Difficulties in St Raphael’s work

I have intentionally left to the end mentioning the difficulties (other than financial) that you will encounter in this marvellous task. Even good people will be opposed to your work: discipuli autem increpabant eos (Matt 19:13).¹⁷ When children were brought to Jesus, the disciples did what they could to prevent them, and Our Lord had to insist and say: sinite parvulos et nolite eos prohibere ad me venire;¹⁸ let them come.

Labels change

There are some people who, from the start, will label you however they want. That will be a lesson for you not to put a label on anyone. Labels change, for as time goes by what seemed worthless turns out to be a treasure. Perhaps more than once you will experience what I did, when all I had was my youthfulness and good humour: I prayed and, I’m not ashamed to say it, I wept.

Fruitfulness of adversity

But when we bear adversity out of love for God, it always produces fruit: quando orabas cum lacrimis... ego obtuli orationem tuam Domino (Tob 12:12); when you prayed in tears, the Archangel Rafael tells Tobias, I presented your prayer to the Lord. In those moments the supernatural meaning of our dedication becomes more real, because we experience in our flesh and in our heart the offering that we have made of our lives to God, which rises up to him in odorem suavitatis (Eph 5:2), as a fragrant offering.