A Faithful Witness
Thursday of the Third Week of Advent (December 15, 2011).
Father Shawn Aaron, LC
Father Shawn Aaron, LC
Luke 7:24-30
When the messengers of John the Baptist had left, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John. "What did you go out to the desert to see — a reed swayed by the wind? Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine garments? Those who dress luxuriously and live sumptuously are found in royal palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom scripture says: ´Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, he will prepare your way before you.´ I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." (All the people who listened, including the tax collectors, who were baptized with the baptism of John, acknowledged the righteousness of God, but the Pharisees and scholars of the law, who were not baptized by him, rejected the plan of God for themselves.)
Introductory Prayer: Lord, I long to see Your face. Though I cannot see You now with my eyes I believe in You with all my heart. I know that You are smiling at me and that You’re waiting to lavish Your graces on me, so I open my mind, heart and will to You now. Here I am, Lord, to do Your will. Teach me: I’m ready and longing to be with You alone for these few precious moments.
Petition: Lord, grant me the gift of fortitude.
1. What Did You Go Out to the Desert to See? “Words admonish, examples move” (Slovak proverb, cited by Pope John Paul II, Homily in Ro¾òava, Slovakia, September 13, 2003). John was a faithful witness. His fidelity culminates in the shedding of his blood to do God’s will. His ultimate greatness is precisely because he followed God’s plan generously even when everything was not clear. He trusted God because God is trustworthy. For this reason, every year at Advent the Church still “goes out to see John” as a tribute to his heroic witness to God’s salvific plan. We look to him as an authentic hero of fortitude so that we can be inspired to imitate this virtue in our daily lives.
2. A Reed Swayed by the Wind? Quite the opposite! The people flocked to the desert to find a prophet, a rock solid witness of truth, a beacon of hope and a man of God, just as today they still flock to see the Pope for the same reasons. These are men whose strength of character has been forged in the fire of fidelity. “The real strength of a man lies in the fidelity of his witness to the truth and in his resisting flattery, threats, misunderstandings, blackmail, even harsh and relentless persecution. This is the path on which our Redeemer calls us to follow him. Only if you are ready to do this, will you become what Jesus expects of you, that is, ‘the salt of the earth’ and ‘the light of the world’ (Matthew 5:13-14)” (Pope John Paul II, Palm Sunday Homily, March 24, 2002). In what aspects of my life am I tempted to “give in” instead of holding on tenaciously to what I know Our Lord is asking of me?
3. The Least in the Kingdom of God is Greater than He: Behold the dignity of the baptized soul. The dignity of the human person is derived from our being created in God’s image (imago Dei) with an immortal soul endowed with reason, free-will and a conscience. Thanks to Christ’s redemption, baptism elevates us from the already lofty position as imago Dei to the unthinkable grace of being a child of God. Even before we have ever accomplished the smallest morally good act, our dignity as children of God already far surpasses all of John’s greatest virtues combined. Once we conceive the value of our lives from this perspective, would we ever jeopardize this dignity with anything that could separate us from God? Do I grasp that love and gratitude for this precious gift of new life in Christ can be a strong motivation for carefully protecting my faith and seeking to make it grow? I am convinced that my faith will grow by my spreading it to others?
Conversation with Christ: Lord, it has pleased You to call me to the Catholic faith. It has pleased You to give me the grace I need to be a hero and a saint. Give me also the courage to cooperate with Your grace when my human nature would rather take a different path than that marked out by Your will. Mother Most Pure, make my heart only for Jesus.
Resolution: Today I will make one sacrifice at each meal for those who need the grace to come back to Jesus.
Excerpts from the DIARY of Saint Faustina Kowalska
279 God made known to me what true love consists in and gave light to me about how, in practice, to give proof of it to Him. True love of God consists in carrying out God's will. To show God our love in what we do, all our actions, even the least, must spring from our love of God. And the Lord said to me, My child, you please Me most by suffering. In your physical as well as your mental sufferings, My daughter, do not seek sympathy from creatures. I want the fragrance of your suffering to be pure and unadulterated. I want you to detach yourself, not only from creatures, but also from yourself. My daughter, I want to delight in the love of your heart, a pure love, virginal, unblemished, untarnished. The more you will come to love suffering, My daughter, the purer your love for Me will be.
282 Once the Lord said to me, My Heart was moved by great mercy towards you, My dearest child, when I saw you torn to shreds because of the great pain you suffered in repenting for your sins. I see your love, so pure and true that I give you first place among the virgins. You are the honor and glory of My Passion. I see every abasement of your soul, and nothing escapes my attention. I lift up the humble even to my very throne, because I want it so.
292 +When a soul loves God sincerely, it ought not fear anything in the spiritual life. Let it subject itself to the action of grace, and let it not impose any restraints on itself in communing with the Lord.
293 +When Jesus ravished me by His beauty and drew me to Himself, I then saw what in my soul was displeasing to Him and made up my mind to remove it, cost what it may; and aided by the grace of God I did remove it at once. This magnanimity pleased the Lord, and from that moment God started granting me higher graces. In my interior life I never reason; I do not analyze the ways in which God's Spirit leads me. It is enough for me to know that I am loved and that I love. Pure love enables me to know God and understand many mysteries. My confessor is an oracle for me. His word is sacred to me-I am speaking about the spiritual director [Father Sopocko].
