“Give to the Most High as he has given, and as generously as your hand has found” (Sir 35:10).
What a wonderful invitation to honor our Father and live in a loving relationship with Him! It is a matter of becoming ever more aware of His goodness and responding to it with generosity. As we follow this wise direction, many things will change.
St. Teresa of Avila once said that when faced with two choices, she always wanted to choose the more perfect one. She chose this path of perfection because, after living a rather lukewarm monastic life at first, she had an experience with the Lord in which He said to her from the cross, “See what I am doing for you. What will you do for me?” These words so inflamed her heart that from then on she tried to put aside everything that prevented her from following the path of perfection.
What a fruitful challenge from the Lord! When one immerses oneself in the love of the Father and of the Son, manifested on the Cross, and allows the Holy Spirit to show us the greatness of this love, our heart will be inflamed and this fire will be translated into the firm intention of the will to serve the Lord better, trying not to omit anything that could increase love.
It is true wisdom to recognize with gratitude all the gifts that God has given us for our lives and to place them joyfully and generously at His disposal so that He may use them for His plans of salvation.
The most precious thing we can give our Father is our heart, because He wants to rest in the hearts of His creatures. The Lord calls us to be apostles who, inflamed with love, seek meek and gentle souls for the expansion of His Kingdom of Love.
What advice does the Lord give us to become so generous?
“Have you contemplated the infinite ocean of my mercy? Come, look and plunge into the immensity of my love” (Father’s message to Sr. Eugenia Ravasio).