Showing all posts by Elija

In 3 Minutes for God the Father

“THE GRACE OF RETURN”  

Author ElijaPosted on

“To depart from You is to die; to return to You is to rise; to dwell with You is to live.” (St. Augustine)

Our spiritual life dies when we stray from the path with God and turn once more to the promises of this world. The life of grace that has always sustained us begins to fade from our souls. The immediate, tender, and natural closeness of God—which gives true meaning to life—wanes. This is also true, to a certain extent, when we have been given a calling by our Father that we neglect and then lose. The grace‑filled surge we received through the call of our heavenly Father weakens, and even if we remain faithful to the commandments in the rest of our lives, something unfulfilled still remains in the soul!

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In Biblical Meditations

Resistance against evil  

Author ElijaPosted on

Lk 4:31-37

In those days, Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath. And his teaching made a deep impression on them because his word carried authority. In the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean devil, and he shouted at the top of his voice, ‘Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus rebuked it, saying, ‘Be quiet! Come out of him!’ And the devil, throwing the man into the middle, went out of him without hurting him at all. Astonishment seized them and they were all saying to one another, ‘What is it in his words? He gives orders to unclean spirits with authority and power and they come out.’ And the news of him travelled all through the surrounding countryside. Read More

In 3 Minutes for God the Father

“WHEN YOU LOOK UPON ME”

Author ElijaPosted on

“My existence remains hidden from me until You look upon me. Then my darkness becomes as bright as midday.” (St. Augustine)

Only when the Father looks upon us do we grasp our true purpose as human beings. It is just as St. Augustine describes.

As long as we are unaware of this gaze, we search for our identity in all sorts of ways, piecing together an image of ourselves instead of allowing it to unfold organically according to God’s will.

Who are we? What are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going?

Our Father’s loving gaze awakens us to true life: we must simply allow this gaze to rest upon us, let our Father’s “YES” to our existence gently penetrate us, surrender our fear of life and our uncertainty to God, and trustingly sink into His loving gaze. In this way, we will be able to understand ever more deeply the words of the Father, which He wishes to bring so close to our hearts through the “Father’s Little Book.”

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In Biblical Meditations

The Lord in Nazareth  

Author ElijaPosted on

Lk 4:16-30

He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read, and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written: The spirit of the Lord is on me, for he has anointed me to bring the good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives, sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord. He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to speak to them, ‘This text is being fulfilled today even while you are listening.’ And he won the approval of all, and they were astonished by the gracious words that came from his lips. They said, ‘This is Joseph’s son, surely?’ But he replied, ‘No doubt you will quote me the saying, “Physician, heal yourself,” and tell me, “We have heard all that happened in Capernaum, do the same here in your own country.” ‘And he went on, ‘In truth I tell you, no prophet is ever accepted in his own country.

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In Biblical Meditations

Carefree in the Love of God  

Author ElijaPosted on

Today we will hear the Gospel for the 14th Sunday after Pentecost, according to the traditional calendar.

Mt 6:24-33

‘No one can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or be attached to the first and despise the second. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money. ‘That is why I am telling you not to worry about your life and what you are to eat, nor about your body and what you are to wear. Surely life is more than food, and the body more than clothing! Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they are? Can any of you, however much you worry, add one single cubit to your span of life? And why worry about clothing? Think of the flowers growing in the fields; they never have to work or spin; yet I assure you that not even Solomon in all his royal robes was clothed like one of these. Now if that is how God clothes the wild flowers growing in the field which are there today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will he not much more look after you, you who have so little faith? So do not worry; do not say, “What are we to eat? What are we to drink? What are we to wear?” It is the gentiles who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on God’s saving justice, and all these other things will be given you as well.’

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In 3 Minutes for God the Father

“SNATCHING THE PREY FROM THE DARKNESS”

Author ElijaPosted on

“But now I am giving you this light. Remain in the light and bring it to everybody, and it will be a powerful means both to obtain conversions and to shut, if possible, the gates of hell.” (From the message of God the Father to Mother Eugenia Ravasio).

The light our Father speaks of is the revelation He gave to Mother Eugenia. Therefore, let us all take it to heart to read this little book again and again, for it will have a profound effect on us when we allow our Father’s words to take root within us.

As we reflected previously, the Lord wishes to communicate with us in this way so that we may understand His love for us more deeply. It is the light in which we are to walk. If we follow God’s invitation and live in an intimate, trusting relationship with Him—that is, if we remain in His light day by day—our Father promises that we can bring about many conversions.

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In 3 Minutes for God the Father

“OUR FATHER WANTS TO PURIFY OUR LOVE FOR HIM”  

Author ElijaPosted on

“I am coming to proclaim Myself the Father of all and the most tender of fathers, in order to transform your love, which has become distorted by fear.” (Message from God the Father to Sister Eugenia Ravasio).

Our love for our heavenly Father should come from a free and trusting heart. Perhaps in the past, the preaching in our church sometimes placed too much emphasis on the consequences of a sinful life. This can allow fear to take root in our relationship with God, making it difficult to see God’s true image and even distorting it. The Little Book of the Father repeatedly references this, as does today’s text. The sentence above is immediately preceded by the Father’s emphasis that missionaries speak of God as far as they know Him, and adds: “But I assure you, you do not know Me as I am.”

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In Biblical Meditations

Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist  

Author ElijaPosted on

Given the current circumstances of the mission, we sometimes revisit a meditation from not too long ago. Today’s address on the martyrdom of John the Baptist in 2025 is worth listening to again!

Jer 1:17-19

Reading corresponding to the memorial of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist

In those days, I received this word from the Lord: Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak to them all that I command thee. Be not afraid at their presence: for I will make thee not to fear their countenance.  For behold I have made thee this day a fortified city, and a pillar of iron, and a wall of brass, over all the land, to the kings of Juda, to the princes thereof, and to the priests, and to the people of the land.  And they shall fight against thee, and shall not prevail: for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee. Read More

In Reflexion

A true conversion  

Author ElijaPosted on

Although the Augustinians have their own feast day commemorating the conversion of Saint Augustine, his feast day is a good reason to reflect on his profound conversion. Much like the conversion of Saint Paul, it is a story that never loses its power. That is why we will let Augustine speak for himself today.

St. Augustine had to travel a long way with many struggles. One thing that was particularly difficult for him was to overcome the appetites of the flesh. We will now listen to a passage from Book Eight of Augustine’s Confessions, which gives us a moving insight into the decisive moment of his conversion:

“The very toys of toys, and vanities of vanities, my old mistresses, still enthralled me; they shook my fleshly garment, and whispered softly, do you part with us? And from that moment shall we no more be with you for ever? And from that moment shall not this or that be lawful for you for ever? And what did they suggest to me in the words this or that? What is it that they suggested, O my God? Let Your mercy avert it from the soul of Your servant. What impurities did they suggest!  (…)

Yet they did delay me, so that I hesitated to burst and shake myself free from them, and to leap over whither I was called — an unruly habit saying to me, do you think you can live without them? (…)

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