VATICAN - AVE MARIA - “The golden thread of life” by Luciano Alimandi

Wednesday, 2 May 2007

Vatican City (Fides Service) - “ Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. 'Peace be with you,' he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, 'Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Do not be unbelieving any more but believe.' Thomas replied, 'My Lord and my God!' Jesus said to him: You believe because you can see me. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe!’” (Jn 20, 26-29). Doubting Thomas' meeting with the Risen Lord leads us into the intense atmosphere of Easter so impregnated with God's unlimited forgiveness for us who, like Thomas, often may doubt not so much God's existence as his personal and loving concern for each of us!
In the depth of our heart, more often that one would think, the soot of incredulity falls imperceptibly, like “fine dust” polluting the atmosphere of our soul making it grey like great cities which although illuminated by the sun, appear not to notice it under the thick blanket of smog.
The heart of Thomas, clouded by incredulity, needed the freeing wind of the Holy Spirit, the healing touch of the wounds of Christ in order to rediscover the underlying golden thread of his life.
The “golden thread”, as Saint Faustina Kowalska tells us, is Divine Mercy which always runs through our lives and through the history of the world; however this thread is hidden by everyday events, often considered by us trivialities, below our expectations; to discover this fine but indestructible 'thread' demands total confidence and trust in God.
A soul which is full of itself will never see the golden thread, a soul which is absentminded will get a glimpse of it and then forget it, a dispirited soul will not take it seriously; only the soul which is meek and humble will recognise it and value it as the true tissue of life on earth. Once this tissue is discovered everything is easier, simple child's play, a dance in which the soul, aware of its wretchedness and the wretchedness of all that is ephemeral, throws itself into the mercy of God and finds happiness therein. Saint Faustina exclaimed: “Your greatness of God, is my happiness” and this greatness she had learned to identify with the infinite Mercy of God.
Thomas is at a loss in front of the boundless love of Jesus; but his dismay turns to wonder and explodes as in song: “My Lord and My God ”! Thomas had found again at last the “golden thread” with which the Lord had outlined the tissue of his life; from then on he will never leave Him, he will follow him faithfully in the development of an adventure guided no longer by human hand but by the finger of God.
Actually the difference between “saints” and “almost saints” is essentially this: the former are guided by the Holy Spirit and they “lose” their life for Jesus, the latter make their own way, run own their lives s: they “gain” it here on earth, but doing so they “lose it” for above, since they miss the one wonderful opportunity: to let it be transformed by God.
Thomas gave way to the temptation to do as he thought best, leaving the Upper Room. Alone, he missed the Lord and went back, almost defying himself.
In the Upper Room, a privileged “place” of conversion, he finds the Risen Lord waiting for him, not to reprove or punish him, but to love him. Thomas is a new man, and we, let us not forget, are a new person every time we set aside our human plans and decide with total commitment to follow, without counting the cost, the golden thread of Jesus.
Mary, the Mother of Mercy wishes to assist us on this path, Jesus gave her to us that she might lead us to Him; it is absurd to fear she may take something from her Son, She whom the Son took as His mother so He could come to us.
The month of May we have just begun, can be opportunity to live a renewed experience of God's loving Mercy, to get a new hold on that “golden thread” and let ourselves be tied to Him more tightly! (Agenzia Fides 02/5/2007; righe 50, parole 690)


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