The Consecrated Life

We would like to publish some homilies that Fr. Buela has written about the consecrated life. These homilies have been written especially for the Servidoras. We pray that these reflections only draws one closer to God.

Institute of the Incarnate Word

Institute of the Incarnate Word
Priestly Ordinations - Institute of the Incarnate Word

Saturday, March 12, 2016

The Surrender of Goods


Do whatever He tells you, the Virgin tells us and Jesus tells us, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth (Lk 16:9).
Consecration consists “in giving ourselves entirely to our Lady, in order to belong entirely to Jesus Christ, through her.”[1]
 
To give oneself entirely means to give all that belongs to us, our interior and exterior goods.

1. We should give to the Virgin all the exterior goods namely of wealth, present and future
A lay person who is not consecrated could ask, “What does this mean Father? Should I give away my goods? Should I sell them?” No. 

To give to the Virgin all exterior goods does not mean that the slave of Mary renounces the use of his goods but rather that we should use them with permission of the Virgin (like when the religious asks permission of his superior).

Except that in our case, since we cannot see nor hear the Superior, the permission is presumed and understood (conjecture by evidence…when there are no clear signs of the contrary).

For this reason, the salves of Mary do not have a problem in continuing to dispose of their goods as before, though it is done in a different manner. Otherwise, with reason their conscience would accuse them of being unfaithful to their word when they misuse or do not use well the goods that they have consecrated to the Holy Virgin in things that they presumed were not pleasing to her. For example to spend money on frivolous things, not helping the poor when it is possible, being stingy, wasting time, not making the effort to work with dedication, losing peace of soul when minor temporal problems arise, buying immoral things, magazines, etc. With greater reason must we be faithful since we have professed a vow of poverty. 

2. All our interior and spiritual goods that is all our past, present, and future merits, virtues, and works.
This surrender is in reality the fulfillment of what is called the heroic act. We surrender our material goods so that She can preserve us from attachment to worldly goods and inspire us to make the best use of them. We surrender our body and our senses so that She can preserve them in perfect purity. In addition, we give her our spiritual goods.
With regards to our works, there are three things that are communicable to other souls: the merit of benefit, the supplication prayer or action and the satisfaction (indulgence for the deceased). These goods, by virtue of our consecration, must be left in the hands of the Virgin (like in the case of the temporal goods) in such a way that we can make use of them with her implicit permission. 

Two objections:
a. If we renounce these goods, we would not pay our debt and our time in purgatory would increase (this is the objection that the devil posed to St. Bridget when she prepared to make this act). 

It is an objection that springs from self-love and forgets the goodness of Mary. She will not be outdone in generosity…and our generous act of surrender multiplies our merits. 

Some may say that this devotion will hinder us from helping our deceased relatives since we surrender to the Virgin the value of our good works, mortifications, and almsgiving. To these, St Louis Marie responds:

1. Jesus and Mary will know best how to help our relatives, friends, and benefactors whether it is it from our small spiritual wealth or from another’s. 

2. This practice does not prevent us from offering our prayers for those we wish, even though its application depends on the Most Holy Virgin. 

Let us prepare ourselves to consecrate ourselves better through Jesus through Mary!
Let us live the heroism of our Christian life with jubilation!

Let us allow ourselves to be molded by Mary to belong totally to Jesus!            





[1] St Louis de Montfort, True Devotion, n. 121.