A Society of Love

Third Homily

This talk, the second link in the chain of gold, was given at Stresa, 28th October 1847, in the church of Jesus Crucified. Since 1844, Rosmini had worked intensely and peacefully. Several of his more substantial works were written in this period. He had seen his religious family grow stronger, fortified by capable newcomers and works of Christian virtue and apostolate. Rosmini and his Institute, like the children of Israel in the wilderness were led by a single guide, the will of God and his wise providence. Under God’s leadership, they were ready to stop or to march; they were prepared for the ease of peace or the harshness of the journey. Less than a year after this hymn to the will and providence of God, Rosmini would find himself in the quicksand of politics. But he grows in virtue as he fulfils in silence and joyful adoration what the Lord had disposed for him.

The Will of God

By the word of the Lord they pitched their tents, and by his word they marched: and kept the watches of the Lord according to his commandment by the hand of Moses (Num 9: 23).

Happiness in the consecrated life

According to the Fathers of the Church, the children of Israel going out of slavery from Egypt under the guidance of Moses, wandering through the Arabian desert and finally reaching the promised land, were a figure of the Church of Jesus Christ, rescued from the power of the devil, as she journeys through the arid desert of this human life to the conquest of heaven.
The Fathers also tell us that the Israelites, chosen by God as his very own people, were more exactly an image of religious life — the many-coloured robes, as it were, of the Bride of Christ, one in nature but divided into its various congregations. It is founded on the word of the Lord: If you will be perfect, go sell what you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven. And come follow me (Matt 19: 21).

These Christians are not satisfied with leaving the world affectively; they want to abandon it effectively as well. They want to flee from the Egypt of this world by renouncing its benefits and concerns, which they see as a yoke of slavery; they even abandon decent, worldly pleasures, the equivalent, as it were, of the garlic and onions of Egypt; they desire to move more swiftly and freely towards the holy mount where they may offer themselves as an acceptable sacrifice to God. The spirit of their sublime vocation commands them to do this and to enter into possession of the mystic land, flowing with milk and honey, promised and prepared for them from all eternity.

How bold they are! United in well-ordered ranks, that is, in religious societies, they form the camps of the Lord. How beautiful are your tabernacles, O Jacob, and your tents, O Israel! As woody valleys: as watered gardens near the rivers: as tabernacles which the Lord has pitched: as cedars by the waterside (Num 24: 5–6). Yes, it is reasonable, dear brothers, it is truly right and fitting that your heart should expand with holy joy on this memorable day, exult in its Lord, and dissolve in tears of gratitude. This is the most beautiful day of your lives. Pharaoh’s yoke is broken as you offer and sacrifice yourselves by irrevocable vows to the Almighty on the mountain of his law of perfection. Consecrate yourselves to him in sincerity of heart with the offering that incorporates you more closely in the chosen people, enrols you in the strong army of Israel, and gives you a place in the beautiful, safe tent of Jacob.
Exult, rejoice, chosen ones of the Lord, sing hymns to Yahweh and his Anointed, conscious and grateful as you are for the extraordinary grace that you receive.

The Institute’s only guide is the will of God

But I cannot and must not be content with congratulating you on your happiness. I want to remind you of your duties as I call you into the Institute of Charity, and tell you how these duties acquire a new character from the very perfection of this religious state. They are not only more sacred, but as it were of a different nature.
You see, just as disciples, servants and soldiers listen to the voice of their teachers, employers and officers before doing anything, so the religious of this Institute (and the whole Institute itself) has as its law of conduct the words used to describe the Hebrew people, as they wandered in the wilderness: By the word of the Lord they pitched their tents, and by his word they marched: and kept the watches of the Lord according to his commandment by the hand of Moses (Num 9: 23). This is the rule, brothers, governing pauses and progress in the Institute of Charity.

From now on neither instinct nor human decisions, but only the will of the Almighty Creator of the universe will rule and determine your steps. We follow the will of the Creator, interpreted by the Spirit of God with supernatural wisdom, understanding what is the will of God, as St. Paul says (Eph 5: 17). And it is about this sublime, sweet law, guiding us to that day when finally the gates of heaven open to us, that I want to speak briefly.

