“Cast once more the net of love” (Inner Word).
Indeed, our Father, through His Son, has cast the net of His love wide to draw all men to Himself. This offer remains in force as long as our Father in His goodness has chosen, until the End of Time comes, whose time only He knows (Mt 24:36). Read More
Rom 10:9-18
“If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and if you believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved. It is by believing with the heart that you are justified, and by making the declaration with your lips that you are saved. When scripture says: No one who relies on this will be brought to disgrace, it makes no distinction between Jew and Greek: the same Lord is the Lord of all, and his generosity is offered to all who appeal to him, for all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Dan 5:1-6,13-14,16-17,23-28
„King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his lords, with whom he drank. Under the influence of the wine, he ordered the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar, his father, had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, to be brought in so that the king, his lords, his wives and his entertainers might drink from them. When the gold and silver vessels taken from the house of God in Jerusalem had been brought in, and while the king, his lords, his wives and his entertainers were drinking wine from them, they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.
“Do not be afraid to call a spade a spade” (Inner Word).
Our Father loves it when we are sincere and transparent, because that is how He is. Anything that is crooked or complicated, any attitude that lacks transparency, is and will remain alien to His being. The Lord gives us the example of the simplicity of children: “Unless (…) you become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 18:3). He also exhorts us to be clear in our words: “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil” (Mt 5:37). Read More
“Fear nothing and no one, for I am your Father” (Inner Word).
Again and again we find this exhortation, both in Scripture and in the Father’s message. It is as if our Father wants these words to penetrate the depths of our soul, where various fears can still hide, which want to limit our life and take away our freedom. And the reason He gives us not to be afraid is as simple as it is profound: “I am your Father”.
In yesterday’s meditation, we had heard that, according to St John of the Cross, when one makes the decision to follow Christ more intensely, the Devil tries to prevent the decisive step by instilling fear, distracting us and tempting us in various ways. Not infrequently the obstacles can come from people who are close to us, but who have not made up their minds to follow the Lord fully, nor do they understand this path. They may even be pious people, but who do not have a deep enough relationship with the Lord to understand the mystery between God and the soul called by Him. Thus, it may happen that these people feel they have to discourage or even warn against embarking on this more intense path.
In the Message to Mother Eugenia, the Father expresses a deep desire of His:
“Let My priests go fearlessly everywhere, among all nations, to bring the flame of My fatherly love to men. Then souls will be enlightened and conquered, not only among unbelievers, but in all those sects which are not of the true Church. Yes, I want these men also, who are My children, to see this flame shining before them, to know the truth, to embrace it and to put all the Christian virtues into practice.” Read More
We had reflected on the virtue of fortitude in context with the readings from the book of Maccabees; those courageous men and women of the People of Israel. I also pointed out that we need this virtue for our Christian witness in the world, which, in an extreme case, can go as far as martyrdom. We can train ourselves in the virtue of fortitude, and we should not be discouraged if we are naturally fearful. The story of the novice Blanche de la Force (narrated in Gertud von Le Fort’s novel “The Last One at the Scaffold”) can encourage these fearful souls, showing them that they too can be capable of heroic deeds. Read More
If we want to deepen our relationship with our Heavenly Father, it is important to take time to be alone with Him. Many fruits could be listed that arise from this intimacy. However, there is one reason that can be our main motivation for seeking and cultivating this silent dialogue with our Father. He Himself mentions it:
“No one can imagine the joy I experience when I am alone with a soul!” Read More
Solemnity of Christ the King
Mt 25:31-46
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. Read More
