December 1998
This is the great news that Jesus announced to humanity: that we have the possibility of becoming children of God through grace.
But how and to whom is this grace given? “To those who did accept him” and to those who will accept him in the course of centuries. We must accept Jesus in faith and in love, believing in him as our Savior.
But let’s try to understand more deeply what it means to be children of God.
It is enough to look at Jesus, the Son of God, and at his rapport with the Father: Jesus prayed to his Father as in the “Our Father.” For him the Father was “Abba”; which means Dad, a Person he turned to with infinite trust and limitless love.
However, since he came on earth for us, it was not enough for him to be the only one in this privileged position. By dying for us, redeeming us, he made us children of God, his own brothers and sisters. And through the Holy Spirit he also gave us the possibility of being introduced into the bosom of the Trinity, so that we too have the possibility of repeating the same divine invocation: “Abba, Father!” (Mk. 14:36; Rm. 8:15). “Dad, my!, our Dad.” This invocation implies the certainty of his protection, confidence, trustful surrender to his love, divine consolation, strength, ardor, the ardor you experience when you are certain of being loved.
«But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God.»
What makes us one with Christ and, with him, sons and daughters in the Son, is baptism and the life of grace that comes from it.
Moreover, this passage from the Gospel also reveals to us the profound dynamism of being children of God, which we need to live out day after day. In fact, it is necessary “to become children of God.”
We become, we grow as children of God, by corresponding to his gift, by living his will which is all summed up in the commandment of love: love towards God and love towards neighbors.
To accept Jesus means to recognize him in all our neighbors. And they too will have the possibility of recognizing Jesus and of believing in him if they are able to discern in our love for them, a glimmering, a spark of the boundless love of the Father.
«But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God.»
During this month in which we celebrate Jesus’ birth on earth, let’s try to accept one another by seeing and serving him in one another.
A reciprocity of love, knowledge, and life like that which links the Son to the Father in the Spirit, will be established also between us and the Father, and Jesus’ invocation: “Abba, Father,” will ever be on our lips.
Chiara Lubich
[:it]Intervento di Chiara Lubich alla preghiera ecumenica di inizio Avvento
November 1998
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” This sentence, as you probably recall, is from the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus revolutionized our human way of thinking by calling “blessed” and “happy” those who, at first glance, could seem anything but happy: the poor, the persecuted, the meek, those who spend their lives bringing peace to others….
With this particular statement, he even seems to be affirming the absurd: declaring “happy” those who are in tears, “blessed” those who are afflicted with suffering. How can such an affirmation be justified?
«Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.»
The Messiah came to fulfill the words of Isaiah who had prophesied that a time would come when all who suffer would be consoled and all who mourn would be comforted (cf. Is. 61:1-3).
He knows that those who suffer are really fortunate and blessed because they are more disposed to welcome his words and, therefore, to enter his kingdom. He knows that through him the world’s many afflictions can be transformed into a life of joy.
In speaking of those who “mourn,” Jesus intends not a particular category of people, but all who suffer – regardless of age, sex, race or nationality – for whatever reason: a misfortune, a natural disaster, an illness, the death of a loved one, or the loss of possessions or reputation. He is also referring to the pain of those who are disillusioned, and of those whose unspoken suffering is deep within their hearts. He is speaking of these, and of you too, if you are suffering at this moment.
«Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.»
“They shall be comforted.” By using the future tense, Jesus is certainly referring to the times to come when God himself will reward all those who have borne their suffering well, and “he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more” (Rev. 21:4). Knowing that all this will come about when Christ’s kingdom is established, fills our hearts with hope, and hope mitigates suffering.
However, Jesus is not merely trying to lead those who are unhappy to resign themselves to their condition with the promise of a future reward. He is thinking of the present as well.
His kingdom, in fact, is already here, even though it is not yet in its final form. It is present in Jesus himself, who, after undergoing a death accompanied by great suffering and sorrow, arose and thus conquered death.
As Christians we also have the kingdom present in our hearts, because God lives within us. The Trinity itself dwells in our hearts. And so the blessed happiness Jesus proclaims can already be ours.
«Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.»
In the kingdom brought by Jesus we can experience this consolation every day. Of course, there is a prerequisite: that we live as citizens of this kingdom, conforming our lives to its laws and to what Jesus asks of us.
He has said that we must accept the sufferings that come upon us, in the same way that he accepted his own.
He wants you to “take up” your cross; he does not want you to hate it, to reject it, to push it away, or to simply drag it along. You must love it! Jesus wants you to set it squarely on your shoulders. And even more – he wants you to brandish it like a torch, like a banner.
Then you will experience the miracle of the kingdom; God will make your cross seem lighter, and you will be able to carry it. You will even be able to smile amidst the tears. You will have a strength that is not yours, a strength that comes from him. And you will understand why he says, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Mt. 11:30).
The sufferings may remain, but we will experience a new vigor that will help us to bear the trials of life and that will enable us to help others who are suffering to overcome their pain and to view their suffering as Jesus viewed and accepted his: as a means of redemption.
Chiara Lubich