The weakness and insufficiency of reason

When God created us, he gave us reason as our guide. This alone, however, would not have been sufficient. As you know, we see nothing, even in the presence of light, without an object to look at. We do not see simply by looking. In the same way, reason remains inactive if it is completely cut off from what it can know. It cannot produce or create what it knows, but relies on the Creator’s power or will, which is free to present what reason can come to know. Having formed human reason, God was pleased to create for its advantage the immense, extremely ordered mass of the universe.
The cosmos is the source of the information built up by reason. Without the cosmos, human reason would be supine and useless: but when enriched and moved by it, reason gradually becomes our escort and guide.

These exact notions about the nature and condition of our rational powers bring us face to face with two highly important truths. First, reason of itself produces no results; second, its effective value springs from various objects presented to it by the generosity of the Creator. These objects are a gift of God, and allow reason to guide us.
But we still have to ask if this guide is appropriate and finds sufficient information and light in the objects of nature to lead us, directly and safely, to the great end for which we were made and to which we are ordered. Note that I am only asking if the study of nature provides enough information for this great purpose. I am not asking if reason is always an honest, faithful guide, or whether perhaps it sometimes betrays, for interested, dishonest motives, those entrusting themselves to its guidance. It may even deceive people with malice aforethought and lead them to their death. But I willingly leave that aside also, and all we hear about reason’s follies and perversions. I simply want to ask if upright reason, free from the unhappy influence of corrupt will, can gain enough knowledge from the creation to furnish us with sufficient light on our difficult journey to the great end.

This is what I would say. Knowledge available to natural reason is dependent on the limited, ephemeral things we know in nature. Our end, however, is boundless and eternal. The Creator’s goodness and generosity is such that he formed us for himself, that is, assigned as our end the blissful enjoyment of the divinity itself. So I grant that human reason, enriched with all the knowledge that comes from creation, is a sufficiently skilful guide for directing us in the order of nature. Nevertheless, it is insufficient in the supernatural order, whose object is hidden from us. God transcends the confines of the world we feel and perceive by nature.

Certainly, God is none of the objects which make up the world, nor has he any community with them nor any likeness of nature. Natural reason remains per se closed and blind to God, just as it would remain closed and blind to what is in the world unless it were given to the senses, and to our feeling, by God’s free will.
Whatever the development and progress of human reason, it can never show us the way we should travel to God, who always remains totally unknown and hidden.

The will of the Father is Jesus’ only guide

And that, dear brothers, is why Jesus Christ, the type of the perfect man, did not say that he had taken reason as his rule of life though he possessed it perfectly. Instead, as he clearly states about himself, I came down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him that sent me (Jn 6: 38); My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, that I may perfect his work. (Jn 4: 34). This was the example the great Teacher of mankind set before us.
This is the rule which we find in every aspect of Christ’s life. It is also the rule of conduct for each of his disciples, and more especially for those consecrated to God in religion. It is the highest, most complete, most secure rule which satisfies every need and answers every doubt. It is the rule of that supernatural perfection of which Christ is not simply the idea or concept, but the subsistent, living type.

Yes, everything was supernatural in Christ; his food was supernatural, his life was supernatural, miraculous, theandric. In him, the will of human nature yields control to the will of the divine person. Because I came down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him that sent me (Jn 6: 38); My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will (Matt 26: 39); Father, if you will, remove this chalice from me; but yet not my will, but yours be done (Lk 22: 42).
Not my will: this was the will of human nature, of human reason, because the will tends to the object presented by reason.
But yours be done: this was the will of the divine nature, of the divine person. The object of the divine will conquered and overcame that of human reason, despite the perfection of the object of human reason in Christ. Hence the opposition between the two wills, human and divine, that is, the struggle between finite and infinite in which the human will cedes and, by its very submission and annihilation, attains true greatness, sublimeness and triumph. God’s infinite will and reason, within which lies our end, are an abyss of wisdom impenetrable to the human intellect.

God’s counsels contain unfathomable secrets about humanity. Our nature is incapable of scrutinising them. It cannot sanely presume to ask the infinite Being who created it why he wanted to do this. His reasons transcend human intelligence; they can be gauged only by divine intelligence. It is sufficient for us to know the will of him who formed us. Nothing more is required: it is the will of God. All investigation comes to a halt at these words. This will is itself the final reason for human activity; it is the fulfillment of all human wisdom, the star of human life ‘which leads straight on…’.

