Text of the Eucharistic adoration of May 18, 2014

Feast of consecrated souls

Song: I just want to be where You are

I just want to be where You are, dwelling daily in Your presence

I don't want to worship from afar, draw me near to where You are.

I just want to be where You are, in Your dwelling place forever,

take me to the place where you are 'cause I just want to be with You.

I want to be where You are, dwelling in Your presence,

feasting at Your table, surrounded by Your glory,

in Your presence that's where I always want to be,

I just want to be with You, I just want to be where You are

I just want to be where You are to enter boldly in Your presence

I don't want to worship from afar, draw me near to where You are

O my God, You are my strength and my song,

and when I'm in Your presence, though I'm weak,

You're always strong.

INTRODUCTION

This is an important day for our community as we celebrate the feast of consecrated souls. This recurrence, and those who know our community know it well, is celebrated on the anniversary of when Marisa consecrated to God with the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Later, the feast was dedicated to all the souls who, like her, donated entirely themselves to God, thus becoming the "Feast of consecrated souls". Marisa, who was loved by God with a special love, had always shown joy and a deep desire to give her life to her All in an simple and humble way, as only a beautiful and pure soul as she could be; the total adherence to her vows was for Marisa the deep union with her All; she gave God all that belonged to her and she could do it because the only good that she felt in need was God.

The feast of consecrated souls has always been, along with that of priesthood, a feast very much loved and treasured by Marisa and Bishop Claudio, and it is no exaggeration to say that every anniversary was awaited with joy and excitement, although many times it was lived in trials.

Often, in fact, approaching these anniversaries, our spiritual parents were burdened with pain and suffering, and our Bishop has been forced more than once to repeat these words: "In the face of certain situations it is an exhausting experience to bow your head and nod to God's will because you have to say "Yes" when your whole being would rather shout "No", you have to bow your head even if you want to get away and the example comes from Him". These few words give the extent of the suffering they have endured.

Today, however, we want to celebrate this anniversary with the joy that Marisa would have liked, knowing that she is now close to her All, she is happy as she so much desired, especially in the last years of her life. We want to talk about her as we have known her and we would like, in this worship, that you all would perceive the light and brilliance that she would emanate with all of herself. God has given us the opportunity to be close to a creature who was a gem in His eyes and would lit up everything that surrounded her with the beauty of her soul.

She is simply our "little Marisa".

Song: Jesus I believe in you

With all I am, into your hands I commit again with all I am, for you Lord.

You hold my world in the palm of your hand and I'm yours forever.

Jesus, I believe in You. Jesus I belong to You,

You're the reason that I live, the reason that I sing for you, with all I am.

I walk with you wherever you go, through tears and joy, I'll trust in you.

I will live, in all of your ways you promise, forever.

Jesus, I believe in you, Jesus, I belong to you,

You are the reason that I live, the reason that I sing, with all I am.

Jesus, I believe in you, Jesus, I belong to you,

You are the reason that I live, the reason that I sing, with all I am.

I will worship, I will worship you...

Jesus, I believe in you, Jesus, I belong to you,

You are the reason that I live, the reason that I sing, with all I am.

Jesus, I believe in you, Jesus, I belong to you,

You are the reason that I live, the reason that I sing, with all I am.

You are the reason that I live, the reason that I sing, with all I am.

PURITY AND MOTHERHOOD

We eviscerated several times the importance of the vows uttered by Marisa and how her loyalty to these vows enabled us, and is enabling us still today, to see her as an example for the consecrated souls. Our Bishop, as it was in his habit, made a poem explaining the meaning of the vows of poverty, obedience and chastity. The vows uttered by Marisa were never betrayed because at the root of everything there was love, an active and great love because it was participating in the suffering. We find this same love in every teaching of the Mother of the Eucharist, the very love described in John's Gospel and from where we faithfully report the words:

"Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: if our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps God's commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: we know it by the Spirit he gave us". (John 3:18-24)

Here is Marisa: Christ's bride, beloved by her spouse for her purity, a virtue that has never abandoned her, and that increased more and more over the years, and for her ability to love without reservation, with a motherly love that would express in the ability to give her help to everybody. In fact, she had the ability to clearly see into our hearts and give the right advice as the most caring mother would. Purity and motherhood; purity of spirit, married with love, can produce amazing fruits of motherhood. Even now we remember her like that, able to laugh or say witty remarks even when her whole being was crushed by suffering thus giving us a glimmer of hope shining from her clear eyes.

Perhaps only a mother can understand the depth of love that Marisa was able to attain; a mother is able to climb a mountain for her son, she is able to stay awake all night to take care of him when he is not feeling well, she is able to pray without rest when worried about him. In this way, and much more, Marisa loved us. She prayed for us when we did not even know we were in need of it, she comforted and understood us when no one else did, she reprimanded and brought us back on the right track when we walked some dangerous paths. When she was with us we thanked her many times but she did not want it, but how do you thank a mom?

