Showing all posts in 3 Minutes for God the Father

“Love me and let me love you” (Inner word).

That is how simply the path with our heavenly Father can be described, and the whole truth is contained therein. When we respond to His love, our Father can realize all that He has planned for us and all that He wants to accomplish through our lives. May our first words each morning be addressed to our beloved Father. Are we not intent on living this new day—or even this new year—in a way that pleases Him? It is precisely in this that we want to express our love: that we gladly do what He wants us to do. Love wants to know the heart of the beloved and His holy concerns. In this way, we can search the heart of God. What have you planned? What can we do for you and your kingdom?

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“You know that everything is grace and that everything comes from us. But you also know that it is necessary to cooperate with grace in order for it to be effective” (Inner Word).

Without God’s grace we are incapable of anything, as Jesus makes clear: “Apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:5b). How wisely our heavenly Father has arranged it! Knowing full well that we are always in danger of overestimating our abilities and giving too much importance to our contribution to what has been achieved, God reminds us that everything comes from Him. This is what we also experience on the spiritual path. Our Father allows us to feel our weakness so that we do not become trapped in ourselves, but rather confess with full conviction that it is only by His grace that we have been able to accomplish this or that. “In thy light do we see light.” (Ps 35:10). What would we be without You?

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“To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

This is the Good News for all time: our Heavenly Father had it announced by the angels to His people Israel, with a view to all humanity. It is the holy and joyful message that God has not forgotten mankind. Man, who lost his original state of innocence and sinned against God, needs a Savior. He cannot redeem himself. He needs to encounter the love of God, who has mercy on him in his condition and offers him true life.

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“To us a child is born” (Is 9:6).

Could our Father have done better? Of course not! Otherwise, He would have done it differently.

Thus, the Child of Bethlehem is the most beautiful gift that the Heavenly Father has given to humanity with all His love. Let us contemplate the Child! Does He not conquer our hearts? That is precisely what He wants! He does not need riches for Himself; otherwise, the Father would have given them to Him. He was born poor, but surrounded by the love of Mary and Joseph, and that was enough for Him!

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“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” (Jas 4:8)

In all true love, we seek to be close to the person we love. God, for His part, constantly fills us with His presence and nearness; He seeks man and wants to be with him. But it is also necessary for man to seek God’s nearness, to open his heart to Him, and to long to be with Him. Then he will increasingly perceive the closeness of his beloved Father, who can reveal Himself to an open heart.

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“I always guide you along the best path, the one that benefits you most” (Inner Word).

If we have consciously surrendered our lives to our heavenly Father, if we strive daily to follow His Son and pursue holiness, we need not worry about the next stage of the journey. We must simply walk it attentively each day, with the certainty that God will always choose the most suitable path for us in every area of our lives—the one that benefits us most.

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“Be like a well that first collects water within itself and then pours it out in abundance” (St. Bernard).

In today’s quote, St. Bernard emphasizes that we must walk the path of holiness ourselves, which produces abundant fruit when His grace can act powerfully in us. All teachers of the spiritual life will affirm this. In fact, it is entirely logical, “for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Lk 6:45).

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“There is no grace sent from heaven that does not pass through Mary’s hands. The more sinful we are, the greater her compassion for us.” (St. Bernard)

Today we hear from a saint who clearly had no hesitation in officially considering the Virgin Mary the mediator of all graces. His reasoning follows the path of the Incarnation and applies it to the Mystical Body of Christ. Mary is the Mother of the Son and of His Body!

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“Whoever prays is certainly saved. He who does not is certainly damned”

—St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Teachers of the spiritual life never tire of emphasizing the importance of prayer. It is the “great dialogue with God,” as St. Teresa of Avila calls it. In today’s quote, St. Alphonsus strongly recommends it to us and even assures us that if we do not pray, we condemn ourselves. He knows very well that once prayer is neglected—which is already a temptation in itself—all kinds of temptations will follow, and it will become increasingly difficult for us to resist them.

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