Be Perfect?
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Saturday of the
First Week of Lent
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Matthew 5:43-48
"You have heard
that it was said, ´You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.´ But I
say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you
may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad
and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you
love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax
collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual
about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your
heavenly Father is perfect.”
Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, You became a man in order to
show me, in Your own flesh and blood, the way to holiness. In every word and
deed of Yours recorded in the Gospel, You teach and reveal to me the secret
of a life worthy of eternity. I believe that You are with me now, and that You
will use these moments of prayer to increase my faith, hope and love. Here I
am, Lord, to know, love and serve You with all my heart. Amen.
Petition: Lord, help me to seek holiness out of love
for You and others. Amen.
1. “Be Perfect ”: Who is telling us to be perfect? Christ the
Word, he through whom all things were made, through whom we came into being :
our Lord, our Creator, who from all eternity longs to see each one of us be
made perfect in love. This is not a suggestion; it is a command. He says it
to his disciples with energy, even knowing that for them alone it is impossible.
For God, though, nothing is impossible. We are reminded today that our
saintliness is a possibility; it is God’s plan. Miracles happen when we
believe. God is not through with any one of us yet. All God asks is that we
be perfect – not a whole life in one fell swoop – but, rather, every present
moment, one at a time. That is what I have – this present moment. This is
what I have to perfect.
2. Why Does God
Command Us to Become Perfect? God’s demand that we seek and strive after the perfection of
holiness becomes more understandable when we contemplate the increasingly
dire situation of our world. That world, so gravely in need of Christ’s
salvation, is the starkest and most palpable reason why any one of us should
pursue holiness. What is the value of Christian holiness in the world? One
early Christian apologist put it in these terms:
To sum up all in one
word –– what the soul is in the body, that are Christians in the world. The
flesh hates the soul, and wars against it, though itself suffering no injury,
because it is prevented from enjoying pleasures; the world also hates the
Christians, though in nowise injured, because they abjure pleasures. The soul
loves the flesh that hates it, and [loves also] the members; Christians
likewise love those that hate them” (From the Letter to Diognetus).
3. Seeking Holiness
is a Labor of Love: In
a world of shifting sands, we can offer solid ground; in a world of blind
forces of spiritual and material violence, we can offer the persuasive power
of Christian goodness. Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta was heard to say
that holiness is not the privilege of a few, but the obligation of all. When
with simple and profound faith, we delve into that link between our striving
for holiness and the salvation of souls, we can discover a new impetus and a
new strength. The challenge of seeking holiness can become a labor of love,
driven by a heart aflame with zeal for the salvation of all our brothers and
sisters.
Conversation with
Christ: Lord Jesus, the world needs men and women of
God; the world needs saints. I know this. I know You call me in a personal,
urgent and insistent way to seek my holiness. For the sake of my brothers and
sisters, for their salvation, Lord, make me holy. Amen.
Resolution: I will dedicate sometime today to pray to
Our Lady and entrust to her, with living faith and childlike simplicity, the
entire project of my personal sanctification.
Excerpts from
the DIARY of Saint Faustina Kowalska
216 We have come to Cracow today [April
18, 1933]. What a joy it is to find myself again where I took my first steps
in the spiritual life! Dear Mother Directress [Mary Joseph] is ever the same,
cheerful and full of love of neighbor. I entered the chapel for a moment and
joy filled my soul. In a flash I recalled the whole ocean of graces that had
been given me as a novice here.
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-216, 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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