294 +Once the Lord said to me, Act like a beggar who does not back away when he gets more alms [than he asked for], but offers thanks the more fervently. You too should not back away and say that you are not worthy of receiving greater graces when I give them to you. I know you are unworthy, but rejoice all the more and take as many treasures from My Heart as you can carry, for then you will please Me more. And I will tell you one more thing: Take these graces not only for yourself, but also for others; that is, encourage the souls with whom you come in contact to trust in My infinite mercy. Oh, how I love those souls who have complete confidence in Me. I will do everything for them.
293 +When Jesus ravished me by His beauty and drew me to Himself, I then saw what in my soul was displeasing to Him and made up my mind to remove it, cost what it may; and aided by the grace of God I did remove it at once. This magnanimity pleased the Lord, and from that moment God started granting me higher graces. In my interior life I never reason; I do not analyze the ways in which God's Spirit leads me. It is enough for me to know that I am loved and that I love. Pure love enables me to know God and understand many mysteries. My confessor is an oracle for me. His word is sacred to me-I am speaking about the spiritual director [Father Sopocko].
294 +Once the Lord said to me, Act like a beggar who does not back away when he gets more alms [than he asked for], but offers thanks the more fervently. You too should not back away and say that you are not worthy of receiving greater graces when I give them to you. I know you are unworthy, but rejoice all the more and take as many treasures from My Heart as you can carry, for then you will please Me more. And I will tell you one more thing: Take these graces not only for yourself, but also for others; that is, encourage the souls with whom you come in contact to trust in My infinite mercy. Oh, how I love those souls who have complete confidence in Me. I will do everything for them.
916 This day is so special for me; even though I encountered so many sufferings, my soul is overflowing with great joy. In a private room next to mine, there was a Jewish woman who was seriously ill. I went to see her three days ago and was deeply pained at the thought that she would soon die without having her soul cleansed by the grace of Baptism. I had an understanding with her nurse, a [religious] Sister, that when her last moment would be approaching, she would baptize her. There was this difficulty however, that there were always some Jewish people with her. However, I felt inspired to pray before the image which Jesus had instructed me to have painted. I have a leaflet with the Image of the Divine Mercy on the cover. And I said to the Lord, "Jesus, You yourself told me that You would grant many graces through this image. I ask You, then, for the grace of Holy Baptism for this Jewish lady. It makes no difference who will baptize her, as long as she is baptized.
After these words, I felt strangely at peace, and I was quite sure that, despite the difficulties, the waters of Holy Baptism would be poured upon her soul. That night, when she was very low, I got out of bed three times to see her, watching for the right moment to give her this grace. The next morning, she seemed to feel a little better. In the afternoon her last moment began to approach. The Sister who was her nurse said that Baptism would be difficult because they were with her. The moment came when the sick woman began to lose consciousness, and as a result, in order to save her, they began to run about; some [went] to fetch the doctor, while others went off in other directions to find help.
And so the patient was left alone, and Sister baptized her, and before they had all rushed back, her soul was beautiful, adorned with God's grace. Her final agony began immediately, but it did not last long. It was as if she fell asleep. All of a sudden, I saw her soul ascending to heaven in wondrous beauty. Oh, how beautiful is a soul with sanctifying grace! Joy flooded my heart that before this image I had received so great a grace for this soul.
917 Oh, how great is God's mercy; let every soul praise it. O my Jesus, that soul for all eternity will be singing You a hymn of mercy. I shall not forget the impression this day has made on my soul. This is the second great grace which I have received here for souls before this image.
Oh, how good the Lord is, and how full of compassion; Jesus, how heartily I thank You for these graces.
After these words, I felt strangely at peace, and I was quite sure that, despite the difficulties, the waters of Holy Baptism would be poured upon her soul. That night, when she was very low, I got out of bed three times to see her, watching for the right moment to give her this grace. The next morning, she seemed to feel a little better. In the afternoon her last moment began to approach. The Sister who was her nurse said that Baptism would be difficult because they were with her. The moment came when the sick woman began to lose consciousness, and as a result, in order to save her, they began to run about; some [went] to fetch the doctor, while others went off in other directions to find help.
And so the patient was left alone, and Sister baptized her, and before they had all rushed back, her soul was beautiful, adorned with God's grace. Her final agony began immediately, but it did not last long. It was as if she fell asleep. All of a sudden, I saw her soul ascending to heaven in wondrous beauty. Oh, how beautiful is a soul with sanctifying grace! Joy flooded my heart that before this image I had received so great a grace for this soul.
917 Oh, how great is God's mercy; let every soul praise it. O my Jesus, that soul for all eternity will be singing You a hymn of mercy. I shall not forget the impression this day has made on my soul. This is the second great grace which I have received here for souls before this image.
Oh, how good the Lord is, and how full of compassion; Jesus, how heartily I thank You for these graces.
930 + O my Jesus, although I will go to You, and You will fill me with Yourself, and that will make my happiness complete, I will nevertheless not forget about humanity. I desire to draw aside the veils of heaven, so that the earth would have no doubts about The Divine Mercy. My repose is in proclaiming Your mercy. The soul gives the greatest glory to its Creator when it turns with trust to The Divine Mercy.
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-279, 282, 292-294)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-III-916-917, 930)
http://www.saint-faustina.com/Diary/DMIMS10.shtml
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