“Follow the Lamb wherever he goes” (Rev 14, 4), how is this possible? Linked to Christ, explains Edith Stein, who became Saint Benedict of the Cross, Christian love knows no bounds of time and space.
God is almighty and He loves us. Therefore, a Christian has the right to ask Him… the impossible! “You cannot refuse me since You have both the Power and the Will! can exclaim the prayer leader. It is still necessary that the object of the request be compatible with charity, which is the decisive criterion for judging the merits of a prayer. In the event that a person asks God for the gift of ubiquity, can the Almighty grant his request? Yes, but on condition that she is motivated by the desire to help her brothers and sisters in need. In fact, only God is present everywhere at the same time. This is the definition of ubiquity. How could we acquire this gift in our turn, we who are so limited? Quite simply by uniting ourselves to Him! The logic is unstoppable: by being one with the One who is present in several places at the same time, I benefit in return from the same gift of ubiquity!
A love that desires to be on all fronts
Such is the intuition that certain saints of Carmel have had. Why them? Perhaps because their father was the prophet Elijah, the most radical and zealous of the Old Covenant saints, and the only one among them who did not know death (along with Enoch) (2 R, 2, 11). Thus we see Thérèse of Lisieux desire to be at the same time missionary, martyr, confessor of the faith, priest, in short, to be everything and everywhere, before understanding that this multifaceted vocation will be actualized in the Love which is the heart of all the states of life and all the missions. Another saint of Carmel will theorize this ubiquity of the soul when she is united to her divine Spouse, Jesus Christ: it is Edith Stein, Benedict of the Cross in religion. Let’s listen to her talk about this spiritual ubiquity:
“Do you hear the groan of the wounded on all the battlefields from West to East? You are neither a doctor nor a nurse and you cannot heal their wounds. You’re locked in your cell and you can’t reach them. Do you hear the cry of anguish of the dying? You would like to be a priest and help them. Are you moved by the plight of widows and orphans? You would like to be a consoling angel and come to their aid. Look up to the Crucified. If you are his wife, in the faithful observance of your vows, his precious blood will also be yours. Linked to him, you will be present everywhere, as he is too. Not here or there, like the doctor, the nurse or the priest, but on all fronts, in every place of desolation — present, in the strength of the Cross. Your compassionate love, the love that comes from the divine Heart, will carry you everywhere, and everywhere will shed its precious blood — which soothes, which heals, which saves. » (Exaltation of the CrossSeptember 14, 1939.)
A requirement of the love that Christ has transfused to us
It is not necessary to be religious or nun to be united to the Heart of Christ in order to move on the wings of the Spirit and “follow the Lamb wherever he goes” (Rev 14, 5). Nor is it a mystical exaggeration. In the Apostolic Constitution Sponsa Christi (1950), Pius XII affirmed that “all nuns must know well that their vocation is fully and completely apostolic, without limits of places, times or thingsthatit extends everywhere and always to everything that concerns, in one way or another, the honor of their Spouse or the salvation of souls”.
Thus, acquiring this gift of ubiquity according to the Christian faith does not result from a desire for omnipotence but stems from a requirement of love which, as it grows, desires to extend its benefits to the maximum number of people around self. The Love that Christ taught us, better still, that he caused to flow in our spiritual veins, is insatiable and knows no rest! With Jesus, I can be present on all continents, and my prayer can relate as much to a young Colombian as to an old Pakistani, a Russian couple or even to peace in a particular region of the world. At the same time, I can pray to hasten the accession to Paradise of a person who died a century ago. In the Spirit of Jesus, I fly over time and space! A privilege to use without moderation!
The gift of spiritual ubiquity, a privilege to use without moderation!