ST. JOSEMARIA ON
BEING A CHRISTIAN
Being a Christian is not simply a way to personal contentment; it implies a mission…Being a Christian is not something incidental; it is a divine reality that takes root deep in our life. It gives us a clear vision, and strengthens our will to act as God wants. So we learn that the Christian’s pilgrimage in the world must express itself in a continuous service in all kinds of ways, varying with each person’s circumstances, but always motivated by love of God and of our neighbour. Being a Christian means forgetting petty objectives of personal prestige and ambition and even possibly nobler aims, … It means setting our mind and heart on reaching the fullness of love which Jesus Christ showed by dying for us.
Let me give you an example of the kind of attitude which develops if one is unable to penetrate this mystery of Jesus. Some people tend to see Christianity as a collection of devout practices, failing to realize the relation between them and the circumstances of ordinary life, including the urgency to meet the needs of other people and remedy injustice. I would say that anyone who has that attitude has not yet understood the meaning of the Incarnation. The Son of God has taken the body and soul and voice of a man; he has shared our fate, even to the extent of experiencing the excruciating anguish of death. Yet perhaps without wanting to, some people regard Christ as a stranger in the world of man.
Others tend to imagine that in order to remain human we need to play down some central aspects of Christian dogma. They act as if the life of prayer, the continual relationship with God, implied fleeing from responsibilities and forsaking the world. But they forget that it was none other than Jesus who showed us the extreme to which we should go in love and service. Only if we try to understand the mystery of God’s love – a love which went as far as death – will we be able to give ourselves totally to others and not let ourselves be overcome by difficulties or indifference.
– Quotes from St. Josemaria taken from the Book of Meditations private collection)
