1. BAPTISM OF OUR LORD
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him . . . and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" (Mt 3: 13, 17).
In Baptism, our Father God has taken possession of our lives. He has made us sharers in Christ's life and sent us the Holy Spirit.
The strength and the power of God light up the face of the earth.
We will set the world ablaze, with the flames of the fire that you came to enkindle on earth! And the light of your truth, our Jesus, will enlighten men's minds in an endless day.
I can hear you crying out, my King, in your strong and ardent voice: ignem veni mittere in terram, et quid volo misi ut accendatur? I have come to bring fire to the earth, and would that it were already enkindled! And I answer, with my entire being, with all my senses and faculties: ecce ego: quia vocasti me! Here I am, because you have called me!
God has placed an indelible mark on your soul through Baptism: you are a child of God.
Child, are you not aflame with the desire to bring all men to love Him?
2. WEDDING FEAST AT CANA
Our Lady was a guest at one of those noisy country weddings attended by people from many different villages. Mary was the only one who noticed the wine was running out. Don't these scenes from Christ's life seem familiar to us? The greatness of God lives at the level of ordinary things. It is natural for a woman, a homemaker, to notice an oversight, to look after the little things that make life pleasant. And that is how Mary acted.
Do whatever he tells you.
Implete hydrias (Jn 2: 7), fill the jars. And the miracle takes place. Everything is so simple and ordinary. The servants carry out their job. The water is easy to find. And this is the first manifestation of our Lord's divinity. Lord, I want to abandon all my concerns into your generous hands. Our Mother -- your Mother -- will let you hear those words, now as in Cana: "They have no wine! . . . "
If our faith is weak, we should turn to Mary. Because of the miracle at the marriage feast at Cana, which Christ performed at his Mother's request, his disciples learned to believe in him (Jn 2: 11). Our Mother is always interceding with her Son so that he may attend to our needs and show himself to us, so that we can cry out, "You are the Son of God."
Grant me, dear Jesus, the faith I truly desire. My Mother, sweet Lady, Mary most holy, make me really believe!
3. PROCLAMATION OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD
The kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel (Mk 1: 15).
And all the crowd gathered about him, and he taught them (Mk 2: 13).
Jesus sees the boats on the shore and gets into one of them. How naturally Jesus steps into the boat of each and everyone of us!
When you seek to draw close to our Lord, remember that he is always very close to you, that he is in you: regnum Dei intra vos est (Lk 17: 21). The kingdom of God is within you. You will find him in your heart.
Christ should reign first and foremost in our soul. But in order for him to reign in me, I need his abundant grace. Only in that way can my every heartbeat and breath, my least intense look, my most ordinary word, my most basic feeling be transformed into a hosanna to Christ my king.
Duc in altum. Put out into deep water! Throw aside the pessimism that makes a coward of you. Et laxate retia vestra in capturam. And pay out your nets for a catch! We have to place our trust in our Lord's words: get into the boat, take the oars, hoist the sails and launch out into this sea of the world which Christ gives us as an inheritance.
Et regni ejus non erit finis. His kingdom will have no end.
Doesn't it fill you with joy to work for such a kingdom?
4. TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD
And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light (Mt 17: 2).
Jesus, we want to see you, to speak to you! We want to contemplate you, immersed in the immensity of your beauty, in a contemplation that will never cease! It must be wonderful to see you, Jesus! It must be wonderful to see you and be wounded by your love!
And a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him" (Mt 17: 5).
Lord, we are ready to heed whatever you want to tell us. Speak to us: we are attentive to your voice. May your words enkindle our will so that we launch out fervently to obey you.
Vultum tuum, Domine, requiram (Ps 26: 8). Lord, I long to see your face. I like to close my eyes and think that, when God wills, the moment will come when I will be able to see him, not as in a mirror dimly, but...face to face (1 Cor 13: 12). Yes, my heart yearns for God, the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of God? (Ps 41: 3).
5. INSTITUTION OF THE EUCHARIST
Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end (Jn 13: 1).
When our Lord instituted the Eucharist during the Last Supper, night had already fallen. The world had fallen into darkness, for the old rites, the old signs of God's infinite mercy to mankind, were going to be brought to fulfillment. The way was opening to a new dawn -- the new Passover. The Eucharist was instituted during that night, preparing in advance for the morning of the resurrection.
Jesus has remained in the Eucharist for love ... for you.
He has remained, knowing how men would treat him ... and how you would treat him.
He has remained so that you could eat him, and visit him and tell him your concerns; and so that, by your prayer beside the tabernacle and by receiving him sacramentally, you could fall more in love each day, and help other souls, many souls, to follow the same path.
Good child: see how lovers on earth kiss the flowers, the letters, the mementos of those they love ...
Then you, how could you ever forget that you have him always at your side -- yes, Him? How could you forget ... that you can eat him?
Lord, may I never again flutter along close to the ground. Illumined by the rays of the divine Sun -- Christ -- in the Eucharist, may my flight never be interrupted until I find repose in your Heart.
