Note to God

Daily we pray “let them look up and see only Jesus,” but how often we look in and see only Jesus in us? Do we see Him in using our eyes, mind, & heart, as His own? Are we so given to Him—that we find His eyes look through ours, his tongue speaking, His Hands working, His feet walking, His Heart loving? Do we really see only Jesus in us? You have to be in the world and yet not of the world.46 The light you give must be so pure, the love you love with must be so burning—the faith you believe with must be so convincing—that in seeing you they really see only Jesus. Your apostolate is so beautiful to give Jesus. You can give Him—only if you have surrendered yourself totally to Him.—Often, very often, I pray for you—that you may be the fruit of Christ’s love in the world—That you may grow in holiness—so that in you Christ’s joy may be fulfilled

We must, then, avoid the “Babel syndrome,” namely the idolatry of profit that sacrifices the weak, a uniformity that neutralizes differences, and the pretense that a single language — even a digital one — can translate everything, including the mystery of the person, into data and performance. The risk of dehumanization — of building a future that excludes God and reduces the other to a means — is an ancient and ever-new temptation that today takes on a technical guise. Instead, let us choose the “way of Nehemiah,” which highlights the importance of working together to make the City of God a safe place for returning exiles. Rebuilding today means recognizing that, precisely from the plurality of voices and visions which, even though they sometimes remind us of the confusion caused by the diversity of spoken languages, a bright possibility emerges. Indeed, this is the possibility of building together, of transforming diversity into a resource and of making listening and dialogue the com...

The story of Babel appears in the Book of Genesis, at the origins of humanity, immediately after the genealogies of Noah’s sons. After settling in a plain in the land of Shinar, the people decided to build a city and a tower “with its top in the heavens” (Gen 11:4). Fearing being scattered across the earth, they sought to guarantee stability and power for themselves, and above all to “make a name” for themselves. It was an impressive feat: a single language, a single technology, a single direction. However, the project concealed a profound danger. It was a project conceived without reference to God, supported by a uniformity that eliminated diversity and that chose homogenization over communion. When a city is built on pride and the claim to self-sufficiency, communication breaks down, languages are confused and people no longer understand each other. The result is not unity, but dispersion. Babel thus reveals the limits of any effort that, however grandiose, arises from self-affirmati...

Let us not be afraid to get our hands dirty on the “construction site” of our time. Like Nehemiah, let us pray, plan wisely and work perseveringly, placing God at the forefront of our actions and the human person at the center of our choices. Thus, the “rejected stones” — the poor, the sick, the migrants and the least among us — will become the cornerstone, and a solid, welcoming common home will emerge on the earth, where love and faithfulness will finally meet, and righteousness and peace will embrace (cf. Ps 85:10).

Even in darkness the path was sure: there was no need to “find the way” but rather to “follow the way” that Jesus had already walked. This conviction she transmitted to her sisters: Once I saw a Sister with a long face going out for apostolate, so I called her to my room and I asked her, “What did Jesus say, to carry the cross in front of Him or to follow Him?” With a big smile she looked at me and said, “To follow Him.” So I asked her, “Why are you trying to go ahead of Him?” She left my room smiling. She had understood the meaning of following Jesus.

Jesus is the model of masculine spirituality. And the centre of the male spirituality is the cross.  Spiritual men must learn to take hold of the Cross in their lives—to open themselves to sacrifice of love, peace, and the real joy that flows from the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

There is no doubt that by prayerfully reading the Bible, men can have a deeply meaningful and profound encounter with God the Father. Men can personally experience Christ, the Word who became flesh, through a fuller and deeper understanding of how to read the Bible as a Catholic man, come to acknowledge that this is important, and realize that he can use the Bible for moral and ethical guidance. Being open to the Holy Spirit, the Catholic man will take his Bible off the shelf and start reading it every day, begin to see himself and his life in the pages of Scripture, and then use this knowledge to grow spiritually as a man of God.