DAY 7
“We are obliged to this as the first ones of the Institute- the foundations, which are hidden. And if they were seen, how ugly they would appear! Crushed and trampled stones. And nevertheless, they are the support of the building, and the more beautiful the building, the deeper the foundations and the more crushed by the weight of it…”
This is what Rafaela tells Pilar. It’s letter 586, written from Rome on July 5, 1908. Pilar is a country away in Valladolid, Spain, having left Rome on May 17, 1903. Both sisters removed from leadership. Pilar had replaced Rafaela in her Generalate and Purísima Pilar on February 2, 1906. Both sisters eventually cast aside in the institute that they had founded. So many misunderstandings, situations badly lived, unfounded judgments … Rafaela lived all of this from the depths of her heart.
It is Saint Rafaela’s deep humility that allows her to speak these words about being the crushed foundations of the building. Later, in the same letter, she will tell her sister… “Coraggio and generosity.”
Rafaela María, always trusting in the love of God, ventured deep into God’s heart and God’s will. She knew that the building had to take solid root. In light of her life, her words ring true.
Years before, while in Madrid, she had written to some of the first sisters: “My dear ones, now that we are in the beginnings, let’s lay the foundations well, that the storms that come might not demolish the building, and let us do this all together… united in everything like the fingers of the hand… and we will achieve whatever we want because we have God our Lord as our own” (1884, Community of Córdoba).
Since those early days, how many hours of deep conversation with her “most tender Father,” with her “good Jesus”, with “Mary,” conversations in which she brought all of humanity into their presence. In her words, “looking at Jesus, one gains strength… and so much of it!”
“I, my King, will go to ask you for advice frequently and I will listen to your divine word in the secret of your Divine and most merciful heart; and I will not only listen, but there I will copy your divine teachings to clothe myself with them and appear less unworthy in your eyes, to accompany you closely ” (SE 1892)
“… And I asked him, with the fire of his charity, to kindle in all of them his precious virtues… most profound humility and most tender charity towards the weak… patience and mutual tolerance… such great eagerness to imitate him in everything, that they were all one among themselves so as to be one in Jesus … In unity there is strength, and disunited, no one can sustain this project.”
“… whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mt 20, 26b-28).
How do I cope with the difficulties that arise in life? How far does my attitude of service and surrender go?
