371st Meditation
To know, honour and love the Father…
Even if our heart – which sometimes feels cold – seems to correspond so poorly to the Father’s love and is saddened by it, He gives us the opportunity to show Him our love in yet another way. It is also worth noting that the very fact that we are saddened by loving Him less ardently and perseveringly than we would like to is already a sign of love, because here the heart suffers when the expression of love does not flow from it and when we cannot enter into an intimate heart-to-heart relationship with God.
We have at our disposal the vast field of charity, which manifests itself in the various corporal and spiritual works of mercy that we can practise. If we do them with the intention of pleasing the Lord, understanding also that we do them for those whom He loves, then we are showing Him great love.
How will it not please our Father to see us serving His beloved children? Will He not see it as a declaration of love to Him? Will He not reward us according to His measure? Surely He will, according to what His beloved Son Himself assured us: “In truth I tell you, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40).
Moreover, within the work in the Lord’s vineyard we have our daily duties, which we try to fulfil in a Christian spirit, understanding them as a contribution to the Kingdom of God. In this way, all the labours are – so to speak – bathed in gold and collected in the eternal Treasure Chamber of God: every denial of self, every act of patience, the endurance of adversities, the crosses we encounter along the way… Everything becomes fruitful and turns into an expression of our love for God and for our neighbour.
Nor should we forget that, even if we feel cold and dull inside, every Our Father and every Hail Mary we offer for the conversion of sinners becomes a shining light in the Kingdom of God. Likewise, the prayers for the pour souls in purgatory, which will help them to finally behold God face to face, will weigh like real gold of love in the Kingdom of our Father.
Finally, we see that, when we want to love God, He finds a way to make our life fruitful. And the hour will come when our heart will become totally receptive to His tender caresses, and then we will cultivate in silence the exchange of this infinitely holy love.