Dear friends of Gethsemane, may the Lord grant you peace! This first Thursday of the month falls on a special occasion for us Franciscans: it is the day of our beloved Father Saint Francis. The liturgical coincidence of this little-great saint has helped me to look with astonishment at the holy places where we live, I would say from a particular perspective: divine closeness. We usually perceive the closeness of the Lord when we become good people, when we are good and generous, or when we try to be fair and righteous. Everything is true! In our way of listening to the Word, I am continually surprised how the closeness of the Lord manifests itself in a different way: He feels continually attracted by our needs and our weaknesses ... aspects that we usually hide to show ourselves autonomous and strong. All this expresses his Name wonderfully: He is the Savior. Therefore, for Him, to enter the Night, in the darkness, in the anguish and to experience the sadness of the soul until death, loneliness, misunderstanding and betrayal ... and to enter the fight until sweating blood (Luke 22, 40-53), are aspects that mysteriously show us his total closeness, his infinite love for us. Let us contemplate this great mystery so that we can recognize with faith and hope the powerful closeness of the Lord to all of us. Saint Francis has related this closeness of the Lord in his life as much as wanting to "travel the ways of the world crying the passion of his Lord". (Franciscan sources: 1585)
