To
Do Good or Evil?
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January 21, 2015. Memorial of Saint Agnes, Virgin and Martyr
Father Walter Schu,
LC
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Mark 3:1-6
Jesus entered the synagogue. There was a man there who had a withered hand. They watched him closely to see if he would cure him on the sabbath so that they might accuse him. He said to the man with the withered hand, "Come up here before us." Then he said to them, "Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?" But they remained silent. Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death. Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe in You. Thank You for the gift of faith, more precious than life itself. I hope in You. May the dark waters of doubt never break through my dike of hope. I love You. I want to let You purify me, so that my love for You may be more ardent and more courageous. Petition: Lord, help me to bear witness to you even in adverse circumstances. 1. “They Watched Him Closely”:At the beginning of his public ministry, Christ already incurs the bitter opposition of the Pharisees. Having reduced them to silence in a wheat field, Christ bravely enters the synagogue to confront them once again. There the Pharisees are in the first places of honor, and they watch his every move, hoping he will cure against the laws of the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. The Pharisees were right about one thing. They did well to observe Christ closely. If only they had done so with the right spirit: to learn from him and to glorify God for the wonders he did through him. How closely do we watch Christ in our own lives? How readily do we perceive his actions through the circumstances of the day? How often do we glorify God for the great things Christ does and longs to do in us? 2. To Do Good or Evil? Christ obliges the Pharisees. With fearless courage he calls the man with the withered hand forward, so that no one can mistake what he is about to do. Then he puts his antagonists in a dilemma with two clear questions. First: “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil?” “They are bound to admit that it is lawful to do good; and it is a good thing he proposed to do. They are bound to deny that it is lawful to do evil; and, yet, surely it is an evil thing to leave a man in wretchedness when it is possible to help him.” (William Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, pp. 68-69) Then Christ asks the second question: “Is it lawful to save life rather than to destroy it?” “Here he is driving the thing home. He is taking steps to save this wretched man’s life; they are thinking out methods of killing Christ. On any reckoning it is surely a better thing to be thinking about helping a man than it is to be thinking of killing a man. No wonder they had nothing to say!” (Ibid.) 3. “Angered by Their Hardness of Heart”:Seldom does the Gospel show Christ angry. Here his anger is provoked by the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and their hardness of heart. They close themselves off from his message of salvation. What happens when someone definitively closes his heart to Christ? The Pharisees, the defenders of the law and Jewish customs, were bitter enemies of the Herodians, who collaborated with King Herod and the Romans. Yet this Gospel relates the chilling fact that these two joined forces to plot to kill Jesus. They are united not by the intrinsic force of goodness, but by the malignant power of evil. Do I at times make small concessions to hypocrisy, envy or even hatred? These could slowly harden my heart toward Christ. Am I willing to be courageous like Christ and endure even bitter opposition for the sake of the Gospel? Conversation with Christ: Thank You, Lord, for Your goodness and courage. How small I feel when I compare myself with You in the Gospel. What an infinite distance separates us! Thank You for calling me — with all of my weakness, sins, and limitations — to be Your apostle. Help me never to surrender to evil in my heart, but to grow in goodness of heart in order to be more like You. Resolution: I will do a good deed for someone today, even if it is difficult, in order to bear witness to Christ.
Excerpts from the DIARY
of Saint Faustina Kowalska
39 + One day Jesus told me that
He would cause a chastisement to fall upon the most beautiful city in our
country [probably Warsaw]. This chastisement would be that with which God had
punished Sodom and Gomorrah.[27] I saw the great wrath of God
and a shudder pierced my heart. I prayed in silence. After a moment, Jesus
said to me, My child, unite yourself
closely to Me during the Sacrifice
and offer My Blood and My Wounds to My Father in expiation for the sins of that city. Repeat this without
interruption throughout the
entire Holy Mass. Do this for seven days. On the seventh day I saw
Jesus in a bright cloud and began to beg Him to look upon the city and upon
our whole country. Jesus looked [down] graciously. When I saw the kindness
of' Jesus, I began to beg His blessing. Immediately Jesus said, For your sake I bless the entire country. And
He made a big sign of the cross over our country. Seeing the goodness of God,
a great joy filled my soul.
