It’s So Hard to Get Good Help
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Wednesday of the
Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
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Father Steven Reilly, LC
Luke 12:39-48
Jesus said to his
disciples: "Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the
hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken
into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of
Man will come." Then Peter said, "Lord, is this parable meant for
us or for everyone?" And the Lord replied, "Who, then, is the
faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his
servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that
servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you, he
will put him in charge of all his property. But if that servant says to
himself, ´My master is delayed in coming,´ and begins to beat the menservants
and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that servant´s
master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish
him severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. That servant who
knew his master´s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with
his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his
master´s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be
beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much,
and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more."
Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, my Creator and Redeemer, everything good comes
from You. You are the one source of peace and happiness. Thank You for
bringing me into existence and insuring I received the inestimable gift of
the faith. Thank You for accompanying me in every moment. I am
grateful for Your mercy and love and wish to respond more generously to You
in my life.
Petition: Lord, help me to be a faithful and prudent steward.
1. Wanted: Faithful
and Prudent Stewards: Anyone
who has had a management position knows that one of the riskiest parts of the
job is hiring. Very often, it can seem like rolling dice, especially when
there is a conflict between what’s read in the resume and what’s felt in the
gut. Nevertheless, to make a good hire, you need to have a clear idea of what
you want. The Lord has a simple job description for the stewards he is
looking to bring on. They must be faithful and prudent. In being faithful,
they don’t seek to impose their own vision or desires over his, but rather
serve the Master who has given them their commission. Their will is such that
they are confident in assimilating the desires of their master. They are able
to perceive how to adjust and adapt to the multitude of circumstances that
arises. These stewards are constantly applying the old wristband test,
“WWJD,” i.e., What Would Jesus Do?
2. Tasting One’s Own
Medicine: Having been “hired”
by the master, it would be foolish not to expect to be held accountable for
the trust that he bestows. Nevertheless, the irresponsible steward indulges
his appetites and abuses his authority. The master’s “delay” gives him a
false sense of security. Without the natural brake of his master’s watchful
eye, his pride gets out of control. Yet the master is bound to return, and
the servant eventually experiences the results of his own arrogance: the
taste of his own medicine is bitter indeed. The Lord is inviting us to have a
greater awareness of his constant presence. His absence and “delay” are only
apparent. He is very much present to those who wish to live their God-given
charge with integrity and responsibility. His grace is always available to
those who live their lives in his presence.
3. Management
Styles: The two types of
stewards have very different management styles. One beats the servants; the
other “distributes the food allowance at the proper time.” We all want to be
counted among those faithful and prudent stewards who take good care of those
entrusted to us. Yet at times, the responsibility we have seems more
burdensome than desirable. While the bad steward indulges his passions, the
good steward is in danger of giving into his fatigue and impatience.
Frustration is a distinct possibility when it comes to forming others. If the
Lord died such a cruel death for our salvation, who can measure the value of
a single soul? By contemplating that example, we need to learn to put aside
our petty annoyances and instead be faithful in caring for those entrusted to
us.
Conversation with
Christ: Lord Jesus, You have
given me such great responsibility. I am sorry for the times I have offended You,
and for when I have not lived up to the trust You have bestowed on me. I
promise You that I will strive to reflect your love for those to whom You
have entrusted to my care.
Resolution: When my patience is tested, I will pause and
ask myself, “How does the Lord want me to handle this situation?”