Insufficiency of reason even in the natural order

So far, brothers, we have assumed that reason could be a sufficient and faithful guide, at least in the natural order. Is this correct? We do indeed seek natural happiness in the natural order of things, but it cannot be achieved by following reason. Knowledge and prudence do not enable us to reach happiness. It is not even within the power of individuals to use their reason to reach happiness. As we have seen, reason, untutored as it is by nature, has insufficient understanding to provide us with counsel or direction.

In many people, intelligence is weak, sluggish and darkened. It remains untutored, without opportunity for education, either because others are negligent or because material needs leave no time for developing our noblest faculties. Things like this, which prevent the greater part of mankind from acquiring any notable degree of knowledge, cannot be foreseen or thought-out beforehand, or prevented. They are entirely in the hands of the most secret providence of God, who created and rules the world.
We have a choice, therefore. We either find in the providence of our Creator the surety and guarantee of our happiness or we have no hope of finding it. Nothing that we possess — reason, knowledge, power, or anything else — can furnish the surety we seek.

But Almighty God himself offers us the solid support of his infallible providence. He assures us that providence works for us provided we trust and believe in it, provided we abandon ourselves to it faithfully. He said to Abraham: Fear not, Abram, I am your protector, and your reward exceeding great (Gen 15: 1). The Scriptures are full of such consolation, especially when Christ is speaking to his disciples. So let us with generous hearts take as our guide God’s most sure providence, and the holy will that indicates and fulfils it.
That is why, dear brothers, the Institute of Charity chooses providence itself and the Will of God as its very own teacher and leader, not naked human reason.

Reason can only conjecture

This becomes even clearer when we realise that no degree of natural knowledge is sufficient to ensure our natural happiness or supernatural good — even if we were certain that we had the opportunity, the means and the rare degree of understanding needed to attain it. Knowledge, even of the finite universe, is unfathomable. How could any individual reach the final conclusions to such knowledge if the whole of mankind can only distil it drop by drop as centuries go by? And the more we endeavour to tease it out, the more we see how awkward our efforts are, how great our ignorance and how marvellous the transcendent greatness of God’s work in created nature, which we see sown with mysteries and enveloped by a kind of infinity that covers and veils the finite itself.

How can wise human beings trust sufficiently in their own learning for direction towards happiness in harmony with nature if nature shows them only a glimpse of itself? The truth of Scripture, in fact, becomes ever more clear: God has made everything beautiful in its time; also he has put eternity into man’s mind, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end (Eccl 3: 11).
Human prudence, depending solely on conjecture, provides no certainty or security about the end we set ourselves; it even becomes God’s enemy when it decides to set him aside and proceed independently. It clashes with God who has said clearly enough: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; and the prudence of the prudent I will reject (1 Cor 1: 19).

No one, surely, imagines that he can know the course of this immense universe sufficiently well to foresee all future causes and events, or to be confident of the outcome of his plans without giving a thought to the will of the One who governs all things wisely? No one is master of his own life; no one can add a day or even an hour to his life. No one can rely on tomorrow, or assure himself of life to put into practice his wide-ranging designs. He may be dead a minute after telling himself how well things are going!

Dependence upon a supreme will amongst pagans

Mankind, in all ages of its existence, has felt the insufficiency of reason, however well-instructed it may have been. It is conscious also of its weakness, and its inability to secure even earthly happiness.
We move on without knowing our destination; we work things out, we busy ourselves with one thing or another, but we are oblivious to whether our plans will succeed — or achieve exactly the opposite of what we intended.
Perhaps mankind never felt itself more utterly dependent upon the supreme, absolute, ineluctable will than in the period when, separated from God and almost totally out of touch with heavenly light, it was left to itself and lived in superstitious idolatry. An irresistible instinct forced mankind to trust in the existence of higher, mysterious powers, which it called upon and consulted about its own future. Over and above its innumerable divinities, the human race feared the inexorable necessity of Fate, against which the strength of heroes, the foresight of sages, the boldness and pride of tyrants were as nothing. The demi-gods and the gods themselves bowed down before the Fates and sought to second-guess their hidden decrees.

