Our Turn
Feast of Saint Mark, evangelist
Father Patrick Langan,
LC
Mark 16: 15-20
And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover." So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.
And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover." So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.
Introductory Prayer: Lord, thank You for
taking the time to be with me. There are things in life, Lord, that attract me,
but You attract me more. I hope in you because You are always faithful to Your
promises. Maybe I don’t fully understand what it means to love, and maybe I
don’t love the way I should, but I do love You.
Petition: Lord, help me to focus on what I can do to tell others of Your
love.
1. Christ: When Christ blesses, it happens. When he takes yeast and kneads
it with three measures of flour, it leavens the dough all through. When he
blesses the bread, it multiplies. When he blesses the Eucharist, he is there
for us. Christ blesses his apostles. These are not just events of the past, for
God’s word is a living word. He also wants to bless me and my work. How can I
draw down Christ’s blessing upon me, my family, the people I love, and the work
I do? All I have to do is ask him to bless me and believe that he can and wants
to. He will take care of the rest.
2. Apostles: Imagine the apostles talking after the Ascension. Andrew might
say to Peter, “Peter, Christ told us to preach to all nations.” “You are
right, Andrew, we need to go to the next town,” Peter would agree. “No,” would
urge Andrew, “we have to go to Athens and Rome.” Peter might object, “Athens
and Rome! But we don’t know anyone there.” In an attempt to persuade him Andrew
would add, “Peter, Jesus wanted us to begin here in Jerusalem because this is
the largest Jewish city. However, he has shown that he has also called the
Gentiles to the Church. We must go to their capitals, their cities of greatest
influence so that they too might hear the message Jesus entrusted to us.”
Despite their fears, they obeyed Christ and proclaimed the good news in new
places.
3. Us: Now it is our turn. As it always has been, being an apostle today is difficult. As we get older, it gets harder. Nevertheless, it is our turn. We live at a crossroads of history. I know Christ is blessing me. He is sending me. I feel fear, but I know he is asking me to imitate the fidelity of the first apostles. He is only waiting for me to begin preaching so that he can bless all that I undertake in his name.
3. Us: Now it is our turn. As it always has been, being an apostle today is difficult. As we get older, it gets harder. Nevertheless, it is our turn. We live at a crossroads of history. I know Christ is blessing me. He is sending me. I feel fear, but I know he is asking me to imitate the fidelity of the first apostles. He is only waiting for me to begin preaching so that he can bless all that I undertake in his name.
Conversation with
Christ: Lord, thank You for coming. Thank You for
giving the apostles the strength to resist and persevere. Now it is my turn.
Grant me the graces I need to proclaim the good news.
Resolution: I live life but once. So today I will analyze how I use my time
and resolve to eliminate one of the bad habits that leads me to waste time.
Excerpts from the DIARY of
Saint Faustina Kowalska
297 +Jesus,
Supreme Light, grant me the grace of knowing myself, and pierce my dark soul
with Your light, and fill the abyss of my soul with Your own self, for You
alone [...]
298 O my
Jesus, the Life, the Way and the Truth, I beg You to keep me close to You as a
mother holds a baby to her bosom, for I am not only a helpless child, but an
accumulation of misery and nothingness.
+The Mystery
of the Soul. Vilnius, 1934
299 When, on one occasion, my confessor told me to ask the Lord Jesus the meaning of the two rays in the image,[77] I answered, "Very well, I will ask the Lord."
During prayer I heard these words within me: The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls...
These two rays issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross.
These rays shield souls from the wrath of My Father. Happy is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him. I desire that the first Sunday after Easter be the Feast of Mercy.
299 When, on one occasion, my confessor told me to ask the Lord Jesus the meaning of the two rays in the image,[77] I answered, "Very well, I will ask the Lord."
During prayer I heard these words within me: The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls...
These two rays issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross.
These rays shield souls from the wrath of My Father. Happy is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him. I desire that the first Sunday after Easter be the Feast of Mercy.
300 +Ask
of my faithful servant [Father Sopocko] that, on this day, he tell the whole
world of My great mercy; that whoever approaches the Fount of Life on this day
will be granted complete remission of sins and punishment.
+Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy.
+Oh, how much I am hurt by a soul's distrust! Such a soul professes that I am Holy and Just, but does not believe that I am Mercy and does not trust in My Goodness. Even the devils glorify My Justice but do not believe in My Goodness.
My Heart rejoices in this title of Mercy.
+Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy.
+Oh, how much I am hurt by a soul's distrust! Such a soul professes that I am Holy and Just, but does not believe that I am Mercy and does not trust in My Goodness. Even the devils glorify My Justice but do not believe in My Goodness.
My Heart rejoices in this title of Mercy.
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.
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.
1083 + That
beautiful soul who is spreading this work of divine mercy throughout the world
is, by his deep humility, very pleasing to God.
