The more we love Jesus, the more we love our Heavenly Father, who sent Him into the world. Everything we do to the glory and honour of the Son of God also glorifies the One from whom He proceeds. Through Jesus, we come to the Father (cf. Jn 14:6).
However, the Father desires to be honoured with an own feast and cult, even beyond the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. In his Message to Mother Eugenie, he expresses this desire which is so important to him: Read More
14th Meditation on God the Father
It is important for the Lord that we know Him as He really is. Jesus Himself tries again and again to convey to us the true image of the Father. Indeed, it is only when we have the right image of Him that we can live in a trusting relationship with Him, just as He has intended for us. Then the joyful reality that God’s light spreads in this world shines forth, and Jesus’ words become a reality: “You are light for the world” (Mt 5:14). Read More
Our Father delights to be close to us men. He Himself assures us of this:
“Realize then, o men, that for all eternity I have had but one desire, to make Myself known to men and be loved by them. I wish to stay for ever with them!” Read More
God’s love embraces all people, whom he wants to bring to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2,4). We know the way he has chosen: it is His Son Jesus, who says of Himself: “I am the Way; I am Truth and Life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (Jn 1:6). Read More
God brings those who believe in Him into an ever deeper relationship with Him, and purifies them of all that hinders them from fully receiving His love. If they live in this trust that the Father asks of them, they will shine as “the light of the world” (Mt 5:14).
“And light shines in darkness…” (Jn 1:5). Read More
It is important to realise that in loving us, our Father makes himself vulnerable. We can see this especially in the Passion of his Son. A very sensitive point for the Father’s Heart is when we have a false respect for Him, derived from fear of God, which then tends to manifest itself also in the relationship with His ecclesiastical representatives. Read More
How many false images of God prevent us from returning with confidence to our Heavenly Father!
Already in Paradise the Devil gave our first parents to understand that God would not grant him the knowledge of good and evil.
The forces of darkness continued to sow these lies about God, so that not infrequently an unjust and hurtful distrust towards the Heavenly Father has arisen in people. He himself addresses this in his Message to Mother Eugenia Ravasio:
“Most of the unbelievers, the impious and various communities remain in their iniquity and unbelief because they think that I am asking the impossible of them, that they have to submit to My commands like slaves of a tyrannical lord, whose power and pride keep him distant from his subjects, to oblige them to show Him respect and devotion. No, no, My children! I know how to make Myself small, far smaller than you can imagine”.
That is why it is so important to convey the true image of our Heavenly Father, such as He really is, so that souls may be conquered by love. This in no way means that He is a God who leaves man to decide for himself what is good and what is evil, thus turning his life upside down. On the contrary, our Father’s love makes us realise that we can only find the deepest meaning of our existence when we move within the framework of his commandments. This is what he tells us further on:
“What I do require is the faithful observance of the commandments I gave the Church, so that you will be rational creatures and will not be like animals because of your lack of discipline and your evil inclinations, so that you will preserve the treasure which is the soul I gave you, clothed in the fullness of its divine beauty!”
We must not lose the beauty that God has given us! This is our Father’s great concern for us. He wants us to take in and receive all that He has prepared for us and that we do not get lost.
When we accept and internalise the love of our Heavenly Father, when God Himself dwells in us and His Holy Spirit transforms us, then we come to know our Father’s heart more and more. Very soon we will notice that He has an urgent desire to make His love known to all people.
But on whom can He count for this? In the Father’s Message He tells us:
“If there is something that I desire, above all now, it is simply to see more fervour on the part of the just, a smooth path for the conversion of sinners, sincere and persevering conversion…”
So, then, the fruitfulness of evangelisation depends also on our fervour. Is it not the Holy Spirit Himself who moves us to co-operate in it, so that this desire of the Father may come to fulfilment?
“[I desire] the return of the prodigal sons to their Father’s house. I am referring in particular to the Jews and to all others who are My creatures and children, such as the schismatics, the heretics, the freemasons, the poor infidels, the sacrilegious, and the various secret sects. I want this whole world to know that there is a God and a Creator. This God, Who will address their ignorance twice over, is un-known to them; they do not know that I am their Father”.
No one is excluded from the love of God, which seeks man to return home, to be snatched from perdition and to change his life through conversion.
However, messengers are needed, who courageously and yet with sensitivity proclaim the Father as He really is.
Whom can God send? You and me, so that these words of the Father may become a reality:
“Believe Me, you who are listening to Me as you read these words: if all men who are far from our Catholic Church heard people talking about this Father Who loves them, Who is their Creator and their God, about this Father Who desires to give them eternal life, then many of these men, even the most obstinate ones, would come to this Father of Whom you had spoken to them.”
When we have come to know a little of God’s love and have come to understand His goodness more and more, the desire to reciprocate His love increases in us. The Father wants us to know Him, to honour Him and to love Him. And how are we to do this?
Let us listen to God the Father’s answer to Mother Eugenia:
“With regard to the means of honouring Me as I desire, all I ask of you is great confidence. Do not think I want austerities or mortifications; I do not want you to walk barefoot or to lay your faces in the dust, or to cover your-selves with ashes. No, no! My dearest wish is that you behave as My children, simply and trusting in Me!”
So, what the Lord expects of us is not, in the first instance, external ascetic practices, however important and necessary these may be in certain circumstances. It is something much deeper: our trust.
In asking for our trust, the Father is asking for our heart, our genuine and simple surrender to Him. Indeed, we honour Him when we simply trust Him, for then we believe in His love and give Him the right response.
This trust binds us even more to God than all the good works we can do for Him! If we give the Father our unconditional trust, we also detach ourselves from all forms of disordered self-determination and our tendency to want to take our life into our own hands.
Trusting in God means receiving life from His hands: every day, every hour… And this path leads us to freedom and gratitude.
Let us ask Him, for example, in the mornings: “What is your plan for today, beloved Father? I trust in You!”
Then, this attitude of trust will permeate our whole existence, and the foundation on which we build our life will become more and more secure. Moreover, we honour our Father when we accept life in this way and fulfil the mission He has entrusted to us as His children.
We are called to bring to people the message that God loves them infinitely, and to show them the ways which the Heavenly Father has chosen to give them the certainty of this love.
It pleases God to involve us in this noble task, thus making us His co-workers.
Who would not like to tell about a sovereign who truly deserves this name; a sovereign who is at the same time father, brother and friend to us; a sovereign who does not need to be idealised ….; a king who loves?
He is great in Himself, but in His goodness He reaches down to us.
In the Letter to the Philippians St. Paul writes:
“Christ Jesus, being in the form of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped.But he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming as human beings are …” (Phil 2:6-7).
First of all, we must get to know God more deeply, day by day, so that we can better tell people how He really is. But then we must not hesitate, but try to reach out to people in every possible way.
In the Message to Mother Eugenia Ravasio, the Father tells us:
“If you cannot go to them and talk to them directly, look for other means: thousands of direct and indirect ways. Put them into effect with the true spirit of disciples and with great fervour. I promise you that your efforts will soon be crowned with success by a special grace. Make yourselves apostles of My fatherly goodness and, because of the zeal I will give you all, you will be strong and powerful in your work among souls (…) I will put your listeners in the right frame of mind to hear you. In this way, men will be conquered by love and saved for all eternity”.
