Christ Is the Answer
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Memorial of Saint
Andrew Düng-Lac, priest and martyr, and his companions, martyrs
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Luke 20: 27-40
Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man´s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her." Jesus said to them, "Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive." Then some of the scribes answered, "Teacher, you have spoken well." For they no longer dared to ask him another question.
Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are the Alpha and the Omega. You have given me
life and offer me eternal life with You. You deserve my honor, gratitude and
love, and yet You never impose Yourself upon me. Thank You for respecting my
freedom so that I can offer myself to You. All that I have is Yours; I return
it to You.
Petition: Lord Jesus, help me to be a child of God, a child of the
resurrection.
1. Simple and
Constant Conversation: Today
we see some Sadducees asking Christ an important question about heaven.
Christ teaches us that once we are in heaven, things will be considerably
different than they are here on earth. This is a beautiful example how we can
converse with Christ. We simply need to ask him questions: questions about
our faith, about difficulties we may be having with certain relationships,
about career changes, etc. The answers we receive may not be what we were
expecting or hoping for, but what is important is that we engage Christ in
conversation every day and that we seek to please him in everything we do.
This open, warm contact with Our Lord is already a little taste of heaven.
2. Union with
Christ: Christ reminds us
that he and the Father are the God of the living. He gave us our life; we
lost it. He became man, suffered, died and rose on the third day that we
might have a new life — a life in and with God, now and for all eternity. Our
ultimate marriage will be in heaven, as we will be one with God as Jesus is.
3. Participation in
the Life of God: When God reveals his
mysteries to us, we participate in his life. God has made us so we would
pursue him, so we would listen to him, so we would understand him, so we
would crave the things of God. Is not that a mystery unto itself? We have a
God who wants to speak with us constantly about the things of heaven! This
reality, this inestimable gift, should move us to share with others the Good
News.
Conversation with
Christ: Lord Jesus, through Your
death and resurrection and my baptism, You have made me a child of God. Help
me to appreciate more fully this day and what it means to be a child of God.
Grant me the grace to live in accord with this gift of gifts.
Resolution: Today I will look on all things as if God
were speaking to me in every moment.
Excerpts from the
DIARY of Saint Faustina Kowalska
135 During the third probation,
the Lord gave me to understand that I should offer myself to Him so that He
could do with me as He pleased. I was to remain standing before Him as a
victim offering. At first, I was quite frightened, as I felt myself to be so
utterly miserable and knew very well that this was the case. I answered the
Lord once again, "I am misery itself; how can I be a hostage [for
others]? You do not understand this today. Tomorrow, during your
adoration, I will make it known to you. My heart trembled, as did my
soul, so deeply did these words sink into my soul. The word of God is living.
When I came to the adoration, I felt within my soul that I had entered the temple of the living God, whose majesty is great and incomprehensible. And He made known to me what even the purest spirits are in His sight. Although I saw nothing externally, God's presence pervaded me. At that very moment my intellect was strangely illumined. A vision passed before the eyes of my soul; it was like the vision Jesus had in the Garden of Olives. First, the physical sufferings and all the circumstances that would increase them; [then] the full scope of the spiritual sufferings and those that no one would know about. Everything entered into the vision: false suspicions, loss of good name. I've summarized it here, but this knowledge was already so clear that what I went through later on was in no way different from what I had known at that moment. My name is to be: "sacrifice." When the vision ended, a cold sweat bathed my forehead. Jesus made it known to me that, even if I did not give my consent to this, I could still be saved; and He would not lessen His graces, but would still continue to have the same intimate relationship with me, so that even if I did not consent to make this sacrifice, God's generosity would not lessen thereby.
205 +The Resurrection. Today,
during the [Mass of the] Resurrection, I saw the Lord Jesus in the midst of a
great light. He approached me and said, Peace be to you, My children, and
He lifted up His hand and gave His blessing. The wounds in His hands, feet
and side were indelible and shining. When He looked at me with such kindness
and love, my whole soul drowned itself in Him. And He said to me, You have
taken a great part in My Passion; therefore I now give you a great share in
My joy and glory. The whole time of the Resurrection [Mass] seemed like
only a minute to me. A wondrous recollection filled my soul and lasted
throughout the whole festal season. The kindness of Jesus is so great that I
cannot express it.
206 The next day, after Communion,
I heard the voice saying, My daughter, look into the abyss of My mercy and
give praise and glory to this mercy of Mine. Do it in this way: Gather all
sinners from the entire world and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. I
want to give Myself to souls; I yearn for souls, My daughter. On the day of
My feast, the Feast of Mercy, you will go through the whole world and bring
fainting souls to the spring of My mercy. I shall heal and strengthen them.
209 In my sufferings, I do not
seek help from creatures, but God is everything to me. And yet, it often
seems that even the Lord does not hear me. I arm myself with patience and
silence, like a dove that does not complain and feels no bitterness when its
children are being taken away from it. I want to soar into the very heat of
the sun, and I do not want to stop in its vapors. I will not grow weary,
because it is on You that I am leaning-O You, my Strength!
210 I fervently beg the Lord to strengthen my faith, so that in my drab, everyday life I will not be guided by human dispositions, but by those of the spirit. Oh, how everything drags man towards the earth! But lively faith maintains the soul in the higher regions and assigns self-love its proper place; that is to say, the lowest one.