Excerpts from the DIARY of Saint Faustina
Kowalska
36 Once I was summoned to the
judgment [seat] of God. I stood alone before the Lord. Jesus appeared such as
we know Him during His Passion. After a moment, His wounds disappeared except
for five, those in His hands, His feet and His side. Suddenly I saw the
complete condition of my soul as God sees it. I could clearly see all that is
displeasing to God. I did not know that even the smallest transgressions will
have to be accounted for. What a moment! Who can describe it? To stand before
the Thrice-Holy God! Jesus asked me, Who are you? I answered, "I
am Your servant, Lord." You are guilty of one day of fire in
purgatory. I wanted to throw myself immediately into the flames of purgatory,
but Jesus stopped me and said, Which do you prefer, suffer now for one day in
purgatory or for a short while on earth? I replied, "Jesus, I want
to suffer in purgatory, and I want to suffer also the greatest pains on
earth, even if it were until the end of the world." Jesus said, One [of
the two] is enough; you will go back to earth, and there you will suffer
much, but not for long; you will accomplish My will and My desires, and a
faithful servant of Mine will help you to do this. Now, rest your head on My
bosom, on My heart, and draw from it strength and power for these sufferings,
because you will find neither relief nor help nor comfort anywhere else. Know
that you will have much, much to suffer, but don't let this frighten you; I
am with you.
52 When I tried to run away from
these interior inspirations, God said to me that on the day of judgment He
would demand of me a great number of souls.
Once, exhausted because of these various difficulties t hat had befallen me because of what Jesus had said to me and what He had demanded of me for the painting of this image, I made up my mind to approach Father Andrasz [31] before my perpetual vows, and to ask him to dispense me from all these interior inspirations and from the duty of painting this image. After having heard my confession, Father Andrasz gave me this answer: "I will dispense you from nothing, Sister; it is not right for you to turn away from these interior inspirations, but you must absolutely-and I say, absolutely-speak about them to your confessor; otherwise you will go astray despite the great graces you are receiving from God.
154 Once, when there was adoration at the convent of the
Sisters of the Holy Family,[50] I went there in the evening with one of
our sisters. As soon as I entered the chapel, the presence of God filled my
soul. I prayed as I do at certain times, without saying a word. Suddenly, I
saw the Lord, who said to me, Know that if you neglect the matter of the
painting of the image and the whole work of mercy, you will have to answer
for a multitude of souls on the day of judgment. After these words of Our
Lord, a certain fear filled my soul, and alarm took hold of me. Try as 1 would,
1 could not calm myself. These words kept resounding in my ears: So, 1 will
not only have to answer for myself on the day of judgment, but also for the
souls of others. These words cut deep into my heart. When I returned home, I
went to the little Jesus,[51] fell on my face before the Blessed
Sacrament and said to the Lord, "I will do everything in my power, but I
beg You to be always with me and to give me strength to do Your holy will;
for You can do everything, while I can do nothing of myself."
236 Oh, how misleading are appearances, and how unjust the
judgments. Oh, how often virtue suffers only because it remains silent. To be
sincere with those who are incessantly stinging us demands much self-denial.
One bleeds, but there are no visible wounds. O Jesus, it is only on the last
day that many of these things will be made known. What joy-none of our
efforts will be lost!
274 Jesus gave me the grace of knowing myself. In this
divine light I see my principal fault; it is pride which takes the form of my
closing up within myself and of a lack of simplicity in my relations with
Mother Superior [Irene].
The second light concerns speaking. I sometimes talk too much. A thing could be settled in one or two words, and as for me, I take too much time about it. But Jesus wants me to use that time to say some short indulgenced prayers for the souls in purgatory. And the Lord says that every word will be weighed on the day of judgment. The third light concerns our rules. I have not sufficiently avoided the occasions that lead to breaking the rules, especially that of silence. I will act as if the rule were written just for me; it should not affect me at all how anyone else might act, as long as I myself act as God wishes. Resolution. Whatever Jesus demands of me regarding external things, I will immediately go and tell my superiors. I shall strive for childlike openness and frankness in my relations with the superior.
426 O terrible hour, at which one is obliged to see all
one's deeds in their nakedness and misery; not one of them is lost, they will
all accompany us to God's judgment. I can find no words or comparisons to
express such terrible things. And although it seems to me that this soul is
not damned, nevertheless its torments are in no way different from the
torments of hell; there is only this difference: that they will someday come
to an end.
