2 — INVITATION TO HOLINESS

Presence of God. — I place myself in the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, considering him the Redeemer and Sanctifier of my soul.

Meditation

1 — “Where sin abounded, there grace abounded all the more” (Rom. 5, 20).

With the fall of Adam, sin shattered the divine plan for the sanctification of man. Our ancestors, created in the image and likeness of God, in a state of grace and justice, elevated to the dignity of children of God, fell into an abyss of misery, dragging the entire human race with them. For centuries and centuries man groans in his sin: he can no longer call God with the sweet title of Father, he does not even dare to pronounce his name and looks to the Almighty with a sense of terror: He is the strong and terrible God, the just and avenging God. Sin has dug an insurmountable abyss between man and God, and man groans beyond the abyss, absolutely incapable of rising again.

To do what man cannot do, to destroy sin and restore grace to mankind, a Savior is promised. The most merciful God “so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son” (Gv. 3, 16) for its salvation. The Word, splendor of the Father and figure of his substance, will become flesh to destroy sin, to restore grace to us, so that “we can still call ourselves and actually be children of God” (see Gv. 3, 1).

God wants us “all safe”; to this end he gave us his Son and with him and through him all the means necessary for our salvation; therefore if a soul is not saved, it will be solely through his own fault.

2 — Jesus was not content to destroy sin and merit a measure of grace uniquely sufficient to save us; he did much more and He himself wanted to declare it: “I came so that they may have Life and have it more abundantly” (Gv. 10, 10).

This fullness of life is the fullness of grace, of the supernatural life from which holiness blossoms.

Holiness is not reserved for a few: blessed Jesus, with his Incarnation, with his Death on the Cross, deserved not only the means of salvation, but also those of sanctification for all those who believe in him. He, the Saint par excellence, came to sanctify us and taught us: “Be perfect as your Father who is in heaven is perfect” (Mt. 5, 48).

Jesus did not address this teaching to a chosen group of people, he did not reserve it for his Apostles, his intimates, but he proclaimed it in front of the multitude that followed him. St. Paul took it from his lips and announced it to the Gentiles: “This is the will of God, your sanctification” (I Tess. 4, 3). And in our times the Church, through the mouth of the great Pope Pius XI, has repeatedly instilled this truth in the modern world: Christ “has called all humanity to the highest heights of sanctification... There are those who say that holiness is not a universal vocation; instead it is a universal vocation, all are called to it... and Jesus Christ proposed Himself to all as an example to be imitated”. And again: “Let no one believe that... [holiness] belongs to a few men chosen among many, while others can confine themselves to a lower degree of virtue. Absolutely everyone, as is clear, is included in this law, no one excepted”.

Therefore, Jesus comes not only to save me, but also to sanctify me. Therefore, Jesus also calls me to holiness and has deserved me all the graces necessary to achieve it.

Colloquy

“How confused I am, Lord, to see myself so miserable and of such little capacity in your service! Yes, it is solely my fault if You do not grant me the graces with which my ancient [saints] abounded. When I put myself before them I feel intense anguish, and I cannot say it without tears... Immense is the affliction of my soul, Lord, when I consider the glory that you reserve for those who persevere in the fulfillment of your will, when I meditate on the travails and sufferings with which your Son has deserved it despite so much of our unworthiness, when I think of the strict duty one has not to respond with ingratitude to the excess of a love that has so much made to teach us to love. How is it possible, Lord, that all this is forgotten and that men forget you to the point of offending you? Or rather, how is it possible, my Redeemer, that they thus forget themselves? Oh, how great is your goodness if, despite this, you always remember us! Forgetting that if we fell, it was only because we wanted to wound you with a mortal blow, You return to extend your hand to us and take us out of such an incurable frenzy in which we seek you and ask you for health. Blessed is such a Lord! Blessed is such immense mercy! Endless praise to such merciful mercy! My soul, bless so great a God incessantly! How is it possible to go back to being rebellious against him?” (T.G. Fd. 4, 7; Es. 3, 1).

Yet, Lord, even knowing how much this poor soul of mine has cost you, how many times I have offended you, I have resisted your grace, I have been unfaithful to your love, I have been deaf to your invitation to a more perfect life, to holiness.

You, who are my God, have given everything, you have given yourself everything for me and it is therefore not too much if in exchange you ask me to give me everything, to give you everything to correspond to your love. Yes, I understand, you are not satisfied with me thinking about saving my soul... not even you were satisfied with purchasing me the means necessary to save me, but you also wanted to purchase those necessary for my sanctification. You have already purchased, paid for everything... therefore, if I don’t sanctify myself, it will be solely my fault.

But how, Lord, can a soul as weak and miserable as mine, full of defects, selfishness, narrow-mindedness, aspire to such a high ideal, which is that of holiness? Oh, yes, my claims would certainly be reckless, if You Yourself had not shown me that this is precisely Your will. You have given me a precise precept: “Be perfect as your Father who is in heaven is perfect” (Mt. 5, 48).

Lord, I beg you, repeat this sublime invitation strongly and effectively to my poor soul, so that it remains completely penetrated by it and, completely taken by this ideal, finally awakens to greater generosity, to firmer and more decisive resolutions, to fuller trust in your merciful redemptive and sanctifying work.