13 March 2012: “Father, I have sinned against you ...” (Lk 15:18)

During Lent, the Church ponders these words with particular emotion, since it is the time when the Church more profoundly desires to convert herself to Christ.
‘Without these words there is no conversion in all its interior meaning.’
Without these words, ‘Father, I have sinned’, man cannot truly enter into the Mystery of the Resurrection of Christ, so as to obtain the fruits of Redemption and Grace from them.
Those key words show man’s great interior openness to God: “Father, I have sinned against you.”
If it is true that sin in a certain sense shuts man off from God, it is likewise true that ‘remorse’ for sins opens up all the greatness and majesty of God, his fatherhood above all, to man’s conscience.
Man remains shut to God so long as the words, “Father, I have sinned against you”, are absent from his lips, above all, ... from his ‘conscience’, from his ‘heart’.
Being converted to Christ, finding the interior power of His Cross and Resurrection, the full truth of human existence ‘in Christ’, is possible only with this form: “Father, I have sinned.” And only at the cost of them.
In Lent, the Church labors above all that everyone may blame himself / herself for sins before God alone; and may consequently accept the salvific power of the pardon in Christ’s Suffering and Resurrection.
Ref: Cf Pope John Paul II, “Prayers and Devotions”, 1994, pp124-5

On serving others
It is impossible to practise charity without humility and a spirit of service. There can be no effectiveness. Without humility there is no holiness.
Jesus does not want conceited self-centered friends in his service: “the instruments of God are always humble”. (St John Chrysostom, “Homilies on St Matthew”, 15)
When we strive to be humble, we become effective and strong. We must be ever vigilant, because the worst kind of ambition is to seek one’s own exaltation. ‘Pride attacks on all flanks and its victim finds it all around.’
Unless we are humble we become unfit for helping others, for pride infects everything. Where there is a proud person nothing goes right; nobody is treated properly: family, friends, colleagues.
He expects and demands special treatment for himself because he considers himself different. He can be over-sensitive.
The dogmatic tone of his words, his ironic or sarcastic opinions in any discussion, his tendency to cut short conversations are all signs of a deep-seated egoism. The limited horizons of his life are centered on himself.
Humility on the other hand makes us recognize our weaknesses and defects. We are then able to understand the shortcomings of others, and lend a helping hand. We can love and accept them, defects and all.
The Blessed Virgin, ‘handmaid of the Lord’, will teach us that to serve others is among the ways of finding joy in this life and one of the shortest routes to Jesus.
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 2:79-84

Fulfilling our professional and social duties
Our professional duties are an exceptional means of living the virtue of justice. Giving to each one his due means in this case fulfilling the terms of our contract. The business proprietor, the mistress of the household with domestics, the chief executive of an organization, all are obliged to give just compensation to their workers.
For their part, workers and employees have the grave duty of working responsibly, in a professional manner, using their time well. Thus industriousness is a practical manifestation of justice.
“I don’t believe in the justice of idle people, because they fail, sometimes seriously, in that most fundamental principle of equity, which is work.” (cf St Josemaria Escrivá, “Friends of God”, 169)
The same principle applies to students whose work is to study. They are obliged to render justice to their family and society, who together support them economically, so they may prepare themselves to give effective service.
Our professional duties also involve solving social problems for a more just world.
The Second Vatican Council reminds us that “every citizen ought to be mindful of his duty to promote the common good by using his vote” (“Gaudium et spes”, 75).
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 2:205-7

The Will of God
786 May no attachment bind you to earth except the most divine desire of giving glory to Christ and, through him and with him and in him, to the Father and to the Holy Spirit.
787 Rectify, pirify your intention! What a shame if your victory turns out worthless because you acted from human motives.
788 Purity of intention. The suggestions of pride and impulses of the flesh are not difficult to recognize ... And you fight, and with grace, you conquer.
But the motives that inspire you, even in your holiest actions, don’t seem clear. And deep down inside you hear a voice which makes you aware of your human motives... so that your soul subtly haunted by the disturbing thought that you are not acting as you should -- for pure love, solely and exclusively to give God all his glory.
React at once each time and say: “Lord for myself I want nothing. All for your glory and for love.”
789 There is no doubt that you have purified your intentions well when you have said: from this moment on I renounce all human gratitude and reward.
Ref: St Josemaria Escrivà, “The Way”

Life of Childhood
900 You are not alone. Suffer tribulation cheerfully. It’s true, poor child, that you don’t feel your mother’s hand in yours. But have you never seen the mothers of this earth, with their arms outstretched, following their little ones when, without anyone’s help, they venture to take their first shaky steps? You’re not alone. Mary is beside you. (St Josemaria Escrivà, “The Way”, )
901 Jesus, even if I should die for Love,I could never repay you for the grace you have showered on me in making me little.
Ref: St Josemaria Escrivà, “The Way”

• Our Lady of the Empress, at Rome. A tradition records that this image spoke to St Gregory the Great in the year 593. — Antonius Yepez, ad ann. 84, divi Benedicti. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of the Empress. Rome. 593. (www/divinewill.org/feastofourlady.htm); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Our Lady of the Empress (Rome). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Our Lady of the Rose (Italy, 1655) (http://mariedenazareth.com)