391st Meditation
“He who preaches with love, refutes heretics (HERetiks) enough, even if he does not utter a single argument against them” (St. Francis de Sales).
A wonderful quote from St. Francis, which lends itself to meditation in our “3 minutes for Abba”.
It is true that when we proclaim with a free heart the Father’s love for us men, darkness cannot resist. The devil is incapable of love. That is why the proclamation of true love and with love is unbearable for the powers of darkness, which are forced to give in. Even heretics (HERetiks), who have succumbed to false doctrines, are resisted in this way.
In the Message to Sister Eugenia (iuGInia) Ravasio, the Father also warns of the temptations and dangers that lie in wait for man. Indeed, the warnings have a deep meaning and are an expression of God’s love and concern for people, making them aware of the state of their souls and the state of the world, and calling them to conversion. But in the end, the central message is the infinite love and goodness of the Father, which we are to proclaim so that people may know Him as He truly is.
If we do this in love, we become for others reliable witnesses of what we proclaim. Certainly this does not count only for preaching in the strict sense of the word, but for our whole life as disciples of the Lord and children of the Heavenly Father. There is nothing more convincing, nothing that touches the heart more easily than love. And, of course, this counts even more when it comes to proclaiming the Gospel, which is, after all, the message that “this is how God loved the world: he gave his only Son” (Jn 3:16). Love will triumph!