Pentecost is God’s revolution and the revolution of a heart that is possessed by the power of the Holy Spirit. This was God’s action within the heart of the Virgin Mary. She was the one who gave courage to the first followers of Jesus, while they awaited the fulfillment of the mystery of Pentecost. As Pope Benedict XVI said in his time: “Without the Virgin Mary there is no Pentecost.”
Who better than Mary to uphold the faith of the first Pope in history, and the disciples who were in contact with Jesus, but were afraid of having His same luck? She had contemplated the living face of Christ and was ready to stand firm in her word, meaning that positive answer given at the Annunciation. Later repeated throughout her whole life: offering a blank check, opening an infinite and unconditional credit line to her Lord and God. Thus, we have the joyful words of her cousin Elizabeth that define Mary so well: “Blessed is she who believed, in the fulfillment of these things that were told to her from the Lord.” (Lk 1:45)
Since Pentecost, the life of Christians is defined by their testimony. And the key question, “What would Jesus do in my place?” has a double response. In the words of Father Ignacio, endearing words will flow from within the heart of Jesus: “If you do not abandon me, if your daily life is secured in me, you will have the moral authority and the category of witnesses needed to shout to the world that I live because you have been with me.
Remember how many times I withdrew to the mountains to nurture my private life with my Father, and remember how I descended from the mountains with so much joy, and how so many people’s hearts were filled with sweetness and became inebriated with the words that flowed from my mouth. It was my Father who did marvels through me because I had just left His intimacy…”
In this way, we arrive from the enchantment with God, to the enchantment with life. With Jesus alive in our hearts we are invincible. With Him our aversions disappear like the fog, thorns become roses and in His Presence no desire is left unsatisfied. With Jesus alive in our heart, the “ego” is weakened and our conversion becomes more resolute: “May the whistles of rejection not frighten me, the applause not puff me up, the demands of the “ego” not enslave me with heavy chains, nor rob me of my joy and peace. Because, my Jesus, I incessantly seek to rest in Your meek and humble heart. Only one wish encourages me: That my love be as fresh and as pure as the rain…”
For us, a new Pentecost is also arriving. Let us allow the Holy Spirit to also break into our lives filling us with its gifts and charismas. New eyes for a new vision.
When we let ourselves be seduced by the splendor of this God of Tenderness, we cannot silence the infinite joys that remain in our soul. The Intense Moments of intimacy alone with our God, confirm what we already know: we exist to remind the world that God IS, and our wish is to walk on the same sure path that the Virgin followed: “Do what He tells you.” (John 2:5)
“With you, Lord, we do marvels.” (Ps 60)
(Extracted from several Circular Letters)
