Divine Mercy Miracles Meditations

Yearning for Christ

Christmas Weekday (January 6, 2012).
Father Jason Smith, LC

Mark 1:7-11

This is what John the Baptist proclaimed: “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, thank You for the wonderful gift of my baptism. By it you have invited me to follow You closely. You have called me to be part of Your Church. You have washed my soul clean. You have called me to bring others closer to You. I hope to always be filled with gratitude for this undeserved gift. In baptism You also gave me the theological virtues of faith, hope and love. I wish to believe in You more, to hope in Your mercy and love You every day of my life so that we may spend eternity together.

Petition: Jesus, grant me a profound appreciation for my baptism.

1. John’s Yearning for Christ: Saint John the Baptist was a man with a mission. Every aspect of his life was given to preparing the way of the Lord. Every fiber of his being yearned to see that day arrive. Be it by penance, preaching, or repentance, he did everything he could to prepare others for the Messiah’s coming. Because his heart yearned for Christ, it made his every action glow with authenticity. What joy must have filled him when, as Saint Mark writes, “It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John.” The day he longed for had finally arrived! How good it is to long for what we should long for and then to achieve it! Are all of my aspirations truly Christian?

2. Our Yearning for Christ: Like John, we also yearn for Christ’s coming into our lives. But we need not look far off. By our baptism, Christ has already taken our hand; we already belong to him! Our response to this unmerited gift is our baptismal commitments, namely to preach the Gospel and to strive for holiness. In this way, we renounce sin and profess to live out our faith in the Triune God. Baptism gives the certainty for which each of us yearns: Christ is here, he has come into my life, he has seized my soul, and will remain with me unless I deliberately turn away from him by grave sin. Even then, he awaits and pursues me to restore me to his intimate friendship. Do I appreciate the gift of my baptism? Do I actively work to bring that seed to fruition in my life?

3. Our Neighbor’s Yearning for Christ: When we live out our baptismal commitments the world becomes transformed. Ideologies of violence, tendencies towards corruption, desires for power and possessions are all steadily removed from our hearts. Instead our eyes are opened to the needs of others. They too yearn for Christ, just as those who gathered alongside the Jordan to hear Saint John preach. The greatest gift we can give them is, like the Baptist, to point them to the Lamb of God — it is Christ alone who can satisfy the thirst of every human heart! Am I convinced that Our Lord wishes to use me as an instrument of his grace? I do not need to have outstanding qualities to help others. I just need the desire and the readiness to point out the way of happiness and peace to others.

Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, I want to take a moment to thank You for Your wonderful gift of baptism, the moment when you opened for me the doors to heaven, the moment from which I can be called one of Your followers. Through my baptism I can be truly called a Christian! Help me to be worthy of this calling. Strengthen me today with Your grace and presence. Guide me along the path of life. Help me to be Your light in the world.

Resolution: I will be mindful of the great gift of my baptism today by periodically making the Sign of the Cross.

Excerpts from the DIARY of Saint Faustina Kowalska

50 + I desire that priests proclaim this great mercy of Mine towards souls of sinners. Let the sinner not be afraid to approach Me. The flames of mercy are burning Me - clamoring to be spent; I want to pour them out upon these souls.

Jesus complained to me in these words, Distrust on the part of souls is tearing at My insides. The distrust of a chosen soul causes Me even greater pain; despite My inexhaustible love for them they do not trust Me. Even My death is not enough for them. Woe to the soul that abuses these [gifts].

525 O Holy Trinity, in whom is contained the inner life of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, eternal joy, inconceivable depth of love, poured out upon all creatures and constituting their happiness, honor and glory be to Your holy name forever and ever. Amen.

When I consider Your greatness and beauty, O my God, I rejoice exceedingly that the Lord I serve is so great. With love and joy I carry out His will, and the more I come to know Him, the more I desire to love Him. I burn with the desire to love Him ever more and more.

