Let us begin by listening to the words of the Father’s Message:
“ 2) I am coming to bring hope to men and nations. How many have long since lost it! This hope will make them live in peace and security, working for their salvation.
3)I am coming to make Myself known just as I am, so that men’s trust may increase together with their love for Me, their Father. I have but one concern: to watch over all men and love them as My children.”
We must never lose hope, because it is precisely this hope that keeps us going when everything around us seems to be falling apart; when things are not going as usual; when the apostolate seems to be unfruitful; when sickness and epidemics are spreading; when we cannot see a great advance in our spiritual path; when those for whom we pray are simply not ready to convert; when an anti-Christian policy spreads its grip over the nations; when the Church’s boat seems to be filling up with water…
In such circumstances, hope may be lost or very difficult to maintain. It may seem almost artificial or self-produced, because our mood and thoughts are in the dark, and we follow the supposed logic of despair.
But it is precisely hope that makes the light shine in the midst of darkness! In fact, it is one of the three theological virtues; and, therefore, not a merely human optimism, which would spring from our nature and be very unreliable.
In today’s text, the Father gives us to understand that he knows the despair of men and nations, and that this is why he himself wants to come to meet us, so that a new hope may arise.
The hope that the Father wants to bring us is connected to the recognition of His goodness. People can place their hope in God, know His goodness better and – touched by His love – abandon themselves entirely to Him.
Seeing the wars and so much misery in life, one should recognize that true peace and security in this world is only possible in God.
Therefore, we have to ask for the virtue of hope. This is not only a light that can shine in the darkness; it is also a life-giving gift of God, which, despite all adverse circumstances, enables us to live in peace and security. Hope puts us in a position to “work for the salvation of our soul”, as the first part of the message we heard concludes.
When fears, dark forebodings or other such thoughts gain ground and we do not take the necessary steps to overcome them, we will be mostly occupied with them and they will darken our soul. Then it will not be easy to keep alive the hope that will strengthen us on our way, and we will hardly be able to concentrate on “working for the salvation of our soul.”
How, then, can we attain to this constant hope?
The answer is simple and it is given in the text! We must know the Father better as He really is. That is why he speaks to Mother Eugenie and, through her, to all of us. In another part of the “Message of the Father” that we will hear later, he gives us to understand that we do not yet know him well enough… If we knew him better, we would be filled with strong hope.
The few words that we have heard so far from the “Message of the Father” open up new horizons for us and show us how important it is to know God more deeply. In this way, we would also correspond to the Lord’s desire, because He wants us to know that He is watching over us, and that He wants to love us as His children.
If we try to interiorize this reality, we will be able to better understand these words of St. Paul:
“For I am certain of this: neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nothing already in existence and nothing still to come, nor any power, nor the heights nor the depths, nor any created thing whatever, will be able to come between us and the love of God, known to us in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8,38-39)
Harpa Dei accompanies the daily scriptural interpretation or spiritual teaching of Br. Elija, their spiritual father. These meditations can be heard on the following website www.en.elijamission.net
