“Raise yourselves to the dignity of children of God and learn how to respect your own greatness. I will then be your Father more than ever, the most lovable and merciful of fathers!” (Father’s message to Sr. Eugenia Ravasio).
Here our Father addresses an extremely essential question for the life of mankind: What is the greatness and dignity of man? Even the Lord’s disciples argued among themselves as to which of them was the greatest (Lk 22:24). In response, Jesus taught them that true greatness is found in serving (v. 26).
When a person does not discover their true greatness and dignity, they run the risk of creating substitutes to satisfy their inner need to be valuable. Thus, they often have to highlight their external qualities and boast of their natural gifts, and not infrequently will they become dependent on the esteem and recognition of others in order to satisfy this inner need.
However, this is not what elevates us to our true dignity. Indeed, this dignity is a gift we receive from the hands of the Father. It is the dignity He gives us by making us sharers in His divine life as His children. Day by day we are called to become like Him, so that this dignity may permeate our whole life and we may attain true greatness in selflessly serving God and humankind.
“The Mighty One has done great works for me: His name is holy” (Lk 1:49), exclaims the Mother of the Lord, who, having been chosen by God, corresponded to the full dignity of her vocation.
We must recognize what the Father has done and continues to do for us, praise Him for it and correspond to Him with our love, placing ourselves at His service and thus cooperating in His work of love. This is what elevates us to our true greatness.
If we strive to elevate ourselves to this dignity and learn to appreciate our true greatness, our Heavenly Father will be able to unfold more powerfully in our lives all His loving and merciful fatherhood.