The Grumpy Catholics Guild
October 15, 2014. Memorial of Saint
Teresa of Jesus, virgin and doctor of the Church
Father Daniel Ray, LC
Luke 11: 42-46
"But woe to
you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect
justice and the love of God; it is these you ought to have practiced, without
neglecting the others. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love to have the seat of
honor in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces. Woe
to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without
realizing it." One of the lawyers answered him, "Teacher, when you say
these things, you insult us too." And he said, "Woe also to you
lawyers! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do
not lift a finger to ease them.”
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 make my heart
more like yours.
1. Falling into the
Same Trap: Do we ever find ourselves rooting for Jesus in this Gospel passage?
“Give it to ‘em hard, Lord! They deserve it!” We imagine ourselves there in the
scene—our arms sternly crossed, our heads shaking in disapproval of those oh-so
hypocritical Pharisees. Soon our thoughts turn to someone we know who “should
also receive a good verbal lashing!” Even a priest or a bishop might be the
subject of our mental reprimand. Yet we now find ourselves right in the shoes
of the very Pharisees we so deplore: Our hearts are embittered and dry.
Although we are able to condemn with the Lord, we do not love with the Lord. We
forget that Christ would lay down his life for these Pharisees he is calling to
conversion—even if they were the only ones who needed to be saved. Pointing the
finger is easy, but a call to conversion can come only from a heart that loves.
2. The Grumpy
Catholics Guild: Is there anyone who can’t find at least one thing wrong in their parish
or diocese? One thing is to see, pray for, and help resolve these difficulties.
Another matter is to dwell on them. That is what the members of the “Grumpy
Catholics Guild” (GCG) do. This Gospel passage is the one exclusive lens
through which they view everything. For the Rosary, members of the GCG pray the
“Vengeful Mysteries”: Jesus curses the fig tree, Jesus clears the temple, Jesus
condemns the scribes and Pharisees. Might I be an anonymous member—or at least
a supporter—of the GCG? Christ used hard words, but they were only fruit of an
intense love and longing for the scribes’ and Pharisees’ salvation, not an
intense bitterness toward them. If I have any bitterness in my heart, I need to
ask Christ for the grace to forgive and to forgive as Christ forgives.
3. Helping Hand: Our Lord was the
greatest teacher, the great pedagogue of the fullness of life: the love of the
Father. He knew how to bring souls along little by little, at their pace and to
the extent they were capable. The opposite is true of the lawyers at the end of
this Gospel passage. They would load restrictions, unwieldy responsibilities
and weighty sacrifices upon the people, but would not reach out a helping hand
to assist the people in carrying the weight. As Christians we are called to
help illuminate the consciences of those around us so that they might have a
closer relationship with God. However if illuminating their consciences is
merely our euphemism for “throwing the book at them”, we need to stop and see
if Christ’s words don’t apply to us as well: “For you load people with burdens
hard to bear, and you yourselves do not lift a finger to ease them.”
Conversation with
Christ: Lord Jesus, at times I look at my heart and see that it is hard and
bitter. It is ready to jump self-righteously at the first opportunity to
condemn someone else, but only so as to assure myself of my own moral
superiority. Grant me a heart, meek and humble like Yours.
Resolution: If I find myself
thinking critically about someone today, I will pray for them and look for two
good qualities in them.
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.
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.
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.
320 Jesus made known to me how very
pleasing to Him were prayers of atonement. He said to me, The prayer of a
humble and loving soul disarms the anger of My Father and draws down an ocean
of blessings. After the adoration, half way to my cell, I was surrounded by
a , pack of huge black dogs who were jumping and howling and trying to tear me
to pieces. I realized that they were not dogs, but demons. One of them spoke up
in a rage, "Because you have snatched so many souls away from us this
night, we will tear you to pieces." I answered, "If that is the will
of the most merciful God, tear me to pieces, for I have justly deserved it,
because I am the most miserable of all sinners, and God is ever holy, just, and
infinitely merciful." To these words all the demons answered as one,
"Let us flee, for she is not alone; the Almighty is with her!" And
they vanished like dust, like the noise of the road, while I continued on my
way to my cell undisturbed, finishing my Te Deum and pondering the infinite and
unfathomable mercy of God.
