198th Meditation
“Be brave, take heart,
all who put your hope in the Lord” (Ps 30:25).
Again and again the Lord gives us courage, both in the Old and New Testament. It easily happens that, in the face of so much misery and affliction that we see in this world, we feel helpless. This is even more so when we perceive our own weaknesses and limitations. Read More
Beloved Child, we have almost reached the end of these Christmas meditations, and also the year is about to end.
Beloved Lord, it has been such a strange and even absurd year for many people… To whom can they turn if not to You, who even in such confusing times are present, and perhaps in a special way when You see people’s need and distress? Read More
Hardly had You come into the world, O Divine Child, when Your parents had to flee with You to Egypt. The obedience of Your adoptive father, St. Joseph, in leaving immediately after having received this order in a dream, is admirable (Mt 2:13-14).
Toil, hardship and adversity, suffering and death characterise this world as a consequence of sin, and we would be lost forever if it were not for the fact that You came to us and brought us the light of hope. Read More
197th Meditation
“Draw me out of the net they have spread for me, for you are my refuge” (Ps 30:5).
The psalmist is not referring here to the net of love, which the Lord’s disciples must cast into the world to win souls for the Kingdom of God. Read More
As Jews faithful to the Law of the Lord, eight days after Your birth Your parents circumcised You and gave You the name of Jesus, the Saviour (Lk 2:21).
When, forty days later, they brought You to the Temple to present You to the Lord, You met Simeon, one of the faithful of Your people (Lk 2:22-25). The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die before he had seen you. And so it happened! Filled with the Holy Spirit and taking You in His arms, He pronounced over You those unforgettable words: Read More
196th Meditation
“Do not be overawed when someone gets rich,
and lives in ever greater splendour;
when he dies he will take nothing with him,
his wealth will not go down with him” (Ps 49:16-17).
What will we take with us at the hour of our death, what will we be able to offer as a gift to our Father, to the One who owns everything, who is immeasurably rich and lacks nothing? Read More
Beloved Child, we could exult with joy without ceasing, especially when we look at Your incomparable Mother and Saint Joseph….
What warmth surrounds the Holy Family! With its humanity, permeated by the Spirit of God, it sanctifies the core of human society: the family. Read More
195th Meditation
“Fear not old age; I am eternity” (Inner Word).
Age can bring wisdom. When a person has matured under God’s guidance, they will also be able to pass on this wisdom to others. The Father Himself is present in them. The greatest wisdom consists in doing all that God has entrusted to us in this life with an eye to eternal life. Read More
194th Meditation
“Whoever fears the Lord will act like this, and whoever grasps the Law will obtain wisdom” (Sir 15:1).
“The root of wisdom is fear of the Lord” – the psalm tells us (Ps 110:10). This precious gift of the Lord wants to lead us not to do anything that could offend in one way or another the Lord or our neighbour, who was created in His image (Gen 1,27). Thus it teaches us great vigilance and foresight, knowing well how easily love can be offended and how serious the consequences can be. Read More
You wanted to choose simple people: they were shepherds (Lk 2:8-20). You, Beloved Child, love simplicity. You can enter more easily into a simple heart.
And You also make us simple. It is not necessary to know everything at once. It is more important to let Your love burn in us and to hasten like shepherds to pass on the Good News. Read More
