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Father Daniel Ray, LC
Luke 11: 37-41
After
Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and
reclined at table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not
observe the prescribed washing before the meal. The Lord said to him,
"Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the
dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the
maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give
alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you."
Introductory
Prayer:
Lord, I believe that
You are present here as I turn to You in prayer. I trust and have confidence
in Your desire to give me every grace I need to receive today. Thank You for
your love, thank You for Your immense generosity toward me. I give You my
life and my love in return.
Petition:
Lord, grant me this
grace of conversion.
1.
Law for the Law’s Sake: The Mosaic Law was intended to free them for worship,
delivering them from slavery to pagan gods and from slavery to sin. When the
Law (and the added customs and regulations) became an end in itself, it was
truncated and severed from the One to whom it was meant to lead. Today in the
Catholic Church there are enough laws, customs and regulations to make even
the most rigorous Pharisee proud. The danger is that we can fall into one of
two traps. First, we can adhere to them with such vigor that we lose sight of
the One they are freeing us to worship. We don’t allow our hearts and minds
to be educated and formed by them, we just follow them blindly. We wind up
cleaning the outside of the cup and stopping there, without going on to see
God’s love and let it purify our hearts.
2.
The Second Trap: The second trap we can fall into is at the other extreme: to
give ourselves an easy pass by presuming that “if my heart is in the right
place, I don’t need to worry about all these rules and such.” With a lax
attitude we permit ourselves to ease up on fulfilling these laws which in
truth will free us. “I know today is Sunday and I should go to Mass, but it’s
vacation! God knows I’m a good person.” Yet it is in the Sunday Mass that we
receive the many graces necessary toward our being that “good person”. The
commandment to keep the Sabbath holy, as with any of the Ten Commandments and
customs of the Church, is there to lead us to God. These free us from our
often confused subjective conclusions about how we should worship God and
live our lives.
3.
Cleaning the Cup: “Charity covers a multitude of sin” (1 Peter 4:8). The law of
love is the most important of all the commandments of the Lord. In Chapter 12
of the Gospel of Mark, Christ responds to a scribe’s question about the first
of all the commandments: “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.” Love of God and neighbor is both the source
and the summit of the Law of the Old Covenant and of the New. Living these
two greatest commandments purifies and cleanses our hearts—the inside of the
cup. So when Christ says to give alms, he is telling the Pharisees to love
their neighbors. Then their hearts will be clean.
Conversation
with Christ: Lord,
I want my heart always to be focused on You. I need Your guidance, for I
can’t do it alone. I need You to teach me how to love You, how to worship and
serve You. The laws You give me free me and guide me toward You. Help me to
see Your hand leading me ever closer to You.
Resolution:
If there is a rule
or custom of the Church that I don’t understand or don’t practice, I will
read up on it to come to understand better how it frees me and guides me in
my relationship with Christ.
Excerpts from the DIARY of Saint
Faustina Kowalska
92 Humiliation is my daily food. I
understand that the bride must herself share in everything that is the
groom's; and so His cloak of mockery must cover me, too. At those times when
I suffer much, I try to remain silent, as I do not trust my tongue which, at
such moments, is inclined to talk for itself, while its duty is to help me
praise God for all the blessings and gifts which He has given me. When I
receive Jesus in Holy Communion, I ask Him fervently to deign to heal my
tongue so that I would offend neither God nor neighbor by it. I want my
tongue to praise God without cease. Great are the faults committed by the
tongue. The soul will not attain sanctity if it does not keep watch over its
tongue.
146 Prayer.-A soul arms itself by
prayer for all kinds of combat. In whatever state the soul may be, it ought
to pray. A soul which is pure and beautiful must pray, or else it will lose
its beauty; a soul which is striving after this purity must pray, or else it
will never attain it; a soul which is newly converted must pray, or else it
will fall again; a sinful soul, plunged in sins, must pray so that it might
rise again. There is no soul which is not bound to pray, for every single
grace comes to the soul through prayer.
178 Today we are beginning the
third probation. All three of us met at Mother Margaret's, as the other
sisters were having their probation in the novitiate. Mother Margaret began
with a prayer, explained to us what the third probation consists of, and then
spoke on how great is the grace of the perpetual vows. Suddenly I began to
cry out loud. In an instant all God's graces appeared before the eyes of my
soul, and I saw myself so wretched and ungrateful toward God. The sisters
began to rebuke me, saying, "Why did she break out crying?" But
Mother Margaret came to my defense, saying that she was not surprised.
At the end of the hour, I went
before the Blessed Sacrament and, like the greatest and most miserable of
wretches, I begged for His mercy that He might heal and purify my poor soul.
Then I heard these words, My daughter, all your miseries have been
consumed in the flame of My love, like a little twig thrown into a roaring
fire. By humbling yourself in this way, you draw upon yourself and upon other
souls an entire sea of My mercy. I answered, "Jesus, mold my poor
heart according to Your divine delight."
200 O Jesus, how
deeply it hurts the soul when it is always trying to be sincere and they
accuse it of hypocrisy and behave with mistrust toward it. O Jesus, You also
suffered like this to make satisfaction to Your Father.
224 To suffer without complaining,
to bring comfort to others and to drown my own sufferings in the most Sacred
Heart of Jesus!
I will spend all my free moments
at the feet of [Our Lord in] the Blessed Sacrament. At the feet of Jesus, I
will seek light, comfort and strength. I will show my gratitude unceasingly
to God for His great mercy towards me, never forgetting the favors He has
bestowed on me, especially the grace of a vocation. I will hide myself among
the sisters like a little violet among lilies. I want to blossom for my Lord
and Maker, to forget about myself, to empty myself totally for the sake of
immortal souls-this is my delight.
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.
