Rome, 9 April 2019
My dearest children, may Jesus watch over my daughters and sons for me!
On Good Friday, which is now so close, before Christ Crucified, we will contemplate the immensity of his redeeming Love, which led him to total availability and obedience to the will of God the Father.
Our following Christ, our identification with him, also leads us, within our personal circumstances, to unlimited availability to the challenges and demands of the apostolic mission. On our daily journey we want to discover the voice of Christ, who calls us and invites us to broaden our horizons. Like St Paul, we want to become “all things to all people” (I Cor 9:22).
Speaking of availability, I think that during these weeks leading up to Guadalupe’s beatification it will help us to consider precisely how her life-project was enlarged when she set it within God’s plans. Guadalupe let herself be led by God, joyfully and spontaneously, from one place to another, from one job to another. Our Lord nurtured her abilities and talents, developed her character, and multiplied the fruits of her life.
God will also do a lot of good to many people through us, in spite of our defects and mistakes, if we make ourselves available to listen, to serve, to help and to let ourselves be helped; in a word, to love whatever he wants. As St Josemaría wrote, “It is the divine game of self-surrender” (Letter, 14 February 1974, no. 5). And, always and in everything, with the freedom and happiness of God’s daughters and sons.
A very affectionate blessing from
your Father
