I AM THE HOLY ONE IN YOUR MIDST

86th Meditation on God the Father

“I will not give rein to my fierce anger, I will not destroy Ephraim again, for I am God, not man, the Holy One in your midst, and I shall not come to you in anger” (Hos 11:9).

Undoubtedly many acts committed by man attract the wrath of God, for He is merciful but also just. Let us remember, for example, how Jesus expelled the merchants from the Temple (Jn 2:14-16), because they, instead of worshipping God, were doing their business in the sacred precinct, thus contributing to its profanation. Read More

True simplicity (Part II)

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As we had seen in yesterday’s meditation, our life begins to concentrate and simplify when we orient ourselves towards love and truth.

In no way can a life that focuses solely on the material preservation of existence be understood as “simplicity” and desirable. Nor is true simplicity related to a lack of intellectual aptitude, which, not understanding the deeper contents, simply takes what is most comprehensible. Read More

MY HEART RECOILS WITHIN ME

85th Meditation on God the Father

“Ephraim, how could I part with you? Israel, how could I give you up? How could I make you like Admah or treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender” (Hos 11:8).

If only we could know our Father’s heart better! Then the layer of ice around our heart would begin to melt, so that His love could penetrate it, transforming us and making us capable of loving like Him. Read More

True simplicity (Part I)

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NOTE: In today’s and tomorrow’s meditation, we will leave the usual framework of daily meditations, usually based on the reading or the Gospel of the day, to develop a theme that is very significant for our spiritual life: simplicity.

Simplicity, properly understood, is a great value. Indeed, simplicity does not mean simplifying all things and not being able to think in a differentiated way. Rather, in its essence, true simplicity means that we look at all things from God’s perspective, so that each is given its rightful place. It is the Holy Spirit who puts everything in order, both in the inner and in the outer life. Read More

The holy obedience of Mary (Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary)

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Micah 5:1-4a

Thus says the Lord: “But you (Bethlehem) Ephrathah, the least of the clans of Judah, from you will come for me a future ruler of Israel whose origins go back to the distant past, to the days of old. Hence Yahweh will abandon them only until she who is in labour gives birth, and then those who survive of his race will be reunited to the Israelites. Read More

I LEAD THEM WITH LEADING-STRINGS OF LOVE

84th Meditation on God the Father

“I lead them with human ties, with leading-strings of love. With them, I was like someone lifting an infant to his cheek, and I bent down to feed him” (Hos 11:4).

The Father uses a thousand ways to show His love to mankind. In many forms he bends down to us, and this happens most clearly in the birth of the Son of God, who came to us as a man, so that we might understand how close God wants to be to us, how precious we are to Him…. Read More

Time is short

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1 Cor 7:25-31

About people remaining virgin, I have no directions from the Lord, but I give my own opinion as a person who has been granted the Lord’s mercy to be faithful. Well then, because of the stress which is weighing upon us, the right thing seems to be this: it is good for people to stay as they are. If you are joined to a wife, do not seek to be released; if you are freed of a wife, do not look for a wife. Read More

THEY DID NOT KNOW THAT I HEALED THEM

83rd Meditation on God the Father 

“I myself taught Ephraim to walk, I myself took them by the arm, but they did not know that I healed them” (Hos 11:3).

The Father and His chosen people… What a love story with so many facets! In yesterday’s verses we heard that the more God called them, the more the children of Israel turned away from Him and turned to idols. Read More

THE LOVE OF GOD DOES NOT EXTINGUISH

82nd Meditation on God the Father

“When Israel was a child I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt. But the more I called, the further they went away from me; they offered sacrifice to Baal and burnt incense to idols” (Hos 11:1-2).

This is the drama that our Father experiences so often. It runs through the whole of human history, and it is particularly painful when it is the people of Israel who are the protagonists. The verses that follow this passage from the Prophet Hosea show us how tenderly God calls His own and how He is always ready to forgive them. But it is with sorrow that He has to note that the more He calls them and shows them His love, the more His people turn away from Him and offend Him with their aberrations. Read More

The saints will judge the world

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1 Cor 6:1-11

Is one of you with a complaint against another so brazen as to seek judgement from sinners and not from God’s holy people? Do you not realise that the holy people of God are to be the judges of the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you not competent for petty cases? Do you not realise that we shall be the judges of angels? – then quite certainly over matters of this life. Read More