“You understand my thoughts from afar” (Ps 139:2b).
Our Father’s loving omniscience is not only a comforting certainty for us; it becomes a spiritual lesson for us, if we allow His words to permeate us deeply.
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LENTEN ITINERARY | Day 26: “Contemplation – a little heaven”
Let us begin today by talking a little about “recollective prayer”, which is able to lead us to the “antechamber” of contemplation, the part that we can contribute so that the Lord finds the ground prepared and can grant us contemplative prayer, if He wills it.
The foundation of recollective prayer is the presence of God in our souls. It is that immeasurable presence through which He is in us as Creator and Sustainer, so real that “in Him (…) we live, and move, and exist” (Acts 17:28). At the same time, it is that friendly presence through which God dwells as Father, Friend and sweet Guest in the soul in a state of grace, inviting it to live in communion with the three divine Persons.
THE FATHER KNOWS US
“Lord, you examine me and know me” (Ps 139:1).
No one but God knows the heart of man in its deepest depths. No one can even examine his own heart in depth, unless it is revealed to him in the light of the Spirit of God.
LENTEN ITINERARY | Day 25: “On contemplation (I)”
Throughout our Lenten journey, I have mentioned contemplative prayer several times. Even if not everyone gets to experience the various levels of contemplation, it is good to at least know what this form of prayer is all about. In addressing this topic, I will keep in mind that most people who listen to these meditations do not live in a monastery, fully immersed in a contemplative life. I hope that some aspects of this meditation on contemplation will be helpful in making our life and prayer even more receptive to God’s presence.
THE ANSWER IS MYSELF
“I Myself have placed in the hearts of men the search for Me, and I Myself am the answer” (Inner Word).
Why does man seek?
Because the Father Himself has placed this longing in his heart and, according to the unforgettable words of St. Augustine, “our heart is restless until it rests in You” (Confessions, I, 1).
LENTEN ITINERARY | Day 24: “Giving the right place to prophetic messages”
Today we take up again the theme of “private apparitions and revelations”. The latter are the messages received in apparitions or interior allocutions.
Yesterday I emphasized that we should pay attention to them, because – as long as they are authentic – they are guidelines given to us by the Lord, showing us a way and providing us with help in the concrete situation in which we find ourselves, whether at the level of the world or of the Church.
DO NOT PUT YOUR TRUST IN PRINCES
“Do not put your trust in princes,
in any child of Adam, who has no power to save. (…)
How blessed is he who has Jacob’s God to help him,
his hope is in the Lord his God” (Ps 146:3,5).
IN MY HEART IS YOUR HOME
“In my Heart you are at home, always and forever. There you find everything, even in the thickest darkness.”
To feel at home is a deeply rooted longing in man. Home is the place where he can be as he is, where he does not feel threatened, where he knows he is loved, where he finds his place….
LENTEN ITINERARY | Day 23: “Listen to the prophets”
Today’s reading, taken from the Book of Jeremiah, reminds us to listen to the prophets. God speaks to us through them, to guide us back to the straight path. We know that, since He sent His own Son into the world, God speaks to us through Himself (Heb 1:1-2) and with the voice of the Church; however, it would be wrong to exclude the prophetic dimension altogether now. The Lord says to Jeremiah:
LENTEN ITINERARY | Day 22: “Faithfulness to Tradition”
Let us begin today’s meditation by listening to the Lord’s words to His disciples in today’s Gospel:
“Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them. In truth I tell you, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, is to disappear from the Law until all its purpose is achieved. Therefore, anyone who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of Heaven; but the person who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of Heaven” (Mt 5:17-19).