Lord, You know I am in no way worthy yet You delight in lifting us up. You and Your friends Jesus.
Some, I have a feeling, gladden Your heart especially. I know You are waiting to retrieve sinners and there is great joy in heaven at the return of one.
Lord, when I think of Padre Pio and You know how Your work in him staggers me, I wonder if You’re not indulging in some form of favouritism.
Yet when I think of this holy man and the preparation that must have gone into Your fashioning him to endure, with You to some degree, the ignominy of the cross, I wonder to what extent You were re-living Your passion in Our friend. Poor Padre Pio, how it must have bewildered him to see the world applauding the Jesus of the 20th century when his master and friend, You Jesus, endured rejection and crucifixion that the Will of the Father may be glorified. How humiliating it must have been, Lord, for him to listen to You.