In the Greek tragedies it is always Fate — never human reason, or prudence, or heroism — which guides events and brings them to an unexpected conclusion. It was Fate, not valour or wisdom, that finally brought Aeneas to Italy to found Rome; it was Fate that kept him away from Italian shores for so long: multosque per annos… errabant acti fatis maria omnia circum’ [for many years…they sailed unending seas, driven by the Fates] (Aeneid 1: 31–32). For them, it was blind, inexorable, sometimes cruel and wicked Fate which did all this; for us, brothers enlightened by the light of the Redeemer, it is the most wise, inexorable, just and benign will of our God.
They were pitiable souls, seated in the darkness and shadow of death, and careful to consult Fate before adapting and submitting themselves to it. We are happy pilgrims, who can consult and interrogate the most holy, supremely good will that governs everything with the utmost love. Surely we can entrust ourselves to such a safe guide without wanting any other, and certainly without preferring our own limited vision and impotent will!
Yes, let the will of God alone be done! Let the will of God be our sole wisdom, the light to our feet, the star guiding our journey.

Lord, show yourself to us evermore clearly. Direct our faltering steps in the supernatural and natural orders — everything depends on you. And do this all the more because nature, even at its most perfect, could never satisfy itself. Human nature loves life, and abhors death; nevertheless, nothing created can make human nature immortal. Human nature loves total wisdom, but cannot penetrate the mystery of creation; and even if it could, the secrets of creation would not satisfy it. Human nature aspires to the highest, complete, infinite good, yet in itself has only a finite and continually changing good. Oh eternal, absolute Good! ‘You have created us for yourself alone, and our heart is not at rest until it rests in you’ (St. Augustine, Confessions, bk. 1, c. 1).

Almighty God is the end, the law, and the all for human beings

Our human destiny, therefore, cannot lie in the order of nature; it belongs to an infinitely superior, wholly divine order. Almighty God alone is present in this supernatural order, and communicates himself directly to us. Nature is nothing: almighty God, who is the law, is the All for humans.
Human beings raised up to the supernatural order walk in the light of the divine face. This light is God’s holiness, the essential holy will. Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect (Matt 5: 48); I and the Father are one (Jn 10: 30); Holy Father, keep them in your name whom you have given me; that they may be one, as we also are (Jn 17: 11). This is consummate justice which satisfies and beatifies human nature.

So, dear brothers, you have chosen an Institute whose members belong, as disciples of the God-man, to the supernatural order. Their profession is to live and walk in this order, this light. They recognise no other. If they were to follow any other guide or wisdom whatsoever, they would fail in their profession and in their very being.

This explains why the end of the Institute is extremely simple and perfectly one. It consists in justice, in the justice of Christ, in supernatural justice which alone is true and complete. It is the precious pearl for which we have decided to sell everything else, and renounce ourselves, renounce the natural man. It is the hidden treasure that we want to dig for in the field of this Society; it is the one thing necessary which draws us away from our multiple anxieties, unites many in divine friendship made of one heart and one soul, and renders each one, through the love of all, stronger in the love of justice.
But how is it possible to be just if the Psalmist says: I said in my excess: Every man is a liar (Ps 115: 11)? Note that I am not speaking about the justice that comes from works, but about the justice of faith. Anyone of us who says that he is without sin lies, deceived by blind pride. The natural man is a sinner. But this does not do away with the end of our union, nor frustrate the efforts we set ourselves in our pursuit of justice. For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ (Jn 1: 17).

Christ is the Truth. The law contained only an ideal which was professed, but without hope of fulfillment, by those to whom the law was given. In Christ, however, the content of the law became a fact, a reality. Thus there was no shadow of a lie in him. One jot or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled (Matt 5: 18). These are his own words.
Christ fulfilled the law in himself. Christ still fulfils it in his members, in his disciples who, like the vine, receive the sap from the branch of the vine in which they are grafted. His words dwell in them and the words that I have spoken to you, he says himself, are spirit and life (Jn 6: 63). These words, enlivening the soul, come from Jesus. And he is the propitiation for our sins, who is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity (1 Jn 1: 9).

This is reformed man, supernaturally regenerated, not man according to nature. Yes, in ourselves we are sinners, but in our Head we are just and holy as long as we keep ourselves incorporated in him. We are sinners as long as we tread the dust and mire of this earth, but there is One who continually wipes and cleans our feet for us. As St. Paul says: For this is the will of God, your sanctification (1 Thess 4: 3).

Signs of the divine will

Theologians call the law of justice given to us by the Lord ‘his signified will’. It is the first, supreme sign enabling us to understand safely what God wants from us.
This will is the rule of our actions; our conformity to it is the end for which we come together, the end for which we live. It is a delightful, extremely sure rule. Listen for a moment, dear brothers, to the promises almighty God makes to those who trust in the rule of justice, the divine will, as a guide to their actions. This is our great consolation and comfort.