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.
135 During the third probation, the Lord
gave me to understand that I should offer myself to Him so that He could do
with me as He pleased. I was to remain standing before Him as a victim
offering. At first, I was quite frightened, as I felt myself to be so utterly
miserable and knew very well that this was the case. I answered the Lord once
again, "I am misery itself; how can I be a hostage [for others]? You do not understand this today. Tomorrow,
during your adoration, I will
make it known to you. My heart trembled, as did my soul, so deeply did
these words sink into my soul. The word of God is living. When I came to the
adoration, I felt within my soul that I had entered the temple of the living
God, whose majesty is great and incomprehensible. And He made known to me
what even the purest spirits are in His sight. Although I saw nothing
externally, God's presence pervaded me. At that very moment my intellect was
strangely illumined. A vision passed before the eyes of my soul; it was like
the vision Jesus had in the Garden of Olives. First, the physical sufferings
and all the circumstances that would increase them; [then] the full scope of
the spiritual sufferings and those that no one would know about. Everything
entered into the vision: false suspicions, loss of good name. I've summarized
it here, but this knowledge was already so clear that what I went through
later on was in no way different from what I had known at that moment. My
name is to be: "sacrifice." When the vision ended, a cold sweat
bathed my forehead. Jesus made it known to me that, even if I did not give my
consent to this, I could still be saved; and He would not lessen His graces,
but would still continue to have the same intimate relationship with me, so
that even if I did not consent to make this sacrifice, God's generosity would
not lessen thereby.
136 And the Lord gave me to know that the
whole mystery depended on me, on my free consent to the sacrifice given with
full use of my faculties. In this free and conscious act lies the whole power
and value before His Majesty. Even if none of these things for which I
offered myself would ever happen to me, before the Lord everything was as
though it had already been consummated.
At that moment, I realized I was entering into communion with the incomprehensible Majesty. I felt that God was waiting for my word, for my consent. Then my spirit immersed itself in the Lord, and I said, "Do with me as You please. I subject myself to Your will. As of today, Your holy will shall be my nourishment, and I will be faithful to Your commands with the help of Your grace. Do with me as You please. I beg You, O Lord, be with me at every moment of my life."
137 Suddenly, when I had consented to the
sacrifice with all my heart and all my will, God's presence pervaded me. My
soul became immersed in God and was inundated with such happiness that I
cannot put in writing even the smallest part of it. I felt that His Majesty
was enveloping me. I was extraordinarily fused with God. I saw that God was
well pleased with me and, reciprocally, my spirit drowned itself in Him.
Aware of this union with God, I felt I was especially loved and, in turn, I
loved with all my soul. A great mystery took place during that adoration, a
mystery between the Lord and myself. It seemed to me that I would die of love
[at the sight of] His glance. I spoke much with the Lord, without uttering a
single word. And the Lord said to me, You
are the delight of My Heart; from today on, every one of your acts, even the very smallest, will be
a delight to My eyes, whatever you do. At that moment I felt
transconsecrated. My earthly body was the same, but my soul was different;
God was now living in it with the totality of His delight. This is not a
feeling, but a conscious reality that nothing can obscure.
208 O you small, everyday sacrifices, you
are to me like wild flowers which I strew over the feet of my beloved Jesus.
I sometimes compare these trifles to the heroic virtues, and that is because
their enduring nature demands heroism.
367 +On one occasion, Jesus gave me to know that when I pray for
intentions which people are wont to entrust to me, He is always ready to
grant His graces, but souls do not always want to accept them: My Heart overflows with great mercy for
souls, and especially for poor sinners. If only they could understand that I
am the best of Fathers to them and that it is for them that the Blood and
Water flowed from My Heart as from a fount overflowing with mercy. For them I
dwell in the tabernacle as King of Mercy. I desire to bestow My graces upon
souls, but they do not want to accept them. You, at least, come to Me as often
as possible and take these graces they do not want to accept. In this way you
will console My Heart. Oh, how indifferent are souls to so much goodness, to
so many proofs of love! My Heart drinks only of the ingratitude and
forgetfulness of souls living in the world. They have time for everything,
but they have no time to come to Me for graces.
