“Never hesitate to speak the truth!” (Inner Word).
Truth is an invaluable commodity. Without it, everything is blurred and reality takes on illusory features. As Christians, we have had the joy of knowing the One who is truth itself (Jn 14:6) and who comes to us from the throne of the Father. Before the procurator Pilate, Jesus declared: “For this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth” (Jn 18:37), that is, to proclaim the Heavenly Father from whom all things come.
“No one is excluded from my love; all are called and invited. But they must put on the wedding garment that my Son has given to humanity” (Inner Word).
Our Father’s Heart is open to all people, no one is excluded from His love! All are called to approach the throne of His mercy. That is why the Father sends His messengers to make His love known to mankind. But although this love is boundless and inexhaustible, there is a condition for man to be able to receive it and live in it. He must put on the wedding garment of the Lamb, which the Lord acquired for mankind on the Cross, thus fully fulfilling the Will of the Heavenly Father.
“It is better to burn than to know” (Saint Bernard of Clairvaux).
Saint Bernard, an ardent preacher, proclaims here the primacy of love. He was able to inflame his listeners with the love of God and to present the monastic life to them in such an attractive way, with all the praises imaginable, that mothers began to hide their children from him so that they would not all follow him to the monastery.
“The bond of love is stronger than the tie with which nature has so strongly bound parents to their children” (St. Bernard of Clairvaux).
No doubt St Bernard, the great lover of God, was referring to the bond of love with God. And since this link is stronger than that of blood, it is possible to leave one’s family behind when it comes to responding to one’s vocation and to dedicate oneself entirely to the bond of love with God. Indeed, this bond is indestructible and bears the greatest fruit. It also creates new bonds between those who have put God first and nothing before the love of the Heavenly Father.
“Love transforms souls and sets them free” (Saint Bernard of Clairvaux).
This is the extraordinary work of the Holy Spirit who has been poured into our hearts and brings about their transformation. We know His seven gifts, which serve our sanctification.
Indeed, it is love that makes us receptive to all that God wants to give us, because “God is love” (1 Jn 4:16b).
“Shall I tell you why and how we should love God? In a word, the reason for loving God is simply God Himself, and the measure is to love Him without measure” (St Bernard of Clairvaux).
St Bernard hit the nail on the head! Surely we could find countless reasons why we should love God, and we would never finish listing them. But they all boil down to the fact that we love God simply because He is God, and we love our Father for who He is. As we discover this more and more, we will cry out from the depths of our hearts: “O God, I thank you for being our Father and for being as you are”.
“I have given you my heart so that love may never run dry” (Inner Word).
To love like the Lord, we need a new heart, the heart of our Heavenly Father. Otherwise, how can we overcome all the barriers that make our hearts so small and narrow?
“He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence” (Ps 91:3).
Although we are undoubtedly safe under the wings of our Father and Jesus watches over His own, as the Gospel of John assures us (17:12), our life is still surrounded by dangers. Not for nothing does Scripture warn us that “the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour” (1 Pet 5:8). Therefore, we must be vigilant in every way, lest we fall into the snares and traps that the enemy of our souls sets around us. But as we know, it is not only the devil who puts us in danger, but also our flesh and the world. Therefore, we must restrain our desires lest we fall into addictions, and remain vigilant lest we succumb to the seductive pleasures and vanities of this world.
“Pay attention to every step. You must always be vigilant” (Inner Word).
Vigilance is a key concept in our spiritual life.
When we have awakened to the love of our Father, the Holy Spirit will constantly teach us to be vigilant. In fact, vigilance is closely related to love. We know what the gifts of the Holy Spirit do in us: the gift of the fear of God, which moves us to avoid anything that might offend Him; the gift of piety, which strives to do whatever pleases Him; the gift of counsel, which instructs us as to what is right in God’s eyes in a given situation, and so on.
“Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:11).
To acknowledge Jesus as Lord is not only important in the personal religious sphere, but it is the realisation of God’s plan for the whole of humanity. This is our Father’s plan: to gather all humanity in Christ to give them all that He has in store for them. Many passages of Sacred Scripture testify to this.
