IN UNION WITH DIVINE LOVE Day 96

Message from Padre Pio
Observe well that as long as you are displeased by the temptations you have nothing to fear... These troublesome temptations come from the evil of the devil. But the displeasure and suffering we experience come from the mercy of God...

Reflection
Isn't it clear that, as St. Pio said, my temptations come from the devil, but my affections come from God?

Scriptural Reading
Matthew 4:1-4
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones become loaves of bread." He said in reply, "It is written: 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.'"

Prayer
Father God, let me do as your servant Pio advises, "to despise the temptations and embrace the tribulation." May I detest the inclination to do what is wrong and may I rejoice in the suffering to try to do what is right. For shouldn't my love for you be tested not when my Lord gives, but when my Lord takes away? Amen.