So I turn to you, you-chosen souls, will you also fail to understand the love of My Heart? Here, too, My Heart finds disappointment; I do not find complete surrender to My love. So many reservations, so much distrust, so much caution. To comfort you, let Me tell you that there are souls living in the world who love Me dearly. I dwell In their hearts with delight. But they are few. In convents too, there are souls that fill My Heart with joy. They bear My features; therefore the Heavenly Father looks upon them with special pleasure. They will be a marvel to Angels and men. Their number is very small. They are a defense for the world before the justice of the Heavenly Father and a means of obtaining mercy for the world. The love and sacrifice of these souls sustain the world in existence. The infidelity of a soul specially chosen by Me wounds My Heart most painfully. Such infidelities are swords which pierce My Heart.
482 O my God, I am conscious of my mission
in the Holy Church. It is my constant endeavor to plead for me mercy for the
world. I unite myself closely with Jesus and stand before Him as an atoning
sacrifice on behalf of the world. God will refuse me nothing when I entreat
Him with the voice of His Son. My sacrifice is nothing in itself, but when I
join it to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, it becomes all-powerful and has the
power to appease divine wrath. God loves us in His Son; the painful Passion
of the Son of God constantly turns aside the wrath of God.
483 O God, how I desire that souls come to
know You and to see that You have created them because of Your unfathomable
love. O my Creator and Lord, I feel that I am going to remove the veil of
heaven so that earth will not doubt Your goodness.
Make of me, Jesus, a pure and agreeable offering before the Face of Your Father. Jesus, transform me, miserable and sinful as I am, into Your own self (for You can do all things), and give me to Your Eternal Father. I want t become a sacrificial host before You, but an ordinary wafer to people. I want the fragrance of my sacrifice be known to You alone. O Eternal God, an unquenchable fire of supplication for Your mercy burns within me. I know and understand that this is my task here and in eternity. You yourself have told me to speak about this great mercy and about Your goodness.
485 I accept joy or suffering, praise or
humiliation with the same disposition. I remember that one and the other are
passing. What does it matter to me what people say about me? I have long ago
given up everything that concerns my person. My name is host-or sacrifice,
not in words but in deeds, in the emptying of myself and in becoming like You
on the Cross, O good Jesus, my Master!
507 I desire, O my Jesus, to suffer and
burn with the flame of Your love in all the circumstances of my life. I am
Yours, completely Yours, and I wish to disappear in You, O Jesus, I wish to
be lost in Your divine beauty. You pursue me with Your love, O Lord; You
penetrate my soul like a ray of the sun and change its darkness into Your
light. I feel very vividly that I am living in You as one small spark
swallowed up by the incomprehensible fire with which You burn, O
inconceivable Trinity! No greater joy is to be found than that of loving God.
Already here on earth we can taste the happiness of those in heaven by an
intimate union with God, a union that is extraordinary and often quite
incomprehensible to us. One can attain this very grace through simple
faithfulness of soul.
509 In the adversities that I experience, I
remind myself that the time for doing battle has not yet come to an end. I
arm myself with patience, and in this way I defeat my assailant.
530 To the Glory of the Holy Trinity.
I asked Mother Superior [Borgia] to permit me to make a forty-day fast, taking once a day a piece of bread and a glass of water. However, following the advice of my confessor [Father Sopocko], Mother Superior did not agree to forty days, but to seven. "I cannot take you away from your duties completely, Sister, because of the other sisters who might notice something. I give you my permission to devote yourself to prayer and to note down some of these things, but it will be very difficult for me to protect you as regards the fasting. Really, I can think of no solution to this," and she said, "Go now, Sister, and perhaps some light will come to me." On Sunday morning, I understood that when Mother Superior assigned me as portress during mealtime, she was doing so with the thought of giving me the opportunity to fast. In the morning, I did not go to breakfast, but, a little while later, I went to Mother Superior and asked her whether I had been assigned as portress in view of making it possible for me to fast unnoticed. Mother replied, "When I assigned you, [106] Sister, it was with this in mind." I then saw that this was the same thought that I had had interiorly.
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.
