4 Vol. LIX, No. 1 Magnificat to understand: Vous êtes le seul Saint – Thou alone art holy. In the liturgy we have just read, the Church wishes to honor the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing...1 So, in wishing you holiness, I wish you to be like Jesus Christ, to be what He expects each one of you to be. This is the will of God, that you be holy,2 says Saint Paul. My brothers, my sisters, the more your life conforms to the will of God, to His expectations, the more you identify with Jesus, with His example, His will, the more you will be holy and glorify our good Heavenly Father. But how do we attain holiness? Do not be surprised if, this year, We give you the watchword to do violence to yourselves, precisely in order to conform to this expectation of God, to identify yourselves with Our Lord Jesus Christ. You will all agree that it is not by taking it easy that we conform to Our Lord Jesus Christ. He says to us, The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and only the violent bear it away. In giving you this watchword, it is this word of the Gospel that I want to emphasize. His kingdom come! Year after year, we talk about the kingdom of God. How many good souls – not only among us, but all over the world – long for the kingdom of God to come! How many sigh, even suffer, that God does not reign on this earth! And even more suffer because they think things are not going well in the world, without really knowing why. We comment on the news, on events that are not very good, not very positive. It is not bad to be a little informed, but what is the point of commenting on them if we do not take the means to bring about the king1. Cf. Ephesians 1:3. 2. I Thessalonians 4:3. dom of God? Is there anything greater that can happen on this earth than the kingdom of God? We want Jesus to reign, we desire it, most of us passionately. This desire to see the coming of the kingdom of God consumes us. Jesus said it like this: The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and only the violent bear it away. In short, to do violence to ourselves means to go against ourselves, against our ego, our whims, our passions, our vanities, our independence. I am speaking directly to you, my brothers, you, my sisters, you, dear friends of this Community: do violence to yourselves, in order to conform to God in the details of your life, as Jesus Himself taught us: He who is faithful in the little things shall also be faithful in the great ones.3 Throughout the History of the Church, from the very beginning, so many Saints have shed their blood for the faith! They went even to the point of martyrdom. How is it possible to be ready to die for the kingdom of God? The first Christians and all the Saints that came after them were ready to shed their blood if need be. They did not back away from martyrdom. Sometimes it was done rather quickly. Getting your head cut off is quick. Other times it was long. We read the narrative of certain martyrs. l am thinking of Gabriel Perboyre, of Theophane Venard who was held for months in a cage made of rushes. He could not even stretch or lie down to sleep. He was pricked with pointed instruments and tortured: “Apostatize. Deny your Jesus.” Where did these Saints get their strength of soul? It was no longer them, it was God’s grace at work in them. And why did they have this grace? They did violence to themselves in the little things, and God was faithful, sustaining them with His grace. Through these Saints, the faith was preserved and spread over all the earth. 3. St. Luke 16:10.
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