Not Far from the Kingdom
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Thirty-First Sunday
in Ordinary Time (November 4, 2012)
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Mark 12:28b-34
One of the scribes
came to Jesus and asked him, "Which is the first of all the
commandments?" Jesus replied, "The first is this: Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your
strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these." The scribe said to
him, "Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, ´He is One and there
is no other than he.´ And ´to love him with all your heart, with all your
understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself´
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." And when Jesus
saw that he answered with understanding, he said to him, "You are not
far from the Kingdom of God." And no one dared to ask him any more
questions.
Introductory Prayer:
Jesus Christ, where
else can I turn each day but to You? One day, I will make that final turn to You,
and it will last for all eternity. Yet as in everything else, You set the
pace, You take the initiative, and You are the protagonist. You will turn and
look my way first and I, as I strive daily to do, will respond and gaze back
into Your eyes. This moment of prayer is a rehearsal for that final turn to You.
Amen.
Petition: Lord, teach me to walk the way of generous love.
1. Mapping It Out! All of us can admire complete and faithful
love. Christ´s interaction with the scribe in today´s Gospel spells out for
us this love. This is the great commandment. This is the key to our lives.
This is a simple, all-embracing principle by which to live. Moreover, this is
exactly what a "click-here" world wants. We want to simplify our
lives. Christ makes the map of our life simple. We need to act out of love
for God and unite all our strength, heart, soul and mind in this one
endeavor: Love God. Are we complicating our lives unnecessarily?
2. Eyes on the
Destination! Jesus Christ has
made of his earthly life a perfect example of how we are to live. He
demonstrates an unclouded love. He is truly single-hearted! He loves his
father with all his heart, soul, mind and strength. We need to keep our eyes
on Christ as our final destination. We can imitate him in his love for his
Father. As Romano Guardini states, “The Lord’s entire life proceeds from his
Father’s will. But it is in this [wisdom] that he is truly himself. He is
truly himself in that he does not do his own will, but the will of his
Father, and so fulfills the deepest and most private principle of his being.
There is a word for this: love!” Could it be simpler?
3. Not Far! If we want to reach a destination, the
shortest path is a straight line. When we love God with all our heart, soul,
mind and strength, we straighten our path. When we have other loves,
competitive loves, loves that leave God out of our actions, that make us lose
momentum and wander in all sorts of directions, we are not going to get close
to the Kingdom. Can we not unite everything in a single-hearted love for God?
If we do, then every email, phone call, meal, sporting event, errand,
business meeting and class -- absolutely everything -- will take us to the Kingdom
and not away from it.
Conversation with
Christ: Lord, I want a single-hearted life. I was
made for You, and my heart will be restless until it rests in You. Instruct
me in a love for You that will be exercised in all I do today and every day
of my life until I surrender my heart, soul, mind and strength to You for all
eternity.
Resolution: I will consciously live as much of this day as possible as an
exercise of love for God, offering him each moment, activity and prayer.
Excerpts from the DIARY of Saint Faustina Kowalska
241 Love of neighbor. First:
Helpfulness towards the sisters. Second: Do not speak about those who are
absent, and defend the good name of my neighbor. Third: Rejoice in the
success of others.
242 +O God, how much I desire to
be a small child.[71] You are my Father, and You know how little
and weak I am. So I beg You, keep me close by Your side all my life and especially
at the hour of my death. Jesus, I know that Your goodness surpasses the
goodness of a most tender mother.
588 On one occasion, I heard these
words within me: Every movement of your heart is known to me. Know, My
daughter, that one glance of yours directed at someone else would wound Me
more than many sins committed by another person.
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.
704 I spend every free moment at
the feet of the hidden God. He is my Master; I ask Him about everything; I
speak to Him about everything. Here I obtain strength and light; here I learn
everything; here I am given light on how to act toward my neighbor. From the
time I left the novitiate, I have enclosed myself in the tabernacle together
with Jesus, my Master. He himself drew me into the fire of living love on
which everything converges.
742 My daughter, if I demand
through you that people revere My mercy, you should be the first to
distinguish yourself by this confidence in My mercy. I demand from you deeds
of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to
your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to
excuse or absolve yourself from it.