538 There will be no distinction between
the sisters, no mothers,[107]
no reverends, no venerable, but all will be equal, even though there might be
great differences in their parentage. We know who Jesus was, and yet how He
humbled himself and with whom He associated. Their habit will be like that
worn by Jesus during His Passion, and they will not simply wear the robe [He
wore]; they must also seal themselves with the marks He bore: suffering and
scorn. Each one will strive for the greatest self-denial and have a love of
humility, and she who will distinguish herself most in this latter virtue
will be the one who is capable of leading the others.
540 In the evening when I was writing, I
heard a voice in my cell which said, "Do not leave this Congregation;
have mercy upon yourself, such great sufferings are in store for you."
When I looked in the direction of the voice, I saw nothing, and I continued
to write. Suddenly I heard a noise and the words: "When you leave, we
will destroy you. Do not torture us." I glanced around and saw many ugly
monsters. So I mentally made the sign of the Cross and they disappeared
immediately. How terribly ugly Satan is! The poor damned souls that have to
keep him company! Just the sight of him is more disgusting than all the
torments of hell.
546 Meals. We will have no meat. Our meals
shall be such that not even the poor will have any reason to envy us. Still,
feast days may differ slightly from regular days. The sisters will eat three
times a day. Fasts, especially the two great ones, will be observed strictly,
according to the original spirit. The food should be the same for all the
nuns without exception so that communal life may be kept pure. This refers
not only to food but to clothing and the furnishing of cells as well.
However, if a sister should fall ill, she should receive every consideration.
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.
572 Oh, how great should be the ardor of
every soul who will live in that convent, since God desires to come and live
with us! Let everyone remember that if we religious do not intercede before
God, who will? Each of us should burn like a pure sacrifice before the
majesty of God, but to be pleasing to God, each one should unite herself
closely to Jesus. It is only with Him, in Him and through Him that we can be
pleasing to God.
573 December 21, 1935. One day my confessor
[Father Sopocko] told me to go and look at a certain house to see whether it
was the same house I had seen in my vision. When I went with my confessor to
see that house, or rather those ruins, at a glance I recognized that they
were the same as I had seen in my vision. The moment I touched the boards
which had been nailed together in place of the doors, a strength pervaded my
soul like a flash, giving me unshakable certitude. I went away quickly from
that place, my heart full of joy, for it seemed to me that there was a
certain force chaining me to that place.
I am very happy to see that everything agrees perfectly with what I saw in the vision. When the confessor spoke to me about the arrangement of the cells and other things, I recognized everything to be the same as had been told to me by Jesus. I am delighted that God is acting in this way through my confessor, but I am not surprised that God is giving him so much light; since God, who is Light itself, lives in a pure and humble heart, and all sufferings and adversities serve but to reveal the soul's holiness. When I returned home, I went immediately to our chapel to rest a while. Then suddenly I heard these words in my soul: Do not fear anything. I am with you. These matters are in My hands and I will bring them to fruition according to My mercy, for nothing can oppose My will.
575 Midnight Mass. During Holy Mass, I
again saw the little Infant Jesus, extremely beautiful, joyfully stretching
out His little arms to me. After Holy Communion, I heard the words: I am always in your heart; not only when
you receive Me in Holy Communion, but always. I spent these holydays
in great joy.
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.
593 O my Jesus, nothing is better for the
soul than humiliations. In contempt is the secret of happiness, when the soul
recognizes that, of itself, it is only wretchedness and nothingness, and that
whatever it possesses of good is a gift of God. When the soul sees that
everything is given it freely and that the only thing it has of itself is its
own misery, this is what sustains it in a continual act of humble prostration
before the majesty of God. And God, seeing the soul in such a disposition,
pursues it with His graces. As the soul continues to immerse itself more
deeply into the abyss of its nothingness and need, God uses His omnipotence
to exalt it. If there is a truly happy soul upon earth, it can only be a
truly humble soul. At first, one's self-love suffers greatly on this account,
but after a soul has struggled courageously, God grants it much light by
which it sees how wretched and full of deception everything is. God alone is
in its heart. A humble soul does not trust itself, but places all its
confidence in God. God defends the humble soul and lets Himself into its
secrets, and the soul abides in unsurpassable happiness which no one can
comprehend.
