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“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:18-20). Read More

Today begins the Season of Advent, in which we prepare ourselves for that wonderful event that took place in Bethlehem: the birth of the Son of God, the Redeemer of humanity.

Thus, today marks the beginning of a new liturgical year. With God’s help, I will try to publish a meditation and the ‘3 Minutes for Abba’ every day of the year, as I have been doing for the past years. Since I – and also my Harpa Dei co-workers – often find ourselves on missionary journeys, we will sometimes have to draw on meditations from past years. I will also deal from time to time with other spiritual themes that are not directly related to the reading or the gospel of the day. Read More

“Justice is the constant and firm will to give to each one what is his due”.

(St. Thomas Aquinas)

In this simple definition we find the basis for the practice of this cardinal virtue. Justice is directed, in the first place, to God Himself, for there is nothing more just than to render to Him the worship that corresponds to Him as Creator and Father: adoration, honor, glory, gratitude, trust, faithful fulfillment of His commandments, humble and dedicated service to Him…

On an objective level, the omission of all these things is the greatest injustice, even if we would otherwise try to practice justice towards our neighbor, respecting their rights and fulfilling the various obligations we have towards them. Read More

“For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding”. (Prov 2:6)

The virtue of prudence is usually considered as the “auriga virtutum”; that is, the moderator or conductor of the other virtues, because it helps us to apply the virtue that corresponds to the given circumstances, in a wise and sensible way. With it we learn to discern things properly, and it teaches us to give the correct response in each situation.

If we keep in mind the other cardinal virtues that we have meditated on during the last few days, as well as the asceticism of thoughts as part of temperance, we will now see that it will be prudence that will help us to apply everything wisely. The virtue of fortitude, for example, should be put into practice for those things that are right and worthwhile. On the other hand, if courage were to be put into practice for insignificant things, to attract attention or, worse still, for evil purposes, it would lose its meaning. Read More

Yesterday we had thematized the virtue of fortitude, which is so important for following the Lord firmly and perseveringly. Today we will look at another of the four cardinal virtues: temperance.

“For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom 8:13).

The disorder that remained in humanity as a consequence of original sin, must return to the order disposed by God, through His grace and our cooperation. It is necessary to wisely restrain the rebellion of the senses and passions against the spirit.

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To advance in the spiritual life it is essential to obey the Holy Spirit. He is our inner guide and teacher. When we become familiar with Him and learn to listen and follow His voice better, our spiritual path can become lighter and more agile.

After the Holy Spirit has led us to the first conversion (I am referring to that crucial moment when we make a clear decision to follow Jesus and put nothing before Him, as opposed to an indecisive and indifferent attitude towards God), He will continue to carry out His work within us.

Just as the decision we make at our first conversion is the authentic response to God’s love, so are all the subsequent steps on the path of sanctification.

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We had concluded yesterday’s meditation with these words of the Lord: “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).

To better understand the path of inner transformation that God works in us, let us first look back at the original state that humanity enjoyed in Paradise and see the ways our souls bore the consequences for our fall into sin.

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As we will be on a mission to different parts of America over the next few weeks, we will be leaving the usual framework of daily meditations for a few days. However, this should not be a disadvantage, as we will be dealing with topics that are important for the development of a healthy spiritual life. Even if we have heard the subject before, it is always helpful to repeat it, for as the saying goes, ‘repetition is the mother of wisdom’.

After this short series on the spiritual life, next week we will meditate on the readings from the Book of Revelation that the Church offers us before the end of the liturgical year.

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When we begin to discover the lives of the saints, we often come across extraordinary stories. Such is the case of Saints Chrysanthus and Darius, martyrs of the first centuries, whose memory is celebrated today in the ancient liturgical calendar. I shall confine myself here to summarising their story on the basis of the account written by Wilhelm Auer. If you would like to listen to a meditation on today’s reading, please click on the following link: https://en.elijamission.net/2021/07/25/

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In the last two meditations, we had looked at two different deficiencies of freedom: fear and human respects. In addition, we had talked a little about inferiority complexes. On our path of following Christ, we are called to overcome – with God’s help – all these limitations to our freedom, so that they do not become an obstacle on this path and do not prevent the freedom that faith gives us from shining forth in our Christian witness. Today we will look at three other forms of unfreedom, which have a certain similarity. Read More