In our heart she left a profound teaching, and if we do not know how to love as she did, at least let us try to imitate her; this is the thanks she liked.

How can we forget the simplicity and joy she showed when God allowed her to see wonderful scenes and she would enthusiastically say to the Bishop: "Did you see how beautiful?" And smiling, he replied: "No Marisa, I see nothing". These memories are within us and teach us that in front of our little sufferings or misunderstandings, we should remember how she was able to deal with everything, even with more than a tear, while retaining in her heart that "perfect joy" that comes only from a heart in love with true Love, a heart that was able to really say and adhere to that "Yes".

Thank you Lord because from the cross You wanted to leave your Mother as mother of all mankind, and to us, just a few members of a small community, You wanted to give a spiritual mother, this bride of yours, so much beloved.

Song: You are mercy

You are mercy, You are the truth,

and if I will follow you, I will take up your cross,

if I fall, you shall raise me.

You died for me and rose again forever,

with your blood shed you have purified me,

from the oppressing enemy you have redeemed me,

from death you have freed me.

You are my victory, You are freedom,

You suffered for love, you gave me salvation,

to my cry you shall answer.

You died for me and rose again forever,

with your blood shed you have purified me,

from the oppressing enemy you have redeemed me,

from death you have freed me.

You are my dwelling, only in you I shall rest,

your spirit of life will give me consolation,

my soul you shall sate.

You died for me and rose again forever,

with your blood shed you have purified me,

from the oppressing enemy you have redeemed me.

From death you have delivered me, from death you have delivered me.

HUMILITY AND COURAGE

Another feature that fed vigorously the union between Marisa and God was humility. This virtue, now so little known and appreciated, was nurtured by Marisa like a delicate flower. Marisa offered everything to God, with generosity and suffering. Many were the long, interminable silences when Marisa wanted to sing songs and hymns with all her strength to her All. Many were the times when she suffered in silence and concealment. Many were the times when she repeated this sentence: "I am not the one to emerge, but the priest". Marisa, in her generosity offered everything to God, and He opened His hands to receive her gifts.

The mission she was entrusted with is above our imagination, as we have often heard over and over again: "You would not withstand even a few minutes of the suffering of your sister Marisa". It often happened that she was the one to encourage and console us for our small difficulties we encounter living on Earth. Even too often we complained because we had to give up something or if we had to endure trials we considered unjust, addressing the complaints to our Lord. In this way we have shown very little of that docility that we should have shown as true children of God, shaped to the school of our spiritual parents, example of meekness and gentleness. How much we have yet to learn and grow!

To carry out their teachings, especially with our testimony, is the greatest gift we can give them. Humility, simplicity, and purity, virtues that Marisa was able to amplify to the nth degree, bring to our mind a well-known passage of the gospel that is sometimes misunderstood: "He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven". (Mt 18:2-4)

Thinking about Marisa, we can understand what Jesus meant when he said to become like little children; he did not want us to be childish, but simple and pure; we can see in Marisa the definition of consecrated soul as it is present in the mind of God, we can see Christ's teachings put into practice, we can see a soul truly longing for Paradise. The years of suffering, the days and nights of prayers that she addressed to God asking for graces for our Bishop, for the Church and for us, were supported by the nourishment per excellence, the Eucharist.

The daily encounter with the Very Holy Sacrament was awaited by Marisa as the meeting with her spouse, with the beloved, an indispensable and necessary moment to find the strength to face another day. A few days ago was the anniversary of when God declared Marisa a saint, without the need for drapes or a huge crowd; let us turn more often to her remembering how close she is to God at this moment: let us entrust ourselves to her intercession, but remain willing to bow our head and say that sentence so demanding: "Let there be the will of God".

To really love, to love with your heart also means to have profound courage. It is common belief that one who loves is a weak person, but we have had evidence to the contrary. Jesus, our sweet Master, taught us by the sacrifice of the cross that the one who loves, suffers. Here is the example of Christ put into practice by Marisa. Many times we saw her living and bearing Christ's cross, accepting it in the name of the love she had for her spouse, who asked her untold suffering to save souls. She accepted the cross even when it concerned the salvation of souls who were causing great suffering to the Bishop and that offended Christ. The thought of seeing her suffering to save them goes against human reason and common sense, but she faced it all with deep self-denial.

Her yes uttered with the knowledge to embrace the cross was not just a yes of love, but also of courage. Courage is not realized only by accepting the suffering, but also to remain stubbornly attached to our own faith and never lose hope when you are immersed in the deepest darkness. Marisa left us this teaching too. The times when certain events left us amazed and astonished, when it seemed that there was no way out, she would face everything with courage and never lose hope.

When sometimes thoughts and worries crowd our mind, let us think of her, her radiant smile, her unassailable faith, her perseverance, her ability to never give up and her help will come.