Do you understand all these things?

27 JULY (Mt 13,44-52)

Understanding every word of God in its truth opens the heart to an even bigger, stronger, higher, more global and more holy understanding. Every Word of God, of Jesus Christ, contained in the Old Testament, in the Gospel and in the other books of the New Testament, is full of the same God, who is the infinite, the eternal, the divine, the wisdom, the intelligence and the knowledge. It is as if God emanated, come out, spouted out always new, always present, always true and always up to date from every word. God is a bottomless well from which infinite truth springs.

To always draw life giving water from this divine and eternal well a particular bucket, not made by human hands is needed. This tool is also divine and eternal. It is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of the Lord comes, makes himself a bucket in our hands, in our hearts, in our minds and with it every day we can draw a more and more new, deep and abysmal wisdom. However, the action of the Spirit of the Lord is not independent, that is, without us, independently of us and contrary to us. It is not a hurricane, typhoon, tornado and monsoon that comes, take you, slams you, consumes you and destroys you. This is not the action of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit of the Lord requires our daily commitment on two quite precise fronts; the one must always be joined to the other, the one must never exist without the other. These two sides have only one name: growth in grace and wisdom before God and men. If these two paths, these two ways are not run through, the action of the Holy Spirit is nothing. He cannot act without us, against us, independently of us. His action must be in us and for us. It is from him, but through us and in us. To be in us and for us he needs a good pulley and a good rope. You cannot drop the bucket of the well without these two means, which are mandatory and indispensable. Without the means no water will ever be drawn.

Growth in grace is accomplished with our fight to death to every vice, both active and passive. Vice and the Holy Spirit might never live together, might never coexist. The Spirit of the Lord casts out vice. Vice casts out the Spirit of the Lord. Every vice we let reign in our body, even the slightest, takes away vital space to the Spirit and his wisdom can not affect us with power. Every vice is like water on fire. It turns off the flames of truth, justice, mercy, charity, divine illumination of hearts and minds. For this reason it is more than urgent that every one of us faces a serious examination of conscience. If there are flaws in us, there is also an obstacle to divine wisdom so that it takes full possession of our lives.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. “Do you understand all these things?” They answered, “Yes.” And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.”

Growth in grace is done by feeding each day on eternal life and taking advantage of all the wisdom of the Holy Spirit in doing the perfect good. Every good work, every prayer, every sacrament we receive, every sacrifice we offer to the Lord increases in us the power of grace and with it the Holy Spirit is welcomed more naturally. If we are a hard shard, we can receive a little water in us. If we are a big sponge we will receive a lot of water. Wisdom and grace make us become a wonderful sponge that welcomes all or God’s Spirit.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints make us true sponges of holiness.