Church of Jesus Christ of the Universe

By Mauro

11 March 2021

(Translated audio)

We are in the time of the novena of St. Joseph. I think that the more we walk forward on our path, the more we seek to immerse in the spirit, the more we seek to encounter and experience Jesus Christ among us, the more all the readings speak to us, be it the Gospel, St. Paul, the Old Testament, the Acts or something else. All the readings become more and more relevant, and we discover – not only in words, as we always do – that the Word of God is alive. God is alive. Thus, through the readings, we can see Jesus among us in this time, and He becomes more alive and tangible for us.

In His earthly life, Jesus showed us the face of the Father. His whole way of being and acting and His preaching showed us the Father. All the readings of the New Testament, be it the Acts of the Apostles, the letters of the Saints or the Gospel, truly enable us to remember, listen again, allow the Word to descend into us. In doing so, Jesus’ thoughts enter into us, that is, His life; this is to know Him, and it is a way to encounter Him. I am not thinking of a reading that is understood as a study. I am thinking of a reading that is an exchange, a dialogue with Him in which He answers us through the readings.

I believe that as we walk forward we even begin to understand how Jesus thought; this has probably happened to everyone, but we also understand the attitude of the writer. St. Paul describes His thought in one way, St. Peter describes it by giving his testimony; Luke writes the Acts of the Apostles in his way and Matthew in his. All of them report Jesus’ thought, but we also recognize how these Saints encountered Jesus, and we perceive their characteristics. This, too, makes us more familiar with God; it lets us know some members of the Church of Jesus Christ; we get to know living members and meet them in flesh and blood; we get to know living members through these different attitudes.

I think that, while listening to a message of St. Michael, you certainly recognize that his tone is different from that of St. Raphael, Mary Most Holy or St. Francis; they transmit their own relationship with God. It is the Holy Spirit who speaks in each one of them with the same love for Jesus; He speaks with the same desire to announce to everyone what each of them has experienced, seen and touched.

If we look at the Old Testament, especially the readings of these days, it seems to me that as we walk forward the commandments sound less like commands. As in the words of Jeremiah[1] and in the Deuteronomy[2], they show us the pedagogy of God who is building a people; He is “recreating”, so to say, men and women in His mind, new men and new women. “For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?“[3]

All that God gave in those days was not intended to be a command; it was given to the people so that they would have fullness, happiness and joy, and the path was this, and not: you cannot, you must not. Everything was life and so it is for these times.

The same is true for Jesus Christ who did not come to abolish the law but to fulfil it.[4] All that the Church of Jesus Christ brings now, is this fulfilment because not even through Jesus did we come to fullness. Fullness will be reached at the glorious coming of Christ. We are still in the phase of fulfilment. God’s mercy and fatherhood are central in the Old and the New Testament. Especially in the Old Testament, God’s fatherhood forms and accompanies a people that had the task of welcoming the Son of God, the Messiah. Now, we have the task of welcoming the Son of God as the King of the Universe and the Church of Jesus Christ, being part of it as children of God with our royalty.

In last year’s message[5], St. Joseph reminded us of the importance of guarding and remembering. At that time, when de pandemic began, he also told us how important it had been for him and Mary Most Holy to remain obedient to God and to everything that, like laws, can be a limit, something that blocks us, because obedience will always make us grow. When he spoke about remembrance, he did not mean that we should remain stuck in memories but that we must allow God to build on what has already been placed on a solid base, built on the words of God, and continues to grow on His words and on the path that has been walked before. Keeping the memory alive, so as not to always start from scratch, like a reed flapped by the wind, but knowing where we come from and where we are going.

This is the time in which Jesus, King and High Priest, is among us; yet, we could say that we are in times that have never been so dark, confusing, lacking certainties as these; above all, so many absurd events occur one after the other. These are times of great changes, of great transformations. If we simply looked at them in a human way, it would seem that evil wins; we, too, would say that the world is getting worse and worse. Instead, as a Church, if we have let ourselves be touched by the Word of God, if we have let ourselves be touched by the living presence of Jesus Christ, we have to say that this is a time of strong light because of the presence of God;  it is strong because His instruments, all of them, are intensively present and because the Church of Jesus Christ of the Universe is present and strong and totally oriented towards the Earth.

So, I invite you, and myself, not to look at evil. Let us not look at how the world is going, always focusing on evil, thinking that the little ones are always crushed anyway, that the weak are always annulled, that the strong always win. Let us try not to look at what is wrong. Let us not judge what is right and what is not right; it is a waste of energy. Let us focus on the good and the beautiful. Let us look at all the initiatives of God in this time,[6] if we believe – I think those who listen to this website do believe, knowing all that God has put in place, what He is doing, and all the promises He has given us – that He will not lose anything of what can be recovered. He is taking care of everything and everyone; He has even promised that He will not let Lucifer destroy the Earth.[7] I think that we must raise our eyes and thank God for these promises, for everything. Let us thank Him for what He is doing, and this will be our testimony; this must be our way of evangelizing and being points of light, hope and blessing.

We cannot be a blessing if we are closed in on ourselves and only see black. Someone who blesses is sincerely joyful and cheerful because his joy comes from knowing the action and the presence of God; he knows that he no longer lacks anything and that what he does not have is no longer important. He looks at what he has: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”[8] So, we sing, “Nothing disturbs us; nothing scares us”.

As Church, we have to give testimony that God is at work, otherwise it means that we are closed in on ourselves. Of course, in our prayers, we have to ask for His intervention; yet, sometimes, and I speak for myself, I hear Him answer me: “What more can I do? I have sent My Son again; all the Saints and all the Archangels are there; the whole Church is oriented towards you. What can I do?” So, I truly believe that it is time to turn our prayer into praise, into thanksgiving for all He is doing, beyond the things we see. I will repeat: let us look at the beautiful things; there are many beautiful things to see; perhaps, they are broken into pieces and lack a common spirit, but they are there. It will be the work of God, not ours, to gather them; it will be God’s work to promote them. Let us look at the good, bless it, just as we bless evil, the good and the bad for the love of God. However, if we have to decide which way to look, we will look at what is beautiful; however, without degrading what is ugly.

Thus, let us be sure that all that is good and beautiful will emerge and win. Let us employ our thoughts, our energy, our words, everything and all ourselves to achieve the good and make ourselves available to God for His work. This is truly our task: to be available to God for His work, wherever we are, and then God will act. If we doubt this, a vortex will catch us and make us turn around ourselves, make us see only the bad things, what is not working, a glass that is only half-full.

Llet us entrust these times once again to Mary Most Holy. Let us entrust this novena to Her and St. Joseph so that their Hearts may prepare us to welcome all the good and to rise from all that is still crushed within us and around us by the spirit of the world; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

[1] See Jeremiah 7,23-28

[2] See Dt 4,1.5-9

[3] See Dt 4,7-8

[4] See Mt 5,17

[5] See Message of St. Joseph of 19 March 2021, “Guarding the Grace to Live”, published on our website

[6] See Articles in the category “THE EXTRAORDINARY INSTRUMENTS OF GOD” on our Homepage

[7] See Message of God the Father of 19 January 2020, “I Renew My Alliance with You”, published on our website

[8] See Phil 4,13