(Fr José Mario O Mandía, Homily, June 2008)
"All of us have been made priests of our lives."
(St Josemaría, "Christ's Death is the Christian's Life," Christ is Passing By, 96)
YOU AND I CAN BECOME HOLY
Good evening, my dear brothers and sisters.
As many of you probably know,
Saint Josemaría's message was to remind everyone
that God wants all of us, you and me, to be holy,
whatever our job or occupation may be.
Carpenters, doctors, housewives, nurses,
students, teachers, plumbers, hairdressers,
vendors, businessmen, lawyers, streetsweepers,
farmers, construction workers, journalists, fishermen,
sick or healthy, young or old...
God invites everyone to His great feast in heaven,
He wants us all to experience and enjoy forever
what Pope Benedict calls the "supreme moment of satisfaction" (Spe Salvi, no 12).
"[H]e will wipe away every tear from their eyes"
the book of Revelation says of heaven,
"and death shall be no more,
neither shall there be mourning
nor crying
nor pain any more,
for the former things have passed away.
And he who sat upon the throne said,
'Behold, I make all things new.'" (Rev 21:4-5)
HUMAN WORK ON THE ALTAR OF SACRIFICE
During the sacrifice of the Mass,
as the priest offers the bread and wine,
he praises God, the Lord of all creation,
for the bread "which earth has given
and human hands have made";
he also thanks God for the wine
"fruit of the wine
and work of human hands."
Saint Josemaría echoed these words in his teaching,
because he taught that all honest work,
our family and social life,
our joys, sorrows, successes and failures
are the offering God asks of us at Mass,
so that Jesus Christ may present these to the Father,
together with His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.
The Holy Spirit blesses these offerings,
He makes them holy,
He sanctifies them,
so that the same job that buys us a meal on earth
can also buy for us a banquet in heaven.
Work can buy us a passage to heaven--
work can make saints of us!
OFFERING THE BEST
When you and I commit ourselves to offer God our work in the Holy Mass,
we also commit ourselves to do our very best,
to execute it as perfectly as possible,
just as God commanded in the Old Testament
that all offering should be without stain, without blemish
(the book of Leviticus repeats this at least twenty-six times!)
Slipshod work and sloppy jobs
have no place on the altar of sacrifice.
But doing our work as perfectly as possible
does not only require
that it be materially complete and thorough.
It also requires that our intention
be purely and exclusively for God's glory.
"Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your name give glory" (Ps 115:1),
Saint Josemaría would often exclaim,
repeating the words of the Psalm.
If our motives are stained by self-seeking,
blemished by selfishness,
tainted with pride,
we cannot say that we are giving God our all--
our offering is not perfect.
Participation at Mass, therefore,
makes us more attentive and caring at home,
more conscientious in our job,
more ambitious to be of service to others.
It makes us more aware
that our all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful Father in heaven
is interested in the tiny little details of our life,
that He truly cares for you and me.
That's why He wants our daily occupations
to yield much more than just the few dollars
that provides clothes on our back,
food on the table,
a roof over our heads,
or schooling for the kids.
In the Holy Sacrifice of Jesus' Body and Blood
God makes use of our modest contribution,
to make Food and Drink
for many hungry and thirsty souls
(that includes our own
and the souls of the people we love).
WORK OF MAN BECOMES WORK OF GOD
In the Mass, Jesus makes our work His own,
He takes it into His own sacred Hands,
and offers it to His Father.
He transforms humble human work
into God's glorious Work.
Let us thank the Lord for His great mercy.
Let us thank Him for His love.
Because He makes it possible for us
to turn every single situation,
every single event
of every ordinary day
into an occasion for loving Him,
for serving the Church and all souls
in joy and in simplicity.
The message of Saint Josemaría
helps us to convert what other people might consider liabilities
into spiritual assets.
CENTRE OF CHRISTIAN LIVING, ROOT OF CHRISTIAN LIFE
Since the founding of Opus Dei in 1928,
Saint Josemaría had always taught
that the Mass
is "the centre ... of Christian living",
because no matter what we may be doing,
our whole day ought to revolve around the altar,
so that Jesus Christ can offer us and our work to our Heavenly Father.
Moreover, Saint Josemaría considered the Mass not only as the centre
around which our life gravitates,
but also as the root which feeds our spiritual life,
the source from which we draw strength.
When we receive Jesus' Body and Blood,
He makes us grow,
He transforms us into Himself,
He makes us more and more like Him, more Christ-like,
He makes us see with His eyes,
speak with His words,
and love with His heart (cf St Josemaría, Meditation, 19 March 1975).
He makes us behave more
like authentic children of God,
so that when others look at us
they only see Jesus.
Yes, this conversion is possible!
PRAY FOR PRIESTS
Finally, an appeal to all of you.
Saint Josemaría once wrote:
"I ask all Christians to pray earnestly for us priests
that we learn to perform the Holy Sacrifice in a holy way.
I ask you to show a deep love for the Holy Mass
and in this way to encourage us priests to celebrate it respectfully,
with divine and human dignity:
looking after the cleanliness of the vestments
and other things used for worship,
devoutly, without rushing.
Why the hurry?
Do people in love hurry when they are saying goodbye?
They seem to be going and then they don't go;
they turn back once and again;
they repeat quite ordinary words
as if they had just discovered their meaning ..." (St Josemaría, Homily A Priest Forever)
The Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph
lived only for Jesus.
May we, also, live only for Him
as we carry out the commonplace tasks
of every single day.