Prayers formulated by H.E. Mons. Claudio Gatti on 25th December 2008

At Christmas, during the Nighttime H. Mass and during the H. Mass of the Day, the Bishop has replaced the two homilies with two long and moving prayers to Baby Jesus, where he expressed the state of his soul, Marisa's and of the whole community.

Prayer dated 25th December 2008

Nativity of our Lord (Nighttime H. Mass)

Jesus, welcome back among us under the appearance of a baby. With the eyes of our soul we see You as a Baby in this holy night when for the first time I thought to appeal directly to You with a prayer, rather than speaking to my brothers and my sisters with a sermon.

Jesus, we need you. My brothers and my sisters need not my words, but Yours; they need not the thoughts I express in my homilies, but your teachings contained in the Gospel. Seeing You so small, we approach with affection and without fear your crib. Just like Mary, Your Mother and ours, during the months of pregnancy You spoke with her while You were in her womb, we too, following Your example, want to live the same experience. We bow before the mystery of incarnation contemplating God becoming man in the form of a weak baby, in need of care and protection. You are a frail baby, and yet in your little hands is contained the Divine Omnipotence.

Dear Baby Jesus, we dare enter the cave and place ourselves silently, reverently, in adoration before the manger, as when we are before the tabernacle. We are not here to protect You, but it is You taking care of us. Jesus, on my behalf, Marisa's and the entire community, we manifest again our test situation that never ends, the fatigue that increases more and more and sadness that floods our soul. Is it possible, Jesus, to reconcile the joy of Christmas with the suffering we feel? In various ways and at different times You have said to us to be calm, courageous and even smile. We smile by looking at You, dear baby Jesus, for every baby snatches emotions, affection, sympathy and kindness, but if we look at ourselves, our smile dies away on our lips, our eyes close fearful of the reality surrounding us and our heart is thumping tumultuously.

I do not want to repeat the same complaints that for so long I have been showing You, but we are before You and You read in our hearts, and none can have a thought and utter another, for it would be false, deceitful.

Jesus, what are You reading within us? What are You seeing within us? Fervently we wish the situation will eventually calm down and change. You have chosen our sister Marisa as Your spouse. The spouse wants to rejoin with the Divine Spouse to be together in the endless joy of Heaven for all eternity, but it seems Your plans are different. We beseech Mary and say: "Intervene as you did at the wedding in Cana, when you noticed that the spouses had no more wine". At that time you invited Jesus to provide and when he replied: "It is not yet my time", you remained composed and said to the servants: "Do whatever He tells you to do", for you knew that your Son would never have disobeyed one of your command. Mom, why don't you do it now as well? If you have done it for the benefit of a married couple and strictly for human reasons, why don't you do it for so many others of your children for spiritual reasons?

You are Daughter of God and Mother of God, as Dante called you "Virgin mother, daughter of your Son". Do plead with Jesus. You are the person closest to him, you have given Him the body that was torn and pierced by human wickedness. You have given Him the blood that was shed to erase our sins. He cannot say no to you.

Dear Mom, thanks to you too because with your "Yes", the Son of God became man and the men who were far from God returned to Him, renewed and refreshed. We, your children, are not always faithful, not always honest, not always generous, but in our heart at least the desire to be, we beseech you to be an interpreter, intermediary of our prayers and our needs to your Son, Everlasting God, Infinite Love.

St. Joseph, my dear S. Joseph, I cannot forget you, how can I forget? You know the love, tenderness, affection, devotion I have for you, whom God has allowed me to see.

Dear Joseph, you have had Him in your arm, you have warmed Him up with your heat, you protected Him from the weather, wind, cold and sand of the desert. When you had done your duty of foster father, you started the duty of the devout son of God and knelt before that little baby whom you recognized and worshiped as your God. Can a loving son say no to his own father? We know how powerful your intercession is as we have so often experienced it. It would be so nice if you and your spouse would go before Jesus, would kneel down as you have done so many times at your home in Nazareth and would beseech Him for us. He cannot but listen to your requests that are ours.

Baby Jesus, Mary, our Mother, Joseph, Our Patron, in this holy night we turn to you our affection, our love. We ask you with one voice to intercede with God for us so that what He promised may soon be realized.

Daddy God, how many times have I called upon You on these nights and these days, how many times have I turned to You, sometimes calmly and sometimes exasperated because even the loving soul may complain as Job did, after being struck in every part and from all sides.

God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, God One and Triune, before You the Universe is bowing humble and submissive. We too want to be humble and submissive, but, Daddy God, You know earlier than us what we think, what we will do, give us the opportunity to feel Your protection, to be aware of Your closeness, so that we have no doubt that You are with us, You love us, You help and protect us. God, to You the praise, honor and glory in Heaven, on earth and everywhere, now and forever. Amen

+ Claudio Gatti

Bishop ordained by God

Bishop of the Eucharist

Prayer dated 25 December 2008 (Nativity of our Lord (H. Mass of the day))

Baby Jesus, I continue last night's prayer. If I would express everything I have in my heart, if I would pose all the questions that since a long time are rumbling in my mind, if I would manifest all the requests to change our situation, I believe there won't be enough hours in this Holy day. But I will not do it because you know everything and because it is right that my brothers reach their home in time, to join their relatives and enjoy what is possible to enjoy. This Christmas, especially for the Bishop and Seer, but also for every member of this community, does not appear in the splendor of that light and intensity of that joy we are invoking since a long time. Jesus, when celebrating Christmas 2007, I could not have hidden that in my heart, in Marisa's and in my brothers and sisters heart, was present, albeit in a corner, the hope that Christmas 2008 would be lived and celebrated in a different way. Instead, let me tell You, we are more tired, more tested, more worried and sad than last year.

