153rd Meditation
“Abide in me, as I abide in you” (Jn 15:4).
In addition to abiding in God and He in us through contemplation and meditation, there is also the aspect of abiding in the Father through the works we do.
We will be able to identify these different approaches very well by observing, for example, the different religious communities we have within the Church. Read More
152º Meditation
“Abide in me, as I abide in you” (Jn 15:4).
In contemplation we meet our Father in the depths of our soul and remain in Him. This is how the mystics express it. Meditation on the Word of God has a somewhat different character.
The desert fathers speak of the need to “ruminate” on the Word of God. Through its constant repetition, its meaning is revealed to us more deeply and begins to settle in our soul. Read More
151st Meditation
“Abide in me and I in you” (Interior Word).
Contemplation means to remain in the Lord in our pilgrimage through this world. The Lord invites us to this: “Abide in me, as I abide in you” (Jn 15:4). There are different ways of abiding in Him. Read More
150th Meditation
“Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Ps 23:6).
The psalmist expresses what the Heavenly Father has arranged for us, and which we can recognize by faith: it is the great “yes” of God to our existence; a “yes” that manifests itself to us in various ways. It is a “yes” that He never revokes, after having pronounced it once and forever on our life. Even the person who rejects God, testifies by their very existence to God’s “yes” to them.
149th Meditation
“You prepare a table for me under the eyes of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup brims over”(Ps 23:5).
This verse is taken from the psalms of David, whom the Lord chose as king of Israel. Likewise, each of us Christians has been anointed by God’s grace to be a “son of the great King.” Thus, we can adapt the words of this psalm for ourselves as well, for our King is God Himself. When Pontius Pilate asked Jesus if He was a king, He replied, “It is you who say that I am a king” (Jn 18:37).
148th Meditation
“Even were I to walk in a ravine as dark as death I should fear no danger, for you are at my side. Your staff and your crook are there to soothe me” (Ps 23:4).
Who has not traversed dark glens in life? Who does not perceive the abundant dangers that surround us? Many times they are even present within us and try to devour us. But life in this world also testifies to the darkness of estrangement from God.
147th Meditation
“The Lord refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for His name’s sake” (Ps 23:3).
The German translation of this verse says: “The Lord satisfies my longing” instead of “He refreshes my soul”. Indeed, God has sown deep in our hearts a longing for Him. In His Wisdom, He allows us to experience that our life lacks something essential when we do not know Him and other lesser things take their place in our heart. Even if initially we do not perceive or understand much of this emptiness, and even if the many distractions temporarily satisfy us, deep down in our soul we know that: “As a deer yearns for running streams, so I yearn for you, my God” – as the psalmist expresses it (Ps 42:1).
146th Meditation
“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters” (Ps 23:2).
Day after day, the Heavenly Father feeds us with His holy Word; day after day He invites us to the table of His grace; day after day He watches over our life; day after day He speaks to our heart; day after day His Holy Spirit reminds us of all that Jesus said and did (Jn 14:26); day after day our soul can graze in the green pastures of God and be satisfied.
145th Meditation
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” (Ps 23:1).
In order to make Himself understood, our Lord speaks to us with comparisons that we know from our human life. The image of the Good Shepherd who, in his vigilant attitude, does not lose sight of the flock entrusted to him, wants to convey to us how the Lord watches over His own.
144th Meditation
“Earthly joys are fleeting. They do not last if they are not connected with me” (Inner Word).
When earthly joys are sought for their own sake, how quickly even those that are legitimate from the perspective of Christian morality pass away. They are fleeting moments, and though sometimes intoxicating and exciting, they do not last, but leave the soul empty after a while. If they are sought again and again, the same story is repeated and the deepest dimension of the human soul remains unsatisfied and without inner peace.
