Fraternal Reconciliation
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Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
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Father Matthew Kaderabek, LC
Matthew 5:20-22,
27-28, 33-34, 37
Jesus said to his disciples: "I tell you, unless your
righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter
into the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to your
ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to
judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be
liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ´Raqa,´ will be
answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ´You fool,´ will be liable to
fiery Gehenna. You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit
adultery. But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has
already committed adultery with her in his heart. You have heard that it was
said to your ancestors, Do not take a false oath, but make good to the
Lord all that you vow. But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by
heaven, for it is God´s throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool;
nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Let your ´Yes´ mean
´Yes,´ and your ´No´ mean ´No.´ Anything more is from the Evil One. "
Introductory Prayer: Lord, I can be so cold to Your
salvific presence as I hurry about living the moment and becoming so
sufficient unto myself. There is little wonder that I find it hard to bring
myself to prayer—to use faith to know You, divine love to live in You, and
theological hope to trust in You. I approach You now, wanting only to be a
more faithful disciple of Your Kingdom.
Petition: Christ, help me to be reconciled with others.
1. It Was Said to Your Ancestors That You Shall Not Kill … But I Say
to You: In the Old Testament God gave the command, “Love your neighbor as
yourself.” This seems difficult enough to do, but in the New Testament, Our
Lord requires much more. The night before he died, Jesus said to his
disciples—and he says now to us—, “Love one another as I have loved you”
(John 15:12). How did Jesus love us? We have only to look at the crucifix. He
laid down his life for us so that, purified by his Precious Blood, we might
be united with the Most Blessed Trinity in the eternal happiness of heaven.
2. “Be Reconciled with Your Brother” - Jesus does not
say “neighbor,” but “brother.” In taking upon himself our human nature, Jesus
Christ became our brother and the head of the whole human race. He has raised
us all, through him, to the dignity of the divine adoption, in such a manner
that all Christians compose only one family of which God is the Father and
Jesus the first-born Son. Each person we meet is—or is potentially—our
brother or sister in Christ. Each is—or is potentially—a member of the
family. Therefore, Jesus teaches us that, “whatever you do to the least of my
brethren, you do to me.”
3. “Go First and Be Reconciled With Your Brother, and Then Come and
Offer Your Gift.” - The great St. Thomas More was about to offer God
the gift of his martyrdom. It was the month of July 1535. As soon as the
unjust court pronounced the sentence of death, Sir Thomas asked to say a few
words. He reminded these noblemen that St. Paul and St. Stephen were once on
opposite sides and yet, as saints now in heaven, they remain friends forever.
He continued: “I shall therefore rightly pray, that though your lordships
have now here on earth been judges to my condemnation, we may yet hereafter
in heaven all meet together, to our everlasting salvation.” What heroic
charity! How was it possible? It was possible because St. Thomas saw his
judges with the eyes of Christ. He sees them as human beings who are beloved
of God and destined for heaven. So he prays that they will repent of their
injustice and receive God’s mercy.
Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, help me to see my
brother as You see him: a person so valuable that You laid down Your life for
him. Help me to love my brother as You have loved us, with humility and
generosity, without counting the cost. I pray especially for those who have
injured me or those whom I have injured.
Resolution: I will offer this day for the eternal salvation of all those whom God
has, in some way, entrusted to my care.
Excerpts from the
DIARY of Saint Faustina Kowalska
57 O my Jesus, You are the life
of my life. You know only too well that I long for nothing but the glory of
Your Name and that souls come to know Your goodness. Why do souls avoid You,
Jesus?-I don't understand that. Oh, if I could only cut my heart into tiny
pieces and in this way offer to You, O Jesus, each piece as a heart whole and
entire, to make up in part for the hearts that do not love You! I love You,
Jesus, with every drop of my blood, and I would gladly shed my blood for You
to give You a proof of the sincerity of my love. O God, the more I know You
the less I can comprehend You, but this "non-comprehension" lets me
realize how great You are! And it is this impossibility of comprehending You
which enflames my heart anew for You, O Lord. From the moment when You let me
fix the eyes of my soul on You, O Jesus, I have been at peace and desired
nothing else. I found my destiny at the moment when my soul lost itself in
You, the only object of my love. In comparison with you, everything is
nothing. Sufferings, adversities, humiliations, failures and suspicions that
have come my way are splinters that keep alive the fire of my love for You, O
Jesus.
My desires are mad and unattainable. I wish to conceal from You that I suffer. I want never to be rewarded for my efforts and my good actions. You yourself, Jesus, are my only reward; You are enough, O Treasure of my heart! I want to share compassionately in the sufferings of my neighbors and to conceal my own sufferings, not only from them, but also from You, Jesus. Suffering is a great grace; through suffering the soul becomes like the Savior; in suffering love becomes crystallized; the greater the suffering, the purer the love.
58
+One night, a sister who had died two months previously came to me. She was a
sister of the first choir. I saw her in a terrible condition, all in flames
with her face painfully distorted. This lasted only a short time, and then
she disappeared. A shudder went through my soul because I did not know
whether she was suffering in purgatory or in hell. Nevertheless I redoubled
my prayers for her. The next night she came again, but I saw her in an even
more horrible state, in the midst of flames which were even more intense, and
despair was written all over her face. I was astonished to see her in a worse
condition after the prayers I had offered for her, and I asked, "Haven't
my prayers helped you?" She answered that my prayers had not helped her
and that nothing would help her. I said to her, "And the prayers which
been any help to you?" She said no, that these prayers had helped some
other souls. I replied, "If my prayers are not helping you, Sister,
please stop coming to me." She disappeared at once. Despite this, I kept
on praying.
After some time she came back again to me during the night, but already her appearance had changed. There were no longer any flames, as there had been before, and her face was radiant, her eyes beaming with joy. She told me that I had a true love for my neighbor and that many other souls had profited from my prayers. She urged me not to cease praying for the souls in purgatory, and she added that she herself would not remain there much longer. How astounding are the decrees of God!
