Church of Jesus Christ of the Universe

By Mauro

2 March 2024

Mic 7, 14-15. 18-20; Ps 102; Lk 15, 1-3. 11

Translated audio

Today, in the Gospel, we have heard the parable of the Prodigal Son[1], but perhaps it would be more correct to call it The Good Father. In my opinion, it perfectly indicates the path that every man and woman is called to follow: to come to know the Father.

In one of his messages, Saint Raphael states that without reaching the Father nothing can be accomplished. He compares putting God’s Son Jesus at the centre without looking at the Father to having done nothing.[2] Like the prodigal son, some time passed before we understood our desire to meet the Father. The figure of the Father and the Holy Spirit are perceived as more abstract than that of Jesus.

The first step for everyone has been to understand that life is about knowing the Father and the One whom the Father sent.[3] It is precisely this desire that keeps us on the path that leads us to be willing to die to ourselves, to be resurrected in Christ and reborn as new human beings. This desire to know the Father leads us to move forward, to have faith, hope and charity.

The Gospel warns us that even if we conquer the world, if we lose our soul everything is in vain.[4] Losing one’s soul could be equivalent to not meeting the Father, thus making life empty. To die without the desire to know and meet the Father would be true death, a frightening fate that leaves one empty and meaningless.

This desire to know the Father takes us forward, but it also leaves us a bit empty; something is always missing. We have walked a long path; we have deeply entered into prayer, but it never ends, it is like a fountain that never fills.

We say that putting God first is the foundation for beginning to live according to the laws of the Spirit and the concrete application of the Gospel. However, it is important to clarify that this first step, similar to the desire to know the Father, must be followed by the action of the Holy Spirit in us. Even if Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to work freely in us; otherwise, it is not enough.

I will explain myself better. The parable of The Prodigal Son highlights that, although the elder son seemed to put his father first through the obedience and closeness to him, in reality, he did not truly know him. This leads us to reflect on the fact that the simple act of putting God first, such as obedience to the father in the case of the elder son, may not be sufficient if it is not accompanied by the action of the Holy Spirit. It is the action of the Spirit that allows us to put God truly first in our lives, bearing fruit and true spiritual discernment.

Each of us, every Christian may run the risk of praying, going to Mass, thinking of having God first, but not having the Holy Spirit, even though we have the Sacraments. In the Acts of the Apostles, Saint Paul meets some disciples and asks them: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They replied, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit” (Acts 19, 1-1).

The Holy Spirit is often unknown. However, He is at the centre of the Trinitarian action: the Father creates, Jesus redeems and His first gift is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit explains everything to us. Jesus opens the mind of the Apostles to the Holy Spirit, who explains everything to them; Jesus acts in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Jesus paid our debt for us and now gives us the opportunity to receive the Holy Spirit. However, it is not enough for Him to pay for us and give the Spirit to us if we do not allow Him to act freely in us. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus opens the path for us to return to the Father, in the Holy Spirit.

We know that the sin against the Holy Spirit is unforgivable because it represents the rejection of divine action. When we reject the work of the Holy Spirit, we reject the entire process of accepting the Son and God’s work within us. Without Jesus, who enables us to receive the Holy Spirit and obtain forgiveness from the Father, we cannot accomplish anything that is spiritually significant. However, if we actively resist the work of the Holy Spirit, we are rejecting God’s work in us, thus compromising Christ’s Sacrifice and our relationship with God.

We recently discussed the mystical union with Jesus,[5] which begins with the desire to belong to Him and offer our life to Him according to His will. Next, we talked about the next step of mystical union, as described in Rewriting History, which involves the immediate knowledge[6] and the intellectual vision. When we unite with Jesus, He gives us the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit, we enter into the intellectual knowledge that allows us to see things as they are in God and understand how they work. This immediate knowledge guides us to always know what to do without having to ask anyone for advice, as we are immersed in the Holy Spirit and have clarity on what needs to be done.

