Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “ The reality is Christ!” (Col 2, 17). This extraordinary statement by St Paul, set like a precious stone in his magnificent theology, acknowledges the Lord's total supremacy over creation, over history and over mankind. Christ is Lord of the universe, without Him nothing would exist. To live faith in Christ means to open mind and heart and give our whole life to this Truth, who is our light and the central hub of our faith.
The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI with his recent announcement of a year dedicated to Saint Paul helps us to rediscover and deepen day by day our friendship with the Lord Jesus which derives from sincere unswerving faith in his omnipotence of love. Christ's presence is so penetrating that St Paul goes as far as to say in the mentioned Letter to the Colossians, “there is no room for distinction between Greek and Jew, between the circumcised and uncircumcised, or between barbarian and Scythian, slave and free. There is only Christ: he is everything and he is in everything” (Col 3, 11). If, like Paul, we wish to see supernatural reality, we must use different eyes, those of the spirit, which we so often keep close because the eyes of the flesh tyrannise us and want to impose their own petty vision of the things around us. The world, for its part, whispers continually in our ear: what counts is what you can see, not what is invisible!
How often this insidious idea, launched by the media at every latitude and longitude, tries to steal its way into the human heart. Very few strive to look beyond appearances and are able to say with Paul “ since what we aim for is not visible but invisible. Visible things are transitory, but invisible things eternal. ” (2 Cor 4, 18). Those who truly believe in Christ know that He is the reality of things and that behind the veil of earthly events there is always a message from Him, a special sign which speaks of Heaven and eternity.
How we need a pure gaze like that of Most Holy Mary who saw beyond the visible and with her unswerving faith discovered behind events, little and great, God's immense love for His creatures. The source of her pure gaze was unceasing contact with God in prayer which nourished her interior life; Our Lady incarnated in her life the words of her Son, “ Stay awake, praying at all times ” (Lk 21, 36).
Without prayer the eyes of the spirit cannot open and we are bound by the concupiscent gaze of our nature wounded by sin. Mother Teresa of Calcutta used to say with regard to prayer which purifies the heart: “prayer nourishes the soul: prayer for the soul is like blood for the body, and it leads us closer to God. It also makes the heart pure and transparent. A pure heart can see God, can speak to God, can see God's love in others. If your heart is pure, you are open and honest with God, you are not hiding anything from Him and so he can take from you what he wants”.
Let us remember these words in order to live our faith in keeping with the Gospel: having Jesus in our minds and hearts, every day, every hour! If we were to lose sight of Him to whom would we go, without Him we can do nothing?
How we need a pure and simple gaze, tempted as we are a myriad of times to set our minds only on what is visible and forget what is invisible! Let us ask this grace from the Mediatrix of all graces, especially with the prayer of the Holy Rosary. In fact, “ In the recitation of the Rosary, the Christian community enters into contact with the memories and the contemplative gaze of Mary.”! (John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae del 16 October 2002, n. 11). (Agenzia Fides 11/7/2007; righe 45, parole 659)