Darkness and Temptations
77 My mind became dimmed in a strange way; no truth seemed clear to me. When people spoke to me about God, my heart was like a rock. I could not draw from it a single sentiment of love for Him. When I tried, by an act of the will, to remain close to Him, I experienced great torments, and it seemed to me that I was only provoking God to an even greater anger. It was absolutely impossible for me to meditate as I had been accustomed to do in the past. I felt in my soul a great void, and there was nothing with which I could fill it. I began to suffer from a great hunger and yearning for God, but I saw my utter powerlessness. I tried to read slowly, sentence by sentence, and to meditate in this way, but this also was of no avail. I understood nothing of what I had read. The abyss of my misery was constantly before my eyes. Every time I entered the chapel for some spiritual exercise, I experienced even worse torments and temptations. More than once, all through Holy Mass, I had to struggle against blasphemous thoughts which were forcing themselves to my lips. I felt an aversion for the Holy Sacraments, and it seemed to me that I was not profiting from them in any way. It was only out of obedience to my confessor that I frequented them, and this blind obedience was for me the only path I could follow and my very last hope of survival. The priest explained to me that these were trials sent by God and that, in the situation I was in, not only was I not offending God, but I was most pleasing to Him. "This is a sign," he told me, "that God loves you very much and that He has great confidence in you, since He is sending you such trials." But these words brought me no comfort; it seemed to me that they did not apply to me at all. One thing did surprise me: it often happened that, at the time when I was suffering greatly, these terrible torments would disappear suddenly just as I was approaching the confessional; but as soon as I had left the confessional, all these torments would again seize me with even greater ferocity. I would then fall on my face before the Blessed Sacrament repeating these words: "Even if You kill me, still will I trust in You!" [cf. Job 13:15] It seemed to me that I would die in these agonies. But the most terrible thought for me was the conviction that I had been rejected by God. Then other thoughts came to me: why strive to acquire virtues and do good works? why mortify and annihilate yourself? what good is it to take vows? to pray? to sacrifice and immolate yourself? why sacrifice myself all the time? what good is it - if I am already rejected by God? why all these efforts? And here, God alone knew what was going on in my heart.
93 +A Short Version of the
Catechism of the Vows[39]
Q. What is a vow? A. A vow is a voluntary promise made to God, to carry out a more perfect act. Q. Is a vow binding in a matter which is the object of a commandment? A. Yes. The carrying out of an act which is the object of a commandment has a double value and merit; and the neglect of such an act is a double transgression and evil, because by breaking such a vow we add to the sin against the commandment, the sin of sacrilege. Q. Why do religious vows have such value? A. Because they are the foundation of the religious life approved by the Church, in which the members bound together in a religious community undertake to strive always for perfection by means of the three religious vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, observed according to the rules. Q. What is the meaning of the words, "strive for perfection?" A. To strive for perfection means that the religious life does not in itself demand that perfection be already attained, but obliges, under the pain of sin, that we work daily to attain it. Therefore, a religious who does not want to become perfect neglects his principal duty of state. Q. What are "solemn" religious vows? A. " Solemn" religious vows are so absolute that, in extraordinary cases, only the Holy Father can dispense from them. Q. What are simple religious vows? A. These are vows which are less absolute - the Holy See dispenses from perpetual and annual vows. Q. What is the difference between a vow and a virtue? A. A vow pertains only to that which is commanded under pain of sin; the virtue goes beyond this and helps in the carrying out of the vow; on the other hand, by breaking the vow we fail in the virtue and do it damage. Q. To what do the religious vows oblige us? A. The religious vows oblige us to strive to acquire the virtues and to submit ourselves completely to our Superiors and to the Rules which are in force; thus the religious gives his own person to the Community, renouncing every right over himself and his actions, which he sacrifices to the service of God. The Vow of Poverty The vow of poverty is the voluntary renunciation of the right over property or to the use of such property with the purpose of pleasing God. Q. What objects does the vow of poverty concern? A. All those goods and those objects which appertain to the Community. We have no longer any right over anything that has been given to us, once it has been accepted, whether an article or money. All these donations and presents, which may have been given us out of gratitude or in any other way, belong by right to the Community. We cannot make use, without violating the vow, of any wages we may receive for work or even any annuity. Q. When do we break or violate the vow in a matter which entails the seventh commandment? A. We break or violate it when, without permission, we take for ourselves anything that belongs to the house; when, without permission, we retain something in order to appropriate it; and when, without authorization, we sell or exchange something that belongs to the Community. When we make use of an object for some other purpose than that intended by the Superior. When we give to, or accept from another, anything whatsoever without permission. When by negligence we destroy or damage something. When, in going from one house to another, we take something with us without permission. In a situation where the vow is broken, the religious is bound to restitution to the Community. The Virtue of Poverty This is an evangelical virtue which impels the heart to detach itself from temporal things; the religious, in virtue of his profession, is strictly obliged to it. Q. When do we sin against the virtue of poverty? When we desire something, contrary to this virtue. When we become attached to something, and when we make use of superfluous things. How many degrees of poverty are there and what are they? A. There are, in practice, four degrees of poverty for one who is a professed religious: to dispose of nothing without the consent of the Superiors (the strict matter of the vow); to avoid superfluities and be content with necessities (this pertains to the virtue); to readily content oneself with things of inferior quality in what concerns one's cell, clothing, nourishment, etc., and to experience this contentment interiorly; to rejoice in extreme poverty. The Vow of Chastity Q. To what does this vow oblige us? A. To renounce marriage and to avoid everything that is forbidden by the sixth and ninth commandments. Q. Is a fault against the virtue a violation of the vow? A. Every fault against the virtue is at the same time a violation of the vow, because here there is no difference, as in the case of poverty and obedience, between the vow and the virtue. Q. Is every bad thought a sin? A. No, every bad thought is not a sin; it becomes so only when the acquiescence of the will and consent are joined to the consideration of the mind. Q. Is there anything, over and above sins against chastity, which is detrimental to the virtue? A. Lack of custody of the senses, of the imagination, of the feelings; familiarity and sentimental friendships are detrimental to the virtue. Q. What are the means by which this virtue may be preserved? A. To conquer interior temptations with the thought of the presence of God, and moreover to fight without fear. And for exterior temptations, to avoid occasions. There are, in all, seven principal means: to guard the senses, to avoid occasions, to avoid idleness, to remove temptations promptly, to remove oneself from all - and especially particular friendships, the spirit of mortification, and to reveal all these temptations to one's confessor. Besides this, there are also five means of preserving this virtue: humility, the spirit of prayer, modesty of the eyes, fidelity to the rule, a sincere devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Vow of Obedience The vow of obedience is superior to the first two. It is, to tell the truth, a holocaust, and it is more necessary because it forms and animates the monastic body. Q. To what does the vow of obedience oblige us? A. By the vow of obedience, the religious promises to God to be obedient to his legitimate superiors in everything that they will ordain in virtue of the rule. The vow of obedience makes the religious dependent on his superior in virtue of these rules for his whole life and in all his affairs. A religious commits a grave sin against the vow every time he disobeys an order given in virtue of obedience and of these rules. The Virtue of Obedience The virtue of obedience goes further than the vow; it embraces the rules, the regulations and even the counsels of the superiors. Q. Is the virtue of obedience indispensable for a religious? A. The virtue of obedience is so indispensable to a religious that, even if he were to perform good actions contrary to obedience, these would be evil and without merit. Q. Can we sin gravely against the virtue of obedience? A. We sin gravely when we scorn the authority or the order of the superior, or when spiritual or temporal harm to the community results from our disobedience. Q. What faults endanger the vow? A. To be prejudiced against the superior, or to harbor an antipathy for him - murmuring and criticism, tardiness and negligence. The Degrees of Obedience Prompt and complete fulfillment - the obedience of the will, when the will persuades the intellect to submit to the advice of the superior. To facilitate obedience, Saint Ignatius suggests, moreover, three means: always to see God in our superior, whoever he might be; to justify in itself the order or advice of the superior; to accept each order as an order from God, without examining it or reflecting on it. General means: humility. Nothing is difficult for the humble.
