On Saturday evening, the evening Mass in my parish, we often have the good fortune to attend the celebration of baptisms. Don Tony, the pastor, said that these children "come to church and pagan, after baptism, post-Christian." He's right, and I would add another image: "enter the dead, because of original sin, which prevents man from being a friend of God, in and out alive, thanks to the gift of the Spirit." And we, dear friends, as we are? remind us of our baptism? how we live our being Christians? The risk to us all is often the Christian proclamation, which, however, live as heathens, as if they were impervious to the logic of the Gospel, the logic of the Beatitudes, love unconditional love that the Lord calls us to Him and our brothers. There is a beautiful and terrible passage in Revelation where the Lord tells us that if we are lukewarm, we will vomit (that's right, brothers and sisters!). What is the temperature of our spiritual life? We have a heart that is full of love for God? we are grateful for the gift of life and that Providence will not abandon us in this "valley of tears" carved out by our sin of rebellion? I would like to submit some points that you too will join the examination of conscience that I for one do, I tell you these things because they are the first questions I ask my soul. The first point is that of listening, because there is communication and friendship between us and God, we must listen, listen and, ultimately, filial obedience (of who does it for love, marrying, the will of God). And 'the major theme of acceptance, identification of the Word of God (as Mary did, with his "yes" and the conception of the Word in her virginal womb). How is our prayer? Please persistently, accepting the fulfillment of the will of God? Or get discouraged if our demands are not immediately answered? We praise and thank the Lord, or we remember Him only in times of need? We have supernatural faith? We know that God alone is our salvation, "only he is thirsting for our blood", to say with the psalmist? We love God, who so loved the world by sacrificing His only begotten Son, with all your heart and with all your soul? St. Benedict said, "Nothing to the love of Christ." Must, my friends, that we deny ourselves, to our selfishness in order to follow Christ, remembering that "whoever would save his life (and shut himself in his selfishness) will lose it." We know, as Christians of the beauty of our common vocation to holiness? We are aware of the dignity of the sons of God, made in His image and likeness? Christ is truly the center of our lives? Christ is our breath? We really met Christ in our lives? We learn not to take anything for granted, when we ask these questions. What is our relationship with Jesus? We consider an abstraction, a myth or a reality, a person to contend with every day? Certainly faith is essential, but we are all called to do good works. We must remove what is not in the following summary, anything that prevents you from following Christ, renouncing ourselves, empty ourselves and filling it with him (as we decrease in our "I", the more we grow in Christ, as he said to his father Joseph Roberti Montecassino during the spiritual exercises). In this we imitate the bread and wine, humble creatures who lose their characteristic leaving substantial space to the Body and Blood of Christ. Let us love to grab her by Christ, to say, as St. Paul: "I'm not I who live, but Christ lives in me." The aspirations of society today (hedonism, relativism, the desire to appear) are likely to pollute our consciousness, our spiritual life. Antidote to this is to make us strangers to the world but not the mentality of the world, which we oppose, as I said, avoiding conformity, the Beatitudes. We place our trust in Christ, watching every time the acts of our lives (feelings, words and actions). Our young people, couples and engaged couples, which hope to become good Christian spouses, co-work of God's salvation, I would suggest a challenge fascinating love chastity, as the choice of love to Christ, we deliver all our heart, our ability to love and be loved, going to the source of love, the heart of Christ. Live chastity is not an act of asceticism, although involving a fight, but it is an act of love. We all are aware of our limitations and our condition as sinners, I say: never despair of the mercy of God, who can not help but love: "the cost we too, have sacrificed for us, His beloved Son," as warm remember the good father Roberti. And after so many questions final exhortation, in the month of May, dedicated to Our Lady: Mary and imitate ripariamoci under His watchful mantle.
Raymond
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