SEQUELA CHRISTI, SHARING HIS LIFE AND LOVE
Dear friends of the Garden of the Lord,Peace to you!
This month's thought connect with what was published at the end of the year that we have just left behind. We now find ourselves in a new year, but also liturgically the Church makes us participate in a new time. We are now, after Christmas, in Ordinary time, also called Discipleship time.
Being in the time of the Discipleship means living in the time of “Sequela Christi”, of following Jesus' steps by listening to his word and imitating his own behavior; it means that we, baptized, testify, with our conduct, that we are Christ's because we adopt his criteria, attitudes, and feelings, a path that conforms us more to Christ.
Like the Baptist and the other disciples, we too are called to indicate the presence of Jesus to others, aware however that, before giving external testimony (ad extra), we are invited to experience an internal discovery (ab intra) of the reality of Christ. Only by having a very intimate relationship with Him, that is, by being with Him, we can announce: Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world; Jesus is the chosen one of God, the Son of God (Jn, 1:29-34; cf. Is 49, 3ff) and with great joy to say: “We have found the Messiah... Jesus of Nazareth” (Jn 1:45).
Brothers and sisters, let us strive to see Jesus with new eyes and in a trusting relationship, let us follow Him without reservation. This is the compromise of Sequela Christi, that is, sharing his life and his love. We his disciples, first of all, do so by following his example and responding to his call to stay and watch with Him (cf. Mt 16, 38; Mk 14, 34).
Staying and watching with Him, means that Jesus does not want us sleepy disciples, as this numbs the soul before the power of evil in the world. Jesus still invites us to go out with Him and pray in the night; he wants us to take care of the garden of our hearts and the hearts of every man and woman loved by the Lord, a mission that involves bringing with Him all our sufferings and hopes, which are transformed into prayer.
Saint Ignatius of Antioch, who helps us compromise with this daily commitment and pray together with the entire community of believers, states: “Be sure to gather more frequently for giving thanks and for praising God. When you gather often, Satan's forces are annihilated and the evil he produces is destroyed in the harmony of your faith. Nothing is more precious than peace, which disarms every earthly and spiritual enemy” (Letter to the Ephesians). In harmony with the entire Church and the intentions of Holy Father Leo XIV, let our prayer also be “for the full visible unity of all Christians... a commitment that it will be accompanied coherently with that for peace and justice in the world” (Angelus, 18 January 2026).
We therefore ask for the intercession of the Most Holy Mary, so that the presence of the Light of Christ, witnessed by his disciples, will always remain in the world to illuminate the night of humanity. For Christ, with Christ and in Christ may all humanity be carried upward, toward God.
Be blessed from the Garden of the Lord.