96 +Trials sent by God to a
soul which is particularly loved by Him.
Temptations and darkness; Satan. The soul's love [for God] is still not such as God would have it. The soul suddenly loses the tangible perception of God's presence. Various defects and imperfections rise up within it, and it must fight them furiously. All her faults lift up their heads, but the soul's vigilance is great. The former awareness of the presence of God gives place to coldness and spiritual dryness; the soul has no taste for spiritual exercises; it cannot pray, either in the old way, or in the manner in which it had just begun to pray. It struggles this way and that, but can find no satisfaction. God has hidden himself from it, and it can find no consolation in creatures, nor can any of these creatures find a way of consoling it. The soul craves passionately for God, but sees its own misery; it begins to sense God's justice; it seems to it that it has lost all the gifts that God had given it; its mind is dimmed, and darkness fills it; unspeakable torment begins. The soul tries to explain its state to the confessor, but it is not understood and is assailed by an even greater unrest. Satan begins his work.
97 Faith
staggers under the impact; the struggle is fierce. The soul tries hard to
cling to God by an act of will. With God's permission, Satan goes even
further: hope and love are put to the test. These temptations are terrible.
God supports the soul in secret, so to speak. The soul is not aware of this,
but otherwise it would be impossible to stand firm; and God knows very well
how much He can allow to befall a soul. The soul is tempted to unbelief in
respect to revealed truths and to insincerity toward the confessor. Satan
says to it, "Look, no one understands you; why speak about all
this?" Words that terrify it sound in its ears, and it seems to the soul
that it is uttering these against God. It sees what it does not want to see.
It hears what it does not want to hear. And, oh, it is a terrible thing at
times like these not to have an experienced confessor! The soul carries the
whole burden alone. However, one should make every effort to find, if it is
at all possible, a well-informed confessor, for the soul can collapse under
the burden and come to the very edge of the precipice. All these trials are
heavy and difficult. God does not send them to a soul which has not already
been admitted to a deeper intimacy with Him and which has not yet tasted the
divine delights. Besides, in this God has His own plans, which for us are
impenetrable. God often prepares a soul in this way for His future designs
and great works. He wants to try it as pure gold is tried. But this is not
yet the end of the testing; there is still the trial of trials, the complete
abandonment of the soul by God.
+ The Trial of
Trials, Complete Abandonment - Despair
98 When the soul comes out victorious from the preceding trials, even though it may stumble here and there, it fights on valiantly, humbly calling upon God, "Save me, I am perishing!" And it is still able to fight on. At this point, however, the soul is engulfed in a horrible night. It sees within itself only sin. It feels terrible. It sees itself completely abandoned by God. It feels itself to be the object of His hatred. It is but one step away from despair. The soul does its best to defend itself; it tries to stir up its confidence; but prayer is an even greater torment for it, as this prayer seems to arouse God to an even greater anger. The soul finds itself poised on the summit of a lofty mountain on the very brink of a precipice. The soul is drawn to God, but feels repulsed. All other sufferings and tortures in the world are as nothing compared with this sensation into which it has been plunged; namely, that of being rejected by God. No one can bring it any relief; it finds itself completely alone; there is no one to defend it. It raises its eyes to heaven, but is convinced that this is not for her-for her all is lost. It falls deeper and deeper from darkness to darkness, and it seems to it that it has lost forever the God it used to love so dearly. This thought is torture beyond all description. But the soul does not agree to it and tries to lift its gaze toward heaven, but in vain! And this makes the torture even more intense. If God wishes to keep the soul in such darkness, no one will be able to give it light. It experiences rejection by God in a vivid and terrifying manner. From its heart burst forth painful moans, so painful that no priest will comprehend it, unless he himself has been through these trials. In the midst of this, the evil spirit adds to the soul's suffering, mocking it: "Will you persist in your faithfulness? This is your reward; you are in our power!" But Satan has only as much influence over the soul as God allows him, and God knows how much we can bear. "What have you gotten out of your mortifications," says Satan, "and out of your fidelity to the rule? What use are all these efforts? You have been rejected by God!" This word, rejected, becomes a fire which penetrates every nerve to the marrow of the bone. It pierces right through her entire being. The ordeal reaches its climax. The soul no longer looks for help anywhere. It shrinks into itself and loses sight of everything; it is as though it has accepted the torture of being abandoned. This is a moment for which I have no words. This is the agony of the soul.
101 Jesus, You alone know how
the soul, engulfed in darkness, moans in the midst of these torments and,
despite all this, thirsts for God as burning lips thirst for water. It dies
and withers; it dies a death without death; that is to say, it cannot die.
