131st Meditation
“Humanity is my great weakness. Therefore you must go in search of them with the same love with which I go in search of them” (Interior Word).
Let us try to understand these words… The love of our Father for us is almost incomprehensible to us. A bishop of Italy, Bishop Salvatore Bocciacco (1938-2008), made the following prayer his own:
“God is my Papa. He loves me to the point of madness. He does wonderful things for me. Read More
As the faithful, we are called to build our life on God, and not on the fragile foundation of our human nature. Our security, that which will withstand all the storms of life, is founded on His love, on His Word, on His desire to save us. Through trust and faith, we place our security in God and thus live on a solid foundation.
This trust in God can become the fundamental and absolute principle of our life, regardless of our emotions. In fact, we cannot rely on our sensative experience to ascertain whether God is close to us or has turned away. Instead, we must always cling to the certainty that He is always on our side and loves us. Read More
130th Meditation
“Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen keep watch in vain” (Ps 127:1b).
All our human efforts always have a limit, which the Father Himself, in His wisdom, has set. We human beings easily exalt ourselves and forget from whom we come, where we are going and who it is that has given us everything we have. Read More
It is difficult to find something as important for the spiritual life as trust in God. In all situations of our life we have to activate this trust, so that it becomes that inner certainty that permeates everything. In this way, our spiritual path becomes lighter and more attractive to others. We will therefore dedicate the next two meditations to this theme: trust in God. Read More
129th Meditation
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (Prov 3:5-6).
It is a very wise not to lean on one’s own understanding. Although our understanding is a marvelous gift that God grants us on the natural plane, it was obscured as a result of original sin, in addition to being subject to the limitations proper to the world of creation. Read More
Whoever has been engaged in the prayer of the heart for a long time and practices it regularly, will experience the joy that this prayer really brings to the soul. It becomes easy for us to withdraw into that “inner cell” which has been formed through prayer, precisely at those times when noise gets in the way and we are most exposed to the danger of distraction. Read More
128th Meditation
“Despatch wisdom from the holy heavens, send her forth from your throne of glory to help me and to toil with me and teach me what is pleasing to you” (Wis 9:10).
The Father not only sent His Son into the world, but, together with the Son, He also sent the Holy Spirit to lead us into the fullness of truth (Jn 16:13). Read More
The prayer of the heart-or Jesus prayer-requires a certain preparation. In this regard, let us listen again to Metropolitan Serafim Joanta:
“The dispositions for the Jesus prayer are, as for any other prayer, the following: To be at peace with one’s neighbor, to be free from excessive worries, a certain disposition of the soul, a quiet place…. No one can pray a pure prayer – that is, a prayer that is not tainted by extraneous thoughts, by external impressions of the senses and memories – as long as he is not at peace with his neighbor. Read More
127th Meditation
“If you kept a record of our sins, Lord,
who could stand their ground?
But with you is forgiveness,
that you may be revered” (Ps 130:3-4). Read More
The prayer of the heart-or Jesus prayer-requires a certain preparation. In this regard, let us listen again to Metropolitan Serafim Joanta:
“The dispositions for the Jesus prayer are, as for any other prayer, the following: To be at peace with one’s neighbor, to be free from excessive worries, a certain disposition of the soul, a quiet place…. No one can pray a pure prayer – that is, a prayer that is not tainted by extraneous thoughts, by external impressions of the senses and memories – as long as he is not at peace with his neighbor. Read More
