Elija Mission

After having devoted two previous meditations to reflecting on the evangelical counsel of chastity, today I would like to address some general aspects of spiritual obedience, which is so important for all of us in imitating Christ. I hope that this reflection will help us appreciate spiritual obedience a little more.

The Latin word oboedire, from which “to obey” is derived, includes the verb audire, which means “to listen.” Therefore, obedience is related to attentive listening—that is, to hearing correctly and giving our full attention to the One who is speaking to us.

When God communicated His commandments to the People of Israel through Moses, He began by saying: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord” (Dt 6:4).

In Reflexion

THE LIVE OF THE SAINTS: “Saints Faustino and Jovita, martyrs”

Elija15th February 202613th February 2026

Heb 10:32–38

But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.For you had compassion on the prisoners, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that you may do the will of God and receive what is promised. “For yet a little while, and the coming one shall come and shall not tarry; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”

In Reflexion

Chastity as guardian of the soul’s original beauty

Elija14th February 202612th February 2026

We continue yesterday’s reflection on the virtue of chastity.

In an age marked by constant sensory overload, everyone must be extremely vigilant in order to protect the virtue of chastity—both externally and internally.

Scripture reminds us that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit:

“Shun immorality. Every other sin which a man commits is outside the body; but the immoral man sins against his own body.Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Cor 6:20)

We glorify God in our bodies when we live in chastity and serve God in this way.

In Biblical Meditations

Observe admonitions

Elija12th February 202610th February 2026

1 Kgs 11:4-13

When Solomon grew old his wives swayed his heart to other gods; and his heart was not wholly with Yahweh his God as his father David’s had been. Solomon became a follower of Astarte, the goddess of the Sidonians, and of Milcom, the Ammonite abomination. He did what was displeasing to Yahweh, and was not a wholehearted follower of Yahweh, as his father David had been. Then it was that Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, on the mountain to the east of Jerusalem, and to Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who offered incense and sacrifice to their gods. Yahweh was angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from Yahweh, God of Israel, who had twice appeared to him and had forbidden him to follow other gods; but he did not carry out Yahweh’s order. Yahweh therefore said to Solomon, ‘Since you have behaved like this and have not kept my covenant or the laws which I laid down for you, I shall tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your servants. For your father David’s sake, however, I shall not do this during your lifetime, but shall tear it out of your son’s hands. Even so, I shall not tear the whole kingdom from him. For the sake of my servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen, I shall leave your son one tribe.’ Read More

In Biblical Meditations

Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes: “A great portent appeared in heaven”

Elija11th February 20269th February 2026

Rev 11:19;12:1,10

God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. Read More

In Biblical Meditations

Memorial of Saint Scholastica: The primacy of contemplation

Elija10th February 20269th February 2026

Lk 10:38-42

‘In the course of their journey he came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha, who was distracted with all the serving, came to him and said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me. ‘But the Lord answered, ‘Martha, Martha,’ he said, ‘you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part, and it is not to be taken from her.’

In Biblical Meditations

Salt of the earth, light of the world

Elija9th February 20268th February 2026

Note: According to the traditional liturgical calendar, today is the feast day of Saint Cyril of Alexandria. In his honour, the following Gospel is read, which we will meditate on today.

Mt 5:13-16

You are salt for the earth. But if salt loses its taste, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled under people’s feet. You are light for the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine in people’s sight, so that, seeing your good works, they may give praise to your Father in heaven.

In Biblical Meditations

The fruit of God’s Word

Elija8th February 20266th February 2026

Note: According to the traditional liturgical calendar, today is Sexagesima Sunday, in preparation for the imminent beginning of Lent. We will reflect on the Gospel chosen by the Church for this occasion. Those who would prefer a meditation on the reading or the Gospel according to the new liturgical calendar can find the corresponding links at the end of the text.

Lk 8:4-15

When a great crowd came together and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold.”

In Reflexion

Saint Theodore of Heraclea: the Dragon Slayer

Elija7th February 20265th February 2026

How rich are the stories of the saints, which introduce us to people who lived their faith to the utmost and followed Our Lord with total conviction! Undoubtedly, many of them show us a radicalism that could frighten us. As Saint Francis de Sales said, some saints are more to be admired than imitated. However, there is something we must always keep in mind—and something each of them would attest to: it was the grace of our Heavenly Father that enabled them to do extraordinary things. Whether they were tireless missionaries who spared no effort to proclaim the Gospel to the ends of the earth, saints who practiced works of mercy to the point of total self‑denial, or monks who lived the monastic life with great discipline and asceticism and contributed to the building up of the Church.

But we cannot forget the many others who, in a more discreet but no less fruitful way, served God in the heroic fulfillment of their duties. It was always the holy presence of the Lord that shaped and sanctified them. In this sense, the life of each saint is also a message from Christ addressed to us, exhorting us to follow the path that God has laid out for us and encouraging us to respond to the universal call to holiness.

In Biblical Meditations

The victory of faith and love

Elija6th February 20264th February 2026

The Church is rich in missionaries and martyrs in whom the victory of faith and love was accomplished. This is true of the Japanese blood witnesses Paul Miki and his companions, whose memorial day we celebrate today.

In 1542-1543 the Portuguese had discovered Japan and in 1549 St. Francis Xavier had begun his missionary work there. Thus, in 1590 there were approximately half a million Christians in Japan.

The initially tolerant Japanese ruler increasingly turned against Christianity and in 1596 arrested twenty-six Christians in Osaka: 3 Japanese Jesuits, 6 Spanish Franciscans, among them Peter Baptist, and 17 Japanese Franciscan Tertiaries, i.e. lay people who belonged to the Third Order of St. Francis, including 3 altar boys aged 12 to 14.