All its efforts come to nothing; it is under a powerful hand. Now the soul
comes under the power of the Just One. All exterior temptations cease; all
that surrounds it becomes silent, like a dying person who loses contact with
everything around it: the person's entire soul is in the hand of the Just
God, the Thrice-Holy God,-rejected for all eternity! This is the culminating
moment, and God alone can test a soul in this way, because He alone knows
what the soul can endure.
When the soul has been saturated through and through by this infernal fire, it is, as it were, cast headlong into great despair. My soul experienced this moment when I was all alone in my cell. When my soul began to sink into this despair, I felt that the end was near. But I seized my little crucifix and clutched it tightly in my hand. And now I felt my body separate itself from my soul; and though I wanted to go to my Superiors, I no longer had the physical strength. I uttered my last words: "I trust in Your Mercy!"-and it seemed to me that I provoked God to an even greater anger. And now I was drowned in despair, and all that was left me was a moan of unadulterated pain which, from time to time, tore itself from my soul. The soul is in agony-and it seemed to me that I would remain in this state, because by my own strength I could not emerge from it. Every recollection of God opened up an unspeakable ocean of suffering, and yet despite this there is something within the soul which is drawn to Him, though it seems to her for this only-that she suffer more. The memory of the love with which God formerly surrounded it is still another kind of suffering. His gaze pierces it, and everything within the soul is burned by this gaze.
116 My
Jesus, You know what my soul goes through at the recollection of these
sufferings. I have often marvelled that the angels and saints hold their
peace at the sight of a soul suffering like that. Yet they have special love
for us at such moments. My soul has often cried out after God, as a little
child who cries as loudly as he can when his mother covers her face and he
cannot recognize her. O my Jesus, honor and glory to You for these trials of
love! Great and incomprehensible is your mercy. All that You intended for my
soul, O Lord, is steeped in Your mercy.
118 The
tongue is a small member, but it does big things. A religious who does not
keep silence will never attain holiness; that is, she will never become a
saint. Let her not delude herself-unless it is the Spirit of God who is
speaking through her, for then she must not keep silent. But, in order to
hear the voice of God, one has to have silence in one's soul and to keep
silence; not a gloomy silence, but an interior silence; that is to say,
recollection in God. One can speak a great deal without breaking silence and,
on the contrary, one can speak little and be constantly breaking silence. Oh,
what irreparable damage is done by the breach of silence! We cause a lot of
harm to our neighbor, but even more to our own selves.
In my
opinion, and according to my experience, the rule concerning silence should
stand in the very first place. God does not give himself to a chattering soul
which, like a drone in a beehive, buzzes around but gathers no honey. A
talkative soul is empty inside. It lacks both the essential virtues and
intimacy with God. A deeper interior life, one of gentle peace and of that
silence where the Lord dwells, is quite out of the question. A soul that has
never tasted the sweetness of inner silence is a restless spirit which
disturbs the silence of others. I have seen many souls in the depths of hell
for not having kept their silence; they told me so themselves when I asked
them what was the cause of their undoing. These were souls of religious. My
God, what an agony it is to think that not only might they have been in
heaven, but they might even have become saints! O Jesus, have mercy!
140
Pure love is capable of great deeds, and it is not broken by difficulty or
adversity. As it remains strong in the midst of great difficulties, so too it
perseveres in the toilsome and drab life of each day. It knows that only one
thing is needed to please God: to do even the smallest things out of great
love-love, and always love.
Pure love never errs. Its light is strangely plentiful. It will not do anything that might displease God. It is ingenious at doing what is more pleasing to God, and no one will equal it. It is happy when it can empty itself and burn like a pure offering. The more it gives of itself, the happier it is. But also, no one can sense dangers from afar as can love; it knows how to unmask and also knows with whom it has to deal.
147 I recall
that I have received most light during adoration which I made lying prostrate
before the Blessed Sacrament for half an hour every day throughout Lent. During
that time I came to know myself and God more profoundly. And yet, even though
I had the superiors' permission to do so, I encountered many obstacles to
praying in such a way. Let the soul be aware that, in order to pray and
persevere in prayer, one must arm oneself with patience and cope bravely with
exterior and interior difficulties. The interior difficulties are
discouragement, dryness, heaviness of spirit and temptations. The exterior
difficulties are human respect and time; one must observe the time set apart
for prayer. This has been my personal experience because, when I did not pray
at the time assigned for prayer, later on I could not do it because of my
duties; or if I did manage to do so, this was only with great difficulty,
because my thoughts kept wandering off to my duties. I also experienced this
difficulty: when a soul has prayed well and left prayer in a state of
profound interior recollection, others resist its recollection; and so, the
soul must be patient to persevere in prayer. It often happened to me that
when my soul was more deeply immersed in God, and I had derived greater fruit
from prayer, and God's presence accompanied me during the day, and at work
there was more recollection and greater precision and effort at my duty, this
was precisely when I received the most rebukes for being negligent in my duty
and indifferent to everything; because less recollected souls want others to
be like them, for they are a constant [source of] remorse to them.
156
+Once, l desired very much to receive Holy Communion, but I had a certain
doubt, and I did not go. I suffered greatly because of this. It seemed to me
that my heart would burst from the pain. When I set about my work, my heart
full of bitterness, Jesus suddenly stood by me and said, My daughter, do
not omit Holy Communion unless you know well that your fall was serious;
apart from this, no doubt must stop you from uniting yourself with Me in the
mystery of My love. Your minor faults will disappear in My love like a piece
of straw thrown into a great furnace. Know that you grieve Me much when you
fail to receive Me in Holy Communion.
163 JMJ
The Year 1937
General
Exercises
+O Most
Holy Trinity! As many times as I breathe, as many times as my heart beats, as
many times as my blood pulsates through my body, so many thousand times do I
want to glorify Your mercy.
+I want
to be completely transformed into Your mercy and to be Your living
reflection, O Lord. May the greatest of all divine attributes, that of Your
unfathomable mercy, pass through my heart and soul to my neighbor.
Help
me, O Lord, that my eyes may be merciful, so that I may never suspect or
judge from appearances, but look for what is beautiful in my neighbors' souls
and come to their rescue.
