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Internalizing our faith is one of the decisive elements for God’s grace to unfold abundantly in our lives.

Faith must be internalized so that it consists of more than just outward gestures and actions—not to detract from the importance and value of the latter—but is also deeply rooted in our hearts. In this way, we forge a rich interior life in union with God, an interior life that is always present and growing.

God offers us various ways of internalization.

First, we must assimilate the Word of God more deeply. Scripture says of Mary that she pondered the Word in her heart (cf. Lk 2:19). To do so, we must read the Word of God daily. It is our spiritual nourishment that enlightens our understanding and illuminates our hearts (Psalm 119:105).

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On this day, when we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, it is very appropriate to talk about the Holy Rosary, a classic Christian meditation closely associated with the Virgin Mary.

In fact, she carried the Lord in her womb and in her heart. If we want Jesus to be born more deeply in our hearts, she, being our spiritual Mother, will gladly help us. What pleases her most is that we listen to her Son and allow Him to dwell in our hearts. Her joy is to see Jesus taking shape in our lives. What mother would not want her child to receive the respect, love, and attention He deserves? How much more does this apply to the Mother of God, whose Son brings us salvation!

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When reflecting on Advent, we can speak of three comings of the Lord:

1. His historical coming, when He was born in Bethlehem;
2. His birth in our hearts;
3. His glorious coming at the End of Time.

In this second week of Advent, we will reflect on the second of these: the presence of Jesus in our hearts. Indeed, it is essential that He also dwell in our hearts, for this is how our inner transformation takes place. Letting Jesus into our hearts means giving Him shelter, making room for God’s love in our souls.

We also experience this in our human relationships: when someone occupies a place in our hearts, it means they have become part of our lives, that we are also part of theirs, and that we think of them with love and gratitude. In a way, that person is present in us, even if we are not in constant contact.

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“But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (Gal 4:4–5)

The angel Gabriel was sent by God to the Virgin Mary in Nazareth, and this was a decisive moment in the history of salvation. In His love, God chose from among His people the person to whom He would entrust His own Son. She was a woman who, as we know with certainty thanks to the dogma of the Catholic Church, was preserved by God from original sin.

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God keeps alive the longing for salvation in His people.

The tragedy of experiencing one’s own sin, the shortcomings of life, the longing for fulfillment, the longing for the life God intended for us—in short, the longing for God Himself… In the face of all this, the prophets come to remind us: He who will save Israel and the nations will come!

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in travail has brought forth; then the rest of his brethren shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And this shall be peace.” (Micah 5:2–5a)

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Everything would be so simple if men submitted themselves to the loving rule of the Lord, allowed themselves to be filled with His Spirit, and, in this relationship of love with God and with one another, led a full and holy life.

Is this just a dream? Is it simply a desire that dwells in our imagination because we want to escape from a reality that often seems so different? Is it a mere utopia?

No! It is not a dream! Rather, it is the reality that awaits us in eternity if we welcome God’s work in us and respond to it as we should. This reality, foreseen by God, already begins in this earthly life, even though it is still subject to the limitations of our fallen human condition.

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God’s love finds those who do not close their hearts to Him. Not everyone has turned their back on Him; not everyone lives indifferently as their earthly life passes by; not everyone remains mired in lethargy or keeps their ears closed to God’s call. There are also those who are faithful to Him!

After Noah, God found Abraham, the father of believers (cf. Rom 4:1-3), and said to him: “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.  And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves” (Gen 12:1-3).

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“Adam, where are you?” (Cf. Gen 3:9).

The Heart of God seeks man who, having fallen under the seduction of the powers of darkness, has turned his back on Him. As Jesus shows us in the parable of the prodigal son, God is always waiting—awaiting our return.

Man wanders through this world without knowing where he comes from or where he is going. He no longer knows God as He truly is. With each new derailment, the memory of that trusting relationship with God—the memory of his true home, Paradise—fades away.

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The first step on our Advent journey is to deeply assimilate the concept of God’s loving Providence, for it allows us to understand that it was God’s love that called us into existence and constantly blesses us with His presence. We are not a random product or a whim of nature, which comes and goes until it dissolves into nothingness. No! God created us to live in communion with Him and to share in His fullness (cf. Eph 1:4–6). The Lord tells us:

“I have called you by name, you are mine” (Is 43:1). Read More

Today, we begin the season of Advent to prepare for the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord. This year, I would like to share a series of updated meditations that I wrote during Advent 2020 as a kind of “spiritual retreat” for this liturgical season.

At that time, the Coronavirus crisis had erupted. It was said that all of humanity was in danger and that everyone had to be vaccinated multiple times to avoid catastrophe. The pharmaceutical industry, politics, the media, and even the Church were all rowing in the same direction. The latter insisted that vaccination was an act of charity toward one’s neighbor. Read More