Almighty God solemnly promises to be their protector. He said to Abraham: Fear not, Abram, I am your protector, and your reward exceeding great (Gen 15: 1). He promises to be their life and the length of their days: And that you may love the Lord your God . . . for he is your life, and the length of your days (Deut 30: 20). He promises that his providence, which oversees everything in the world, will work in their service: And we know that to them that love God all things work together unto good (Rom 8: 28).
He promises, therefore, that the whole of nature, from the immensity of the stars to the tiniest atoms, whose depth seems impenetrable and course inevitable, will act in favour of the just man. And in everything which is not determined by the law of God, the Almighty himself will take the just by the hand to lead him on the journey of life, strengthening him on the way until he reaches his blessed end: Wisdom . . . gave him the knowledge of the holy things, made him honourable in his labours, and accomplished his labours (Wisd 10: 10).
Thus providence itself, through the exterior events under its control, becomes the second sign of the divine will. The saints, therefore, after meditating on the divine law turn next to providential happenings in which to find the path they should take. The finger of God uses these events as unfailing guides.

You see, brothers, why your own special rules first of all tell you to follow the divine law, and then go on to command you to meditate on divine providence to which you must assent in everything. As the Apostle says: Therefore we also, from the day that we heard it, cease not to pray for you and to beg that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of God, in all things pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God (Col 1: 9–10).
This knowledge of God, so much commended in the Bible, is proper to the saints alone: he gave him the knowledge proper to holy people. It is nothing other than the intimate recognition of the divine will.
Almighty God also promises to show his kingdom to the just man, that is, the kingdom of his will. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, that is, let human creatures do the will of God on earth as the angels and saints do it in heaven.

When we do the will of God, God reigns in us: he is glorified. In heaven, the kingdom of God is complete because only the will of God rules there. All other wills obey it fully. What a power this will is! For who resists his will? (Rom 9: 19).
There is no doubt that we too shall prosper if we do the will of God. The work willed by God is certain to have a glorious end: Wisdom …made him honourable in his labours, and accomplished his labours (Wisd 10: 10). But we cannot be sure of success in what we undertake of our own will. Ignorance, presumption and rashness are the hallmarks of work undertaken in the expectation of success, but without reference to the divine will. Self-knowledge alone should be more than sufficient to dissuade us from such vanity. If God allows, we may begin, but in the end we shall either harvest nothing or be justly confounded by a shameful result.

The divine will guides us to works of charity

What is true relative to the Christian’s attitude to self, is even more true relative to our conduct towards others. Our very works of charity should be undertaken according to the indication of divine providence and the divine will. This alone assures us of the blessings we hope to have on these works. Once more, Christ is our example. He worked his wonders of charity as occasion arose and according to the desires and requests made to him by his neighbours.
This explains the commandment unfolded in the parable of the Good Samaritan, the neighbour par excellence, who did not go looking, but found someone by chance on the road.

Faith in the providence of our heavenly Father suggests this way of acting to our spirit also. Our Father has numbered the very hairs of our head. Nothing is forgotten; not even a sparrow falls to the ground without his knowledge. All good comes from him — and every defeat inflicted on evil.
Can we claim to be more loving, more kind to our brethren than our heavenly Father? Can we help others without being an instrument in his hands? And if we do consider ourselves instruments in God’s hand, as our faith teaches, can we act as instruments without his guiding hand?

Human beings, therefore, should be satisfied by allowing themselves to be impelled and controlled by the hand of God himself. Herein lies glory, and far greater good for our brethren. Even in works of charity, we should not want to be the principal agent. Let us leave the first place and the glory to God who does not forget his creatures. All our duty is reduced to listening for the word of our master and obeying, whether we are guided by a necessary precept, or the request of our needy brethren, or by the invitation of external circumstances preordained by God. Otherwise, if we interfere of our own will and through some all too human impulse in matters and business which appear charitable and perhaps are not (or are not for us), we may finish by harming ourselves rather than helping our brethren. We fail to observe Christ’s commandment: Beware of men (Matt 10: 17), or that of the Apostle: Take heed to yourself (1 Tim 4: 16). We forget ourselves, neglecting the salvation of our own souls, deceived by a false zeal in doing good to others. Preaching to others, we ourselves become castaways.