Help
me, that my ears may be merciful, so that I may give heed to my neighbors'
needs and not be indifferent to their pains and moaning. Help me, O Lord,
that my tongue may be merciful, so that I should never speak negatively of my
neighbor, but have a word of comfort and forgiveness for all.
Help
me, O Lord, that my hands may be merciful and filled with good deeds, so that
I may do only good to my neighbors and take upon myself the more difficult
and toilsome tasks.
Help
me, that my feet may be merciful, so that I may hurry to assist my neighbor,
overcoming my own fatigue and weariness. My true rest is in the service of my
neighbor.
Help
me, O Lord, that my heart may be merciful so that I myself may feel all the
sufferings of my neighbor. I will refuse my heart to no one. I will be
sincere even with those who, I know, will abuse my kindness. And I will lock
myself up in the most merciful Heart of Jesus. I will bear my own suffering
in silence. May Your mercy, O Lord, rest upon me.
+You
yourself command me to exercise the three degrees of mercy. The first: the
act of mercy, of whatever kind. The second: the word of mercy-if I cannot
carry out a work of mercy, I will assist by my words. The third: prayer-if I
cannot show mercy by deeds or words, I can always do so by prayer. My prayer
reaches out even there where I cannot reach out physically.
O my
Jesus, transform me into Yourself, for you can do all things.
173 Satan's temptations during
meditation. I felt a strange fear that the priest would not
understand me, or that he would
have no time to hear everything I would have to say. How am I going to tell
him all this? If it were Father Bukowski I could do it more easily, but this
Jesuit whom I am seeing for the first time... Then I remembered Father Bukowski's
advice that I should at least take brief notes of the lights sent to me by
God during the retreats and give him at least a brief report on them. My God,
for a day and a half all has gone well, and now a life and death struggle is
beginning. The conference is to start in a half hour, and then I am to go to
confession. Satan tried to persuade me into believing that if my superiors
have told me that my inner life is an illusion, why should I ask again and
trouble the confessor? Didn't MX [probably Mother Jane] tell you that the
Lord Jesus does not commune with souls as miserable as yours? This confessor
is going to tell you the same thing. Why speak to him about all this? These
are not sins, and Mother X, told you that all this communing with the Lord
Jesus was daydreaming and pure hysteria. So why tell it to this confessor?
You would do better to dismiss all this as illusions. Look how many
humiliations you have suffered because of them, and how many more are still
awaiting you, and all the sisters know that you are a hysteric.
"Jesus!" I called out with all the strength of my soul.
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.
229 +At
the beginning of the retreat, Jesus told me, During this retreat, I myself
will direct your soul. I want to confirm you in peace and love. And so
the first few days passed by. On the fourth day, doubts began to trouble me:
Is not this tranquillity of mine false? Then I heard these words, My daughter,
imagine that you are the sovereign of all the world and have the power to
dispose of all things according to your good pleasure. You have the power to
do all the good you want, and suddenly a little child knocks on your door,
all trembling and in tears and, trusting in your kindness, asks for a piece
of bread lest he die of starvation. What would you do for this child? Answer
Me, my daughter. And I said, "Jesus, I would give the child all it
asked and a thousand times more. "And the Lord said to me, That is
how I am treating your soul. In this retreat I am giving you, not only peace,
but also such a disposition of soul that even if you wanted to experience
uneasiness you could not do so. My love has taken possession of your soul,
and I want you to be confirmed in it. Bring your ear close to My Heart,
forget everything else, and meditate upon My wondrous mercy. My love will
give you the strength and courage you need in these matters.
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.
267
Jesus told me that I please Him best by meditating on His sorrowful Passion,
and by such meditation much light falls upon my soul. He who wants to learn
true humility should reflect upon the Passion of Jesus. When I meditate upon
the Passion of Jesus, I get a clear understanding of many things I could not
comprehend before. I want to resemble You, O Jesus,-You crucified, tortured and
humiliated. Jesus, imprint upon my heart and soul Your own humility. I love
You, Jesus, to the point of madness, You who were crushed with suffering as
described by the prophet [cf. Isaiah 53:2-9], as if he could not see the
human form in You because of Your great suffering. It is in this condition,
Jesus, that I love You to the point of madness. O eternal and infinite God,
what has love done to You?...
275
Jesus loves hidden souls. A hidden flower is the most fragrant. I must strive
to make the interior of my soul a resting place for the Heart of Jesus. In
difficult and painful moments, O my Creator, I sing You a hymn of trust, for
bottomless is the abyss of my trust in You and in Your mercy!
278 At
the feet of the Lord. Hidden Jesus, Eternal Love, our Source of Life, Divine
Madman, in that You forget yourself and see only us. Before creating heaven
and earth, You carried us in the depths of Your Heart. O Love, O depth of
Your abasement, O mystery of happiness, why do so few people know You? Why is
Your love not returned? O Divine Love, why do You hide Your beauty? O
Infinite One beyond all understanding, the more I know You the less I
comprehend You; but because I cannot comprehend You, I better comprehend Your
greatness. I do not envy the Seraphim their fire, for I have a greater gift
deposited in my heart. They admire You in rapture, but Your Blood mingles
with mine. Love is heaven given us already here on earth. Oh, why do You hide
in faith? Love tears away the veil. There is no veil before the eye of my
soul, for You yourself have drawn me into the bosom of secret love forever.
Praise and glory be to You, O Indivisible Trinity, One God, unto ages of
ages!
279 God
made known to me what true love consists in and gave light to me about how,
in practice, to give proof of it to Him. True love of God consists in
carrying out God's will. To show God our love in what we do, all our actions,
even the least, must spring from our love of God. And the Lord said to me, My
child, you please Me most by suffering. In your physical as well as your
mental sufferings, My daughter, do not seek sympathy from creatures. I want
the fragrance of your suffering to be pure and unadulterated. I want you to
detach yourself, not only from creatures, but also from yourself. My daughter,
I want to delight in the love of your heart, a pure love, virginal,
unblemished, untarnished. The more you will come to love suffering, My
daughter, the purer your love for Me will be.
281 I
feel certain that my mission will not come to an end upon my death, but will
begin. O doubting souls, I will draw aside for you the veils of heaven to
convince you of God's goodness, so that you will no longer continue to wound
with your distrust the sweetest Heart of Jesus. God is Love and Mercy.
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.
