A SWEET SORROW



 

“Oh, my good Lord, if only my soul could be called your beloved” (Blessed Henry Suso).

This exclamation comes from a mystic inflamed with love, Blessed Henry Suso, who experienced the fire of the Holy Spirit in his inner encounter with the Lord, awakening him to the love of God. There is such a profound awakening to the love of God that the soul longs for union with the Beloved and yearns with increasing intensity for an encounter with Him. It suffers a ‘sweet sorrow’. On the one hand, it is sweet because it fills the soul with the bliss of God’s incomparable love; on the other hand, it is painful because it awakens in her an ever-increasing hunger for love which cannot be fully satisfied in this life and is only comforted by the prospect of eternity.

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TRUTH LIVES WITHIN MAN

“Do not go outside, come back inside: within man dwells the truth” (St. Augustine).

How often we seek outside, in the world, in events, in the media, in encounters and in other people, that which in reality we can only find within ourselves! We often forget that, if we live in a state of grace, the Trinity Herself has established Her dwelling place in our soul and has erected in it Her temple of truth. In this inner temple we can withdraw at any time and enter into an intimate dialogue with God within ourselves.

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TRUTH LIVES WITHIN MAN

 

“Do not go outside, come back inside: within man dwells the truth” (St. Augustine).

How often we seek outside, in the world, in events, in the media, in encounters and in other people, that which in reality we can only find within ourselves! We often forget that, if we live in a state of grace, the Trinity Herself has established Her dwelling place in our soul and has erected in it Her temple of truth. In this inner temple we can withdraw at any time and enter into an intimate dialogue with God within ourselves.

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THE GAZE TO GOD THE FATHER

“From the cross of this world, which causes so much suffering, raise your gaze with me to the Father” (Inner Word).

The immense suffering He endured on the Cross of Calvary brought us Redemption. Jesus did everything with His eyes fixed on the Father in order to fulfil His will. As Saint Paul suggests, we too are called to share in the sufferings of this world: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church” (Col 1:24).

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DELIVER US FROM EVIL

‘…but deliver us from evil’ (Mt 6:13).

This is the constant and imploring cry of the afflicted soul to God the Father: that He deliver her from the evil within her, from the evil that surrounds her, and from all the destructive forces of evil. We must never become accustomed to wickedness, to all the perversities and absurdities that we find on earth and in the human world. God never intended any of this! Our Father never meant to abandon His creatures to evil, but planned a different life for them. However, since He endowed His creatures with the freedom that corresponded to their dignity, they were able to abuse it and turn against God, thus perverting the meaning of their existence.

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LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION

“Lead us not into temptation” (Mt 6:13).

We all know that our Father does not allow us to be tempted beyond our capacity. On the contrary, He helps us to fight them and to grow in this struggle: “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Cor 10:13).

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AS WE FORGIVE

“… as we forgive those who trespass against us” (Mt 6:12).

We know very well how important it is to our Father that, having experienced His mercy again and again, we too should be merciful to others. In fact, one of the worst attitudes is when people do not want to forgive. They close their hearts and, with their accusation, continue to exercise a certain power over those who, in their opinion, have done unforgivable things.

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OUR DAILY BREAD

 

‘Give us this day our daily bread’ (Mt 6:10).

Jesus invites us to naturally include the needs of our daily life in our prayer. Our daily food also comes from our heavenly Father, even if we have to work for it with the sweat of our face (cf. Gen 3:19). Ultimately, our abilities and the success of our work depend on God’s grace. Read More