In His great prayer to the Father, Jesus can testify that His own, who were entrusted to Him by the Father, have kept His Word: “Now at last they have recognised that all you have given me comes from you, for I have given them the teaching you gave to me, and they have indeed accepted it” (Jn 17:7-8). Read More
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THE SON REVEALS THE FATHER
We continue to meditate in detail on the 17th chapter of John, which is an eminent expression of the profound relationship between the Father and the Son.
Raising His eyes to heaven, Jesus said to His Father:
“I have revealed your name to those whom you took from the world to give me. They were yours and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word” (Jn 17:6). Read More
THE GLORY OF JESUS
“Father, glorify me with that glory I had with you before ever the world existed” (Jn 17:5).
The time has come for Jesus to return to the Father. He has fulfilled His mission and has left to His own all that they need to advance towards eternity and to reach the eternal dwelling that He is preparing for them in His Father’s House (cf. Jn 14:2-3).
TO HONOUR THE FATHER
God longs for us men to love Him and that this love be also expressed in a special worship and veneration.
We can imagine what it is like when we ourselves are filled with love and want to share this love with others… And if we, who are so imperfect, are urged to transmit this love to others, how much more our Father, who is the very source of love! In fact, the worship and veneration that God the Father asks for, have as their profound aim that our hearts turn to Him and that we discover and correspond to the true sense of our existence.
GOD’S TREASURE IN US
God created us from nothing. His only motivation was His love for us. That is why He created man in the image of Himself (Gen 1:27) and clothed him with great dignity.
This is what the Father conveys to us in the Message to Mother Eugenia:
TRUE FREEDOM
“If the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free” (Jn 8:36).
Only God can give us true freedom, for it consists in living in His Will, thus corresponding to the loving plan with which He created us. Often people believe that freedom consists in doing whatever one pleases, and so they fall into many dependencies. But no, true freedom is about doing what is right, living in the truth and adhering to it wholeheartedly. This is what God, in His love, offers us, while at the same time giving us the grace to put it into practice.
SIMPLICITY
The Father loves simplicity. In the Gospel we hear how Jesus rejoices in this: “I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to little children. Yes, Father, for that is what it has pleased you to do” (Lk 10:21).
Simplicity does not mean lack of intelligence; it means simplicity of heart.
DO NOT STAGNATE
“I consider it impossible that love should be content to stagnate in the same place” (St. Teresa of Avila).
Surely we are all familiar with St. Paul’s wonderful “Hymn to Love,” which concludes: “Love never ends” (1 Cor 13:8).
St. Teresa’s words are in perfect harmony with this conclusion: love cannot remain stagnant in one place. Love drives us forward (cf. 2 Cor 5:14). It is the creative power of our Father that never ceases. Without causing the slightest anxiety, it penetrates our souls, builds there its holy temple, and never tires of completing its work of redemption and sanctification.
We know that if we allow ourselves to be moved by our Father’s love and respond to it with all our heart, it becomes a fire that never goes out. In contemplation, we can and should enjoy this love and rest in it to the extent that our Father grants us this joy during our earthly life. At the same time, the fire of love sets us going again, not allowing us to stagnate and live only for ourselves.
Let us think of a person in whom love for God has been awakened. Day after day he will try to deepen this love and cooperate with the creative, redeeming and healing work of our Father. God’s love urges us to seek all people. In the message to Mother Eugenia Ravasio, our Father shows us again and again how love moves Him to do everything for the salvation of humanity.
And because this is so, the Holy Spirit, who is love poured into our hearts and who is also the great evangelizer, will not allow us to stop, but will always exhort us to walk with Him. The more the fire of love is kindled in us, the more we will be able to make these words of St. Francis de Sales a reality:
“The Holy Spirit does not tolerate procrastination; He demands a prompt response to His motions”.
FINAL NOTE: Since we are now on a missionary journey in Brazil and Argentina, we will have recourse during this time to meditations from the past. God willing, I will be able to write new reflections after Easter.
ALL THINGS WORK FOR THE GOOD OF THOSE WHO LOVE GOD
“For those who love God, He works all things for good. Even their misdeeds and errors God turns into good for them” (St. Augustine of Hippo).
THE CAPTAIN
A little boy was standing on the shore of a large lake, waving his arms to a ship that was already in full sail. A man came up to him and said, “Don’t be silly! Do you think the ship will change course just because you call it?” But sure enough, the ship turned toward the shore, docked, and took the boy aboard. As the boy climbed aboard, he said to the man, “No, sir, I’m not silly! The captain is my father.”