MEDITATIO

“A dreadful sound is alway in his ears, and when there is peace, he suspecteth plots….” (Job 15 Ver. 21.) But there is nothing more happy than simplicity of heart, in that in proportion as it shews forth innocency towards others, there is nothing it dreads to meet with from others. For it has its simplicity as a kind of citadel of strength, nor is it suspicious of undergoing what it has no remembrance of having itself done. Whence it is well said by Solomon, In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence. Who also says again, A secure mind is like a perpetual feast. For the mere repose of security is like the continuance of refreshment. Whereas, on the other hand, the evil mind is always set in pains and labours, since it is either contriving mischiefs that it may bring down, or fearing lest these be brought down upon it by others; and whatever plot it hatches against neighbours, it is afraid of being hatched by neighbours against itself. It is on every side full of suspicions, on every side full of alarms. Everyone that occurs to mind is supposed to be making out things hostile to him, and so he, to whom the repose of security is wanting, has surely ‘a dreadful sound in his ears’ always. And it often happens that his neighbour, whoever he be, speaks to him with a single intention, and designs nothing hostile, but ‘when there is peace, he suspecteth plots;’ in that he, who is always dealing craftily, calculates that there is not single dealing towards himself.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team

The gospel of work is found in the life and parables of Christ, in what Jesus “did and taught” (Acts 1,1). On the basis of these illuminations emanating from the Source himself, the Church has always proclaimed what we find expressed in modern terms in the teaching of the Second Vatican Council: “Just as human activity proceeds from man, so it is ordered towards man. For when a man works he not only alters things and society, he develops himself as well. He learns much, he cultivates his resources, he goes outside of himself and beyond himself. Rightly understood, this kind of growth is of greater value than any external riches which can be garnered … Hence, the norm of human activity is this: that in accord with the divine plan and will, it should harmonize with the genuine good of the human race, and allow people as individuals and as members of society to pursue their total vocation and fulfil it” (GS 35). Such a vision of the values of human work, or in other words such a spirituality of work, fully explains what we read in the same section with regard to the right meaning of progress: “A person is more precious for what he is than for what he has. Similarly, all that people do to obtain greater justice, wider brotherhood, and a more humane ordering of social relationships has greater worth than technical advances. For these advances can supply the material for human progress, but of themselves alone they can never actually bring it about”. This teaching on the question of progress and development – a subject that dominates present day thought – can be understood only as the fruit of a tested spirituality of human work; and it is only on the basis of such a spirituality that it can be realized and put into practice.

Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team

Like Zachée le Publicain I have not been lifted from a vile land On the high tree of wisdom, For your divine contemplation. The short size of my spiritual hight Did not grow up in me by good works, On the contrary, she has constantly decreased Until you return me to drinking mothers milk. Again by taking the parable backward, I scrambled up the tree of the perverse body , Seeking terrestrial love with a sweet taste, As Zaché also on the fig tree. From there, thanks to your powerful word Make me descend in a hurry like him; Come stay in the house of my soul, And, with you, the Father and the Holy Spirit. Make the body that brought my soul to wrong Render the quadruple in service to the good, And gives half of the personal goods To my impoverished free will, So that according to your saving Word to him addressed, I am worthy of hearing your voice, By being me too a son of Abraham, According to the faith of the patriarch.

Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team