605 O Holy Trinity, Eternal God, I thank
You for allowing me to know the greatness and the various degrees of glory to
which souls attain. Oh, what a great difference of depth in the knowledge of
God there is between one degree and another! Oh, if people could only know
this! O my God, if I were thereby able to attain one more degree, I would
gladly suffer all the torments of the martyrs put together. Truly, all those
torments seem as nothing to me compared with the glory that is awaiting us
for all eternity. O Lord, immerse my soul in the ocean of Your divinity and
grant me the grace of knowing You; for the better I know You, the more I
desire You, and the more my love for You grows. I feel in my soul an
unfathomable abyss which only God can fill. I lose myself in Him as a drop
does in the ocean. The Lord has inclined himself to my misery like a ray of
the sun upon a barren and rocky desert. And yet, under the influence of His
rays, my soul has become covered with verdure, flowers, and fruit, and has
become a beautiful garden for His repose.
606 My Jesus, despite Your graces, I see
and feel all my misery. I begin my day with battle and end it with battle. As
soon as I conquer one obstacle, ten more appear to take its place. But I am
not worried, because I know that this is the time of struggle, not peace.
When the burden of the battle becomes too much for me, I throw myself like a
child into the arms of the heavenly Father and trust I will not perish. O my
Jesus, how prone I am to evil, and this forces me to be constantly vigilant.
But I do not lose heart. I trust God's grace, which abounds in the worst
misery.
607 In the midst of the worst difficulties
and adversities, I do not lose inner peace or exterior balance, and this
discourages my adversaries. Patience in adversity gives power to the soul.
611 O my Jesus, I implore You by the
goodness of Your most sweet Heart, let Your anger diminish and show us Your
mercy. May Your wounds be our shield against Your Father's justice. I have
come to know You, O God, as the source of mercy that vivifies and nourishes
every soul. Oh, how great is the mercy of the Lord; it surpasses all His
other qualities! Mercy is the greatest attribute of God; everything that
surrounds me speaks to me of this. Mercy is the life of souls; His compassion
is inexhaustible. O Lord, look on us and deal with us according to Your
countless mercies, according to Your great mercy.
615 March 1, 1936. Today during Holy Mass I
experienced a strange force and urge to start realizing God's wishes. I had
such a clear understanding of the things the Lord was asking of me that truly
if I were to say that I do not understand what God is demanding from me, I
would be lying, because the Lord is making His will known to me so clearly
and distinctly that I do not have the least shadow of a doubt about them. I
realized that it would be the greatest ingratitude to delay any longer this
undertaking which the Lord wishes to bring to fulfillment for His glory and
the benefit of a great number of souls. And He is using me as a miserable
tool through which to realize His eternal plans of mercy. Truly, how
ungrateful my soul would be to resist God's will any longer. Nothing will
stop me any longer, be it persecution, sufferings, sneers, threats,
entreaties, hunger, cold, flattery, friendships, adversities, friends or
enemies; be it things I am experiencing now or things that will come in the
future or even the hatred of hell-nothing will deter me from doing the will
of God.
I am not counting on my own strength, but on His omnipotence for, as he gave me the grace of knowing His holy will, He will also grant me the grace of fulfilling it. I cannot fail to mention how much my own lower nature resists this thing, manifesting its own desires, and there results within my soul a great struggle, like that of Jesus in the Garden of Olives. And so I too cry out to God, the Eternal Father, "If it is possible, take this cup from me, but, nevertheless, not my will, but Yours be done, O Lord; may Your will be done." What I am about to go through is no secret to me, but with full knowledge I accept whatever You send me, O Lord. I trust in You, O merciful God, and I wish to be the first to manifest to You that confidence which You demand of souls. O Eternal Truth, help me and enlighten me along the roadways of life, and grant that Your will be accomplished in me. My God, I desire nothing but the fulfillment of Your will. It does not matter whether it will be easy or difficult. I feel an extraordinary force driving me to action. One thing alone holds me back, and that is holy obedience. O my Jesus, You urge me on the one hand and hold me back and restrain me on the other. In this, too, O my Jesus, may Your holy will be done. I continued in this state, without a break, for many days. My physical strength declined, and though I did not speak to anyone about it, nevertheless Mother Superior [Borgia] noticed my pain and remarked that I had changed in appearance and was very pale. She told me to go to bed earlier and to sleep longer, and she had a cup of hot milk brought to me in the evening. She had a motherly heart, full of care, and tried to help me. But in the case of spiritual sufferings, external things have no influence, and they do not bring much relief. It was from the confessional that I drew my strength and the consolation of knowing that it would not be long before I could begin to act.
