Following the Infinite

“In every movement of my body and every act of my mind, I intend to give God infinite glory.” St. Vincent Palotti

It is Holy Week. I try to live it with an awareness, and it is not such an easy thing to do. I have been to confession, daily mass and I volunteered to be the lector.  Unfortunately, there are many distractions, but I cannot let them stop me. Recently, I was invited to a farewell party, and I brought along some friends. Afterwards, they asked me who these people were and how I met them. I have known many of them for years through the movement, Communion and Liberation. The movement is dear to me despite the struggles. No community in the Church is perfect and neither the Church itself or maybe I should say, the people in it. But we follow something greater. We follow Christ.

“Our aim has to be the infinite and not the finite. The infinite is our homeland. We have always been expected in Heaven.” Carlo Acutis

Wise words from this young Blessed. Are we even listening to what he said? Distractions are easy but to follow is to trust. I think often what John and Andrew did once they first met Jesus. They ran to get Peter – ‘We have met the Messiah.’ They certainly did and their ‘yes,’ and Mary’s ‘yes’ needs to be our ‘yes’ despite the hatred, persecution and struggles of this life.  We cannot surrender!

“There are two ways of keeping God’s word, namely one, whereby we store in our memory what we hear and the other whereby we put into practice what we have heard, and none will deny that the latter is more commendable, inasmuch, as it is better to sow grain that to store it in a barn.” Bl. Jordan of Saxony.

This Holy Week, some interesting saints are remembered. I was struck by Blessed Panacea de ‘Muzzi of Quarona. Her mother died young, and her father remarried. Of course, the new stepmother did not like the new daughter. She was a pious girl, and her new mother was jealous. Must be a standard story. Almost like Cinderella. The stepmother, Margherita murdered the girl with a spindle. This even sparked a devotion. Another saint is Blessed Giuseppe Ambrosoli. He helped rescue Jewish people during WW II out of Italy into Switzerland. He was a doctor and a priest: then he decided to work in Uganda. He was a member of the Comboni Missionaries and died young of renal failure in 1987. These are people we need to look at. Just two examples, but there are many. A person does not need to go around looking for someone to follow, the Lord will send someone for sure. I visit my friends in the Carmelite Monastery nearby as often as I can.

“Without prayer we have neither light nor strength to advance in the way which leads to God.” St. Alphonsus Liguori

It is important to follow someone greater and further ahead than us. It is essential to our faith. We do not follow a book; we follow a person. I am a Catholic and I follow the Church in a concrete way. But I cannot eliminate prayer. It is so important. We need to be reminded daily, even every minute, that God will never abandon us. It was impossible not to be struck this week reading at mass in the morning. The readings from Isaiah, the psalms, and the gospel. They all foreshadow what is to come.

“There is in the Sacred Heart the symbol and express image of the infinite love of Jesus Christ which moves us to love in return.” Pope Leo XIII