In God’s Hands: The Spiritual Diaries of Pope St John Paul II. Литагент HarperCollins USD

      Adoration: The glorification of the One who is ‘Primogenitus omnis creaturae … in Quo omnia constant …’ [‘the Firstborn of all creation … in Him all things hold together …’].⁸ The fixing of our eyes on Him will entirely revise our attitude to creatures and help us leave the limiting perspectives of the triple concupiscence, and enter into God’s perspective.

      Reading: Gilson, ‘The concept of God in the philosophy of St Thomas Aquinas’;⁹ ‘The Implementation of the Council and the diocesan structures’ (cont.)

      The Way of the Cross (according to the psalms); Rosary

      Prandium [lunch]

      Meditation 4: In the light of the reflection on the triple concupiscence – self-reflection and inner judgement.

      (a)‘the meaning that the Lord God will give to me’ – trust, a desire to serve, but … restlessness

      (b) once again the judgement of conduct (experimentum) in se and quoad alios [in oneself and in relation to others]

      (c) the implementation of the ‘Church of the poor’, how to work for it?

      (By the way, matters such as the evaluation of character: reflexivity, complementarity, the question of ‘personality’, etc.)

      Matins of the following day (memorial of St Clare); Rosary (of the day); Penitential psalms

      Imploratur sinceritas conscientiae et rectum de omnibus iudicium (de Dom. XI: … ut dimittas, quae conscientia metuit, et adicias, quod oratio non praesumit) [Prayer for honest conscience and right judgement on everything (from the eleventh Sunday: … pour forth your mercy upon us, so that you set aside those things which our conscience fears, and apply what our prayer dares not)]¹⁰

      Veni S. Spiritus [Come, Holy Spirit]; Compline

       12 August: Memorial of St Clare

      Morning intentions; Lauds; Prime; Holy Mass; Thanksgiving (Rosary)

      Reading: (S. Congr. pro Clericis respons. [Response from the Congregation for the Clergy])

      Meditation 5: God – the world. Love is of God; lust is of the ‘world’. Love refers to the relation with ‘bonum in se’ [good in itself] of every single thing, and the situating of it in its true order of ends and needs. Lust changes this order into an order of pure ‘usefulness’ (utility) and in this way diminishes ‘bonum in se’ (value) of the human being and every created thing. It is against this background that the work of salvation undertaken by the Church as the work of God can be explained. Salvation consists in the bringing of love into the ‘world’. Because, if only lust remained in the world and in the creation, then the world, and man in it, would be doomed to a kind of ‘self-destruction’ of value – their own value, the value of all creatures.

      This tension on the one hand, and the work of salvation on the other, constitute the deepest principle of conjunction: the Church and the world.

      Salvation is the work of God carried out by the Man who was the Son of God, that is, by Christ. The fact that Christ was a prophet, priest and king is not only a historical accumulation of attributes and functions, but it also points to the relevant aspects and characteristics of the work of salvation. And this is why these characteristics still have to abide in the Church as the people of God, since it is the sign and the sacrament of the salvation of the ‘world’ (above all, the salvation of humankind).

      Prophecy is the expression of God’s truth. It is the truth about God Himself and about creation. The ‘axiological’ truth which defines values. The work of salvation is based on this truth; thanks to it, the work of salvation can introduce love and overcome lust in the world.

      Priesthood is the returning (the offering in sacrifice) of all that is created to the Creator. It also involves a double ‘prophetic’ function – revealing the relationship of values: God – creation, and bringing all the passing values closer to the eternal value, and all creation, above all man, to God. Priesthood has an eschatological sense.

      Kingship comes from this service to God, and it is the inner order in man, that is, self-control; and it is the reign over the world of creatures through man.

      These three features of the work of salvation are at the same time – in man – the features of the living faith.

      (Prophecy = knowledge; priesthood = the consecration of oneself to God; kingship = deeds that follow from this.)

      The work of salvation has its meaning and ‘eschatological’ direction: It consists in the final union with God, but it also has a ‘cosmological’ meaning and direction, since it is the ‘salvation of the world’. Besides, the former meaning and direction is realised through the latter.

      Adoration: All this predisposes one to glorify the Eucharistic Saviour ever more passionately, and this glorification is connected to a petition to take part in His work in as fruitful a way as possible.

      lunch

      Reading: Fr Kamiński, Methodological questions relating to the philosophy of God;¹¹ ‘The Implementation of the Council and the diocesan structures’ cont.

      Rosary

      Meditation 6: (Re-evaluation of all the recent and, in a way, all previous retreats.)

      I see my task as participating in the work of salvation, and this task consists in the implementation of aspects of this work both in myself and in other people. In other people – in a different way than I used to, when I could do it in a direct way (direct priesthood). Today it needs to be done in a more indirect way (with exceptions), but also with a broader scope. Here a reference to certain specific matters (‘community’). One needs to take care and learn to do it effectively, and to act in the right direction, to work together with others who do it in the best spirit.

      And here my thoughts turn to Mary. ‘The Work of redemption’ began with ‘Totus Tuus’ [‘Entirely Yours’] – from the 1962 retreat.¹² At this stage of my participation in the work of salvation, and in these circumstances and in the face of these tasks, I need to repeat this. To find the way, solutions, patience, resilience, courage and unity in the principle of ‘Totus Tuus’.

      The Lord Jesus hid His Mother in His work – but He hid Her in such a way that everyone who really wishes to take part in it can find Her.

      The Way of the Cross (prayer of the heart); Matins of the following day