FAMILIAS, CARACTERÍSTICAS Y SABERES SOBRE CRIANZA

A few signposts to guide you home along the Road of Hope

979. You want to have a true revolution, you desire to change the world. With the help of the Holy Spirit, you will fulfill the noble mission in life that God has entrusted to you. The key to your success will be that you prepare to make each day a new Pentecost.

980. You must work constantly for the happiness of everyone. You must unite yourself continually to our Lord’s sacrifice in order to secure peace and

prosperity for people and nations. In these quiet and achievable ways, you put your faith truly into practice.

981. Hold firmly to the apostolic ideal that “Greater love has no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Always be prepared to expend your energies without ceasing and to wear yourself out without thinking to win your neighbor for God.

982. Your slogan must be “Unity of All.” That is, there must be unity among

Catholics, unity among all Christians, and unity among nations, so “that all may be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee” (John 17:21).

983. Entrust yourself to one power, the Holy Eucharist, the Body and Blood of the Lord which was given that you may live: “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). As the Israelites were fed by manna during their journey to the Promised Land, so too you will be nourished by the

Eucharist as you travel along the Road of Hope to your heavenly homeland.

984. You will need to wear only one uniform and speak only one language: that of love. As a uniform, love is the sign that will identify you as one of the Lord’s disciples. It is a badge that costs little, but is difficult to find. As a language, love is more important than the ability to “speak with the tongues of men and of angels” (1 Corinthians 13:1). It is the only language that will continue to exist in heaven.

985. Attach yourself to prayer as the one guiding principle. No one is stronger than the one who prays because it is to such a person alone that the Lord gave the unique assurance of having every request granted. Whenever you are united in prayer, Jesus himself is present with you (cf. Matthew 18:19-20).

I earnestly counsel you to set aside one (or better still, two) hours each day, in addition to the time you already devote to formal liturgical prayer, for personal

prayer. My experience over the years has repeatedly vindicated the words of St.

Teresa of Avila: “He who does not pray does not need the devil to lead him astray:

he will cast himself into hell.”

986. Make the Gospel the one Rule you observe. It is superior to all other rules and constitutions, because it was the one Jesus himself entrusted to the apostles. Unlike many other rules, it is neither difficult, complex, nor legalistic.

Rather, it is gentle, simple, and dynamic, stimulating to the soul. A saint divorced from the Gospel is a false saint.

987. Take your orders from one leader, Jesus Christ, by following his Vicar, the Holy Father, and the bishops in union with him. United with them, live and die for the Church as Christ did. Never forget, however, that living for the Church entails as much sacrifice as dying for it.

988. You should have a special love for the Virgin Mary. St. John Vianney once declared that, “After Jesus, my first love is our blessed mother Mary.” Listen to her and you will never go astray, work for her and you will never fail, honour her and you will win life eternal.

989. Your one wisdom should be that of the cross. United to the cross, you will find the answers to the questions vexing you. If the cross is the standard by which you make your judgments, you will always be at peace.

990. Always turn to your Father who is full of love for you, following the example of Jesus whose whole life, every last thought and deed, had but one aim: “I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father” (John 14:31).

991. There is only one thing which you need to fear: sin. During his reign as Patriarch of Constantinople, St. John Chrysostom incurred the wrath of the Byzantine court for his courageous denunciations of the empress’s conduct.

Various schemes were put forward to exact vengeance from the saint.

One courtier suggested throwing him in prison, but his plan was rejected by his colleagues who realized that, “There he will have the opportunity to pray and to suffer for the Lord just as he has always wanted.”

Another suggested banishment, but this idea was likewise rejected: “For him, everywhere is the Lord’s country.”

Still another courtier suggested simply executing the troublesome patriarch, but he too was rebuffed: “If we kill him, he will be a martyr and all we will have succeeded in doing is satisfying his aspirations…None of these ideas will cause him

to suffer: on the contrary, he will gladly embrace any of them.”

Finally a courtier observed, “There is only one thing that John is afraid of and which he loathes above all else: sin. But it is impossible to force him to commit a sin!”

If you fear only sin, nobody will be able to overcome you.

992. Cherish one desire: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Your one desire on this earth should be that those who do not yet know your Father will come to know him here as he is known in heaven, that they will begin to love each other on this earth with the love that comes from above so that heaven may truly be found on earth. You must strive to bring this about, beginning now to share the happiness of heaven with those whom you encounter in this world.

993. Your apostolate is still lacking one element: “Go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” (Mark 10:21). That is, you must resolve to commit yourself once and for all—the Lord wants apostles who are free from all other attachments.

994. The most effective tool in the apostolate is personal contact. By personal contact, you enter into the lives of others in order to understand and to love them. Sincere personal interest is far more effective than all the sermons and all the books put together. Heart-to-heart exchanges are the secret of

perseverance and success in the apostolate.

995. “Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her”

(Luke 10:42). If you are not living the interior life, if Jesus is not the very life and center of your activities, then you do not need any more instructions from me—the consequences of such a life are too obvious.

996. On this journey, your food is the will of the Father, by which you live and grow. All your actions must proceed from the will of God. It is like the nourishment which strengthens you, without which you would die.

997. You have only one moment, and it is a most beautiful moment: the present moment. Live it completely in the love of God. And if you build up your life like a crystal from a million such sparkling moments, what a beautiful life it will be!

Do you not see how easy it is? It is not so difficult!

998. You will need only one strategy: the eight Beatitudes which Jesus gave us in his Sermon on the Mount (cf. Matthew 5:3-12). If you plan your life according to these principles, you will be filled with a supernatural joy which you will be

able to communicate to all whom you meet.

999. The only task that should concern you is the fulfillment of your duty. Your duty is neither great nor small, it is what your heavenly Father has entrusted specifically to you in his plan for history. Many people today contrive all sorts of complicated ways to live the virtues and then complain that it is difficult to live them. It is not the same for you because you know that the most simple and certain path to virtue is to fulfill your ordinary duties in life.

1000. There is only one way to become holy: through your willingness to conform to the grace of God. God will never be lacking in his grace, but is your will strong enough?

1001. When God asked St. Thomas Aquinas, “Thomas, you have written well of me, what do you desire for a reward,” without any hesitation, the Angelic Doctor replied, “Only you, Lord, only you!”

When you reach the end of your journey along the Road of Hope, the only reward awaiting you will be God himself.

NEW CITY PRESS

of the Focolare Hyde Park, New York