“O Lord! If only I could trace You in my heart, engrave You with golden letters in the most intimate part of my heart and soul, so that You would never be erased” (Blessed Henry Suso).
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Draw near to the living stone
We will listen to yesterday’s reading from the traditional calendar:
1 Pe 2:1-10
So put away all malice and all guile and insincerity and envy and all slander. Like newborn babes, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation; for you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. Come to him, to that living stone, rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious; and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Read More
A COVENANT WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND OUR LORD
“Time presses. I wish men to know as soon as possible that I love them and that I feel the greatest happiness in being with them and talking with them, like a father with his children” (Message of God the Father to Sister Eugenia Ravasio). Read More
The obligation to bear witness
Acts 4:13-21
They were astonished at the fearlessness shown by Peter and John, considering that they were uneducated laymen; and they recognised them as associates of Jesus; but when they saw the man who had been cured standing by their side, they could find no answer. So they ordered them to stand outside while the Sanhedrin had a private discussion. Read More
The missionary mandate
We will listen to the gospel corresponding to this day according to the traditional calendar:
Mt 28:16-20
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”
GOD’S WORK OF ART
“The more I know You, the more I love You. The more I come to know You, the more kindly You reveal Yourself. Oh, what an unfathomable, perfect and pure treasure you are” (Blessed Henry Suso).
In these words a loving soul is revealed to us. Henry Suso is a German mystic († 1366), one of those saints who speak from their inner experience with our Father, one of those souls who have tasted the sweet fragrance of divine love and lived in intimate union with God.
But this experience is not reserved for a few privileged souls, but God wants to enter into this relationship of love with each one of us. We need to taste and see how good the Lord is (Ps 34:9), to experience how His love seeks us and wants to draw us to Himself.
When we begin to feel at home in this love, we discover how loving God is; with what tenderness, gentleness and at the same time firmness He shapes our soul, molding it according to the face of His Son. How great is His joy when we become more and more like the image in which He created us (Gen 1:27)! How our Father rejoices in His children!
When, thanks to the work of the Holy Spirit, we have become more and more obedient to His will, when the most serious distortions and disfigurements caused by sin have been healed in our being, when our stubborn self-will has yielded to the gentle voice of the Spirit, when our vanities have become a nuisance to us and pride has revealed its nothingness, our Father begins to complete His work of art with the greatest tenderness and care.
His love has already conquered our heart, and now He begins to work to make it like His heart. We begin to perceive God’s presence so lovingly that we cannot and will not deny Him anything. And every response of love increases the love until it reigns over us without restraint.
The necessity of instruction
We will listen the reading for this day again according to the traditional calendar:
Acts 8:26-40
But an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert road. And he rose and went. And behold, an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a minister of the Can′dace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of all her treasure, had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
STAY WITH ME; I GUIDE YOU
“Stay with me; I love you! – Stay with me; I keep you! – Stay with me; I guide you; I am your Father” (inner word).
Once again we are invited to stay with our Father. He wants to take the reins of our life. To be under His guidance means to concretely follow His indications in daily life, to find the “golden thread” and thus to act according to His plan in the most intimate union with Him.
STAY WITH ME, I WILL KEEP YOU
Our Father does not want us to perish.
No one knows better than He how fragile we are and how many dangers surround us! Everywhere we are beset by attacks: within ourselves by our fallen nature, in the world by its seductions, by enemies and the envy of the devil who seeks to harm us.
The example of Peter
We will listen to the reading that corresponds to the traditional calendar:
Acts 3,13-15.17-19
At that time, Peter addressed the people: The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant[a] Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.