May the whole world proclaim your paternal goodness and your divine mercy” (from Mother Eugenia Ravasio’s prayer “God is my Father”).
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DEEP WITHIN YOURSELF
“Always cling to me and go deep within yourself. There I am present” (Inner Word).
THE WISE GUIDANCE OF OUR FATHER
“Do what you can, ask for what you cannot, and God will give you so that you can” (St. Augustine).
Once we have set out on the path of following the Lord, our Father takes us into His service and gives us great responsibility. We should never give up in the face of difficulties that may come our way and which tend to “puff up”, appearing bigger than they really are. This also applies to situations that seem insurmountable. Here we are invited to put into practice St Augustine’s phrase: we go as far as we can and at this point we ask our Father for the grace to face in the right way what lies before and beyond us.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN (Jn 8:12-20): “Disputes of Jesus in Jerusalem”
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” The Pharisees then said to him, “You are bearing witness to yourself; your testimony is not true.” Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness to myself, my testimony is true, for I know whence I have come and whither I am going, but you do not know whence I come or whither I am going. You judge according to the flesh, I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone that judge, but I and he who sent me. In your law it is written that the testimony of two men is true; I bear witness to myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness to me.” Read More
INCOMPATIBILITY BETWEEN LOVE OF GOD AND INJUSTICE
“The more God’s love reigns in a person, the less power injustice will have over him” (St. Augustine).
THE SALVATION OF SOULS
“Every day is important; in every hour I offer my salvation to people” (Inner Word).
These words remind us of Saint Paul’s exhortation: “Make the most of the time” (Eph 5:16). They call us to great vigilance and to be attentive to the guidance of our Father. Indeed, this vigilance helps us to remain aware of the importance of the salvation of souls, which we would otherwise be in danger of forgetting in the course of time.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN (Jn 8:1-11): Jesus and the adulterous woman
Jesus looked up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again.”Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple; all the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Read More
THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN (Jn 7:37-53): “No man ever spoke like this man!”
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as[a] the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This is really the prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the scripture said that the Christ is descended from David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” So there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. Read More
LOVE AS A GUIDE
THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN (Jn 7:25-36): “His time had not yet come”
Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? Yet we know where this man comes from; and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.” So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from? But I have not come of my own accord; he who sent me is true, and him you do not know. I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.” So they sought to arrest him; but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come. Read More