Blessed Alvaro del
Portillo: Letter, January 9, 1993: [Reference to the parable of the Good Samaritan]
“The desire to attend
to, and where possible to remedy, the material needs of one’s neighbor, without
neglecting one’s other obligations, like the Good Samaritan, is a
distinguishing feature of the fusion of priestly soul and lay mentality. What
God asks of us is, in the first place, to sanctify our daily work and the
duties of our state. As you attend to those duties, God allows you to encounter
the needs and sorrows of others. When that happens, a clear sign that you are
carrying out your tasks with a priestly soul is that you do not pass by
uncaringly; and it is no less clear a sign if you do so without abandoning the
other duties you must sanctify. At this time it would not be good for
you to copy what I did for many years with the first people of the Work:
visiting hospitals and looking after sick people, cleaning them and bathing
them. I had to give it up because it was not compatible with this other work,
the task Our Lord asks of me now. And the same happens to you: when you choose
to sanctify yourselves in the place where Our Lord has put you, you have to
abstain from other good things which are not part of your way (Reference
to a get-together with St. Josemaria on June 21, 1972).
“God wants you to remain where you are. From that place you can
carry out – you are carrying out – an immense service to the poor and needy, to
all those who suffer ignorance, loneliness and sorrow (often as a result of
injustice). When you seek holiness with all your strength, trying to sanctify
your daily work and your family and social relations, you contribute to imbuing
human society with a Christian spirit. I am not referring now only to those of
you who occupy leading positions in financial, political or social circles. I
am thinking of all the daughters and all the sons of our Father, who, while
turning into prayer their work, their entire day – in occupations that perhaps
are not very spectacular, like the work and the life of the Blessed Virgin and
St. Joseph – are placing Our Lord at the summit of all human activities. And
then you can be sure that he will draw all things to himself and fully satisfy
your hunger and thirst for righteousness.”
The Innkeeper – the key to understanding the parable in the light of the
spirit of Opus Dei.
“Let us
mediate also on how the parable ends. To look after the wounded man the
Samaritan enlisted the help of the innkeeper. How could he have managed without
him? Our Father admired this man, the owner of the inn: he passed unnoticed,
yet he did most of the work, acting in his professional capacity. Looking at
what he did you will understand firstly, that by carrying out your work you can
all do as well as he did, because every occupation offers many opportunities to
help the needy, either directly or indirectly. This is certainly true of the
work of a doctor, a lawyer, or a business man who does not close his eyes to
people’s material needs. Even though the law may not oblige him, he knows he is
under an obligation in justice and charity. But office workers, tradesmen or
farmers also have many opportunities to serve others – at times, perhaps, in
spite of great personal hardship. Don’t forget, as I have said before, that to
carry out ordinary work faithfully, is hardship. Don’t forget, as I have said
before, that to carry iout our ordinary work faithfully, is itself to practice
the virtue or charity towards individuals and towards society at large.
“Secondly, concern for
the poor and the sick should lead you, inspired by the priestly soul and lay
mentality which characterize our spirit, to cooperate in or initiate social
programs which aim to remedy, in a truly professional manner, these needs of
mankind and many others. As a consequence of your apostolic zeal, a great
variety of undertakings of this kind have already been started all over the
world. The have sprung up widely different situations and environments in
response to the problems of a society which needs to be made more human, more
Christian! Training schools for people of limited resources, centers of
formation for workers on the land, activities for the advancement of women in
rural areas, dispensaries, schools in poorer districts of large cities…” it is
a sea without shores, like all our apostolic work, which in all its
multiplicity constitutes a great service to society. There are indeed many such
initiatives, and I pray to God that they may continue to grow in number and
that he bless your enterprise and your effort.
“My daughters and sons, I have reminded you that the sanctification of our work, with the variety of aspects shown by the Good Samaritan and the innkeeper, is the great means available to us to extend the kingdom of Christ and to fulfill this demand of his kingly mission - attending to persons in need – which the Holy Father [John Paul II] refers to so often, in an attempt to awaken the sleepy consciences of many Christians. In this task the Holy Father is relying on us, who have to be salt and light, as he said to us on the day of our Father’s Beatification, when he encouraged us to be filled with ‘an enthusiastic apostolic dynamism, paying particular attention to the poor and those in need, because he is familiar with many of the activities of that kind which the faithful of the Prelature carry out all over the world.”
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