I said that everything comes from the Holy Spirit, the Holy Mass, too. It is the living action of our union with the Holy Spirit, from the beginning. Repentance; what do I regret? The Holy Spirit makes us see what prevents us from mystical union, from the offering of our life, and from being one with God, with Jesus, through Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit who shows us what we must leave behind, and what we need to ask forgiveness for. It is always the Holy Spirit who, through the Word of God, reveals it to us in its profound meaning, who reveals to each of us the concrete steps to take. We must let Him free, not slow Him down. It is always He who acts!

At the offertory, only through the Holy Spirit and in the Holy Spirit, can we offer our life, unite ourselves with Jesus and deliver to Him, through our royal or ministerial priesthood, everything we have seen, experienced, and touched, our whole life and our whole being. It is always an action of the Holy Spirit. The consecration in which we ask, “Father, send your Spirit to consecrate …”, occurs from the Holy Spirit, who is always at the centre of all Trinitarian action. In communion, consecrated by the Holy Spirit, Jesus communicates Himself to us and generously gives us the Holy Spirit so that the cycle of the intellectual vision-immediate knowledge begins again in the mystical union, as He is within us.

The Blessed Virgin Mary asked us in Medjugorje to pray in the spirit, to immerse ourselves in the inner sanctuary of the spirit where the Kingdom of God is: “The Kingdom of God is among you.”[7] Everything is contained in that prayer, from which the transformation of the man and the woman and everything around them begins: the transformation of reality takes place, and the new creation comes.

We put the emphasis on silence. If we want to listen to the Holy Spirit, we must be silent. When we hear many voices, words, and thoughts, we must patiently let them out to make room for the Holy Spirit. A Saint said that when prayer truly is immersed in the Holy Spirit, silence takes over; we don’t speak anymore, and every word is too many. When we truly enter the prayer of the Holy Spirit, there is silence, because His action touches us, as He is one with Jesus and the Father, so there is no longer even a need to speak. Their work unfolds.

In conclusion, the sin against the Holy Spirit has greatly increased in this age. I would say that our era is precisely passing through this judgment, even if it is not a nice word. It happens when we consciously block God’s action. We block it when we prevent it,  as we are not ready to say “yes”, to truly offer ourselves without interests, needs and intentions, and because we do not fully believe that through Mary Most Holy and through her intentions we will have all we need, personally and collectively. The moment we leave this certainty we block God’s action and sin against the Holy Spirit, refusing His help and his intervention.

Therefore, without Jesus, we cannot do anything. Without the Most Blessed Mother, we cannot even get to Jesus. Now, I call on you to have the courage to immerse yourselves more deeply into the prayer of the Holy Spirit. Have the faith that guides your life, do not be afraid of things that may seem, in quotation marks, “strange” or different from the patterns you know. Just worry every day about verifying if you truly want to let yourself be transformed so that you become in the image and likeness of God. Let your life be just that, then leave God free to act, and trust in Him.

I entrust the whole Church to Mary Most Holy the Coredemptrix, I entrust every ‘yes’ that has been said at the moment of conception, and every man and woman of goodwill. I wish to give you, O Father, through Mary, particularly the innocent, the simple, the little ones, and all those, who are crushed by the disintegrating energy, by the strong action of the evil one. I entrust to You every dying person and every martyr. I entrust to You and offer to You all the blood that is shed on Earth. May the Holy Spirit, sent by You and given to us by Your Son Jesus Christ, renew each of us and awaken in each of us the desire to be children of God, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

[1] See Lk 15, 1-3. 11-32

[2] See Stefania Caterina, Beyond the Great Barrier, Chap. 1, Jesus Christ leads us to the Father, pp 36-39

[3] See Jn 17, 3

[4] See Lk 9, 24-25

[5] See Stefania Caterina, Tomislav Vlašić, Riscrivere la Storia – Vol. I – Nel pensiero di Dio, L’unione mistica con Cristo (Rewriting History-Vol. I-In the Mind of God, The Mystical Union with Christ), 2010, Luci dell’Esodo, Chap. 5

[6] See Footnote 7, Chap. 5

[7] See Lk 17, 20-21