The vocation of the Institute: the exercise of universal charity

Brothers, there have been holy men and women in the Church of God who, moved and inspired by the Lord, applied themselves exclusively to a single work of charity and founded congregations for that very purpose. Camillus de Lellis, for example, consecrated his followers to the spiritual assistance of the sick and the dying; John of God to their corporal assistance; Peter Nolasco, Raymond of Penafort, Felix de Valois assembled a wonderful group dedicated to the redemption of captives. In fact, almost every religious community has chosen to fulfil some heroic work of charity.
These saints had special enlightenment from the Lord, enlightenment and stimuli not given to our Institute which cannot therefore predetermine the works of Christian charity to which the Lord may destine it. For the same reason, it cannot exclude any work.

It must be content with the riches found in the Lord’s precept, and make its own the command common to all Christians: This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you (Jn 15: 12). Because no special work is defined here, the commandment contains them all virtually. The Institute of Charity must therefore be disposed to do everything and prepared to bear everything when the will of God is made clear in individual circumstances.
The Institute’s special perfection consists in its lack of any special perfection. Its sole desire is that God’s grace render it excellent and even sublime in the perfection of charity set before all the disciples of the Redeemer.

So, each of us who professes this rule must follow every movement of the Lord and keep his ear open for every indication that the Lord deigns to impart. We move according to the voice of the Lord; following the indications of his all-wise providence in the exercise of charity (the common norm for all), this becomes our very own particular obligation.
This plan or rule, which directs all works of charity, is much more necessary in works of spiritual charity. Human nature is even less capable here, I would say, than in other works. The conversion of the heart is the work of God alone.

If we then go on to consider the priestly or pastoral ministry, we see that a special calling and divine mission is needed. Neither does any man take the honour to himself, but he that is called by God, as Aaron was (Heb 5: 4). No one can take such a sublime mission for himself without meriting God’s reproof to false prophets: I did not send prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied (Jer 23: 21).

The Hebrew people in the wilderness

Every movement of ours, brothers, must depend on God. Our zeal, our glory consists in being ready and generous to march at the first hint from our Captain. This is good and true, of course, for every individual, but much more necessary for the entire body of a religious society which, as I said at the beginning of this talk, represents a chosen army of the Lord.
The unity of an army principally consists in the unity of the leader and his command; our leader is God, and his command alone gives order and strength to our ranks.
Look at the great numbers and marvellous order of the people of God! Six hundred thousand warriors, three million faithful distributed in twelve camps, all living in thousands of tents, yet arranged with wonderful symmetry in an immense desert. They travel, they rest, their soldiers are drawn up, they fight and conquer as one man. What a sight it is! What order! What irresistible power!

How do we account for the lack of confusion and orderliness of the march? Blessed are you, Israel. Who is like to you, O people, who are saved by the Lord? (Deut 33: 29). In the middle of the encampment of the twelve tribes stands the magnificent tabernacle of the Lord. There he speaks to Moses and Aaron from the Mercy Seat. This is the centre of the whole encampment, and explains its beautiful unity, the harmony of its parts, the marvellous order in the whole.
The divine will is in the midst of the people whose simple, secure rule it is on all their marches. Now on the day that the tabernacle was reared up, a cloud covered it. But from the evening there was over the tabernacle, as it were, the appearance of fire until the morning…And when the cloud that covered the tabernacle was taken up, then the children of Israel marched forward: and in the place where the cloud stood still, there they camped (Num 9: 15, 17).
That cloud was the Lord; it was his angel, his representative before Israel. At the commandment of the Lord they marched, and at his commandment they pitched the tabernacle. All the days that the cloud abode over the tabernacle, they remained in the same place (Num 9: 18).

The sacred author is not content with one mention of this incomparable law which governed the people on their march. He repeats it several times, insists upon it and explains it… for as many days soever as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle. At the commandment of the Lord they pitched their tents: and at his commandment they took them down (Num 9: 20). He mentions it a third time: By the word of the Lord they pitched their tents, and by his word they marched: and kept the watches of the Lord according to his commandment by the hand of Moses (Num 9: 23). He wants us to understand the importance, greatness and beauty of the movement of an entire people at the command of the Lord. It is not human will but the will of God alone which either moves them or holds them in camp.

