257th Meditation
“Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed” (Ps 34:4).
When we always try to raise our eyes to the Father, our whole life is illuminated and transfigured by His light. Life becomes transparent, because when we live consciously under the gaze of our Father, nothing impure can resist. St. Benedict urged his monks to live always in the awareness of God’s presence. Read More
In both the Traditional Rite and the Novus Ordo today’s reading proclaims this passage from the Prophet Isaiah about the Word of God:
“As the rain and the snow come down from the sky and do not return before having watered the earth, fertilising it and making it germinate to provide seed for the sower and food to eat, so it is with the word that goes from my mouth: it will not return to me unfulfilled or before having carried out my good pleasure and having achieved what it was sent to do” (Is 55:10-11). Read More
The reading read today at the Traditional Mass (Ez 34:11-16) is preceded by the Lord’s accusation against the shepherds of Israel: “For lack of a shepherd they have been scattered, to become the prey of all the wild animals; they have been scattered.” (v. 5). There were no shepherds left to tend the flock. Those who had been appointed only shepherded themselves (v. 8). Read More
256th Meditation
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, prosperity for your homes!” (Ps 121:6).
Just by hearing the word “Jerusalem”, beloved Father, many people’s hearts begin to beat fast and light up. We want to love all that you love, and therefore we want to know more deeply your love for Jerusalem. Read More
255th Meditation
“You know when I sit, when I rise, you understand my thoughts from afar” (Ps 138:2).
Knowing that you, beloved Father, created us out of love and entrusted us with a mission in this world, we can move freely before you, as redeemed children. Our surrender to you makes us free to live in this world and to deal with it according to your Will. Read More
Among the various adversities and attacks that we face on our journey, it is fitting that, on this holy itinerary, we should specifically take into consideration the lurking of the devil. Today’s Gospel describes them in the temptations of Jesus in the desert (Mt 4:1-11).
He proceeds systematically in seducing man. He uses his God-given intelligence to deceive man and make him dependent on him. Read More
254th Meditation
“How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Rom 11:33b).
How often do we understand only later what our Father has done and permitted for our good!
Indeed, God’s ways are not simply laid out before our eyes like an open book, in which we can read everything in detail and find it meticulously traced out. However, there is a “divine plan” for each of us. Read More
Marked with the cross of ashes, we advance on this holy Lenten journey towards deeper conversion. With fasting we provide good wood for the fire of love and in everything we keep our gaze fixed on God, without seeking the praise of men. Read More
The Gospel presented to us today in the lectionary of the Traditional Mass offers us important warnings for our holy journey towards the Feast of the Resurrection.
Having set out, marked with the cross of ashes, determined to deepen our conversion and to integrate fasting as an important aid on the spiritual journey, the Lord warns us today in the Gospel of an inclination that we must overcome with His help:
“Be careful not to parade your uprightness in public to attract attention; otherwise you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven” (Mt 6:1). Read More
253rd Meditation
“You knew me through and through, my being held no secrets from you, when I was being formed in secret, textured in the depths of the earth” (Ps 138:15).
When we were marked with the cross of ashes, we heard the words: “Remember, you are dust, and unto dust you shall return” (cf. Gen 3:19). These are words that place us in our full creaturehood, for from God we come and to Him we return. Our body will be transformed for eternal life. This is another of the works of our loving Father that we still await, for “this mortal nature must put on immortality” (cft.1 Cor 15:54). Read More