633 I am greatly surprised at how one can
be so jealous. When I see someone else's good, I rejoice at it as if it were
mine. The joy of others is my joy, and the suffering of others is my
suffering, for otherwise I would not dare to commune with the Lord Jesus. The
spirit of Jesus is always simple, meek, sincere; all malice, envy, and
unkindness disguised under a smile of good will are clever little devils. A
severe word flowing from sincere love does not wound the heart.
638 Jesus, drive away from me the thoughts
that are not in accord with Your will. I know that nothing now binds me to
this earth but this work of mercy.
639 Thursday. During the evening adoration,
I saw Jesus scourged and tortured. He said to me, My daughter, I desire that even in the smallest things, you rely on
your confessor. Your greatest sacrifices do not please Me if you practice
them without the confessor's permission; on the other hand, the smallest
sacrifice finds great value in My eyes, if it is done with his permission.
The greatest works are worthless in My eyes if they are done out of
self-will, and often they are not in accord with My will and merit punishment
rather than reward. And on the other hand, even the smallest of your acts,
done with the confessor's permission is pleasing in My eyes and very dear to
Me. Hold firmly to this always. Be constantly on the watch, for many souls
will turn back from the gates of hell and worship My mercy. But fear nothing,
as I am with you. Know that of yourself you can do nothing.
642 Palm Sunday. This Sunday, I experienced
in a special way the sentiments of the most sweet Heart of Jesus. My spirit
was there where Jesus was. I saw Jesus riding on a donkey's foal, and the
disciples and a great multitude with branches in their hands joyfully
accompanying the Lord Jesus. Some strewed them before His feet where He was
riding, while others raised their branches in the air, leaping and jumping
before the Lord and not knowing what to do for joy. And I saw another crowd
which came out to meet Jesus, likewise with joyful faces and with branches in
their hands, and they were crying out unceasingly with joy. There were little
children there also. But Jesus was very grave, and the Lord gave me to know
how much He was suffering at the time. And at that moment, I saw nothing but
only Jesus, whose Heart was saturated with ingratitude.
644 When I left the confessional, a
multitude of thoughts oppressed my soul. Why be sincere? What I have told is
no sin, so I have no duty to tell it to the confessor. And again, what a
relief that I do not have to heed my interior any more as long as things are
all right on the outside. I do not have to pay attention to anything or to
follow the inner voices that have often cost me so much humiliation. From now
on, I will be free. And again, a strange pain seized my soul: can I not,
then, commune with the One whom I desire so greatly? The One who is the whole
strength of my soul? I began to cry out, "To whom shall I go, O
Jesus?" But from the moment of the confessor's prohibition, great
darkness fell upon my soul. I feared lest I hear some inner voice, which would
occasion the breaking of my confessor's prohibition. And then again, I die of
longing for God. My interior is torn asunder, not having any will of its own,
since it has been turned over completely to God.
That was on Wednesday of Holy Week. The suffering intensified on Holy Thursday. When I came to make my meditation, I entered into a kind of agony. I did not feel the presence of God, but all the justice of God weighed heavily upon me. I saw myself as if knocked down for the sins of the world. Satan began to mock me, "See, now you will no longer strive to win souls; look how you've been paid! Nobody will believe you that Jesus demands this. See how much you are suffering now, and how much more you are going to suffer! After all, the confessor has now released you from all these things." Now I can live as I like, as long as things are all right outwardly. These dreadful thoughts tormented me throughout the whole hour. When it was almost time for Holy Mass, my heart was seized with pain; am I, then, to leave the Congregation? And since Father has told me that this is a kind of heresy, am I to fall away from the Church? I cried out to the Lord with a sorrowful interior cry, "Jesus, save me!" Still, not a single ray of light entered my soul, and I felt my strength failing, as if the body were separating itself from the soul. I submitted to the will of God and repeated, "O God, let whatever You have decided upon happen to me. Nothing in me is any longer my own." Then, suddenly, God's presence enveloped me and penetrated me through and through. This was just as I was receiving Holy Communion. A moment after Holy Communion, I lost all awareness of everything around me and of my whereabouts.