The happiness and laboriousness of the hidden, contemplative life

Be careful, brothers. Moses had no doubt that pitching camp, when it was God’s will, was as important as marching. His description of the people at rest when they have no word from the Lord is on a par with what he says about their instant reaction when they are told to march. At the commandment of the Lord they marched, and at his commandment they pitched the tabernacle. All the days that the cloud abode over the tabernacle, they remained in the same place . . . For as many days soever as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle (Num 9: 18, 20). The cloud at rest and the peaceful encampments of the Israelites, even for lengthy periods, is surely, dear brothers, a living image of the hidden, contemplative life so much recommended by our rules. How great the peace and the quiet of this life in which Christ himself spent thirty years!

Amongst the Israelites no one dares to move rashly and impatiently before he sees movement in the column of cloud, dense by day and aflame at night. This cloud is their sure guide in prosperity and adversity, in easy and difficult matters. They did not set out as long as the cloud remained over the tabernacle.
What did the children of Israel do during these occasional long waits of theirs? They kept the watches of the Lord according to his commandment by the hand of Moses (Num 9: 23). They watched to see if the cloud would move; if it did, they moved. They stood like sentries, like guards, around the tabernacle of the Lord, as Scripture says. They were alert lest they missed a syllable of his voice.

And this is the attitude to be taken by the religious when, not yet sent by the Lord, he still lives his quiet, hidden life of contemplation. He prays, meditates on the divine law, and prepares for himself through study the things he needs for the journey which the Lord may require of him at any moment. He does not lose a minute; he uses all his time in reading, meditating, writing, praising and exalting the Lord, and in keeping his ears open for the slightest sound of his voice.

God’s will made clear by means of superiors

How meritorious and pleasing to God these holy activities are! So, brothers, I urge you to love this full, holy way of life. You must watch and pray and be ready to hear the Lord’s voice if he calls through the voice of superiors who are the angels representing him for you. Be ready always to get up and march at the first call. Go forward joyfully and courageously. You cannot fail: march without hesitation.
If the cloud tarried from evening until morning, and immediately at break of day left the tabernacle, they marched forward. And if it departed after a day and a night, they took down their tents. But if it remained over the tabernacle for two days, or a month, or a longer time, the children of Israel remained in the same place, and marched not. But immediately as soon as it departed, they removed the camp (Num 9: 21–22). Listen how carefully the inspired legislator minutely describes the practice of this great commandment which ordered the way the holy people marched and encamped. What instruction for us!

Yet the sacred author goes further. He tells us that obedience to the Lord’s representative on earth was the channel of communication between the divine will and the people. He had already shown how the cloud in which the Lord (that is, his representative, the angel) lived was indicative of the Lord’s will. But the sacred text tells us the same thing about Moses when it says: At the command of the Lord by Moses.
Brothers, your angel, your Moses, by whom the command of the Lord is communicated to you is first of all the Roman Pontiff, and then the other superiors in hierarchical order. These have their power of governing from the Pontiff. Let me repeat, therefore, those memorable words: At the command of the Lord they encamped, and at the command of the Lord they set out; they kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by Moses.

Jesus Christ, our guide, our strength and power and life

Word of the Lord! Word of God! Lead this tiny army of yours, this nascent people, whom you have inspired with the desire to abandon the Egypt of this world, and strengthened with the wisdom to leave it. You yourself —no other — come with us and direct all our steps; tell us when to halt and when to march; make us rest and walk with you.
When you rest in our midst, we shall rest, watching in prayer, studying your words and the desires of your will. When you set out in our midst, we shall set out with you, fearless under your protection and guide.
Word of God, when you command us to be quiet, help us yourself to love and choose what you command; when you command us to rise and march, make us ready and strong, and resilient for the fatigue of the journey. It is not enough for you to tell us what to do and show us your will, as you did for the Hebrew people. We expect more from you. You must do in us all that you tell us, all that you show and command us. If not, you will complain about us as you complained about your people of old, and perhaps complain more strongly still: For forty years I was near this generation, and I said: ‘They always err in their heart’.

You cannot expect more from us, but we expect much more from you. You are not only the word of the law, that is, the way by which we have to travel; you are also the truth which fulfils the law and the life which rewards its fulfilment. You are not the ancient column of dark and shining cloud, but the Word made our flesh for love of us. This is why we are bold enough to come to you as one of us. We promise you great things because we expect them from you.
Yes, you must carry out your own commands in us, and we shall fulfil them with you.
We choose you today. These sons of yours are here to choose you as their guide indeed, but also as the strength and power and life of their souls. They want to rest and walk with you and by means of you, and be your members who draw life from you, their Head, for ever and ever.