THE LIFE AT NAZARETH
4. Seeking Jesus.
You too must learn how to seek Jesus. You may lose Him through sin, but sometimes even without sin Jesus may hide from you just to try you as His Mother was tried. It is then that the devil will take the opportunity to tempt you with discouragement, with despondency, with tiredness, with mistrust, perhaps with despair.
Look then to Mary. Though She did not find Jesus immediately, yet she did not stop looking for Him. This you also should do. Suffering and sorrow must not diminish the earnestness of your search. On the contrary, you must miss Jesus much more than Mary did. Like Mary you must not stop or rest, until by fervor and perseverance you manage to find Him again.
And when we find Jesus again, what joy and happiness comes to us. How spontaneously those words of the Canticle of Canticles spring from our heart: I have found the One that my soul loves. I shall keep Him well and shall never let Him go. Ask Mary to learn how to fulfill the will of God. Implore from Her that Jesus should never punish you by quitting your heart and hiding away from you. Ask to learn how to work without rest in Her company, since you know well that it is with Her and through Her that Jesus is found and will abide with you for ever.
[Excerpted from 'MARIAN MEDITATIONS' Book by Rev. Dr. Ildefonso R. Villar, Salesian Philippine Province, Nihil Obstat; Imprimatur]
4. Seeking Jesus.
You too must learn how to seek Jesus. You may lose Him through sin, but sometimes even without sin Jesus may hide from you just to try you as His Mother was tried. It is then that the devil will take the opportunity to tempt you with discouragement, with despondency, with tiredness, with mistrust, perhaps with despair.
Look then to Mary. Though She did not find Jesus immediately, yet she did not stop looking for Him. This you also should do. Suffering and sorrow must not diminish the earnestness of your search. On the contrary, you must miss Jesus much more than Mary did. Like Mary you must not stop or rest, until by fervor and perseverance you manage to find Him again.
And when we find Jesus again, what joy and happiness comes to us. How spontaneously those words of the Canticle of Canticles spring from our heart: I have found the One that my soul loves. I shall keep Him well and shall never let Him go. Ask Mary to learn how to fulfill the will of God. Implore from Her that Jesus should never punish you by quitting your heart and hiding away from you. Ask to learn how to work without rest in Her company, since you know well that it is with Her and through Her that Jesus is found and will abide with you for ever.
[Excerpted from 'MARIAN MEDITATIONS' Book by Rev. Dr. Ildefonso R. Villar, Salesian Philippine Province, Nihil Obstat; Imprimatur]
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