215th Meditation
“You know when I sit, when I rise,
You understand my thoughts from afar” (Ps 138:2).
What an immeasurable grace it is to live in the certainty that everything we do happens under the loving gaze of our Heavenly Father!
St Benedict urged his monks to be aware of God’s constant presence, and St Teresa of Avila exhorted her sisters to keep in mind whom they were addressing when they prayed the Breviary.
To live constantly in the presence of our Father, and to be aware of it again and again, gives our earthly existence a certain foretaste of the deepest mystery of our life: to behold God unveiled in eternity and to enjoy Him forever.
What a joy it is that we are so important to our heavenly Father and that we have His watchful care at all times! What a comfort this certainty can be in times of loneliness or when we feel that others do not understand us well! How comforting and at the same time awakening it is to know that God knows the thoughts of our heart and penetrates into those depths which we ourselves are not able to grasp! We can therefore abandon ourselves unreservedly to Him.
At the same time, the awareness that the loving gaze of the Father rests upon us always teaches us to watch carefully over our thoughts, words and deeds, so that they do not stray and become displeasing to Him. This, in turn, can give a great impetus to our spiritual journey, for progress on it depends on growth in love. And who would not strive to give our Heavenly Father the response He deserves?