"Not what I will, but what thou wilt.” (Mk 14:36)
(http://www.focolare.org/en/news/2011/04/01/it-aprile-2011/)
In these words that Jesus speaks to the Father in the garden of Olives is the arrival to the summit of man’s journey who returns to God.
After the experience of sin Adam, the “old man”, feels for the first time in his heart the fear to meet the Lord and thus tries to hide himself. The voice of the evil one put him into a state of confusion creating for him a mistaken idea about God. Thus he flees from Him and from His will and goes forth wandering about, prisoner of his own fears.
Jesus puts an end to this flight, to this living as a vagrant who hide himself from God. He reveals the true face of God, that of a merciful Father Who wants the good of His own children and He calls them to participate in His own Life.
The man Jesus does not flee but seeks God; He wants that His own heart beats in unison with that of the Father. This relationship is fulfilled in prayer, kneeling in prayer Jesus compels His (and our) humanity to receive the design of love which surpasses us. From the “yes” to the Father is born the “new man”, capable of giving ones life for love overcoming every fear.
Also we, in these holy days, recollect ourselves in prayer in order to take part in the trial of death and of the resurrection of Jesus and in this way to regenerate in us and around us the “new man”, that one made according to the will of the Father.
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An Experience of Life:
A friend, Angelo, who I discover is unemployed, communicates to me a great sorrow: the death of his new born baby girl. When we take leave of each other, I have in my heart only one desire: to do something for him. The day after, my first thought was: I want to find work for Angelo.
Among the very few possibilities in an area with much unemployment, Carlo comes to mind, another friend, manager of a large company.
But my day was so filled with things to do that I realized that I would not succeed in contacting him. During the Holy Mass I complain a little with Jesus: “You ask to much of me!”
While I was on my way to meet with a person that was going through a very difficult situation – one of the scheduled tasks for that day – I confide to the Father the work for Angelo.
I listen for hours, with great peace, that person who in the end was truly relieved and happy.
Returning home, there was a message. It is Angelo who found work. He is happy. And I am happy too. But his second statement really touched me: the work is with Carlo’s company, the manager, with whom he came into contact walking along another street.
X. Z., Italy
Showing posts with label abandonment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label abandonment. Show all posts
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Luke 1:38
Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word (Lk 1:38).
(http://www.focolare.org/en/news/2011/03/01/eccomi-sono-la-serva-del-signore-avvenga-di-me-quello-che-hai-detto-lc-138/)
Mary is the person who responded with her own unconditional yes to God: she granted space in herself to God. In this yes, Mary is a Mother that generates: in her the love of God truly made Himself love for man. This fact alone is a scandal. Plato had said that no God mixes with men, and had thus indicated the desolation of the ancient world, which warned the abysmal distance between God and man and thought it to be unbridgeable. It was filled by Mary. In her “behold me”, she became the creatural space where the divine entered into humanity.
It is the particular love of Mary, her love as a woman and as a mother: she does not ask, she gives. She does not pretend; she considers herself in debt. And her beauty is to be background, not to put herself before; thus it is delicate love, respectful, hidden, veiled and at the same time extremely strong, because it is capable of generating. The specificity of generating is the fruit and that of love: the experience to be the response.
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An Experience of Life:
When Frances communicated to us her decision to become a religious sister, she said it to us with words that opened our hearts as parents: “You see, - she told us – I did not seek this; it was not in my plans or even in my dreams. When I realized that perhaps the Lord was calling me to the consecrated life, I tried to push away this thought and to not indulge in it too much. But gradually it appeared to me ever more clearly the will of the Lord in my regard. It was not asked of me to think or to understand, but to correspond with a spirit of receiving and abandonment.” She added: “On my own I asked myself: but how is it possible that the Lord might actually call me, who does not have exceptional talents, who is not better than so many other girls of my age? I discovered with joy that the Lord had fixed His gaze on me even seeing very well, much better than me, the limits, the defects, the weaknesses, my fragility. Thus, I can confide in Him and entrust myself to Him. Today and always He accompanies my steps with His presence, with His support, with His light, with His strength. This certainty gives me a great interior peace.”
These words of Frances helped us to understand that the life of the children, whatever way they decide to take, is always an answer to an initiative of God. We parents are called to be near them always, so that where the Lord will wait for them, they can go with trust and with great interior peace.
(The parents of Frances; Italy)
(http://www.focolare.org/en/news/2011/03/01/eccomi-sono-la-serva-del-signore-avvenga-di-me-quello-che-hai-detto-lc-138/)
Mary is the person who responded with her own unconditional yes to God: she granted space in herself to God. In this yes, Mary is a Mother that generates: in her the love of God truly made Himself love for man. This fact alone is a scandal. Plato had said that no God mixes with men, and had thus indicated the desolation of the ancient world, which warned the abysmal distance between God and man and thought it to be unbridgeable. It was filled by Mary. In her “behold me”, she became the creatural space where the divine entered into humanity.
It is the particular love of Mary, her love as a woman and as a mother: she does not ask, she gives. She does not pretend; she considers herself in debt. And her beauty is to be background, not to put herself before; thus it is delicate love, respectful, hidden, veiled and at the same time extremely strong, because it is capable of generating. The specificity of generating is the fruit and that of love: the experience to be the response.
- - - - - - -
An Experience of Life:
When Frances communicated to us her decision to become a religious sister, she said it to us with words that opened our hearts as parents: “You see, - she told us – I did not seek this; it was not in my plans or even in my dreams. When I realized that perhaps the Lord was calling me to the consecrated life, I tried to push away this thought and to not indulge in it too much. But gradually it appeared to me ever more clearly the will of the Lord in my regard. It was not asked of me to think or to understand, but to correspond with a spirit of receiving and abandonment.” She added: “On my own I asked myself: but how is it possible that the Lord might actually call me, who does not have exceptional talents, who is not better than so many other girls of my age? I discovered with joy that the Lord had fixed His gaze on me even seeing very well, much better than me, the limits, the defects, the weaknesses, my fragility. Thus, I can confide in Him and entrust myself to Him. Today and always He accompanies my steps with His presence, with His support, with His light, with His strength. This certainty gives me a great interior peace.”
These words of Frances helped us to understand that the life of the children, whatever way they decide to take, is always an answer to an initiative of God. We parents are called to be near them always, so that where the Lord will wait for them, they can go with trust and with great interior peace.
(The parents of Frances; Italy)
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