283 I
want to love You as no human soul has ever loved You before; and although I
am utterly miserable and small, I have nevertheless cast the anchor of my
trust deep down into the abyss of Your mercy, O my God and Creator! In spite
of my great misery I fear nothing, but hope to sing You a hymn of glory
forever. Let no soul, even the most miserable, fall prey to doubt; for, as
long as one is alive, each one can become a great saint, so great is the
power of God's grace. It remains only for us not to oppose God's action.
287 +My
Jesus, when I look at this life of souls, I see that many of them serve You
with some mistrust. At certain times, especially when there is an opportunity
to show their love for God, I see them running away from the battlefield. And
once Jesus said to me, Do you, my child, also want to act like that? I
answered the Lord, "Oh, no, my Jesus, I will not retreat from the
battlefield, even if mortal sweat breaks out on my brow; I will not let the
sword fall from my hand until I rest at the feet of the Holy Trinity!"
Whatever I do, I do not rely on my own strength, but on God's grace. With
God's grace a soul can overcome the greatest difficulties.
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.
296 +O
Supreme Good, I want to love You as no one on earth has ever loved You
before! I want to adore You with every moment of my life and unite my will
closely to Your holy will. My life is not drab or monotonous, but it is
varied like a garden of fragrant flowers, so that I don't know which flower
to pick first, the lily of suffering or the rose of love of neighbor or the
violet of humility. I will not enumerate these treasures in which my every day
abounds. It is a great thing to know how to make use of the present moment.
343 True love is measured by
the thermometer of suffering. Jesus, I thank You for the little daily
crosses, for opposition to my endeavors, for the hardships of communal life,
for the misinterpretation of my intentions, for humiliations at the hands of
others, for the harsh way in which we are treated, for false suspicions, for
poor health and loss of strength, for self-denial, for dying to myself, for
lack of recognition in everything, for the upsetting of all my plans.
Thank You, Jesus, for interior sufferings, for dryness of spirit, for terrors, fears and incertitudes, for the darkness and the deep interior night, for temptations and various ordeals, for torments too difficult to describe, especially for those which no one will understand, for the hour of death with its fierce struggle and all its bitterness. I thank You, Jesus, You who first drank the cup of bitterness before You gave it to me, in a much milder form. I put my lips to this cup of Your holy will. Let all be done according to Your good pleasure; let that which Your wisdom ordained before the ages be done to me. I want to drink the cup to its last drop, and not seek to know the reason why. In bitterness is my joy, in hopelessness is my trust. In You, O Lord, all is good, all is a gift of Your paternal Heart. I do not prefer consolations over bitterness or bitterness over consolations, but thank You, O Jesus, for everything! It is my delight to fix my gaze upon You, O incomprehensible God! My spirit abides in these mysterious dwelling places, and there I am at home. I know very well the dwelling place of my Spouse. I feel there is not a single drop of blood in me that does not burn with love for You. O Uncreated Beauty, whoever comes to know You once cannot love anything else. I can feel the bottomless abyss of my soul, and nothing will fill it but God himself. I feel that I am drowned in Him like a single grain of sand in a bottomless ocean.
375
Particular interior practice; that is, the examination of conscience.
Self-denial, denial of my own will.
I. The
denial of my reason. Subjecting it to the reason of those who represent God
to me here on earth.
II. The
denial of my will. Doing the will of God, which is revealed in the will of
those who represent God to me and which is contained in the rule of our
order.
III.
The denial of my judgment. Accepting immediately and without reflection,
analysis or reasoning all orders given by those who represent God to me.
IV. The
denial of my tongue. I will not give it the least bit of freedom; but in one
case only I will give it complete freedom; that is, in proclaiming the glory
of God. Whenever I receive Holy Communion, I will ask Jesus to fortify and
cleanse my tongue that I may not injure my neighbor with it. That is why I
have the greatest respect for the rule which speaks about silence.
383 At
the beginning of the retreat, I saw, on the ceiling of the chapel, Jesus
nailed to the Cross. He was looking at the sisters with great love, but not
at all of them. There were three sisters at whom Jesus looked severely, for
what reasons I do not know. I only know what a terrible thing it is to meet
with such a look, which is the look of a severe Judge. That look was not directed
at me, and yet I was paralyzed with terror. I still tremble as I write these
words. I did not dare to say so much as a single word to Jesus. My physical
strength failed me, and I thought I would not live to the end of the
conference. The next day, I saw the same thing again, just as I had seen it
the first time, and this time I dared to speak these words: "Jesus, how
great is Your mercy!"
On the
third day, that gaze of great kindness upon all the sisters, except the
three, was again repeated. I gathered up my courage, which drew its force
from love of neighbor, and I said to the Lord, "You, who are Mercy
Itself, as You yourself told me, I beg You by the power of Your mercy, to
look then with kindness at these three sisters as well. And if this is not in
accord with Your wisdom, I ask You for an exchange: turn to them the kind
look meant for my soul, and let Your severe gaze at their souls be turned on
me." Jesus then said to me these words: My daughter, for the sake of
your sincere and generous love, I grant them many graces although they are
not asking Me for them. But I am doing so because of the promise I have made
to you. And at that moment, He turned a merciful look towards those three
sisters as well. My heart leapt with joy to see the goodness of God.
531
November 24, 1935. Sunday, first day. I went at once before the Blessed
Sacrament and offered myself with Jesus, present in the Most Holy Sacrament,
to the Everlasting Father. Then I heard these words in my soul: Your
purpose and that of your companions is to unite yourselves with Me as closely
as possible; through love You will reconcile earth with heaven, you will
soften the just anger of God, and you will plead for mercy for the world. I
place in your care two pearls very precious to My Heart: these are the souls
of priests and religious. You will pray particularly for them; their power
will come from your diminishment. You will join prayers, fasts,
mortifications, labors and all sufferings to My prayer, fasting,
mortification, labors and sufferings and then they will have power before My
Father.
542
Postulancy. [108] Age of admission:
any person between the ages of fifteen and thirty. Firstly, the spirit with
which the candidate is imbued and her character are to be taken into
consideration, whether she has a strong will and the courage to follow in
Jesus' footsteps with joy and gladness, as God loves a cheerful giver. She
must despise the world and herself. The lack of a dowry will never be an
obstacle to admission. All formalities concerning the candidate must be
clear; no complicated cases should be admitted.
