Liturgical day: Monday 5th of Easter
Gospel text (Jn 14,21-26): Jesus said to his disciples, «Whoever keeps my commandments is the one who loves me. If he loves me, he will also be loved by my Father; I too shall love him and show myself clearly to him». Judas —not the Iscariot— asked Jesus, «Lord, how can it be that you will show yourself clearly to us and not to the world?». Jesus answered him, «If anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my Father will love him; and we will come to him and make a room in his home. But if anyone does not love me, he will not keep my words, and these words that you hear are not mine but the Father's who sent me. I told you all this while I was still with you. From now on the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of all that I have told you».
«The Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of all that I have told you»
Fr. Norbert ESTARRIOL i Seseras
(Lleida, Spain)
Today, Jesus shows us his immense desire for us to share his plenitude. United with him, we live into the stream of divine life that is the Holy Trinity. «God is with you. In your soul filled with grace, lives the Blessed Trinity. —This is why, you, despite all your misery, may and must be in steady conversation with the Lord» (Saint Josemaria).
Jesus assures us He will be present with us in the divine intimacy of the soul through grace. Thus, we Christians are no longer orphans. He loves us so much that, though He does not need us, He does not want to prescind from us.
«Whoever keeps my commandments is the one who loves me. If he loves me, he will also be loved by my Father; I too shall love him and show myself clearly to him» (Jn 14:21). This thought helps us to have presence of God. And those desires or thoughts which, eventually, are wasting our time and preventing us from abiding by the divine will, will have no room any more on our minds. This is an advice from saint Gregory the Great: «Let us not be seduced by the flattery of prosperity, because it is a stupid traveler he who sees, during his journey, delightful prairies but forgets where he was heading for».
God's presence in our heart will help us discover and carry out in this world those designs the Divine Providence may have planned for us. The Spirit of the Lord will arouse initiatives in our heart to be placed on top of all human activities and, thus, make Christ stand out over and above all of us. If we manage to have this intimacy with Jesus we shall end up by being good sons of God and will always and everywhere feel as his friends: whether in the street, amidst our daily chores or within our family life.
All light and fire of divine life will fall upon each one of the faithful who are willing to receive the gift of divinity living in our soul. God's Mother will intercede for us —as our own mother that she also is— to deeply enter into this covenant with the Holy Trinity.