God is patient

13 Dec 2019

#Christ, #prayer, beauty

We all feel the need for new possibilities. We all hope for a “second table of salvation”, we all want to find, along the way, that “hook in the middle of the sky” sung a few years ago by Claudio Baglioni. Perhaps because the human being is always a construction site, a person is always under construction. There are two Gospel parables that I particularly like to read in the light of my experience: that of the “talents” (Mt 25, 14-30) and that of the workers called to work in the vineyard at different times of the day (Mt 20, 1-16 ). In the first, Jesus reminds us of the wealth of gifts that God places in our hands throughout life. His conclusion, however, is very demanding: this treasure, this wealth of gifts, or you welcome it with love and creativity, making it fruitful, or you will lose it forever. In the other parable instead the Lord seems to remind us that there is always, in life, a new possibility, at all times, even in the most unlikely. The Father always puts at our disposal new possibilities to enhance, reorganize, make our lives fruitful. To put it in some title of Ignazio Silone, there are always for us an emergency exit, new wine and bread to satiate the thirst and hunger that emerged along the way, there is always in us a seed under the snow ready to sprout to give new impetus to the adventures of every poor Christian. God is patient and does not stop renewing to us, at every hour of our earthly day, the most important gift, the call to holiness, that is, to full happiness. The salary is assured to us in its fullness, at whatever time we have stamped the card. Even the calls to common sense, behind which our small envy or rivalry are sometimes hidden, do not count for God. He only asks us to trust him, even when, at times and in unusual circumstances, he calls us to follow a special path like the novitiate in the Society of Jesus, as it happened to me.

Massimo Sebastiani

Sullo stesso argomento

God saw it was very good

17 Feb 2024

Among the experiences that characterize life in the novitiate are the outings that we experience together every week, walking in the nature surrounding the city.

When we arrive at the summit, under the deepest sky, on suspended peaks, surrounded by the mountains and the sea, our wonder blossoms into praise. The Lord passed through these woods, thoughtfully spreading a thousand graces, and gazing at them along the way, with his face alone, left them covered in beauty. Creatures are a footprint of God’s footsteps, thanks to which we perceive his greatness, power and wisdom. (Saint John of the Cross)

The heart unites us with every creature singing the joy of its existence, that proclaims His infinite creativity, His supreme wisdom, His eternal tenderness. An immense space opens up before us in which everything takes on the measure of infinite, and within us expands so much the desire for heights, for splendor, for freedom.

And here, without having asked, without having deserved, I am here too.

O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches [Psalm 104:24]

While the ear immerses itself in the silence, and notices the distant roar of a waterfall, the rustling of branches, the screech of a hawk, the sense of the sacred arises in us.

I respect very deeply and, at the same time, I retain the utmost intimacy in which He welcomes me; I am pervaded by an abysmal unworthiness and, at the same time, by the sweetest boldness when He approaches: “Don’t be afraid. It’s me”. Faced with the sublime, I am not afraid but attracted, in love; faced with the unknown I don’t fall silent but I dialogue about the deepest and most sincere things in life; faced with the infinite, I don’t run away but I entrust myself, I let be embraced; faced with mystery, I do not retreat but I open myself to friendship, to communion. And I perceive everything as work of God, myself as work of God, and God at work in life.

The Spirit of the Lord fills the universe, and embracing everything, knows every voice [Wis 1,7]

While we rest together among rocks that reach out to the sky, shaped and enlivened by the shining light, by the blowing wind, by the flowing water, we live not as servants, not as masters but as friends.

We share the journey, punctuated by the slow and persevering climb, and the pauses, the tiredness and the daring, the fatigue and the wonder. We share bread and water, a daily gesture, but which, after a common effort, is more frank and serene, it has a flavor of greater intimacy. We share the stories that everyone has to tell, the past that brought us here, the future that we glimpse on the horizon, the fears and passions, the laughter and the sadness, the doubts and enthusiasms. We share each other’s silent company. And I feel like I’m among brothers.

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them [Mt 18:20]

By living these we save ourselves: in the praise, in the sacred, in the friendship of God, our salvation, the fullness of life, is already achieved.

God created human beings to praise, reverence, and serve God, and by doing this, to save their souls. God created all other things on the face of the earth to help fulfill this purpose [Principle and foundation of the Spiritual Exercise]