294 +Once the Lord said to me,
Act like a beggar who does not back away when he gets more alms [than he
asked for], but offers thanks the more fervently. You too should not back
away and say that you are not worthy of receiving greater graces when I give
them to you. I know you are unworthy, but rejoice all the more and take as
many treasures from My Heart as you can carry, for then you will please Me
more. And I will tell you one more thing: Take these graces not only for
yourself, but also for others; that is, encourage the souls with whom you
come in contact to trust in My infinite mercy. Oh, how I love those souls who
have complete confidence in Me. I will do everything for them.
581 I will tell you most when
you converse with Me in the depths of your heart. Here, no one can disturb My
actions. Here, I rest as in a garden enclosed.
582 The interior of my soul is
like a large and magnificent world in which God and I live. Except for God,
no one is allowed there. At the beginning of this life with God, I was
dazzled and overcome with awe. His radiance blinded me, and I thought He was
not in my heart; and yet those were the moments when God was working in my
soul. Love was becoming purer and stronger, and the Lord brought my will into
the closest union with His own holy Will. No one will understand what I
experience in that splendid palace of my soul where I abide constantly with
my Beloved. No exterior thing hinders my union with God. Even if I used the
most forceful words, they would not express even a shadow of how my soul
revels in happiness and inexplicable love, as great and pure as the spring
from which it flows; that is, God himself. My spirit is so prevaded with God
that I feel it physically, and the body partakes of these joys. Although it
happens that God's touches vary in the same soul, they come, however, from
the same source.
587 Once, I suddenly saw Jesus in
great majesty, and He spoke these words to me: My daughter, if you wish, I
will this instant create a new world, more beautiful than this one, and you
will live there for the rest of your life. I answered, "I don't want
any worlds. I want You, Jesus. I want to love You, with the same love that
You have for me. I beg You for only one thing: to make my heart capable of
loving you. I am very much surprised at Your offer, my Jesus; what are those
worlds to me? Even if You gave me a thousand of them, what are they to me?
You know very well, Jesus, that my heart is dying of longing for You. Everything
that is not You is nothing to me." -At that moment, I could no longer
see anything, but a strange force took over my soul, a strange fire sprang up
in my heart, and I entered into a kind of agony for Him. Then I heard these
words: With no other soul do I unite myself as closely and in such a way
as I do with you, and this because of the deep humility and ardent love which
you have for Me.
1155 The Lord gave me knowledge of
His will under three aspects, so to speak, but it all comes down to one.
[198]
The first is that souls separated
from the world will burn as an offering before God's throne and beg for mercy
for the whole world... and by their entreaties they will obtain blessings for
priests, and through their prayers prepare the world for the final coming of
Jesus.
1156 The second is prayer joined
to the act of mercy. In particular, they will defend the souls of children
against the spirit of evil. Prayer and merciful deeds are all that will be
required of these souls, and even the poorest persons can be admitted to
their number. And in this egoistic world they will try to rouse up love, the
mercy of Jesus.
1157 The third is prayer and deeds
of mercy, without any obligation of taking vows. But by doing this, these
persons will have a share in all the merits and privileges of the whole
[congregation]. Everyone in the world can belong to this group.
1163 When I went to talk with the
Lord for a while, I heard a voice in my soul: My- I will not give you the
grace to reveal yourself to someone else, and even if you did bare yourself,
I will not give that priest the grace needed to understand you. At this time,
it is My desire that you put up with yourself patiently. My daughter, it is
not My will that you should tell everybody about the gifts I have granted
you. I have entrusted you to the care of the friend of My Heart, and under
his direction your soul will bloom. I have given him light to recognize My
life in your soul.
1164 My daughter, when I was
before Herod, I obtained a grace for you; namely, that you would be able to
rise above human scorn and follow faithfully in My footsteps. Be silent when
they do not want to acknowledge your truth, because it is then that you speak
more eloquently.
1165 Know this, My daughter: if
you strive for perfection you will sanctify many souls; and if you do not
strive for sanctity, by the same token, many souls will remain imperfect.
Know that their perfection will depend on your perfection, and the greater
part of the responsibility for these souls will fall on you.
1166 Then He said to me, Do not
fear, My child; but remain faithful only to My grace...
1180 June [July] 15, 1937. Once, I
learned that I was to be transferred to another house. My knowledge of this
was purely interior. At the same time, I heard a voice in my soul: Do not
be afraid, My daughter; it is My will that you should remain here. Human
plans will be thwarted, since they must conform to My will.
1181 When I was close to the Lord,
He said to me, Why are you afraid to begin the work which I have commanded
you to carry out? I answered, "Why do You leave me on my own at such
times, Jesus, and why do I not feel Your presence?" My daughter, even
though you do not perceive Me in the most secret depths of your heart, you
still cannot say that I am not there. I only remove from you the awareness of
My presence, and that should not be an obstacle to the carrying out of My
will. I do this to achieve My unfathomable ends, which you will know of later
on.
My daughter, know without doubt, and once and for all, that only mortal sin
drives Me out of a soul, and nothing else.
1182 + Today the Lord said to me, My
daughter, My pleasure and delight, nothing will stop Me from granting you
graces. Your misery does not hinder My mercy. My daughter, write that the greater
the misery of a soul, the greater its right to My mercy; [urge] all souls to
trust in the unfathomable abyss of My mercy, because I want to save them all.
On the cross, the fountain of My mercy was opened wide by the lance for all
souls-no one have I excluded!
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-I-92, 146, 178, 224, 282, 294)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-II-580-581, 587)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-III-1155-1157, 1163-1166, 1180-1182)
http://www.regnumchristi.org/english/articulos/semanal.phtml?se=363&ca=975&te=866
http://www.saint-faustina.com/Diary/DMIMS10.shtml
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