1540 January
28, 1938. Today the Lord said to me, My
daughter, write down these words: All those souls who will glorify My mercy and
spread its worship, encouraging others to trust in My mercy, will not
experience terror at the hour of death. My mercy will shield them in that final
battle...
1541 My daughter, encourage souls to say the chaplet which I have given to you. It pleases Me to grant everything they ask of Me by saying the chaplet. When hardened sinners say it, I will fill their souls with peace, and the hour of their death will be a happy one.
Write this for the benefit of distressed souls: when a soul sees and realizes the gravity of its sins, when the whole abyss of the misery into which it immersed itself is displayed before its eyes, let it not despair, but with trust let it throw itself into the arms of My mercy, as a child into the arms of its beloved mother. These souls have a right of priority to My compassionate Heart, they have first access to My mercy. Tell them that no soul that has called upon My mercy has been disappointed or brought to shame. I delight particularly in a soul which has placed its trust in My goodness.
Write that when they say this chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between My Father and the dying person, not as the just Judge but as the merciful Savior.
1541 My daughter, encourage souls to say the chaplet which I have given to you. It pleases Me to grant everything they ask of Me by saying the chaplet. When hardened sinners say it, I will fill their souls with peace, and the hour of their death will be a happy one.
Write this for the benefit of distressed souls: when a soul sees and realizes the gravity of its sins, when the whole abyss of the misery into which it immersed itself is displayed before its eyes, let it not despair, but with trust let it throw itself into the arms of My mercy, as a child into the arms of its beloved mother. These souls have a right of priority to My compassionate Heart, they have first access to My mercy. Tell them that no soul that has called upon My mercy has been disappointed or brought to shame. I delight particularly in a soul which has placed its trust in My goodness.
Write that when they say this chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between My Father and the dying person, not as the just Judge but as the merciful Savior.
1548 January
30, 1938. One-day retreat.
The Lord gave me to know, during meditation, that as long as my heart beats in my breast, I must always strive to spread the Kingdom of God on earth. I am to fight for the glory of my Creator.
I know that I will give God the glory He expects of me if I try faithfully to cooperate with God's grace.
The Lord gave me to know, during meditation, that as long as my heart beats in my breast, I must always strive to spread the Kingdom of God on earth. I am to fight for the glory of my Creator.
I know that I will give God the glory He expects of me if I try faithfully to cooperate with God's grace.
1549 I want
to live in the spirit of faith. I accept everything that comes my way as given
me by the loving will of God, who sincerely desires my happiness. And so I will
accept with submission and gratitude everything that God sends me. I will pay
no attention to the voice of nature and to the promptings of self-love. Before
each important action, I will stop to consider for a moment what relationship
it has to eternal life and what may be the main reason for my undertaking it:
is it for the glory of God, or for the good of my own soul, or for the good of
the souls of others? If my heart says yes, then I will not swerve from carrying
out the given action, unmindful of either obstacles or sacrifices. I will not
be frightened into abandoning my intention. It is enough for me to know that it
is pleasing to God. On the other hand, if I learn that the action has nothing
in common with what I have just mentioned, I will try to elevate it to a
loftier sphere by means of a good intention. And if I learn that something
flows from my self-love, I will cancel it out right from the start.
1728 Write: I am Thrice Holy, and I detest
the smallest sin. I cannot love a soul which is stained with sin; but when it
repents, there is no limit to My generosity toward it. My mercy embraces and
justifies it. With My mercy, I pursue sinners along all their paths, and My
Heart rejoices when they return to Me. I forget the bitterness with which they
fed My Heart and rejoice at their return.
Tell sinners that no one shall escape My Hand; if they run away from My Merciful Heart, they will fall into My Just Hands. Tell sinners that I am always waiting for them, that I listen intently to the beating of their heart... when will it beat for Me? Write, that I am speaking to them through their remorse of conscience, through their failures and sufferings, through thunderstorms, through the voice of the Church. And if they bring all My graces to naught, I begin to be angry with them, leaving them alone and giving them what they want.
Tell sinners that no one shall escape My Hand; if they run away from My Merciful Heart, they will fall into My Just Hands. Tell sinners that I am always waiting for them, that I listen intently to the beating of their heart... when will it beat for Me? Write, that I am speaking to them through their remorse of conscience, through their failures and sufferings, through thunderstorms, through the voice of the Church. And if they bring all My graces to naught, I begin to be angry with them, leaving them alone and giving them what they want.
(Diary of
Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-297-300 )
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-III-1074-1076, 1083)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-V-1540-1541, 1548-1549)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-VI-1728)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-III-1074-1076, 1083)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-V-1540-1541, 1548-1549)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-VI-1728)
http://www.regnumchristi.org/english/articulos/semanal.phtml?se=363&ca=975&te=866
http://www.saint-faustina.com/Diary/DMIMS10.shtml
http://www.saint-faustina.com/Diary/DMIMS10.shtml
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