Father’s words taken from the Message to Mother Eugenia Ravasio:
When I realized that neither the patriarchs nor the prophets had been able to make Me known and loved by men, I decided to come Myself. But how could I come among them? There was no other way than to come Myself, in the second Person of My divinity. Would men know Me? Would they listen to Me? Nothing in the future was hidden from Me; I Myself answered these two questions: “They will ignore My presence, even though they will be near Me. In My Son they will treat Me cruelly, notwithstanding all the good He will do for them. In My Son they will speak ill of Me, they will crucify Me to bring about My death.” Shall I stop because of this? No, My love for My children, men, is too great.
I did not stop there. Understand well that I loved you, as it were, more than My beloved Son, or rather, more than Myself. What I am telling you is so true that, if one of My creatures had been enough to atone for the sins of other men through a life and death similar to those of My Son, I would have hesitated. Why? Because I would have betrayed My love by making a beloved creature suffer, rather than suffering Myself, in My Son. I would never have wished My children to suffer.
Today we are allowed to cast a deep glance into the Heart of the Father. He knew what men would do with him in the Person of his Son; yet he did not hesitate to take on all this suffering for love of us.
We often do not know what is to come on our way, and with God’s help we learn to overcome the situations that will present themselves to us. If we knew beforehand that suffering, difficulties or even persecutions await us, we would probably be afraid and would try to avoid them. Thus, in his Wisdom, God arranged that we normally do not know what is coming, but that day by day we receive the strength to overcome it, when we do our part.
But the reality of God is different! Thus, it becomes even clearer to us how much He has borne upon Himself with full intention and knowing what awaited Him. It is not that he “caught him by surprise” or “unprepared”, as often happens to us; but that he assumed it with all its implications. We also know these things and have heard them many times. But it is a matter of God’s works touching our heart and melting it, so that the gratitude towards Him is ever greater and the heart is totally awakened to love Him.
Later in today’s text, we hear once again a declaration of love from the Father.
He speaks to us not only through His works, but also through His words. He expresses His love in a very personal way, and gives us to understand that He loves us more than Himself. He would never have demanded of a man the level of sacrifice which He Himself offered in His Son, for He would have understood it as a betrayal of His love.
And something that is also important for our meditation is the fact that the Father – as he expresses it here – has never wanted to make us suffer. This last sentence needs to be deeply interiorized, because we are often asked why there is suffering in the world, and in this context God’s existence is sometimes doubted or even denied. This is a very delicate subject, and when this suffering extends to children or people who were not the cause of this evil are affected (such as wars, plagues, epidemics, persecutions, etc.), and there is still no relationship of trust with the Lord or it has been shaken, then the question about suffering and God can be difficult to answer.
But we can give an answer if we are firmly convinced that God in principle does not want man’s suffering, but has taken upon Himself, in the Person of Jesus, the greatest suffering and guilt in which humanity has become entangled.
From this point of departure, in exposing our faith we can try to explain that suffering is a consequence of sin, in which all human beings are involved, for having lost Paradise. But, once this has been explained, it is important to show with how much love our Father calls men back home and wants to take them away from the paths of perdition, which abuse their freedom.
Precisely in these times, marked by the proliferation of this pandemic, it is important to transmit to people the clear message of faith, otherwise there is no hope! This epidemic could vanish and a different one appear in its place. For people, nothing is safe but God alone, and this can be learned and passed on!
People must experience in our lives the good smell of Christ. To do this, it is important to avoid, on the one hand, harshness in proclamation and in conversations of faith, and on the other hand, also the trivialization of things…
The emphasis is on announcing the love of the Father, just as our Lord Himself did and the Father gives us to understand. If you do not understand it or do not want to understand it, you cannot force it either. But we can always accompany them in our prayer.
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
