“I have said all this to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues; indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do this because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you of them. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. Read More
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THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN (Jn 15:19-27): “They hated me without a cause”
“If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But all this they will do to you on my account, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. It is to fulfil the word that is written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’ But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me; and you also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning.
FIX YOUR GAZE ON THE FATHER
“Look at me on the cross, see how I keep my gaze fixed on the Father” (Inner Word).
Both during His earthly life and at the hour of His death, Our Lord kept His gaze fixed on the Father. Everything was centred on Him: the Father: He carried out His mission to the end to accomplish the Father’s work, and His longing was to return to Him.
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 15:1-18 ): “Nothing surpasses love”
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
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. Read More
THY KINGDOM COME
‘Thy Kingdom come’ (Mt 6:10).
Is the establishment of the Kingdom of God here on earth only a beautiful dream or a pious wish? Is it a promise yet to be fulfilled or a mere memory of a Paradise lost?
Jesus taught us to pray in this way, and this petition rises up from every corner of the world. It cannot, therefore, be a mere illusion, but a plea to God that His Kingdom, which already exists in heaven, may also be realised on earth.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN (Jn 14:24-31): “The peace of Christ”
Today we return to the meditations in the Gospel of John, closing chapter 14:
“He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me; but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go hence.” Read More
A way to a pure heart – Part 3
Today we conclude the theme we have been discussing over the last few days: the way to a pure heart. We draw on these words of Jesus:
‘It is what comes out of someone that makes that person unclean. For it is from within, from the heart, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a person unclean.’ (Mk 7:20-23)
What has been said about dealing with thoughts also applies to all the other areas referred to by the Lord. It is to be hoped that not all the wickednesses mentioned are found in our hearts, but the tendency to do so lies in our fallen nature. We have to be careful – but not tense and scrupulous – about what we perceive in ourselves and deal with it accordingly.
LOVE MELTS ALL HARDNESS
“I love you more than you love me” (Inner Word).
Even if love for God has already awakened and begun to burn in our hearts, we must always remember that He loves us infinitely more than we love Him. It is an ‘ocean of love’ that surrounds us completely, without forgetting for a moment His other children and creatures. This is the love that nourishes us, and when we let it into our lives and open the doors of our hearts to it, we ourselves become a source of this love.