332
+Thursday. When I started the Holy Hour, I wanted to immerse myself in
the agony of Jesus in the Garden of Olives. Then I heard a voice in my soul:Meditate
on the mystery of the Incarnation . And suddenly the Infant Jesus appeared
before me, radiant with beauty. He told me how much God is pleased with
simplicity in a soul. Although My greatness is beyond understanding, I
commune only with those who are little. I demand of you a childlike spirit.
1306
+ O humility, lovely flower, I see how few souls possess you. Is it
because you are so beautiful and at the same time so difficult to attain? O
yes, it is both the one and the other. Even God takes great pleasure in her.
The floodgates of heaven are open to a humble soul, and a sea of graces flows down
upon her. O how beautiful is a humble soul! From her heart, as from a censer,
rises a varied and most pleasing fragrance which breaks through the skies and
reaches God himself, filling His Most Sacred Heart with joy. God refuses
nothing to such a soul; she is all-powerful and influences the destiny of the
whole world. God raises such a soul up to His very throne, and the more she
humbles herself, the more God stoops down to her, pursuing her with His graces
and accompanying her at every moment with His omnipotence. Such a soul is most
deeply united with God. O humility, strike deep roots in my whole being. O
Virgin most pure, but also most humble, help me to attain deep humility. Now I
understand why there are so few saints; it is because so few souls are deeply
humble.
1579 + It is when I meet with
hypocrisy that I suffer most. Now I understand You, my Savior, for rebuking the
Pharisees so severely for their hypocrisy. You associated more graciously with
hardened sinners when they approached You contritely.
1602 Today the Lord said to me, Daughter,
when you go to confession, to this fountain of My mercy, the Blood and Water
which came forth from My Heart always flows down upon your soul and ennobles
it. Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself entirely in My mercy,
with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul.
When you approach the confessional, know this, that I Myself am waiting there
for you. I am only hidden by the priest, but I myself act in your soul. Here the
misery of the soul meets the God of mercy. Tell souls that from this fount of
mercy souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust. If their trust is
great, there is no limit to My generosity. The torrents of grace inundate
humble souls. The proud remain always in poverty and misery, because My grace
turns away from them to humble souls.
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..
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..
1710 May 26, [1938-Feast of the
Ascension]. Today I accompanied the Lord Jesus as He ascended into heaven. It
was about noon. I was overcome by a great longing for God. It is a strange
thing, the more I felt God's presence, the more ardently I desired Him. Then I
saw myself in the midst of a huge crowd of disciples and apostles, together
with the Mother of God. Jesus was telling them to... Go out into the whole
world and teach in My name. He stretched out His hands and blessed them and
disappeared in a cloud. I saw the longing of Our Lady. Her soul yearned for
Jesus with the whole force of Her love. But She was so peaceful and so united
to the will of God that there was not a stir in Her heart but for what God
wanted.
1711 When I was left alone with the Blessed Virgin, She instructed me concerning the interior life. She said, The soul's true greatness is in loving God and in humbling oneself in His presence, completely forgetting oneself and believing oneself to be nothing; because the Lord is great, but He is well pleased only with the humble; He always opposes the proud.
1711 When I was left alone with the Blessed Virgin, She instructed me concerning the interior life. She said, The soul's true greatness is in loving God and in humbling oneself in His presence, completely forgetting oneself and believing oneself to be nothing; because the Lord is great, but He is well pleased only with the humble; He always opposes the proud.
(Diary of
Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-92, 200, 282, 320, 332)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-IV-1306)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-IV-1306)
(Diary of
Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-V-1579)
(Diary of
Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-VI-1602, 1702, 1710-1711)
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