296th Meditation
“I will say, ‘Let the darkness cover me, and the night wrap itself around me,’ even darkness to you is not dark, and night is as clear as the day” (Ps 138:8).
There is nothing that cannot be illuminated by the light of God. Read More
Mourning for the Lord; grief for men, who have not recognised their Redeemer and have crucified Him… Mourning of the Mother for the beloved Son; mourning and bewilderment among the disciples, who say to each other in confusion: “Our own hope had been that He would be the one to set Israel free…” (Lk 24:21) Read More
295th Meditation
“‘It is fulfilled’; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit” (Jn 19:30).
Today, together with the Heavenly Father and all the faithful, our gaze rests on the Cross on which the beloved Son hung. There, on the Cross erected on Calvary, the power of evil was broken by the manifest love of God. It is the Father who grants us true life through the sacrifice of His Son; a new life, which no longer has to hide from God because of its faults. “He was bearing our sins in his own body on the cross” (1 Pet 2:24), and we have been set free. Today is the great Friday, Good Friday! God, the Good One, has done all things well (cf. Mk 7:37). Read More
Judas consummated his betrayal and Jesus is apprehended. This happens after the Lord had accepted in Gethsemane the suffering from the hands of his Father and had given his ‘yes’ to all that was before him.
A YES that had to go through anguish and agony; a YES, after having asked his Father that, if possible, that cup might pass without his having to drink it (cf. Mt 26:39-44); a YES that expresses unconditional surrender to the Father; a YES out of love for us men. Read More
294th Meditation
“Abba, Father! For you everything is possible. Take this cup away from me. But let it be as you, not I, would have it” (Mk 14:36).
These words of Jesus have deeply marked all those who have accepted suffering at the hands of the Father. It is not easy to recognise His fatherly love in them, even less so when it is a question of suffering that we have not brought on ourselves through our own fault. A person can find himself in deep darkness and only naked faith helps him to get through that situation: faith in the Father’s love. Read More
“During supper, Jesus got up from table, removed His outer garments and, taking a towel, wrapped it round his waist; he then poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel he was wearing.” (Jn 13:4-5) Read More
293rd Meditation
“I live close to man, (…) I can see his needs, his toils, all his desires, and My greatest happiness lies in helping him and saving him” (Father’s message to Sister Eugenia Ravasio).
Today we look at another aspect that makes our Father happy. Two days ago we had meditated on His joy in being among us; today we consider His tender and paternal happiness in assisting us in all situations, in doing us good and caring for those He loves. Read More
Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you prepared to give me if I hand Him over to you?’ They paid him thirty silver pieces. (Mt 26:14-15)
The betrayal of God in exchange for unjust money… How often this story is repeated! How often people sell themselves at the price of money, of honour, of disorderly pleasures, of power! Read More
“In all truth I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.” (Jn 13:21b)
Betrayal! Here the most terrible depths of the human heart are revealed. Betraying a friend, betraying the Master and Lord, betraying love… Read More
292nd Meditation
“Hand over to Me all that wants to burden you. I am your Father” (Inner Word).
The Father invites us to constantly hand over to Him the shadows that hover over our soul, wanting to overwhelm it and – if possible – to bring it to despondency. He is certainly not referring to that noble sadness that we may feel, for example, at our sins or at the death of a loved one. It is rather that vice which the desert fathers called “tristitia”. They even saw in it a demon, which takes over or even provokes melancholic feelings. Read More
