List of points

There's a passage in St Luke's gospel, chapter two, which I think will help us to finish off well what we have been reflecting on today. In this passage Christ is a child. How his Mother and St Joseph must have suffered when, on their way back from Jerusalem, they could not find him among their relatives and friends. And then what joy when they recognise him from afar, as he instructs the teachers of Israel. But notice the words that issue from his lips. Don't they seem hard? The Son says in reply to his Mother, 'How is it that you sought me?'

Surely they were right to have looked for him? Souls who know what it is to lose Jesus Christ and to find him again, are able to understand this… 'How is it that you sought me? Didn't you know that I must be about my Father's business?' Didn't you know that I must devote my time entirely to my heavenly Father?

Iubilate Deo. Exsultate Deo adiutori nostro. Praise God. Leap for joy in the Lord, our one and only help. Jesus my Lord, whoever doesn't understand this, knows nothing about love, or sin, or wretchedness. Do you know what it is to be lifted up to the heart of God? Do you realise that a soul can face his Lord, open his heart to him and tell him his woes? I do it, for example, when God takes to himself people who are still young, who could still serve him and love him for many years here on earth; because I just don't understand. But my lament is one of trust, because I know that if I were ever to slip out of God's arms, I would stumble immediately. So, right away, calmly, as I accept the designs of Heaven, I add: 'May the most just and most lovable Will of God be done, be fulfilled, be praised and eternally exalted above all things. Amen. Amen.'

This is the way of doing things the Gospel teaches us; it is a clever move and a very holy one, the source of the effectiveness of our apostolic work. This is the fountainhead; from it our love and our peace as children of God flow and it is the way by which we can transmit affection and serenity to mankind. If only we do this, we will end our days in Love, having sanctified our work and found in it the hidden happiness of the things of God. We will go about life with the holy shamelessness of children and reject the shame, the hypocrisy, of grown ups, who are afraid to return to their Father after experiencing the failure of a fall.

I end with Our Lord's words of greeting, as found in today's Gospel: pax vobis! 'Peace be with you… And the disciples rejoiced at the sight of the Lord,' of this Lord who accompanies us to the Father.

First of all, we must be just towards God. Let this fact be firmly impressed in our hearts, so that it shows in our behaviour, for it is the touchstone of the true 'hunger and thirst for justice', which distinguishes this virtue from the shouting of the envious and resentful and from the outcries of the selfish and greedy… For the worst and most ungrateful injustice is to deny our Creator and Redeemer the recognition of the abundant and wonderful gifts he has given us. If you are really striving to be just, you will often reflect on your utter dependence upon God, and be filled with gratitude and the desire to repay the favours of a Father who loves us to the point of madness: 'For what have you got that you have not received?'

This way the good spirit of filial piety will come alive in our hearts and it will bring you to address God with a tender heart. Don't be taken in by the hypocrites around you when they sow doubts as to whether Our Lord has a right to ask so much of you. Instead, put yourselves obediently and unconditionally in the presence of God, like 'clay in the potter's hands', and humbly confess to him: Deus meus et omnia! You are my God and my all. And if you ever have to bear unexpected blows, or undeserved tribulations at the hands of your fellow men, you will know how to sing with a new joy: 'May the most just and most lovable will of God be done, be fulfilled, be praised and eternally exalted above all things. Amen. Amen.'

Along with this self-surrender, our apostolic zeal is enkindled and grows day by day; it also sets others on fire with its desire, because goodness is diffusive. It is not possible for our poor nature to be so close to God and not be fired with hunger to sow joy and peace throughout the world, to spread everywhere the redeeming waters that flow from Christ's open side, and to begin and end everything we do for Love.

I was speaking before about sorrow and suffering and tears. Without contradicting what I said then, I can affirm that the disciple who lovingly seeks the Master finds that sadness, worries and afflictions now taste very differently: they disappear as soon as we truly accept God's Will, as soon as we carry out his plans gladly, as faithful children of his, even though our nerves may seem to be at breaking point and the pain impossible to bear.