552 In addition to the vows, I see one rule as most important. Although all the rules are important, I put this one in first place, and it is silence. Truly, if this rule were to be observed strictly, I would not worry about the others. Women are very fond of talking, but the Holy Spirit does not speak to a soul that is distracted and garrulous. He speaks by His quiet inspirations to a soul that is recollected, to a soul that knows how to keep silence. If silence were strictly observed, there would not be any grumbling, bitterness, slandering, or gossip, and charity would not be tarnished. In a word, many wrongs would not be done. Silent lips are pure gold and bear witness to holiness within.

589 Love casts out fear. Since I came to love God with my whole being and with all the strength of my heart, fear has left me. Even if I were to hear the most terrifying things about God's justice, I would not fear Him at all, because I have come to know Him well. God is love, and His Spirit is peace. I see now that my deeds which have flowed from love are more perfect than those which I have done out of fear. I have placed my trust in God and fear nothing. I have given myself over to His holy will; let Him do with me as He wishes, and I will still love Him.

590 When I receive Holy Communion, I entreat and beg the Savior to heal my tongue, that I may never fail in love of neighbor.

591 Jesus, You know how ardently I desire to hide so that no one may know me but Your sweetest Heart. I want to be a tiny violet, hidden in the grass, unknown in a magnificent enclosed garden in which beautiful lilies and roses grow. The beautiful rose and the lovely lily can be seen from afar, but in order to see a little violet, one has to bend low; only its scent gives it away. Oh, how happy I am to be able to hide myself in this way! O my divine Bridegroom, the flower of my heart and the scent of my pure love are for You. My soul has drowned itself in You, Eternal God. From the moment when You yourself drew me to yourself, O my Jesus, the more I have known You, the more ardently I have desired You.

592 I learned in the Heart of Jesus that in heaven itself there is a heaven to which not all, but only chosen souls, have access. Incomprehensible is the happiness in which the soul will be immersed. O my God, oh, that I could describe this, even in some little degree. Souls are penetrated by His divinity and pass from brightness to brightness, an unchanging light, but never monotonous, always new though never changing. O Holy Trinity, make yourself known to souls!

593 O my Jesus, nothing is better for the soul than humiliations. In contempt is the secret of happiness, when the soul recognizes that, of itself, it is only wretchedness and nothingness, and that whatever it possesses of good is a gift of God. When the soul sees that everything is given it freely and that the only thing it has of itself is its own misery, this is what sustains it in a continual act of humble prostration before the majesty of God. And God, seeing the soul in such a disposition, pursues it with His graces. As the soul continues to immerse itself more deeply into the abyss of its nothingness and need, God uses His omnipotence to exalt it. If there is a truly happy soul upon earth, it can only be a truly humble soul. At first, one's self-love suffers greatly on this account, but after a soul has struggled courageously, God grants it much light by which it sees how wretched and full of deception everything is. God alone is in its heart. A humble soul does not trust itself, but places all its confidence in God. God defends the humble soul and lets Himself into its secrets, and the soul abides in unsurpassable happiness which no one can comprehend.

1074 When I went for adoration, I heard these words: My beloved daughter, write down these words, that today My Heart has rested in this convent [the Cracow house]. Tell the world about My mercy and My love.

The flames of mercy are burning me. I desire to pour them out upon human souls. Oh, what pain they cause Me when they do not want to accept them!

My daughter, do whatever is within your power to spread devotion to My mercy. I will make up for what you lack. Tell aching mankind to snuggle close to My merciful Heart, and I will fill it -with peace.

Tell [all people], My daughter, that I am Love and Mercy itself. When a soul approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls.

1075 Souls who spread the honor of My mercy I shield through their entire lives as a tender mother her infant, and at the hour of death I will not be a Judge for them, but the Merciful Savior. At that last hour, a soul has nothing with which to defend itself except My mercy. Happy is the soul that during its lifetime immersed itself in the Fountain of Mercy, because justice will have no hold on it.

1076 Write this: Everything that exists is enclosed in the bowels of My mercy, more deeply than an infant in its mother's womb. How painfully distrust of My goodness wounds Me! Sins of distrust wound Me most painfully.

(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-50, 525, 552, 589-593)

(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-III-1074-1076)

http://www.regnumchristi.org/english/articulos/semanal.phtml?se=363&ca=975&te=866

http://www.saint-faustina.com/Diary/DMIMS10.shtml