Holiness as the Mainspring of the Legion’s Work: Holiness is not only the object of the legion but it’s mainspring (the chief spring in a mechanism especially of a watch or clock). Holiness is not just what we are striving to achieve in the Legion, it is also the main engine, the main pump, the main mechanism that we have to carry out our apostolate. Remember that we cannot give what we already do not have: what point is there to bring our contacts to Mass, to talk about God and our Blessed Mother, to share the love of God, if we ourselves are distant from Him? Of course, the strive towards our personal sanctification, if we rely on ourselves, is a long, arduous and impossible journey. But what children can teach us, their humility and childlike dependence on God’s grace, is that through Him this journey becomes possible, the difficulties become sweet, and our setbacks and apparent failures will transform to become steps for our advancement in our spiritual life. ‘Pray and make sacrifices for the intentions of our presidium.’ If we truly want to carry out God’s will, we cannot ever neglect prayer and sacrifice, our spiritual works and our sanctification is the engine of our apostolate!
The Role of Active Work: As we advance in our personal sanctification, we should also note that the Legion is a lay apostolate tasked to carry out our Lord’s Great Commission. Importantly and essentially, our spiritual exercises cannot replace active work in the Legion. This is a lesson of balance – holiness is achieved through our acts of charity and love combined with prayer. Active work prepares the legionaries, especially the juniors, to serve Christ through their neighbor.
Avoiding Scandal and Setting Good Example: It was fitting that both today’s reading and the gospel reading yesterday (29 September) for Michaelmas was about the danger of causing scandal, particularly to the young and impressionable. Just as the senior legionaries are able to inspire and revitalize the junior legionaries through their example, we fall into the danger of causing great scandal to them as well should we fail to live up to our promise to the Holy Spirit and our Blessed Mother. We ourselves would become a ‘deforming mould’, prejudicing its members and everybody else against the Legion. It would represent a service to the Legion to suppress it. Harsh as it sounds, even Our Lord puts it much more harshly: ‘But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it were better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of scandals! For it must needs be that scandals come, but woe to the man through whom scandal does come! See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you, their Angels in heaven always behold the face of My Father in heaven.’
As such, high ideals of action and devotion are to be placed before the junior members, who should, in general, be expected to play the part of leaders among other young people. Every legionary, and every Christian to the extension, is called to be the salt of the earth, bringing the light of Christ to all he meets. As the reading continues, it is with the hope that each member of the Junior Legion, carrying out his duties scrupulously and obediently, will, like his senior legionaries, live his apostolate in every aspect of his life. Whether in their duties in school, in their study, in their friendships, in their leisure time, in their home; the spirit of the Legion should continue transcending each part of his being. A new outlook is formed in each dimension of his life, and the practises of religion do not merely become a mere imposed or cultural routine. He will seek prayer as his first refuge, as the driver and mainspring of his life.
The Childlike Disposition in Faith: As mentioned before, not only will the junior legionaries benefit from the role model of their senior legionaries, we ourselves, as their seniors, are able to learn a great deal from them. As our Lord Said: ‘Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in their midst, and said, Amen I say to you, unless you turn and become like little children, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whoever, therefore, humbles himself as this little child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such little child for My sake, receives Me.’
The Holy Family of Nazareth: With these reflections, let us ask our Lady and her most chaste Spouse, St. Joseph, to guide us all, especially the youth, and protect us from the evils of religious indifference and sin. Just as Our Lord remained subject to them in His divine childhood, and grew in wisdom, age and grace before God and people’.” (Lk 2:52), may we always invoke their assistance in leading us to God.
Commentaires