The Rainbow of the Covenant

In the morning we must raise our thoughts and words to the Lord. At the rising of the sun, the Lord must be our thirst and our desire: “O God, you are my God; for you I long. For you my soul is thirsting, and my body pines for you like a dry, weary land without water…” (Ps 63:2). Only in this way we can avoid making the numerous activities of our day a burden for our heart, or allow them to separate us from what is good. Only in this way we can allow the confused dreams of the dark night of our soul be dispelled by the light of a new day. Only in this way we can silence the confused range of our thoughts and useless words, and make room for the Risen Christ.

It is also in the light of the new day that we wish to prepare for the Celebration of the Covenant – the rainbow of thousand colors that unites heaven and earth. I am speaking of the Celebration in which we renew our yes to the oblation – offered for every man and woman, so that all may be led to the infinite love of the Lord. Let us pray for a renewed commitment to Fraternity – offered for the building of a civilization of love. Let us ask for a Cenacle that lives in communion and is at the service of the Church and of the world.
(Caterina Fava, March 2008)

Deep as the Sea, Eternal Trinity

Eternal Trinity, Godhead, mystery deep as the sea, you could give me no greater gift than the gift of yourself. For you are a fire ever burning and never consumed, which itself consumes all the selfish love that fills my being. Yes, you are a fire that takes away the coldness, illuminates the mind with its light and causes me to know your truth. By this light, reflected as it were in a mirror, I recognise that you are the highest good, one we can neither comprehend nor fathom. And I know that you are beauty and wisdom itself. The food of angels, you gave yourself to man in the fire of your love.
(St. Catherine of Siena)

A Tiny Whispering Sound...

"Then the LORD said, "Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD; the LORD will be passing by." A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD--but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake--but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was fire--but the LORD was not in the fire. After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound" (1 Kings 19:11-12).

"God is present to Elijah not in the big events but in the peace, in the serenity and gentleness... When we wish to feel close to the Lord, we must be able to find Him in the interior peace and interior gentleness, as much as possible, without letting all that surrounds us disturb us, whether it be wind, fire, or storm. We must make it a habit to create an interior cave in which we nestle next to the Father, without becoming disturbed by events or people. We should remain tightly united with God, to see Him somehow, even though not in the way we would like to, but in the answer Jesus gives to Philip, which is also an answer to our quest. We should make every effort to see the Father in Jesus...For, while we have this interior need, this longing, as did Philip, to see the Father, we also know that – although He is the invisible, the unutterable, the all-powerful, the greatest and the immense – He chose to come among us, to become visible flesh so that, unable to see Him directly, we could see Him in Jesus. Thus our desire to see the Father finds an answer in our listening to the Son" (Giaquinta, Face of the Father).

Duc in altum!

Duc in altum: let us take to the sea, let us go into the deep, let the Word guide us, and not be afraid to share the fatigue of the catch: the Master, Peter, and Padre Guglielmo are with us. (Giuliana Spigone)

Our God is the God of Details!

O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!"For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory for ever. Amen. (Romans 11:33-36)

The Great Romance

To fall in love with God is the greatest of all romances;

to seek Him, the greatest adventure;
to find Him, the greatest human achievement"
~ St. Augustine

The Greatness of God's Love

"'The Lord is good. His kindness endures forever, and His faithfulness is to all generations'
(Ps 100:4).
With these words from the Psalm, we proclaim our joy and faith
to the Lord for 'He is good', and great is His love.
By recognizing God's greatness,
we get a glimpse of our own greatness.
In this thought, we find the joy of living, and of expanding our hearts,
as we recognize our capability for the infinite,
because Infinite is the Eternal One who loves us."
(Giuliana Spigone, May 1, 1999)

May the Name of the Lord be Praised!

From the rising of the sun to its setting let the name of the Lord be praised.
(Psalm 113:3)

Living Water

As the deer longs for streams of water,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
My being thirsts for God, the living God.
When can I go and see the face of God?
Why are you downcast, my soul;
why do you groan within me?

