“From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Mt 12,34). This maxim of Jesus can be applied perfectly to Claret. Reading and re-reading his writings, there spontaneously appears these expressions from the good treasure of his heart where he expresses his intense filial relationship with God the Father, and his profound desire that He may be known by all, loved and served.
Clearly it is a matter of experiential knowledge based on prayer and meditative reading of the Word. According to Jesus, this should be the daily food and abundance of our heart, so that peace, goodwill and forgiveness can overflow. And from here comes the question on what actually nourishes our life.
In an epoch where we worry a lot (and nothing is wrong with this!) so that our body can receive a healthy alimentation, there is no way we can forget the nourishment of other dimensions of our being. The spirituality, the faith, the relationship with God… needs to be nourished; on the contrary we suffer from anaemia and degeneration. It is worth understanding seriously that human beings not only live on material bread, but also from all the words that come from God’s mouth and that nourish our interior being (cf. Mt 4,4).
It is also important to dedicate the time and necessary effort to be satisfied with the nourishment that an authentic life can offer us (cf. Jn 6,27). And also to know how to search for it at its source: “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall be hungry no more, and he who believes in me shall be thirsty no more” (Jn 6,35). The persons who, like Claret, nourished their proper life in listening and in constant personal relationship with Jesus Christ offer us the best stimulus to go in the same direction.
Do I worry to take care of and nourish my interior life, my “heart” correctly? Where do I look for the food that gives meaning to my life and to my activities?