Normandt' Catholic Meditations

[Normandt]

139. God is here, let's trust!


Sometimes, to come back to God, we think we have to cry out, because suffering holds us and doesn't let us go. But we don't have to scream.

Shouting is a sign that we have gone too far. We have moved away from God. God is here, let's trust! God chases us with his Love! And his arrows are joy, peace, hope, mercy, life, love, etc.

We cry because we don't want to live in the negation that keeps us away from God. We shout because we forgot that God is always with us. Within the walls we have created for ourselves, we believe that God is no longer there.

We locked ourselves in and closed the windows. After our cry, the storm will calm down, the dust will fall and we will have no reason to cry if we turn our heart to God.

It's a good reflex to turn to him. Shouting is not a fault, but it's not the end result.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: ... for Love, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

140. Peace promised by Jesus


This sentence reminds us that God is here:
"He will be gracious to you when you cry out, as soon as he hears he will answer you." Isaiah, chapter 30, verse 19b

God answers us as soon as we cry. This is the sign that he is close. When we have enough, when we stop wanting to do everything alone, when pride accepts the transition to simplicity, peace and joy, when we are saturated with being exploited with injustices, it's no longer necessary to cry out to the Lord.

We then cry for joy since we have turned away from our closures or the injustices we suffered. We turn to God. We shout for joy, because we understand the difference between the harm others are doing to us (or ourselves) and the pure, just, true, and righteous Love of God. We open ourselves again to grace, to the Love of God. Our heart becomes interested to being in his presence.

We read in the Gospel:
"Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness." Matthew, chapter 9, verse 35

May we trust, Jesus has not ceased to travel endlessly to our heart. May we trust, open our hearts to salvation, to peace promised by Jesus. Jesus, I trust in you!

Jesus is already there, simply, without noise. We can talk to him before we scream. He invites us again to open our hearts wide, for God to live in it and to work with us.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: ... for Love, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

141. Our thanksgiving to Jesus


The light illuminates our way when we are driving. It would be very risky to venture on a road at night without headlights on. We may not get very far. And the danger of damage and injury is great.

This is what happens in our lives when we do not give God the leisure to enlighten it. We are at great risk. Instead of opening ourselves to life, we may close our hearts. Then fear becomes imminent.

When our road is lit, it becomes more visible. The only temporary errors that remain are the fact of moving away from the light again or not being cautious enough.

Let's enter happily into the light that God gives us. Let's get back to it quickly. Let's thank God for his light, enter into communion with him and our hearts will open ever more. We are also invited to go deeper into our hearts, to thank Jesus for the treasures we find there.

Let's take some time to discover these treasures and offer our thanksgiving to Jesus. The treasure that has greater value is our heart, since Jesus lives in it.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: ... for Love, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

142. The dawn of the new day


The fire of earth [Jesus in our heart] shines in heaven. It enlightens all those who take refuge in God, welcome him and accept to live with his light. To the young people gathered in Rome in 2000, Pope John Paul II said of Jesus:
"He is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is he who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is he who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is he who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle. It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives."
World Youth Day, Prayer Vigil at Tor Vergata, August 19, 2000, number 5. Vatican Site:
World Youth Day: vigil (Tor Vergata, August 19, 2000) | John Paul II

Let's put on the garment of light that leads us to the dawn of the new day. Let's have the courage, the will, the desire to transform the world through Love, with God.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: ... for Love, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

143. The Lord is with us


Jesus Loves us, he doesn't force anyone and he sets us free. Jesus accepts what we want and he will not give more than we ask. Freely, if our request is not precise, we risk finding ourselves with very little.

Sometimes we ask, but we don't believe in it. Sometimes we want to follow Christ, but there are too many things or people who hold us back, or we aren't vigilant enough.

Sometimes the Lord will take his time, because we are not in a hurry to change lanes. Sometimes asking something from the Lord will lead us where we would not want to go. It helps us to grow in faith because we have to learn to adjust to God as true disciples. Let's check carefully whether our requests really lead us to the house of the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit.

God can do anything and everything is offered to us. But it is still necessary that we accept what comes from him. When the priest says, at the beginning of Mass: "The Lord be with you," the Lord is already with us, but he always leaves us free to answer, to want God present with us.

This does not mean: "The Lord may be with us." We know that the Lord is always with us, but do we still want him with us, again and now? That's the question. At each mass, we are free to answer.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: ... for Love, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

144. Path to holiness


This sentence can make us think of all those who dare to recognize that God is their only possible path to holiness:
"'Come! let us go to implore the favour of the Lord'; and, 'I too will go to seek the Lord.'" Zechariah, chapter 8, verse 21

Me, whatever the case, I will seek the face of the Lord, I will look for it and I will find him. I have decided that my will, I will place it in a safe place, in God's Heart. Let's find him, together!

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: ... for Love, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

145. Jesus leads us to salvation


We go and come from different places, but:
"Jesus is resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem." Luke, chapter 9, verse 51

Jesus could have simply followed the road to Jerusalem like many people every day. However, he embarked on the road with a mission, the only mission he had in Heart and in his Head, which is leading us to salvation, in truth.

This is what the saints like Therese of Lisieux, Francis of Assisi, Padre Pio and people we know have done. As quickly as possible they reached the highway to holiness.

What is the mission that leads us today to holiness, Love in God? The first mission is to make sure we are on the straight path to the Heart of God. If not, where are we heading, to which unknown place? Where are we heading to?

Wherever we are going to, let's go in faith and with the conviction that Jesus is with us. Jesus is with us.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: ... for Love, Normand Thomas