“The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless” (Ps 146:9).
In His love and providence, our Father has all people in view; and He exhorts us to pay special attention to those who are easily marginalized. Strangers are liable to be exploited and deceived, if love does not take care of them and meet their foreign character with gentleness, so that they may know that they are sheltered by this love.
Jn 14:7-14
I have loved you just as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy be complete. This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you. No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you.
Acts 13:26-33
In those days, when Paul came to Pisidian Antioch, he said in the synagogue: ‘My brothers, sons of Abraham’s race, and all you godfearers, this message of salvation is meant for you. What the people of Jerusalem and their rulers did, though they did not realise it, was in fact to fulfil the prophecies read on every Sabbath. Though they found nothing to justify his execution, they condemned him and asked Pilate to have him put to death. When they had carried out everything that scripture foretells about him they took him down from the tree and buried him in a tomb.
“The Lord gives sight to the blind, lifts up those who are bowed down” (Ps 146:8).
Indeed, the blind came to Jesus and He opened their eyes (cf. Mk 10:46-52). What a great grace when a person whose physical eyes could not see, regains ability to look on the glorious Creation and to see people face to face!
“The compassion of man is for his neighbor, but the compassion of the Lord is for all living beings” (Sir 18:13).
Mk 16:15-20
Jesus said to His disciples, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it. Read More
“He has caused his wonderful works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and merciful” (Ps 111:4).
It is not only the great wonders that the Lord accomplished in the history of the people of Israel that must remain engraved in our memory, but every day countless miracles of our Father take place before our eyes, which must arouse in us the gratitude and love that are due to us. If we overlook them, we will not be able to truly perceive the loving providence of our Father, and consequently our hearts will not easily rise to Him. This is why the Psalmist exhorts us: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (Ps 103:2).
Our Father knows how easily we forget His goodness. That is why He gives us a memory of His wonders. This living memory of God in us is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father and the Son send to remind us of all that Jesus said and did:
“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” (Jn 14:26).
When we become aware of the wonders of the Lord, which are so numerous and so great that even eternity will not be enough to praise Him sufficiently, it becomes increasingly clear to us that everything our Father does is an expression of His love. In this way, our eyes are opened and praise flows naturally from our hearts. And it is the Holy Spirit Himself who cries out within us: “Abba, beloved Father” (Gal 4:6), revealing to us ever more deeply His grace and mercy.
Jn 12:44-50
Jesus declared publicly: Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in the one who sent me, and whoever sees me, sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as light, to prevent anyone who believes in me from staying in the dark any more. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them faithfully, it is not I who shall judge such a person, since I have come not to judge the world, but to save the world: anyone who rejects me and refuses my words has his judge already: the word itself that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day. For I have not spoken of my own accord; but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and what to speak, and I know that his commands mean eternal life. And therefore what the Father has told me is what I speak. Read More
“Go simply from day to day and leave the future in my hands” (Interior Word).
Let us continue to reflect a little on the wise advice of St. Francis de Sales that we heard yesterday, because our Father wants us to live with great trust in Him.
If every day we are attentive to the task entrusted to us and carry it out, we will discover a profound meaning to our life, an immeasurable dignity and honor: our life, wanted by God and precious in His eyes, is at the service of the Kingdom of God. How many people are still searching for the reason and meaning of their existence and still do not find the answer!
Our Father, however, gives us a simple answer, which the Church has transmitted to humanity throughout the centuries: “You, O human beings, are here on earth to praise me, to glorify me and to serve me”. In other words, as the Father said in the message to Mother Eugenia Ravasio, “to know, to honor and to love God.” Everything else comes from this!
And this “everything else”, which is the wonderful and honorable cooperation in God’s salvific plans, we must not take into our own hands, nor pretend to fulfill it according to our human criteria, but let ourselves be guided by the Holy Spirit. In this way we will be at the service of our Father and of all humanity.
Thus we model our future in the Lord, entrusting ourselves to the wise providence of our Father, who loves it when we turn to Him in this attitude of trust. In this way the Father can draw us more and more into his Will and make our lives fruitful.
Jn 10:22-30
It was the feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem; it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered round him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.