496 Confession Day. From early morning, the turmoil in my
soul was more violent than anything I had ever experienced before. Complete
abandonment by God; I felt the utter weakness that I was. Thoughts bore in
upon me: why should I leave this convent where I am loved by the sisters and
superiors, where life is so tranquil; [where I am] bound by perpetual vows
and carry out my duties without difficulty; why should I listen to the voice
of my conscience; why follow an inspiration coming from who knows where;
wouldn't it be better to carry on like all the other sisters? Perhaps the
Lord's words could be stifled, not taken heed of; maybe God will not demand
an account of them on the day of judgment. Where will this inner voice lead
me? If I follow it, what tremendous difficulties, tribulations and
adversities are in store for me. I fear the future, and I am agonizing in the
present.
This suffering continued with the same intensity throughout the whole day. When, in the evening, my turn came for confession, I could not make a full confession, even though I had been preparing for a long time. I received absolution and left, not knowing what was going on within me. When I went to bed, the suffering grew even worse; or rather, it changed into a fire which penetrated all the faculties of my soul like lightning, piercing me to the marrow, and to the most secret recesses of my heart. In the midst of this suffering, I was unable to bring myself to do anything. "Your will be done, Lord." At times I could not even think these words. Truly, a deadly fear had taken hold of me, and the flames of hell were touching me. Toward morning, silence set in, and my tribulations disappeared in the twinkling of an eye, but I felt so frightfully exhausted that I could not even move. During my conversation with Mother Superior, my strength returned bit by bit, but God alone knows how I felt throughout that whole day.
939 There is an exception [to this], and that is when God
himself directs the person, but the director will immediately recognize that
the person in question is being guided by God himself. God will allow him to
know this clearly and distinctly, and such a person should be even more under
the director's control than anyone else. In this case, the director does not
so much guide and point out the road along which the soul is to journey; but
rather, he judges and confirms that the soul is following the right path and
is being led by a good spirit.
In this situation, the director should be not only holy, but also experienced and prudent, and the soul should give priority to his opinion over that of God himself, for then the soul will be safe from illusions and deviations. A soul that will not fully submit its inspirations to the strict control of the Church; that is, to the director, clearly shows by this that a bad spirit is guiding it. The director should be extremely prudent in such cases and test the soul's obedience. Satan can even clothe himself in a cloak of humility, but he does not know how to wear the cloak of obedience and thus his evil designs will be disclosed. But the director should not be overly afraid of such a soul, because if God puts that special soul in his care, He will also give him great divine light regarding it, for otherwise how could he deal wisely with the great mysteries which take place between the soul and God.
1106 + Virtue without prudence is not virtue at all. We
should often pray to the Holy Spirit for this grace of prudence. Prudence
consists in discretion, rational reflection and courageous resolution. The
final decision is always up to us. We must decide; we can and we ought to
seek advice and light...
1317 I understand Your words, Lord, and the magnitude of
the mercy that ought to shine in my soul. Jesus: I know, My daughter, that
you understand it and that you do everything within your power. But write
this for the many souls who are often worried because they do not have the
material means with which to carry out an act of mercy. Yet spiritual mercy,
which requires neither permissions nor storehouses, is much more meritorious
and is within the grasp of every soul. If a soul does not exercise mercy
somehow or other, it will not obtain My mercy on the day of judgment. Oh, if
only souls knew how to gather eternal treasure for themselves, they would not
be judged, for they would forestall My judgment with their mercy.
1426 Christ, give me souls. Let anything You like happen
to me, but give me souls in return. I want the salvation of souls. I want
souls to know Your mercy. I have nothing left for myself, because I have
given everything away to souls, with the result that on the day of judgment I
will stand before You empty-handed, since I have given everything away to
souls. Thus You will have nothing on which to judge me, and we shall meet on
that day: Love and mercy... + J. M. J.
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-36, 52, 154, 236, 274, 426, 496)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-939
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-III-1106)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-V-1317, 1426)
http://www.saint-faustina.com/Diary/DMIMS10.shtml
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