THE SANCTIFICATION OF WORK.

 

SANCTIFICATION OF WORK .

In the service to Thy there are no simple tasks, no matter what we do in our lives, in our obligations, in our work, all are of big importance, its value consists of the spiritual level of who practices it, it is us who have to give it, its value.  By the teachings of St Paul we learn that it is absolutly proper, and of all necesity, to hold God in the highest part of the core of all things. When we practice this, we are giving to our activity, besides its natural value a supernatural one, and this means sanctification of our work, of our family life, our civil life, and all other time in our lives. This is one of the more important teachings of Saint Josemaría Escribá, founder of Opus Dei.

It is alike wether our activity is in our home, or we are a professional of some kind, as far as it is an honest, way of making our living, it speaks of the dignity of the person, of the development of our personality, and also as means of cooperating to the progress of the family and society to wich we belong, and this is part of the existence and being of the rest of the world. It is a way of sanctity, in wich by means of out personal activity we not only sanctify our selves, but if we offer it properly to God, we  are not only sanctifying our selves,  but are sanctifying our work, and this can help can sanctifying others. No other way can do do better to improuve the quality of mankind existance. We are puting Jesus Christ in the center of our indispensable activities, and this is most agreable to the Holy Trinity.

We must exercise our virtue of Hope, doing our obligations with responsability, with love, knowing that we are pleasing God, that we are investing in our salvation, when we perform in the best posible manner all our doings, we are not only pleasing God, but we are doing of ourselves, better persons, and this is a very important issue, It is not necessary to mention all the adventages that this means. As catholics that fullfil our christianity acording to our doctrine and a well done activity, with our best effort,  offered to God, is a sure the way we obtain our sanctity, way of salvation. Our efforts will never be unimportant to God, on the contrary, Thy that knows every thing, is alwais taking note.

Other virtues that are associated to the sanctification of our work are perseverance, and when offering it, as a way of santifying ourselves, results in that difficulty  makes it more gratifying, we seek gladly the solutions, the intensity of our efforts make up for better results. Also the spirit of sacrifice to obtain a better done job is very valuable at the eyes of God, specially if we perform with peace of mind, joy and presence of jesus. Along the working day we should mantein a communication with Jesus as a feed of force, of gladness, as a feeling of complying, this is realy the santification of our labor. Also a good advice is the offering of what is ahead of us, what has been planned for, or by us, to show Jesus Christ that we are willing to perform all our tasks as offering to Thy, looking to please and to acces a life of true saints.

We know that this offerings are the most pleasant orisons elevated to Heaven, that the Holy Trinity accepts it with pleasure, this is the motive to carry out with all the perfection that we are capable of, our duties. Lets ask the Holy Virgen Mary, to help us, specially bringing to our memory, at all times of the working hours, that we must offer to God our activity and to perform it in the best way.

THE LORD´S PRAYER OF THE HOLY MASS.

 

THE LORD´S PRAYER, OF THE HOLY MASS,.

We will be  seeing some of the taugths of Saints like Saint Thomas and Saint Agustine, on the Lord´s Prayer, and to start, we do it with the prayer itself.  After we will exam sentence by sentence.

“Our father wich art in heaven,  Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not , into temptation, but deliver us from devil”. –Matt, VI, 9-13.

It was necessary that Jesus Christ should teach his apostols  how to pray, they asked  for it, and that they brougth that knowledge to us christians. His teaching was a way to produce at its maximun, our hope in God, and He would not hear from us something that Thy would not listen to. So this magnificent prayer of the Sunday´s Mass, exposes  all we have to expect from our hope, and what and how our hope has to rest in God, and to Thy we have to direct our prayers.

Our fathervwich art in heaven. This is the prayer that Jesus Christ, taugth his apostols, when they asked him, how to pray, and Saints like  Augustine and The Aquinas have things to let us, about it. It calls our attention that Jesus tells his apostols to call Thy Lord “our Father”,  being that He is the only Son of God, nevertheless  has won for us,  all mankind,  to be adopted sons of the Lord, this is a very important  inheritance from Jesus Christ, to all mankind, past, present and to come, because he suffred death for all. As well as in the Cross he gave us his own Mother, as our Mother in Heaven. Let us then consider, beloved, whose children we have begun to be, and see how our Creator has condescended to be our Father, an eternal inheritance.

Hallowed be Thy name, holy Thy name in us, for once we were not holy, but He has alwais been, it is for ourselves that we pray, it is by us that his name must be hollowed, in order to have us, what He does not need, since Thy has all the goods we can imagine, and we need all the goods, starting with a life of saints, passing trough:  health, home, food, etc. Also in this part of the prayer we are asking to improuve our knowledgment of God, that it becomes as perfect as posible.

Thy kingdom come,  his kingdom is eternal and it is wether , we ask for it or not that it would come since it has no beginning, and not will have an end. In this prayer, we also ask for ourselves, believing in Him, and the progress we make in our faith, taking in account that all mankind was redeemed by the blood of his only Son, so be his kingdom, to all redemed. At the Parousia of Jesus Christ, He will call some to his right and others to his left, and to those called to the rigth He  will say: “Come ye blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom”.  This is what we ask for when we pray “thy kingdom come”, that we are caled to the rigth.

Thy Will be done as in heaven, so in earth. It is the Will of God,  that the wicked be dammed and the good shall reign. For that He gave us the dignity of his image, bein us capable of elevate ourselves  to know and love Him. In Heaven the Trinity of God and all his creatures are hollowed, loved, admired, etc. between them and with God above all, that is His Will, and in earth we all should try to do alike. We recon that God is the ultra: power, love, beuty, goodness, justice, etc. He is in Heaven and this shows us that he has the power needed to give solution to our needs, if they are pointed, in some way, to our salvation.

Give us this day our  daily bread. In this part of the prayer we ask not for us only, but for all man kind, specially the poor, and we ask from him not only what we need as eat,  but also the sacred bread of his body, that is Comunion. We need it over the eats of our body. Receiving Thy in the Sacrement of Eucaristy  we are nourished in our spiritual soul. We will receive as we deserve, and we will deserve  if we ask properly, that is being in grace, and asking not on terrenal wishes, but at the eyes of God, Thy concedes what is pointed to grant  our salvation.

And forgive us our debts,as we forgive our debtors. It is of good being to forgive. Those who have not been just, or well educated, and fail to deal properly with us, some how Gods justice will punish, but us in eart should pardon. Lets  not be confused with the Legal Justice that should reign among men. If some one does wrong, agaist a just law, he will be judged in earth in some way. And will pay with time in jail or similar. We mankind are not perfect, we all have shortcommings, defects, and many times do not see them happen, and even without knowing it, we are pardoned. So lets love be in us, in our relations with others, and not hate. If we do not forgive the others, how can we espect to be forgiven by God ?.

 

And lead us not, into temtation, but deliver us from the devil. We are week, since our nature was mistreated by Adan and Eve, God knows that better than us, but if we contributet what is  necessary from our part, trying to be good, we will find that God wants to help us, alwais in relation to our salvation. Temptation is not bad in itself, what is bad, and very bad is to accept it, to rejoyce in it,  and find pleasure in it, it is sin, but since temptation will many times atack us, we have to make the necessary efforts to defeat it. Our Mother in heaven the Holy Virgin is of great help, to avoid temptation if we appeal to Her. Of course it comes from the devil, but it will never be stronger than us. God has given us the tools necessary to defeat the devils acts.

Prepared by Jorge Casas.