31 March 2010

Dearest Readers,

Heartfelt wishes of Happy Easter!

I hope that this will be an Easter of true resurrection for each one of us; a deep inner passage towards the new creation, which Jesus has prepared for us by overcoming death. Faith in Christ assures us that we are called to a new, redeemed and risen life. Participating in the celebration of the memorial of Christ’s death and resurrection it is not enough to get there. We also have to fully collaborate with the action of the Holy Spirit within us, which awakens the memory of our soul so that we discover our true identity in God, which is that of being His children.

It is important to stand face to face before God and to allow Him to search our heart and let Him call us by our name; this is the awakening of life; this is our resurrection. In the Bible, the name with which God calls a man is the very definition of the person.

In the Gospel of John, Mary Magdalen encounters the Risen Lord, but she does not recognise Him until He calls her by her name. In the name Jesus pronounces, Mary recognises herself and her identity as daughter; she recognises the voice of the One who has loved and saved her. Let us read the episode together.

“Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

They asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’

‘They have taken my Lord away,’ she said, ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.’ 

At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

He asked her, ’Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.’

Jesus said to her, ’Mary.’

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, ’Rabboni!’ (which means ‘Teacher’)” (John 20,11-16).

A few years ago, after reading this passage of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit gave me some explanations through a message that I want to share with you, in the hope that it will help you reach a deeper and more genuine union with God.

Message of the Holy Spirit of 18 March 2000

“The Risen Lord appeared to Mary Magdalene and called her by her name. I ask you never to forget that God has called you by your name; He has chosen you from the beginning of time, for you have always existed in God. You have received a name from God by which He calls you, and when you do not listen or you think you cannot hear, that is the time when He does not forsake you and calls you by your name.

The name God has given you is the seal that He imprints in every soul, the name with which He creates you. The Word of God creates you and gives you a name: the name of child of God. I invite to you to remember your dignity as children of God; as children of the Light, called by name. And when you think you do not see, you do not understand; when it seems to you that they take everything away from you, remember to listen to God who is calling you by your name. Then your eyes will open up.

Those who are not ready to let God call them by name, cannot receive the light and remain in the darkness. If you do not want to be called by God, God will not call you because He respects your freedom; yet, if you desire that God pronounces the name, with which He has created you, then you have to die to yourselves, renouncing your egoism. Only then will God call you, enable you to leave the darkness and reveal Himself to you as the Risen Lord.

The name that God gives you is that of son/daughter, of His creature. It is a name that goes far beyond the one you receive on Earth; it is the seal that is imprinted in you at the moment of creation.

The man who does not awaken and does not live in harmony with God loses his identity as creature, and thus loses himself and the sense of life. Therefore, if the name you have on Earth, with which you are identified as a person, is important, the name God gives you, the name of son or daughter known by God, is even more important. Each one of you is unique, and God knows you one by one; He pronounces your name with immense love. Every child is special for Him; every child is important for Him and precious in His eyes.

The book of Revelation speaks of a name that no one knows except the one who receives it[1], and that is true: your soul knows the name God has given to it. This name contains your originality as this makes each one of you an unrepeatable and unique being that is not comparable to anyone else.

Every man is created to live in the Trinitarian Love. God has no other purpose in creating man than to make him participate in His life. That is why He calls you with the name of children. He wants this name to be written on your forehead, to remain in you like a seal, like a precious pearl, so that you may experience His Love and bear witness to it. You have been given all the potential to experience and bear witness to the life of God; all the graces that God incessantly gives you, strengthen the seed in you and make it grow. Every grace is like the sun and the water that make the wonderful tree of your life grow so that it may sprout and bear fruit.

I bless you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

[1] See Rev 2,17-18