Wait for God, whom I shall praise again,
my savior and my God.
(Psalm 42:1-3,6)

Rich in Mercy

What else, then, does the cross of Christ say to us, the cross that in a sense is the final word of His messianic message and mission? And yet this is not yet the word of the God of the covenant: that will be pronounced at the dawn when first the women and then the Apostles come to the tomb of the crucified Christ, see the tomb empty and for the first time hear the message: "He is risen." They will repeat this message to the others and will be witnesses to the risen Christ. Yet, even in this glorification of the Son of God, the cross remains, that cross which-through all the messianic testimony of the Man the Son, who suffered death upon it - speaks and never ceases to speak of God the Father, who is absolutely faithful to His eternal love for man, since He "so loved the world" - therefore man in the world-that "he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." Believing in the crucified Son means "seeing the Father," means believing that love is present in the world and that this love is more powerful than any kind of evil in which individuals, humanity, or the world are involved. Believing in this love means believing in mercy. For mercy is an indispensable dimension of love; it is as it were love's second name and, at the same time, the specific manner in which love is revealed and effected vis-a-vis the reality of the evil that is in the world, affecting and besieging man, insinuating itself even into his heart and capable of causing him to "perish in Gehenna." (John Paul II, Dives in misericordia, 7)

Be Still

A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up.
Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.
They woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"
He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea,
"Quiet! Be still!"
The wind ceased and there was great calm.
Then he asked them, "Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?"
They were filled with great awe and said to one another,
"Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?" (Mark 4:35-41)

The Glory of God!

Both the Letter to the Hebrews and the Book of Wisdom have tried to present us this image, this Icon that is Jesus. Hebrews defines Jesus: “This Son is the reflection of the Father’s glory, the exact representation of the Father’s being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word...” (Heb 1:13). The face of the Father is resplendent and full of glory, resplendent as the sun – we cannot stare at the sun without going blind; we can look at its life-giving rays, though. In the same way Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God, the radiance of His face. (Bishop Giaquinta, Face of the Father)

Feminine Genius!

Let us look at the Blessed Virgin's example. In the narrative of the wedding at Cana, John's Gospel offers us a vivid detail of her personality when it tells how, in the busy atmosphere of a wedding feast, she alone realized that the wine was about to run out. And to avoid the spouses' joy becoming embarrassment and awkwardness, she did not hesitate to ask Jesus for his first miracle. This is the "genius" of the woman! May Mary's thoughtful sensitivity, totally feminine and maternal, be the ideal mirror of all true femininity and motherhood!
(The Feminine Genius, John Paul II)

Dawn Shall Break

In the tender compassion of our God
The dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
And to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Canticle of Zechariah)

The Path to Follow

The Lord is risen and leads us. In the narrations of the Resurrection there is a common and essential feature; the angels say: the Lord "goes ahead of you to Galilee, where you will see him" (Mt 28: 7).

In Israel, Galilee was considered to be the doorway to the pagan world. And in reality, precisely on the mountain in Galilee, the disciples see Jesus, the Lord, who tells them: "Go... and make disciples of all the nations" (Mt 28: 19).

The other preceding direction of the Risen One appears in the Gospel of St John, in the words of Jesus to Mary Magdalene: "Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father"
(Jn 20: 17).

Jesus goes before us next to the Father, rises to the heights of God and invites us to follow him. These two directions on the Risen One's journey are not contradictory, for both indicate the path to follow Christ.

The true purpose of our journey is communion with God. He himself is the house of many dwelling places (cf. Jn 14: 2ff.); but we can be elevated to these dwelling places only by going "towards Galilee", traveling on the pathways of the world, taking the Gospel to all nations, carrying the gift of his love to the men and women of all times.

(Pope Benedict XVI, MASS AND EUCHARISTIC PROCESSION ON THE SOLEMNITY OF CORPUS DOMINI, May 26, 2005)

Lilies of the Field

Consider the lilies, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass which is alive in the field today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O men of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be of anxious mind. For all the nations of the world seek these things; and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things shall be yours as well (Luke 12:27-31).

Power of Cross

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (I Cor. 1:18)