“And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this child; and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb” (Lk 2:16-21).
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THE NEED OF MEN
“I must be known, loved and honoured by men, so that, having created them, I can be their Father, then their Saviour and finally the object of their eternal delight.” (Message of the Father to Sister Eugenia Ravasio).
THE FATHER SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS SON
“At many moments in the past and by many means, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; but in our time, the final days, he has spoken to us in the person of his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom he made the ages” (Heb 1:1-2).
Seventh day of the Christmas Octave: “Creation awaits its liberation”
In our representations, the crib of Bethlehem is illuminated not only by the radiance of the Child Jesus, by the presence of Mary and Joseph, by the shepherds who hurried to meet Him, by the Magi who came from the East to offer Him their gifts and to adore Him… It has long been a tradition to include the irrational creation in the crib. The ox and the donkey are silent witnesses to the birth of the Lord. And the presence of these animals takes on a deeper meaning when we consider what St Paul says in the Letter to the Romans: Read More
DO NOT BE AFRAID OF YOUR WEAKNESS
“Do not be afraid of your weakness, I am your strength” (Inner Word).
Sixth day of the Christmas Octave: “The poverty of Jesus”
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.” (2 Cor 8:9)
A poverty that enriches us” is how we could describe the event of the Nativity.
God is not afraid to make Himself small for the sake of men; He is not afraid to place Himself below the angels in order to exalt men (cf. Heb 2:9). A little child in a manger, without a trace of luxury; a grotto as a place of birth; simple shepherds as guests… All this is the expression of a poverty that is nevertheless full of dignity because it is voluntary. God wanted to come into the world in this poverty to show us the true richness of His love. Read More
ACCEPTING PATERNAL CORRECTIONS
“Those whom I love, I rebuke and correct” (Rev 3:19) – the Lord tells us in the Book of Revelation, and it is a grace to experience this. Indeed, our Father’s love for us is not only a tender and warm love that gives us security and shelters us; it is also a love that forms us. He wants to educate us so that we may advance on the spiritual path.
Fifth day of the Christmas Octave: “The Holy Family”
By being born into a human family, God strengthened the nucleus of society and left us His exahttps://soundcloud.com/meditaciones_hno_elias/the-holy-family-29-december-2024/s-rKG9FGKBLf8?si=e7a1afeca133462d9a78690f8fc76eae&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharingmple to imitate. Through His Incarnation, God wished to penetrate all the spheres of human life, among which the family occupies a privileged place.
The love between husband and wife gives us a glimpse of the mystery of the love between God and the soul, as Saint Paul so aptly describes in the Letter to the Ephesians:
“As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her (…). This mystery is a profound one, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” (Eph 5:24-25, 32). Read More
A CONTRITE HEART
Fourth day of the Christmas Octave: “The Child”
The Lord comes into the world as a child. This is the way God chose to come down to us so that we might understand Him. A child arouses joy and love, tenderness and a desire to protect. No one is afraid of a child! Even people who tend to be closed can sometimes open up in the presence of a child.
A child can bring out the best in a person.
Especially in the first stage, the child is like a reminder of paradise, showing us the original innocence of man, even though he already bears the inheritance of original sin. Read More