May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all (1Thess 3:12).
Throughout the Gospel ,
we often hear the exhortation to vigilance. In the liturgy of Advent,
preparing for Christmas, the coming of the Lord, we
hear even more this advice to vigilance. Because without vigilance,
it is impossible to love according to the Gospel, following the
example of Jesus, without the hidden motive of self-interest!
This invitation
shows us that there is a profound truth in our lives: it is the truth
of God who gives Himself and is the foundation to our existence,
transforming us from the inside. It is thus necessary to be vigilant
so as not to waste opportunities. It is said that the Christian is a
man and a woman of hope: vigilance and prayer are two attitudes of
hope, so as to be disciples of Jesus, vigilant and committed to live
His New Commandment .
Attention is the first
name of Advent, because consciousness is easily seduced
and spirituality watered down, with the result of the prevailing
mediocrity, made of habit, of complaint and neglect of significant
projects. The Gospel suggests to us to watch praying. To pray is to
become full of oxygen, it is to fly high , it is to avoid suffocating
in banality. To the one who puts everything in God's hands, He gives
the strength to stay awake, that is, to see and to live the reality
with eyes wide open: Each moment , because each instant is pregnant
with the future, no moment is neutral.
- - - - - - -
An Experience of Life:
The Dad’s
disease affected the family atmosphere, creating a lot of tension
between everyone.
I asked God for the
complete healing of Dad so as to return to be the family as before,
but the situation did not change, in fact it seemed to get worse. Not
seeing my prayers answered, I slowly drifted away from God.
A neighbor , knowing my
situation , he began to invite me to his group of friends. I was
happy with them, the way of being together
gave me peace. When I talked about that I no longer believed in God
because He did not listen to my prayers, they listened to me in a
great silence. Then they proposed the idea, if it was ok with me, to
ask, together with Jesus the good that He wanted for my family. I
went home with a new peace inside of myself.
Before entering, still
a little doubt, but, as soon as the door was
open, I found Dad who greeted me with a big smile. I knew I had to
ask God for the love in order to be the first to love, those who
where next to me.
R.U.