I am giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor: the first-by deed, the second-by word, the third-by prayer. In these three degrees is contained the fullness of mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love for Me. By this means a soul glorifies and pays reverence to My mercy. Yes, the first Sunday after Easter is the Feast of Mercy, but there must also be acts of mercy, and I demand the worship of My mercy through the solemn celebration of the Feast and through the veneration of the image which is painted. By means of this image I shall grant many graces to souls. It is to be a reminder of the demands of My mercy, because even the strongest faith is of no avail without works. O my Jesus, You yourself must help me in everything, because You see how very little I am, and so I depend solely on Your goodness, O God.
861 Particular examen: remains the same;
namely, to unite myself with the Merciful Christ (that is; what would Christ
do in such and such a case?) and, in spirit, to embrace the whole world,
especially Russia and Spain.
General resolutions.
I.
Strict observance of silence - interior silence.
II. To see the image of God in every sister; all love of neighbor must flow from this motive. III. To do the will of God faithfully at every moment of my life and to live by this. IV. To give a faithful account of everything to the spiritual director and not to undertake anything of importance without a clear understanding with him. I shall try to clearly lay bare to him the most secret depths of my soul, bearing in mind that I am dealing with God himself, and that His representative is just a human being, and so I must pray daily that he be given light. V. During the evening examination of conscience, I am to ask myself the question: What if He were to call me today? VI. Not to look for God far away, but within my own being to abide with Him alone. VII. In sufferings and torments, to take refuge in the tabernacle and to be silent. VIII. To join all sufferings, prayers, works and mortifications to the merits of Jesus in order to obtain mercy for the world. IX. To use free moments, however short, for prayers for the dying. X. There must not be a day in my life when I do not recommend to the Lord the works of our Congregation. Never have regard for what others think of you [for human respect]. XI. Have no familiar relationships with anyone. Gentle firmness toward the girls, boundless patience; punish them severely but with such punishments as these: prayer and self-sacrifice. The strength that is in the emptying of myself for their sake is for them a [source of] constant remorse and the softening of their obdurate hearts. XII. The presence of God is the basis of all my thoughts, words and deeds. XIII. To take advantage of all spiritual help. To always put self-love in its proper place; namely, the last. To perform my spiritual exercises as though I were doing them for the last time in my life, and in like manner to carry out all my duties.
871 + My Master, cause my heart
never to expect help from anyone, but I will always strive to bring
assistance, consolation and all manner of relief to others. My heart is
always open to the sufferings of others; and I will not close my heart to the
sufferings of others, even though because of this I have been scornfully
nicknamed "dump"; that is, [because] everyone dumps his pain into
my heart. [To this] I answered that everyone has a place in my heart and I,
in return, have a place in the Heart of Jesus. Taunts regarding the law of
love will not narrow my heart. My soul is always sensitive on this point, and
Jesus alone is the motive for my love of neighbor.
1029 The doctor did not allow me
to go to the chapel to attend the Passion Service, although I had a great
desire for it; however, I prayed in my own room. Suddenly I heard the bell in
the next room, and I went in and rendered a service to a seriously sick
person. When I returned to my room, I suddenly saw the Lord Jesus, who said, My
daughter, you gave Me greater pleasure by rendering Me that service than if
you had prayed for a long time. I answered, "But it was not to You,
Jesus, but to that patient that I rendered this service." And the Lord
answered me, Yes, My daughter, but whatever you do for your neighbor, you
do for Me.
1039 + I suffer great pain at the
sight of the sufferings of others. All these sufferings are reflected in my
heart. I carry their torments in my heart so that it even wears me out physically.
I would like all pains to fall upon me so as to bring relief to my neighbor.
1148 June 20, [1937]. We resemble
God most when we forgive our neighbors. God is Love, Goodness, and Mercy...
Every soul, and especially the
soul of every religious, should reflect My mercy. My Heart overflows with
compassion and mercy for all. The heart of My beloved must resemble Mine;
from her heart must spring the fountain of My mercy for souls; otherwise I
will not acknowledge her as Mine.
1244 August 15, 1937. During
meditation, God's presence pervaded me keenly, and I was aware of the Virgin
Mary's joy at the moment of Her Assumption. Towards the end of the ceremony
carried out in honor of the Mother of God, I saw the Virgin Mary, and She
said to me, Oh, how very pleased I am with the homage of your love! And at
that moment She covered all the sisters of our Congregation with Her mantle.
