Dear friends of Gethsemane, peace to you from Jerusalem!
The Word that has been given to us these days, with power illuminates our journey as disciples, the time we are living and the place in which we find ourselves, physically and spiritually. The Genesis page (18, 20-32) tells about Abraham's intercession with God to avoid the punishment he intended to inflict on Sodom and Gomorrah. The dialogue reveals once again the merciful and fair face of the Lord who takes pity and promises to save the few righteous who find in the sinful cities. We all know that in the end the cities will be destroyed by the degradation and perversity of men, except Lot and his family (Gen. 19, 29).God's mercy and justice, HERE in Gethsemane, are personified by the Only Begotten Son, but with absolute differences. In that "Yes" of delivery and conformity to the will of the Father ("my will not be done but your will" Lk 22:42) a mystical exchange takes place, in an overturning of roles: Jesus (the only Just and God!) becomes the Mediation for the Salvation of all humanity (multitude of sinners!). The "catastrophe" of God no longer turns towards the unworthy man… but God himself, in Jesus, gives himself in his immense love for us, offers himself as an immolated Lamb of atonement (Rev 5, 8-14), so that all men can know forgiveness and how much God really loves them. What permanently and absolutely seals this event is that this "exchange" is wanted and decided by God and not by man: "Was it necessary for Christ to endure this suffering to enter his glory?" Lk 24, 26). We, little humans, cannot, however intelligent we are, perceive the confines of this event of GRACE!It is still time of Mercy ... we must say it and announce it also to this our world that seems to disregard God! Let us not leave Lord's love fruitless, but collaborate with our prayers and on the occasions that the Lord gives us to make our little offering... the Lord will reward us.
