his month I would like to share a story taken from the sermons of St. Anthony of Padua. When I heard it (at the Saint's party, on June 13th), I was moved. Later I understood the reason: it is a Sermon on Holy Thursday, in which Saint Anthony, with this allegory, remembers the Passion of God for us men. It is a synthesis of our redemption ... How much you love us, Lord! This salvific action is still open to all humanity today. Let’s pray so that his will be fulfilled in us, welcome the good and the desire that the Father has for each one of us.
"(...) a king had a gold ring adorned with a precious gem. The ring, which was very dear to him, slipped off his finger and fell into a sewer, so he had a great dislike. When he did not find anyone who could recover the ring, he put down the garments of his royal dignity, got dressed in sack, went down to the sewer, looked for the ring for a long time, and finally found it: when he found it, filled with joy took him back to the palace with him. That king is a figure of the Son of God; the ring represents humanity; the precious gem embedded in the ring is the soul of men. These, from the joy of terrenal paradise, almost slipping from the finger of God, fell into the sewer of hell; this loss was a great disappointment for the Son of God. He looked among the angels and among the men for someone who could recover the ring, but he did not find anyone, because nobody was able to do it. Then he stripped off his garments, he emptied himself, he put on the sack of our misery, looked for the ring during thirty-three years and, at the end, he descended to hell and there he found Adam with all his posterity: full of joy He took everyone with him and restored them to eternal happiness". (From the Sermons of Saint Anthony of Padua, Holy Thursday)
HERE in Gethsemane, in this holy Rock, we contemplate in silence the supreme gift of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Let us give thanks and restore Love in our common everyday life.
