9781644135945

The Time After Pentecost
of sonship renders us so beautiful, pure, and great in God’s eyes that He finds Himself reproduced
in us; therefore He loves us with that unspeakable love with which He loves Himself. In
order to assure us of the sincerity and earnestness of His love for us, God became like us by the
Incarnation of His Son. As He condescended to become like us in His Incarnation and His life
on earth, sharing all the pains, troubles, and sufferings that fall to the lot of men, so He invites
us to share the bliss and happiness of the friendship of God.
Friendship is one of the deepest needs of a human heart. It will not rest until it has found
another heart to share its joys and suffering. It can rest only when it finds understanding interest
and loving sympathy. “Blessed is he that findeth a true friend” (Ecclus 25:12). Human
hearts, however, are too narrow, too finite. Even if two kindred souls meet, they cannot satisfy
each other’s needs completely in all the storms of life. The heart of God alone can satisfy all human
needs. By reason of the grace of sonship, God’s heart is so intimately united to our hearts
that it permeates them, joining them so that virtually only one soul lives in them, one spirit,
the Holy Ghost. This heart contains the fullness of all that is noble, beautiful, pure, strong, and
amiable: it is a heart full of love, faithfulness, and unselfishness. As far as God is concerned, a
disappointment or a breach of friendship is impossible; His friendship is enduring. He is the
only friend who is always near us, who dwells continually in our soul with a divine concern
and a divine fidelity and devotion. He knows every thought, every desire, every beat of our
heart, and understands all our impulses so that we need not look for the correct words or the
right expressions to state our needs. Here we have a friend who understands all our needs,
our troubles, and difficulties even better than we do ourselves. This friend has no faults, He
makes no mistakes; He is perfection itself. He desires nothing for Himself, but everything
for us. He wants only to give Himself to us in an ever more perfect way, that He may make us
happy with His love: “Taste and see that the Lord is sweet; blessed is the man that hopeth in
Him” (Communion).
“You have received the spirit of adoption of sons.” By this spirit we are the children and friends of
God. “We have received Thy mercy, O God, in the midst of Thy temple; according to Thy name,
O God, so also is Thy praise unto the ends of the earth; Thy right hand is full of justice. Great
is the Lord and exceedingly to be praised, in the city of God, in His holy mountain” (Introit).
Being children of God and friends of God obliges us to become like Christ, to live for Him
and the Father, to do great things for Him, and to suffer for Him. To be friends of God means
to be of one mind, of one will, of one spirit with Him, aloof from everything that is sinful or
not in accord with His will.
Prayer
May this heavenly mystery, O Lord, heal us both in soul and body; and may we ever feel within
us the power of the sacraments we celebrate. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Saturday
“You have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba, Father” (Epistle).
The spirit of the sonship of God opens to us the sanctuary of true prayer, be it vocal prayer or
silent prayer.
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