God gave this definition of himself: "I am the One who is" therefore, dear Jesus, You are always a little baby, adolescent, adult man, you are always the One living the passion, facing death and rising again because you are God. Right now we just see and admire the little Baby. As I said to you last night, by looking at You so small and in need of affection, we felt the urge to hold You tight not to defend You, but to protect ourselves. Our Mom encouraged us to expound everything we have in our heart, to ask all the graces we want because, sooner or later, they would arrive. Stop, please, just on "sooner", do not stretch your gaze on "later" because, allow us to say it, to go on in this situation for months, not to say for years, as it is impossible to think of it, becomes extremely hard, heavy and suffered. We cry out to You: "Jesus, do quickly what You have to do". We are tired of waiting, we fear of collapsing, even if God the Father manifested a few days ago and said: "You will not collapse, for I am God and I will prevent it. You will never collapse even If I had to support you with sticks". We believe it, Jesus, they are divine words but why then what we feel is the experience of the opposite? Yes, it is true we are tired of this situation, we are tired of this life oppressing and paralyzing us, but before the others and much more than the others, I think of myself and the Seer. The two of us are exhausted. Don't You see how insistently we ask You again and again to tell us that blessed day You have already established? I remember very well when You said: "God the Father, I God the Son, God the Holy Spirit got together and we decided the moment and the hour"; also the Mother of the Eucharist was present during this talk.

If Heaven is so beautiful, I have not seen it yet, but You promised I will see it before my death, why don't You give it to the people who truly deserve it as they have given You a life full of love and suffering? Why still keep the bride away and detached from the Bridegroom? Why keep on earth a daughter who wants to be reunited with the Father? She wants to see You, she has seen many supernatural realities, but not You, for she will be able to see You only when she will reach You in the glory of Heaven. It is her right to ask, it is an act of charity and love by us to remind it to You. Although we do not know Your plans, we accept them, we respect them, we submit to them with effort and suffering, but also with love, because, my God, if there would be no love in our thoughts and in our actions, I am talking about Marisa and me, we would not be here waiting for the Messenger, as written in today's first reading, bringing the message of good things. Who is this Messenger? When will this Messenger come? What will this Messenger tell us? We know you are the One, dear Jesus, the Messenger, Paul said it so wonderfully: "God has spoken in the Old Testament through the prophets, in these last days through his Son". It is You, Jesus, the true and only mediator between God and man, the Father's Messenger for us, your brothers. We stretch our gaze, scanning the horizon, but we still do not see any little dust coming up, indicating that Man-God is approaching, walking the paths of the World He knows so well.

Dear Jesus, will Christmas 2009 be like this Christmas? Please, I beg You, I implore You for as much as my poor prayers may have a hold on Your heart, may it not be a Christmas like this one or the previous ones. We await with humility, with faith, hope and charity with which you, my God, are condescending to let us know that You've at last decided to come triumphantly in the World to bring the Church up again, for today she has fallen too low and to eliminate the various Judah lurking in the higher echelons of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. I don't think I am exaggerating if I say that besides so many Judah there are many Herod desecrating the Eucharist e desecrating priesthood. You explained us that those who willingly slander and make the priests suffer are desecrating them. The desecrators are sacrilegious. Jesus, when will You set your Church free from this sacrilegious lot? When will Your Church rise as a strong and luminous Mother and Teacher on a world floundering about, calling up the truth but feeding on lies? When, My God, we can look in each others eyes, shake hands and congratulate each other because at last what You've promised is reality? We do not think of getting on Your winner bandwagon, but we want to humbly follow You through your triumphant march, for if we are close to You during our pain, it is right that we are close to You during the triumph. I dream, actually I see this triumph, I see S. Peter's Church all lit up, I see a procession entering the Basilica, center of Christendom, I see that there is present a peaceful, joyful and happy Mother of the Eucharist and with all the saints and angels she spreads her mantle to cover the one You want to rise to Peter's seat. I see your enemies, defeated, gnashing their teeth and bursting with rage because they are aware of their defeat. Jesus, this is not a dream, it is a vision that surely for three times you opened before Marisa's eyes. I'm repeating what You wanted we knew, but when, my God, will all this cease to be prophetic vision and will become vibrating reality?

Dear Jesus, I end up with the prayer your Mom taught us: "Baby Jesus, God of Love, remain always in our heart" because when our heart will be tired, it will be Yours to thump with love for God and for the brothers. When fatigue and sadness will almost prevent us from praying, it will be You, Jesus, to pray for us and show to the Father those needs and those requirements that are urgent and present within us. Baby Jesus, bless our community, the Church and the world.

+ Claudio Gatti

Bishop ordained by God

Bishop of the Eucharist