515th Meditation
Our Father loves it when, in secret, we speak with Him and take time to be with Him (cf. Mt 6:6). In these moments, intimacy, friendship, trust, sensitivity to perceive his presence grow… There, in secret, he can easily speak to our hearts and build his holy temple in us.
In the Gospels we hear again and again that the Lord would rise early in the morning to be alone with His Father (cf. Mk 1:35). We know that He spent forty days in the desert (Lk 4:1-2). We also know the life of hermits, who withdraw completely from the world to dwell alone with God. In some monasteries, times of silence are still observed, so that the focus on God is not weakened by excessive distractions.
In the Message, God the Father addresses Mother Eugenia Ravasio to explicitly express this desire:
“I would like your superiors to allow you to spend your free time with Me, so that you can console Me and love Me for half an hour each day. You will thereby ensure that men’s hearts, My children’s hearts, are well disposed to work for the spread of this devotion which I have just revealed to you, so that you may achieve great confidence in this Father who wants to be loved by His children”.
So we see that in this intimate encounter with God we are not only the recipients, but that also for the Lord this exchange of love with us is a consolation. In this way His love can penetrate deeper into our inner being. Moreover, as we have heard in this passage, the Father also uses these moments in a mysterious way to prepare the hearts of those who are called to receive and spread the Lord’s message.