory of Spirituality, 61.
[19] Cf. Directory on Consecrated Life, 313.
[20] Cf. Josh. 10:1ff.
[21] Directory of Spirituality, 108.
[22] Ps 73:22.
[23] Cf. Mt 25:40.
[24] Cf. Directory of Spirituality, 44.
[25] Directory of Spirituality, 37; op. cit. St. John Chrisostom, In Matt. hom., XV, 5.
[26] Directory of Spirituality, 37.
[27] 2 Cro 20:15.
[28] 2 Cro 20:17.
[29] Gen 22:1-18.
[30] Collected Letters, letter 11, To Doña Juana de Pedraza, January 8, 1589.
[31] Saint Thomas Aquinas, In Matth. c. 26, lect. 7, n. 2280.
[32] Jn 16:2.
[33] Sir 13:11.
[34] 2 Cor 4:7.
[35] Jn 1:14.
[36] Cf. Directory of Spirituality, 181.
[37] Cf. Judg 7:3.
[38] Directory of Spirituality, 137.
[39] Directory of Fraternal Life, 77.
[40] Cf. Job 34:29.
[41] Cf. Rom 8:33f; Is 50:9.
[42] Cf. 1 Cor 4:3.
[43] Cf. Ps 101:27; Heb 1:11.
[44] Cf. Is 50:9.
[45] Spiritual Exercises, [23].
[46] Constitutions, 214.
[47] 1 Cor 11:1.
[48] Gal 2:20.
[49] Directory of Spirituality, 44.
[50] Cf. Heb 12:4.
[51] 1 Cor 15:31.
[52] Cf. 2 Cor 11:11ff.
[53] “Quid facis in paterna domo, delicate miles”: St. Jerome, Epist. 14 ad Heliodorum 2: ML 22,348.
[54] Cf. Ez 3:9; Zech 7:12.
[55] Jn 16:20.
[56] Jn 16:33.
[57] Cf. Lk 22:28, 30.
[58] Cf. Heb 11:37.
[59] 2 Tim 1:12.
[60] Cf. 2 Cor :17.
[61] Cf. Heb 5:14.
[62] Is 60:14.
[63] Cf. 2 Cor 1:5.
[64] Directory of Missions Ad Gentes, 135.
[65] Cf. Ibid.
[66] Lk 8:10; cf. Mt 13:11; Mk 4:11.
[67] 1 Cor 4:13.
[68] Cf. Directory of Missions Ad Gentes, 135.
[69] Ex 14: 14.
[70] Apostolic Letter St. John of Avila, diocesan priest, proclaimed Doctor of the Universal Church.
[71] Directory of Spirituality, 221
[72] SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS, Collected Letters, letter 11, To Doña Juana de Pedraza, January 28, 1589.
[73] Constitutions, 63.
[74] Rom 8:32.
[75] Directory of Spirituality, 156.
[76] SAINT JOHN OF AVILA, Complete Works of Saint John of Avila, IV, BAC Maior, Spanish Edition, p. 453. Kindle Edition.
[77] Ibid.
[78] Is 50:10.
[79] Wis 3:9.
[80] Ps 90:14.
[81] Saint John Of Avila, Complete Works of Saint John of Avila, IV, BAC Mayor, Spanish Edition, p. 453. Kindle Edition.
[82] St. John Of The Cross, Spiritual Canticle B, Song 39, 7.
[83] Cf. St. John Of The Cross, The Collected Works: The Sayings of Light and Love collected by the Gerona edition, 154 (ICS Publications, 2017)
[84] Col 1:16-17.
[85] Constitutions, 99.
[86] Rom 8:18.
