Father’s words taken from the Message to Mother Eugenia Ravasio:
“Now that I have shown you that my Son Jesus represents me among men, and that through him I live constantly in their midst, I want to show you also how I come to you through my Holy Spirit.
The work of this Third Person of my Divinity is done in silence, and often man does not even notice it. But for me it is a very appropriate means to dwell, not only in the tabernacle, but also in the soul of all those who are in the state of grace, to establish my throne there and to remain there always, as a true Father who loves, protects and assists his son. No one can imagine the joy I feel when I am alone with a soul.”
The extract from the Message that we had heard yesterday pointed out to us the Redemption that Our Lord Jesus Christ worked for us on the Cross and the Holy Eucharist as the two ways through which God comes to us and we to Him. Now, the Father speaks about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us. God wants to establish our soul as a tabernacle, in which He can always dwell.
Here again is a great comfort offered to us in this precious Message! At the moment, many of the faithful can no longer receive Holy Communion as they used to. However, we know of cases in the history of the Church, such as that of the Christians in Japan, who for 200 years had to live without priests, and yet remained faithful to their Catholic faith. So, if we are currently deprived of access to the Holy Eucharist, we do not need to despair. Rather, we need to discover more and more other forms of God’s Presence, and to draw fruit from them…
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is one of them; one that is particularly exquisite. The Holy Spirit is called the “friend of the soul. He is a gentle and luminous presence in us. However, it is worth clarifying that here too, as well as to receive Holy Communion as it should be, there is an essential condition: we must be in state of grace. God, in His love, calls all men to conversion, and He is ready to forgive all sins if we turn to Him. But He can only establish His Throne of Love in those souls who live according to His commandments and go the way of holiness.
Let us learn to perceive the gentle presence of our soul’s friend… Let us talk to Him and ask Him to unfold His precious gifts in us, so that we can advance on the path of holiness, because then the Presence of God in us will be even greater.
Today’s passage concluded with the following sentence: “No one can imagine the joy I feel when I am alone with a soul.”
Let us consciously listen to this statement, and assimilate it precisely now, at a time when efforts are being made to reduce social contacts on the physical plane in order to prevent the spread of the pandemic. For some people this is very difficult, and they suffer under loneliness – perhaps many even die alone! That is when we must remember that God is always there! If we offer Him our loneliness and the loss of social contacts we used to have as a sacrifice, the Lord can use such a situation to deepen our relationship with Him. In this way, we can take it as “desert time”, just like the 40 days in which Jesus was alone with his Father.
We can see how, through faith, we can always find a way to deal with whatever comes our way in an appropriate way. This is especially a work of the Holy Spirit through whom the Father wants to dwell in our soul.
It is crucial that, in this crisis, we do not just pray that it will soon come to an end.
Such a plea must be connected with the call to conversion of the people.
If our Father permits this pandemic as a rebuke, then it is first of all a matter of men turning away from the wrong paths that lead away from God, and finding the way back home. In order for there to be true peace, man must live in harmony with God. In this sense, it is not enough to simply ask that this plague be brought to an end soon. It is about something else: conversion to God!
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