With Her right hand, She clasped Mother General Michael to herself, and with
Her left hand She did so to me, while all the sisters were at Her feet,
covered with Her mantle. Then the Mother of God said, Everyone who
perseveres zealously till death in My Congregation will be spared the fire of
purgatory, and I desire that each one distinguish herself by the following
virtues: humility and meekness; chastity and love of God and neighbor;
compassion and mercy. After these words, the whole Congregation
disappeared from my sight, and I remained alone with the Most Holy Mother who
instructed me about the will of God and how to apply it to my life,
submitting completely to His most holy decrees. It is impossible for one to
please God without obeying His holy will. My daughter, I strongly
recommend that you faithfully fulfill all God's wishes, for that is most
pleasing in His holy eyes. I very much desire that you distinguish yourself
in this faithfulness in accomplishing God's will. Put the will of God before
all sacrifices and holocausts. While the heavenly Mother was talking to
me, a deep understanding of this will of God was entering my soul.
1358 Where there is genuine
virtue, there must be sacrifice as well; one's whole life must be a
sacrifice. It is only by means of sacrifice that souls can become useful. It
is my self-sacrifice which, in my relationship with my neighbor, can give
glory to God, but God's love must flow through this sacrifice, because
everything is concentrated in this love and takes its value from it.
1382 + When Sister Dominic [219] died at about one o'clock in the night,
she came to me and gave me to know that she was dead. I prayed fervently for
her. In the morning, the sisters told me that she was no longer alive, and I
replied that I knew, because she had visited me. The sister infirmarian
[Sister Chrysostom] asked me to help dress her. And then when I was alone
with her, the Lord gave me to know that she was still suffering in purgatory.
I redoubled my prayers for her. However, despite the zeal with which I always
pray for our deceased sisters, I got mixed up as regards the days, and
instead of offering three days of prayer, as the rule directs us to do, by
mistake I offered only two days. On the fourth day, she gave me to know that
I still owed her prayers, and that she was in need of them. I immediately
formed the intention of offering the whole day for her, and not just that day
but much more, as love of neighbor dictated to me.
1633 March 10, [1938]. Continuous
physical suffering. I am on the cross with Jesus. On one occasion, M.
Superior [Irene] said to me, "It is a lack of love of neighbor on your
part, Sister, that you eat something and then you suffer and disturb the
others during their night's rest." Yet I know for sure that these pains
which occur in my intestines are not at all caused by food. The doctor
[probably Dr. Silberg] has said the same thing. These sufferings come from
the body itself, or rather are a visitation of the Lord. Nevertheless, after
that remark I resolved to suffer in secret and not to ask for help, because
it is of no avail anyway, since I throw up the medicines that are given to
me.
Many a time, I have managed to suffer through attacks that were known only to Jesus. The pains are so violent and severe that they cause me to lose consciousness. When they cause me to faint, and I am drenched in cold sweat, then they gradually begin to go away. Sometimes they last three hours or more. O my Jesus, may Your holy will be done; I accept everything from Your hand. If I accept the delights and raptures of love to the point of becoming oblivious to what is going on around me, it is only right that I should accept with love these sufferings which cause me to faint.
Third Day.
1768 My daughter, in this
meditation, consider the love of neighbor. Is your love for your neighbor
guided by My love? Do you pray for your enemies? Do you wish well to those
who have, in one way or another, caused you sorrow or offended you?
Know that whatever good you do to any soul, I accept it as if you had done it to Me.
1769 Application: O Jesus, my
Love, You know that it has only been for a short while that I have acted
toward my neighbor guided solely by Your love. You alone know of my efforts
to do this. It comes to me more easily now, but if You Yourself did not
kindle that love in my soul, I would not be able to persevere in this. This
is due to Your Eucharistic love which daily sets me afire.
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-I-241-242, )
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-588, 590, 704, 742, 861, 871)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-III-1029, 1039, 1148)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-IV-1244)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-V-1358, 1382)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-VI-1633, 1768-1769)
http://www.saint-faustina.com/Diary/DMIMS10.shtml
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