645 Then I saw the Lord Jesus, as He is
represented in the image, and He said to me, Tell the confessor that this work is Mine and that I am using you as a
lowly instrument. And I said, "Jesus, I can no longer do anything
You command me to do, because my confessor has told me that all this is an
illusion, and that I am not allowed to obey any of Your commands. I will do
nothing that You will tell me to do now. I am sorry, my Lord, but I am not
allowed to do anything, and I must obey my confessor. Jesus, I most earnestly
ask Your pardon. You know how much I suffer because of this, but it can't be
helped, Jesus. The confessor has forbidden me to follow Your orders."
Jesus listened to my arguments and complaints with kindness and satisfaction.
I thought the Lord Jesus would be grievously offended but, on the contrary,
He was pleased and said to me kindly,
Always tell your confessor about everything I say to you and command you to
do, and do only that for which you obtain permission. Do not be upset, and
fear nothing; I am with you. My soul was filled with joy, and all
those oppressive thoughts vanished. Certitude and courage entered my soul.
646 But after a short while, I entered into
the sufferings which Jesus underwent in the Garden of Olives. This lasted
until Friday morning. On Friday, I experienced the Passion of Jesus but, this
time, in a different way. On that day, Father Bukowski came from Derdy. Some
strange power pushed me to go to confession and tell him about everything
that had happened to me and about what Jesus had said to me. When I told
Father, he was quite different and he said to me, "Sister, don't be
afraid of anything; you will come to no harm, for the ' Lord Jesus will not
allow it. If you are obedient and persevere in this disposition, you need not
worry about anything. God will find a way to bring about His work. You should
always have this simplicity and sincerity and tell everything to Mother
General. What I said to ; you was said as a warning, because illusions may
afflict even holy persons, and Satan's insinuations may play a part in this,
and sometimes this comes from our own selves, so one has to be careful. And
so continue as you have thus far. You can see, Sister, that the Lord is not
angered by this. And Sister, you can repeat these things that have happened
to you at present to your regular confessor [Father Sopocko]."
648 Good Friday. At three o'clock, I saw
the Lord Jesus, crucified, who looked at me and said, I thirst. Then I saw two rays issue from His side, just as they
appear in the image. I then felt in my soul the desire to save souls and to
empty myself for the sake of poor sinners. I offered myself, together with
the dying Jesus, to the Eternal Father, for the salvation of the whole world.
With Jesus, through Jesus and in Jesus is my communion with You, Eternal
Father. On Good Friday, Jesus suffered in His soul in a way which was
different from [His suffering on] Holy Thursday.
650 O my Jesus, my Master and Director,
strengthen and enlighten me in these difficult moments of my life. I expect
no help from people; all my hope is in You. I feel alone in the face of Your
demands, O Lord. Despite the fears and qualms of my nature, I am fulfilling
Your holy will and desire to fulfill it as faithfully as possible throughout
my life and in my death. Jesus, with You I can do all things. Do with me as
You please; only give me Your merciful Heart and that is enough for me.
O Jesus my Lord, help me. Let what You have planned before all ages happen to me. I am ready at each beckoning of Your holy will. Enlighten my mind that I may know Your will. O God, You who pervade my soul, You know that I desire nothing but Your glory. O Divine Will, You are the delight of my heart, the food of my soul, the light of my intellect, the omnipotent strength of my will; for when I unite myself with Your will, O Lord, Your power works through me and takes the place of my feeble will. Each day, I seek to carry out God's wishes.
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-I-39, 77, 93, 135-137, 208
367)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-I-482-483, 485, 507, 509)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-II-530-531, 538, 540, 546, 571-573, 575)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-II-576, 593, 605-607, 611, 615, 633, 638)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-II-639-642, 644-646, 648, 650)
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Enero 21, 2015
To Do Good or Evil?-Divine Mercy Miracles Meditations
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