31 March 2010

Dearest Readers,

Heartfelt wishes for a Happy Easter!

I wish this could 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 of our calling to a new, redeemed and risen life. Participating in the celebration of the memorial of Christ’s death and resurrection is not enough to get there. We have to collaborate fully with the action of the Holy Spirit within us. It awakens the memory of our soul so that we may discover our true identity in God: being His children.

It is important to stand face to face before God and allow Him to search our heart and 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 a 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 explained it to me in a message that I want to share with you. I hope it will help you reach an ever deeper and 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. When you do not listen or you think you cannot hear, that is precisely when He does not forsake you and calls you by your name.

The name God has given you is the seal that He imprints on every soul, it is the name with which He creates you. The Word of God creates you and assigns you a name: the name is “child of God”. I invite you to remember always your dignity as children of God, as children of the Light, called by name. When you feel unable to see and understand, and when it seems like everything is being taken away from you, remember to listen to God who calls you by your name. That is when your eyes will open.

Those who are not willing 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, He will not call you because He respects your freedom; yet, if you desire that God utter the name, with which He created you, then you have to die to yourselves, renouncing your selfishness. 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 and daughter, His creatures. This name goes far beyond the one you receive on Earth; it is the seal that is imprinted on you at the moment of creation.

Those who have not awakened and do not live in harmony with God lose their identity as God’s children; thus, they lose themselves and their 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 a son or daughter known by God, is even more important. Each one of you is unique, and God knows you one by one; He utters your name with immense love. Every child is special to Him; every child is important to 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]. It is true since your soul knows the name God has given to it. That name contains your uniqueness, making each of you an inimitable and unique being that is incomparable to anyone else. Indeed, God’s action is manifold, and your uniqueness as human beings is defined by My work within you.

Every human being is created to live in the Trinitarian Love. God has no other purpose in creating man than to let him participate in His life. That is why He calls you by the name of children. He wants this name to be written on your forehead and remain within you like a seal, like a precious pearl, so that you may experience and bear witness to His Love. You have been given the potential to experience and bear witness to God’s Life. All graces that God incessantly bestows upon you strengthen the seed in you and make it grow. Every grace is like the sun and water that nourish the magnificent tree of your life, enabling it to sprout and bear fruit.

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

[1] See See Rev 2,17-18