223 O living Host, my one and only
strength, fountain of love and mercy, embrace the whole world, fortify faint
souls. Oh, blessed be the instant and the moment when Jesus left us His most
merciful Heart!
230 Jesus, living Host, You are my
Mother, You are my all! It is with simplicity and love, with faith and trust
that I will always come to You, O Jesus! I will share everything with You, as
a child with its loving mother, my joys and sorrows-in a word, everything.
235 O Jesus, I long for the
salvation of immortal souls. It is in sacrifice that my heart will find free
expression, in sacrifice which no one will suspect. I will burn and be
consumed unseen in the holy flames of the love of God. The presence of God
will help my sacrifice to be perfect and pure.
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!
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.
908 + O Jesus, how sorry I feel
for poor sinners. Jesus, grant them contrition and repentance. Remember Your own
sorrowful Passion. I know Your infinite mercy and cannot bear it that a soul
that has cost You so much should perish. Jesus, give me the souls of sinners;
let Your mercy rest upon them. Take everything away from me, but give me
souls. I want to become a sacrificial host for sinners. Let the shell of my
body conceal my offering, for Your Most Sacred Heart is also hidden in a
Host, and certainly You are a living sacrifice.
Transform me into Yourself, O Jesus, that I may be a living sacrifice and pleasing to You. I desire to atone at each moment for poor sinners. The sacrifice of my spirit is hidden under the veil of the body; the human eye does not perceive it, and for that reason it is pure and pleasing to You. O my Creator and Father of great mercy, I trust in You, for You are Goodness Itself. Souls, do not be afraid of God, but trust in Him, for He is good, and His mercy is everlasting.
923 February 7, [1937]. Today, the
Lord said to me, I demand of you a perfect and whole-burnt offering; an
offering of the will. No other sacrifice can compare with this one. I myself
am directing your life and arranging things in such a way that you will be
for Me a continual sacrifice and will always do My will. And for the
accomplishment of this offering, you will unite yourself with Me on the
Cross. I know what you can do. I myself will give you many orders directly,
but I will delay the possibility of their being carried out and make it
depend on others. But what the superiors will not manage to do, I myself will
accomplish directly in your soul. And in the most hidden depths of your soul,
a perfect holocaust will be carried out, not just for a while, but know, My
daughter, that this offering will last until your death. But there is time,
so that I the Lord will fulfill all your wishes. I delight in you as in a
living host; let nothing terrify you; I am with you.
965 Jesus looked at me and said, Souls
perish in spite of My bitter Passion. I am giving them the last hope of
salvation; that is, the Feast of My Mercy. If they will not adore My mercy,
they will perish for all eternity. Secretary of My mercy, write, tell souls
about this great mercy of Mine, because the awful day, the day of My justice,
is near.
966 + Today, I heard in my soul these words: My daughter, it is time for you to take action; I am with you. Great persecutions and sufferings are in store for you, but be comforted by the thought that many souls will be saved and sanctified by this work. 967 + When I set to work at underlining the Lord's words and thus was going through everything in sequence, I reached the page where I had marked down Father Andrasz's advice and directions. I did not know what to do, to underline or not to underline, and then I heard these words in my soul: Underline, because these words are Mine; I have borrowed the lips of the friend of My Heart in order to speak to you and reassure you. You are to observe these directions until your death. It would not please Me at all if you were to disobey these directions. Know that it is I who have placed him between Myself and your soul. I am doing this to set you at peace and so that you may not err.
975 Today I heard these
words: Pray for souls that they be not afraid to approach the tribunal of
My mercy. Do not grow weary of praying for sinners. You know what a burden
their souls are to My Heart. Relieve My deathly sorrow; dispense My mercy.
1064 + O my most sweet Master,
good Jesus, I give You my heart. You shape and mold it after Your liking. O
fathomless love, I open the calyx of my heart to You, like a rosebud to the
freshness of dew. To You alone, my Betrothed, is known the fragrance of the
flower of my heart. Let the fragrance of my sacrifice be pleasing to You. O
Immortal God, my everlasting delight, already here on earth You are my
heaven. May every beat of my heart be a new hymn of praise to You, O Holy
Trinity! Had I as many hearts as there are drops of water in the ocean or
grains of sand in the whole world, I would offer them all to You, O my Love,
O Treasure of my heart! Whomever I shall meet in my life, no matter who they
may be, I want to draw them all to love You, O my Jesus, my Beauty, my
Repose, my sole Master, Judge, Savior and Spouse, all in one; I know that one
title will modify the other-I have entrusted everything to Your 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. 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.
1407 When I was receiving Holy
Communion today, I noticed in the cup a Living Host, which the priest gave to
me. When I returned to my place I asked the Lord, "Why was one Host
alive, since You are equally alive under each of the species?" The Lord
answered me, That is so. I am the same under each of the species, but not
every soul receives Me with the same living faith as you do, My daughter, and
therefore I cannot act in their souls as I do in yours.
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-I-135, 205-206, 209-210, 235-236, 282)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-II-908, 923, 965-967, 975)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-III-1064, 1074-1076)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-V-1407)
http://www.saint-faustina.com/Diary/DMIMS10.shtml
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