Desert

<<< 03/19/2020 Many holy hours, daily Masses, shared moments, full-on roughhousing every week and, obviously, also the Stations of the Cross on Fridays. Yes, that was my Lenten plan a few days ago, when I just prayed to you “Enter the desert with You, Jesus.” But how naive I was! Haven’t I learned yet to be careful what I ask for? “Tell Him your plans and make Him laugh” … you must have laughed so much with me then! I thought my time in the desert, these 40 days, would be completely different. I thought it was about concrete things, where I would see you and find you in the visible, in the liturgy, in the Eucharist, in others, in music… But no, the desert we are going through together is literally a desert: in solitude, in the hidden, in the small. You took me out of routine, from my people, from my activities, from my plans, from everything, to find you in the hidden, in this desert that at first seemed to me to have nothing good, nothing interesting, that only spoiled my plans, that there was nothing but walking and hoping it would pass quickly. But no. Jesus, forgive me. Again I was thinking about myself, about what I wanted, about what I planned. I forgot that I am not the owner of my story, that I am nothing without your grace. That Lent is not about me, but about You. It is about finding you, following you, and accompanying you. You brought me here so that we get to know each other better, because you want to show me something, you want us to talk, to spend time together, but quality time, you want us to be together, with nothing that can distract me. And I am living this time as You lived it, away from all my external noises, to find myself. Jesus, every day we spend together in this desert, you teach me something new, I find you in places I never thought of, we get to know each other better and… we pray so much! What a grace to be able to attend Mass spiritually every day and receive you at home during the holy hours through a screen. Talking about plans and silence… reminds me of a great Saint. Today I want to talk about Saint Joseph. The first to live all this. He faced everything God put in his path, did what was necessary to continue with his plan. He suffered everything in silence in his heart. God did great things in him because he emptied himself to give himself to God. Saint Joseph, I want to watch over the Church. I want your tenderness to care for Jesus. I want to fall in love with Mary. I want to sanctify myself in my family. I want your obedience to God’s plans. I want your humility to recognize that I depend on Him. Give me your faithfulness for difficult moments. Help me to know that, in silence, God manifests Himself in an extraordinary way overflowing all His Love. >>>