Melancholy persons, those disposed to sadness, those suffering from contagious diseases, those of an unstable character and those who are inclined to be suspicious of others are not adaptable to the religious life and must not be admitted. Members should be selected with greatest care, as one ill-fitting member is enough to throw the whole convent into confusion.
549
Work. As poor persons, the nuns themselves will do all the work in the
convent. Each one should be glad when she is given some work which is
humbling or which goes against her nature, as that will greatly help her
interior formation. The superior will often change the sisters' duties, and
in this way help them to detach themselves completely from the little details
to which women have a great attachment. Truly, I often find it amusing to see
with my own eyes souls who have forsaken really great things only to attach
themselves to fiddle faddle; that is, trifles. Each sister, including even
the superior, shall work in the kitchen for a month. Every one should take a
turn at every chore which is to be done in the convent.
570 On
one occasion, I saw Jesus in a bright garment; this was in the greenhouse.
[He said to me,] Write what I say to you. My delight is to be united with
you. With great desire, I wait and long for the time when I shall take up My
residence sacramentally in your convent. My spirit will rest in that convent
and I will bless its neighborhood in a special way. Out of love for you all,
I will avert any punishments which are rightly meted out by My Father's
justice. My daughter, I have inclined My heart to your requests. Your
assignment and duty here on earth is to beg for mercy for the whole world. No
soul will be justified until it turns with confidence to My mercy, and this
is why the first Sunday after Easter is to be the Feast of Mercy. On that
day, priests are to tell everyone about My great and unfathomable mercy. I am
making you the administrator of My mercy. Tell the confessor that the Image
is to be on view in the church and not within the enclosure in that convent. By
means of this Image I shall be granting many graces to souls; so let every
soul have access to it.
571 O
my Jesus, Eternal Truth, I fear nothing, neither hardships nor sufferings; I
fear only one thing, and that is to offend You. My Jesus, I would rather not
exist than make You sad. Jesus, You know that my love knows no one but You.
My soul is absorbed in You.
576 O
Holy Trinity, Eternal God, my spirit is drowned in Your beauty. The ages are
as nothing in Your sight. You are always the same. Oh, how great is Your
majesty. Jesus, why do You conceal Your majesty, why have You left Your
heavenly throne and dwelt among us? The Lord answered me, My daughter,
love has brought Me here, and love keeps Me here. My daughter, if you knew
what great merit and reward is earned by one act of pure love for Me, you
would die of joy. I am saying this that you may constantly unite yourself
with Me through love, for this is the goal of the life of your soul. This act
is an act of the will. Know that a pure soul is humble. When you lower and
empty yourself before My majesty, I then pursue you with My graces and make
use of My omnipotence to exalt you
580 On
a certain occasion, the Lord said to me, I am more deeply wounded by the
small imperfections of chosen souls than by the sins of those living in the
world. It made me very sad that chosen souls make Jesus suffer, and Jesus
told me, These little imperfections are not all. I will reveal to you a
secret of My Heart: what I suffer from chosen souls. Ingratitude in return
for so many graces is My Heart's constant food, on the part of [such] a
chosen soul. Their love is lukewarm, and My Heart cannot bear it; these souls
force Me to reject them. Others distrust My goodness and have no desire to
experience that sweet intimacy in their own hearts, but go in search of Me,
off in the distance, and do not find Me. This distrust of My goodness hurts
Me very much. If My death has not convinced you of My love, what will? Often
a soul wounds Me mortally, and then no one can comfort Me. They use My graces
to offend Me. There are souls who despise My graces as well as all the proofs
of My love. They do not wish to hear My call, but proceed into the abyss of
hell. The loss of these souls plunges Me into deadly sorrow. God though I am,
I cannot help such a soul because it scorns Me; having a free will, it can
spurn Me or love Me. You, who are the dispenser of My mercy, tell all the
world about My goodness, and thus you will comfort My Heart.
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.
692 + O
Jesus, I understand that Your mercy is beyond all imagining, and therefore I
ask You to make my heart so big that there will be room in it for the needs
of all the souls living on the face of the earth. O Jesus, my love extends
beyond the world, to the souls suffering in purgatory, and I want to exercise
mercy toward them by means of indulgenced prayers. God's mercy is
unfathomable and inexhaustible, just as God himself is unfathomable. Even if
I were to use the strongest words there are to express this mercy of God, all
this would be nothing in comparison with what it is in reality. O Jesus, make
my heart sensitive to all the sufferings of my neighbor, whether of body or
of soul. O my Jesus, I know that You act toward us as we act toward our
neighbor.
My
Jesus, make my heart like unto Your merciful Heart. Jesus, help me to go
through life doing good to everyone.
700 +
Once, when I was very tired and in much pain, I told Mother Superior [Irene]
about it and received the answer that I should get used to suffering. I
listened to everything that Mother told me, and then I went out. Our Mother
Superior has great love of neighbor and especially great love for the sick
sisters, as everyone knows. And yet, as regards me, it is extraordinary that
the Lord Jesus has permitted that she not understand me and that she test me
much in this respect.
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.
+
Particular Examen
Union
with the merciful Christ. With my heart I encompass the whole world,
especially countries which are uncivilized or where there is persecution. I
am praying for mercy upon them.
791
Hide me, Jesus, in the depths of Your mercy, and then let my neighbor judge
me as he pleases.
856
During the morning meditation, I felt an aversion and a repugnance for all
created things. Everything pales before my eyes; my spirit is detached from all
things. I desire only God himself, and yet I must live. This is a martyrdom
beyond description. God imparts himself to the soul in a loving way and draws
it into the infinite depths of His divinity, but at the same time He leaves
it here on earth for the sole purpose that it might suffer and die of longing
for Him. And this strong love is so pure that God himself finds pleasure in
it; and self-love has no access to its deeds, for here everything is totally
saturated with bitterness, and thus is totally pure. Life is a continuous
dying, painful and terrible, and at the same time it is the depth of true
life and of inconceivable happiness and the strength of the soul; and because
of this, [the soul] is capable of great deeds for the sake of 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.
944 +
There are moments when I mistrust myself, when I feel my own weakness and
wretchedness in the most profound depths of my own being, and I have noticed
that I can endure such moments only by trusting in the infinite mercy of God.
