2 September, Antonio, Cardinal Bacci: Meditations For Each Day

Intimacy with Jesus

1. In his memoirs written while in exile, Napoleon says: “Many have desired and endeavoured to be obeyed, revered and honoured by all; only Jesus Christ has demanded this, because He is God.”

“As the Father has loved me, I also have loved you,” we read in the Gospel of St. John. “Abide in my love.” (John 15:9) Jesus therefore asks each of us not only to love Him but to remain intimately united with Him in love. He has a perfect right to demand this, because as God He is our Creator, and as God-Man He is our Redeemer, Who out of love for us has given Himself entirely.

2. The union of love which should exist between Jesus and us is modelled on the mysterious union between Him and His heavenly Father. (1) This intimacy between us and Jesus should be first of all in the mind. Our thoughts will be good when we think like God, and with the mind of Jesus, Who is “the true light that enlightens every man who comes into the world.” (John 1:9) If we stray away from that light, darkness overwhelms us even as it pervaded the earth during the agony of Jesus Christ. Our intelligence is a ray of light which comes from God; we should take care not to allow this ray to be separated from its divine source. This heavenly ray always shone on the faces of the saints, because they were clean of heart and close to God. That is how we should all be. (2) In the second place, we should be united intimately with Jesus in our sentiments. “Have this mind in you which was also in Jesus Christ,” (Phil. 2:5) says St. Paul. Our love must not be abstract or partial, but must be all-absorbing. Jesus calls us friends, and friendship unites two hearts as one. We must give ourselves completely to Jesus without reserving anything for ourselves. True holiness is found when God and man are united like two faithful, constant friends. (3) In the third place, there must be intimacy in action. It is not possible for a man who truly loves God to do anything which would offend Him. Jesus compares the love which we should have for Him with the love which He has for His Heavenly Father, so we should model our lives continuously on the life of Jesus. Jesus must work in us, as He did in St. Paul and in all the Saints.

St. Francis de Sales writes that Jesus should always be in our minds, in our hearts, in our eyes, and on our tongue. We should be living images of Jesus; and we must therefore live and act for Him, with Him, and in Him.

3. Do not imagine that this intimate union of the human heart with that of Jesus is the privilege and vocation of a few, that is, something reserved for priests, religious, mystics, and saints. Do we think that this privilege is only for saints? But we must all be saints. “You shall be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16) “You therefore are to be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt. 5:48) This does not mean that we all have the same vocation and that we should all be priests or religious. Sanctity is nothing other than this intimate, loving, and active union with Jesus. It must be practised in different ways in accordance with the positions which men occupy. For one it will be the sanctity of the workman, for another the sanctity of the student or of the clerk, of the professor or of the statesman, because the duties of each differ. But all must renounce their evil inclinations and their personal egoism. They must also, as the Gospel insists, renounce themselves in order to have the life of Jesus. They must love God above all things and also more than themselves, and they must love their neighbour as themselves. The goal is certainly hard and difficult; but if at present we are not able to reach it, we must at least have the strong and active desire to strive for it.