“I am the resistance against sin within your heart” (Interior Word).
It is said that St. Catherine of Siena suffered terrible temptations against purity at one stage of her life. She then spoke to Jesus and asked Him where He had been while she was going through these attacks, which she found unbearable. Jesus answered that He had worked the repugnance to such impurity in her heart.
Song 3:1-4a
In my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, and found him not. I will rise, and will go about the city: in the streets and the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, and I found him not. The watchmen who keep the city, found me: Have you seen him, whom my soul loveth? When I had a little passed by them, I found him whom my soul loveth.
This text is read at Holy Mass on the Feast of a great lover who met her Lord: St. Mary Magdalene. Today’s Gospel recounts precisely the encounter of Mary Magdalene with the Risen Lord, and the way in which He makes Himself known to her (Jn 20:1,11-18).
“Be wise in your dealings with the world and with the world within the Church — they are at enmity with Me” (Interior Word).
Are we sufficiently aware of this reality? Do we truly understand that we no longer live in an environment marked by the Christian faith?
Ex 14:5-18
‘When Pharaoh king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, he and his officials changed their attitude towards the people. ‘What have we done,’ they said, ‘allowing Israel to leave our service?’ So Pharaoh had his chariot harnessed and set out with his troops, taking six hundred of the best chariots and all the other chariots in Egypt, with officers in each. The Lord made Pharaoh King of Egypt stubborn, and he gave chase to the Israelites. The Israelites marched confidently away, but the Egyptians, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, his horsemen and his army, gave chase and caught up with them where they lay encamped beside the sea near Pi-Hahiroth, facing Baal-Zephon. As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up — and there were the Egyptians in pursuit of them! The Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord for help.
“I trust in God, my Creator, in all things. I love Him with all my heart” (St. Joan of Arc).
True love for our Father, which grows day by day, leads us to abandon ourselves to Him in everything. It is not a lethargic attitude, nor does it resemble that mystical current known as “quietism.” The attitude of abandonment in God does not belittle human capacities, nor does it devalue our cooperation in God’s work. However, it decisively changes the focus. Our security and point of orientation are no longer built on ourselves, our faculties, or the various external circumstances, but on God’s love for us.
Lk 10:38-42
In the course of their journey Jesus came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha, who was distracted with all the serving, came to him and said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.’ But the Lord answered, ‘Martha, Martha,’ he said, ‘you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part, and it is not to be taken from her.’
Mt 12:14-21
‘At this the Pharisees went out and began to plot against him, discussing how to destroy him. Jesus knew this and withdrew from the district. Many followed him and he cured them all but warned them not to make him known. This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: Look! My servant whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul delights, I will send my Spirit upon him, and he will present judgement to the nations; he will not brawl or cry out, his voice is not heard in the streets, he will not break the crushed reed, or snuff the faltering wick, until he has made judgement victorious; in him the nations will put their hope.’ Read More
“For a dying person, music is like a sister. It is the first sweet sound of the hereafter, and the muse of song is the mystical sister who points to heaven” (St. Bonaventure).
With these words, St. Bonaventure must have been referring, above all, to the sacred music that, especially in times past, resounded in the monasteries. Inspired by the angels, sacred music resounds to the praise of God, thus proclaiming His glory.
“Holiness consists simply in doing God’s will and being exactly what He wants us to be” (St. Therese of the Child Jesus).