Patience, prayer and silence-these are what give strength to the soul. There
are moments when one should be silent, and when it would be inappropriate to
talk with creatures; these are the moments when one is dissatisfied with
oneself, and when the soul feels as weak as a little child. Then the soul
clings to God with all its might. At such times, I live solely by faith, and
when I feel strengthened by God's grace, then I am more courageous in
speaking and communicating with my neighbors.
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.
1662 +
O Christ, suffering for You is the delight of my heart and my soul. Prolong
my sufferings to infinity, that I may give You a proof of my love. I accept
everything that Your hand will hold out to me. Your love, Jesus, is enough
for me. I will glorify You in abandonment and darkness, in agony and fear, in
pain and bitterness, in anguish of spirit and grief of heart. In all things
may You be blessed. My heart is so detached from the earth, that You Yourself
are enough for me. There is no longer any moment in my life for self concern.
1663 Holy Thursday [April 14, 1938]. Today I
felt strong enough to take part in the ceremonies of the Church. During Holy
Mass, Jesus stood before me and said, Look into My Heart and see there the
love and mercy which I have for humankind, and especially for sinners. Look,
and enter into My Passion. In an instant, I experienced and lived through the
whole Passion of Jesus in my own heart. I was surprised that these tortures
did not deprive me of my life.
1664
During adoration, Jesus said to me, My daughter, know that your ardent love
and the compassion you have for Me were a consolation to Me in the Garden [of
Olives].
1665
During Holy Hour in the evening, I heard the words, You see My mercy for
sinners, which at this moment is revealing itself in all its power. See how
little you have written about it; it is only a single drop. Do what is in
your power, so that sinners may come to know My goodness.
1702 Towards
the end of the Way of the Cross which I was making, the Lord Jesus began to
complain about the souls of religious and priests, about the lack of love in
chosen souls. I will allow convents and churches to be destroyed. I
answered, "Jesus, but there are so many souls praising You in
convents." The Lord answered, That praise wounds My Heart, because
love has been banished from convents. Souls without love and without
devotion, souls full of egoism and self-love, souls full of pride and
arrogance, souls full of deceit and hypocrisy, lukewarm souls who have just
enough warmth to keep them alive: My Heart cannot bear this. All the graces
that I pour out upon them flow off them as off the face of a rock. I cannot
stand them, because they are neither good or bad. I called convents into
being to sanctify the world through them. It is from them that a powerful
flame of love and sacrifice should burst forth. And if they do not repent and
become enkindled by their first love, I will deliver them over to the fate of
this world...
How can they sit on the promised throne of judgment to judge the world, when their guilt is greater than the guilt of the world? There is neither penance nor atonement. O heart, which received Me in the morning and at noon are all ablaze with hatred against Me, hatred of all sorts! O heart specially chosen by Me, were you chosen for this, to give Me more pain? The great sins of the world are superficial wounds on My Heart, but the sins of a chosen soul pierce My Heart through and through...
1703
When I tried to intercede for them, I could find nothing with which to excuse
them and, being at the time unable to think of anything in their defense, my
heart was seized with pain, and I wept bitterly. Then the Lord looked at me
kindly and comforted me with these words: Do not cry. There are still a
great number of souls who love Me very much, but My Heart desires to be loved
by all and, because My love is great, that is why I warn and chastise
them.
1743 +
God's Infinite Goodness in Creating Mankind.
God, who in Your mercy have deigned to call man from nothingness into being, generously have You bestowed upon him nature and grace. But that seemed too little for Your infinite goodness. In Your mercy, O Lord, You have given us everlasting life. You admit us to Your everlasting happiness and grant us to share in Your interior life. And You do this solely out of Your mercy. You bestow on us the gift of Your grace, only because You are good and full of love. You had no need of us at all to be happy, but You, O Lord, want to share Your own happiness with us. But man did not stand the test. You could have punished him, like the angels, with eternal rejection, but here Your mercy appeared, and the very depths of Your being were moved with great compassion, and You promised to restore our salvation. It is an incomprehensible abyss of Your compassion that You did not punish us as we deserved. May Your mercy be glorified, O Lord; we will praise it for endless ages. And the angels were amazed at the greatness of the mercy which You have shown for mankind...
+ God's
Infinite Goodness in Redeeming Man.
1747
God, You could have saved thousands of worlds with one word; a single sigh
from Jesus would have satisfied Your justice. But You Yourself, Jesus, purely
out of love for us, underwent such a terrible Passion. Your Father's justice
would have been propitiated with a single sigh from You, and all Your
self-abasement is solely the work of Your mercy and Your inconceivable love.
On leaving the earth, O Lord, You wanted to stay with us, and so You left us
Yourself in the Sacrament of the Altar, and You opened wide Your mercy to us.
There is no misery that could exhaust You; You have called us all to this
fountain of love, to this spring of God's compassion. Here is the tabernacle
of Your mercy, here is the remedy for all our ills. To You, O living spring
of mercy, all souls are drawn; some like deer, thirsting for Your love,
others to wash the wound of their sins, and still others, exhausted by life,
to draw strength. At the moment of Your death on the Cross, You bestowed upon
us eternal life; allowing Your most holy side to be opened, You opened an
inexhaustible spring of mercy for us, giving us Your dearest possession, the
Blood and Water from Your Heart. Such is the omnipotence of Your mercy. From
it all grace flows to us.
1754
Consider, My daughter, Who it is to whom your heart is so closely united by
the vows. Before I made the world, I loved you with the love your heart is
experiencing today and, throughout the centuries, My love will never change.
1758 My
daughter, consider the life of God which is found in the Church for the
salvation and the sanctification of your soul. Consider the use that you make
of these treasures of grace, of these efforts of My love.
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-57-58, 77, 93, 96-98, 101, 116, 118)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-140, 147, 156, 163, 178, 186-187, 216)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-229, 241, 267, 275, 278-279, 281, 287)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-282-283, 294, 296, 343, 375, 383)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-531, 542, 549, 570-571, 576, 580,
590)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-692, 700, 704, 742)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-791, 856, 861, 871, 944)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-III-1029, 1039)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-VI-1662-1663)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-VI-1701-1703, 1743, 1747, 1754, 1758)
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