Novena to God the Father, Day 5
Dear Father, your Son promised us in the Gospel:
“Anyone who loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make a home in him.” (Jn 14:23)
Father, we not only want to invite You, but we cry out with all our heart: Come to us, make Yourself at home in us! We want to prepare a dwelling place for You where You can abide. Come and do not delay; stay forever.
This is what You also want to give us to understand when You tell us again and again that You want to be with us.
Already at that time You walked with Your people Israel. Then You not only sent Your Son in the midst of mankind, but You wanted Him to become man Himself, in order to be very close to us.
And even more: In your Son, you gave yourself to us as food; in Him you are present in the tabernacles of our Churches. So, the message we are to understand is that You want to be in our midst, and to dwell in our hearts as well.
In the Message that you entrusted to Sister Eugenia Ravasio You tell us:
“The work of this third Person of My divinity (the Holy Spirit) is carried out silently and often man is not aware of it. But for Me it is a very fitting way of living, not just in the tabernacle, but also in the souls of all those in a state of grace, to establish My throne in them and to live there always, like the true Father Who loves, protects and helps His children. No one can imagine the joy I feel when I am alone with a soul.”
So, Father, it is through the Holy Spirit that You come to us. You want to rest in our heart, and it is to become the place of your rest. I remember here, Beloved Father, the Virgin Mary. In her you rested, did you not? could we say that she was like your “Shabbat”, the day of your rest?
Father, even if, by Your mercy, we can live in a state of grace, our heart is not yet sufficiently purified. Every person wants to offer his dear guest a clean house. In particular women pay a special attention to this. And this is even more important when it comes to preparing a dwelling place for You, our divine Guest.
But in Your case it is different: When You send the Holy Spirit to us, He purifies our hearts. You know that we ourselves, no matter how hard we try, would not even be able to cleanse it properly. Sin and its consequences are too deeply rooted in us.
But You, Father, take care of everything and help our weakness, so that we can receive You even if we are not perfect.
So let us not worry unnecessarily! Your Son gave us only one concern: “Set your hearts on his kingdom first” (Mt 6:33). This, dear Father, we do want to promise you firmly: to do everything in our power so that You may gladly dwell in us.
How will You feel in our hearts?
We hope not to forget You, we hope to always remember that You are there and to maintain an intimate dialogue with You. Please remind us of this constantly!
We know that You are very gentle with us and that You do not impose Yourself on us; we know that You court us and fight for our love, but You do not force Us.
What can we do not to be so forgetful? I will ask the Holy Spirit, our divine Friend, to remind me to think of You.
Make me feel the emptiness and coldness of my heart when I forget You, so that I may go back into myself and find You there. Where You are, there is true peace.
And then, Beloved Father, I will be able to go out again; not to be dispersed, but to announce your peace and to invite people to open their hearts wide to You.
I believe that this would please You, because You want to accomplish the work of Your love in all souls.
