Harsh or Rush Judgment
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July 14, 2015. Memorial of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin
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Matthew 11: 20-24
Jesus began to reproach the towns where most
of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented. "Woe to
you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your
midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in
sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon
on the day of judgment than for you. And as for you, Capernaum: Will you be
exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld. For if the mighty
deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until
this day. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on
the day of judgment than for you."
Introductory Prayer: God our Father, You are my shelter against the burning heat of
the day and the storms of life. I know and I believe that I can count on Your
help when I stumble, that You will catch me when I fall and guide my steps
firmly in faith toward the promise of eternal life.
Petition: Jesus, help me to
seek You with a sincere heart.
1. Blessings and Responsibility: With every blessing comes a degree of responsibility.
The greater the graces received, the greater the responsibility we have in
the eyes of the Lord (cf. Luke 12:48). The mighty deeds worked by
Jesus in the towns of Galilee were not seen by everyone in Israel to say
nothing of those peoples in other parts of the world. Therefore, those
who see Jesus´ miracles have a greater responsibility than those who do
not. Jesus reproaches them so as to awaken them from their stupor. Since the
miracles have not moved them to a deeper faith, then perhaps the reminder
that they will one day be answerable to God might. Sometimes the fear
of punishment is necessary to drive me from my sins.
2. The Goal is Repentance: The goal of all of Jesus´ signs is to bring
about a change of heart. Already in the Old Testament, the signs and wonders
worked by God were intended to elicit a response of faith and trust from
Israel. Jesus never works a miracle in order to impress, but rather to
convert people back to God or to bring them into deeper union with him. The
danger of missing the point is real. Like the inhabitants of the cities of
Galilee I can begin to take the miracles and signs of Christ´s love for
granted while failing to redirect my life from self-centeredness to
Christ-centeredness. Like Herod, at times I want to be dazzled by Jesus´
miracles, but do not heed the call to conversion and repentance which they
contain.
3. Reward or Punishment: “But I tell you, it will be more
tolerable…”. We can learn a great deal from this strong phrase. Firstly we
will be judged for our actions and our omissions. Since God sees and knows
perfectly, the judgment will be objective; those who knew less will be judged
less strictly. In other words, Sodom, Tyre and Sidon will indeed be judged,
but according to natural law and not according to Christian faith, which they
did not have access to at the time. We can also deduce that there will be
different gradations in heaven and hell according to how well our actions
corresponded to what we knew to be true and good. This knowledge should
stimulate me to be more generous with God and to strive to be ever more
centered on things that are above.
Conversation with Christ: Dear Lord, open my eyes to the constant workings of Your grace in my life. Never allow me to become complacent or to undervalue the tremendous gift of faith. Thank You for reminding me of the importance of my daily decisions. Mother Most Pure, make my heart only for Jesus.
Resolution: Today I will read nos. 1783-1785 from the Catechism of the
Catholic Church.
Excerpts from the DIARY of Saint Faustina
Kowalska
36 Once I was summoned to the
judgment [seat] of God. I stood alone before the Lord. Jesus appeared such as
we know Him during His Passion. After a moment, His wounds disappeared except
for five, those in His hands, His feet and His side. Suddenly I saw the
complete condition of my soul as God sees it. I could clearly see all that is
displeasing to God. I did not know that even the smallest transgressions will
have to be accounted for. What a moment! Who can describe it? To stand before
the Thrice-Holy God! Jesus asked me, Who are you? I answered, "I
am Your servant, Lord." You are guilty of one day of fire in
purgatory. I wanted to throw myself immediately into the flames of purgatory,
but Jesus stopped me and said, Which do you prefer, suffer now for one day in
purgatory or for a short while on earth? I replied, "Jesus, I want
to suffer in purgatory, and I want to suffer also the greatest pains on
earth, even if it were until the end of the world." Jesus said, One [of
the two] is enough; you will go back to earth, and there you will suffer
much, but not for long; you will accomplish My will and My desires, and a
faithful servant of Mine will help you to do this. Now, rest your head on My
bosom, on My heart, and draw from it strength and power for these sufferings,
because you will find neither relief nor help nor comfort anywhere else. Know
that you will have much, much to suffer, but don't let this frighten you; I
am with you.
52 When I tried to run away from
these interior inspirations, God said to me that on the day of judgment He
would demand of me a great number of souls.
Once, exhausted because of these various difficulties t hat had befallen me because of what Jesus had said to me and what He had demanded of me for the painting of this image, I made up my mind to approach Father Andrasz [31] before my perpetual vows, and to ask him to dispense me from all these interior inspirations and from the duty of painting this image. After having heard my confession, Father Andrasz gave me this answer: "I will dispense you from nothing, Sister; it is not right for you to turn away from these interior inspirations, but you must absolutely-and I say, absolutely-speak about them to your confessor; otherwise you will go astray despite the great graces you are receiving from God.
154 Once, when there was adoration at the convent of the
Sisters of the Holy Family,[50] I went there in the evening with one of
our sisters. As soon as I entered the chapel, the presence of God filled my
soul. I prayed as I do at certain times, without saying a word. Suddenly, I
saw the Lord, who said to me, Know that if you neglect the matter of the
painting of the image and the whole work of mercy, you will have to answer
for a multitude of souls on the day of judgment. After these words of Our
Lord, a certain fear filled my soul, and alarm took hold of me. Try as 1
would, 1 could not calm myself. These words kept resounding in my ears: So, 1
will not only have to answer for myself on the day of judgment, but also for
the souls of others. These words cut deep into my heart. When I returned
home, I went to the little Jesus,[51] fell on my face before the Blessed
Sacrament and said to the Lord, "I will do everything in my power, but I
beg You to be always with me and to give me strength to do Your holy will;
for You can do everything, while I can do nothing of myself."
236 Oh, how misleading are appearances, and how unjust the
judgments. Oh, how often virtue suffers only because it remains silent. To be
sincere with those who are incessantly stinging us demands much self-denial.
One bleeds, but there are no visible wounds. O Jesus, it is only on the last
day that many of these things will be made known. What joy-none of our
efforts will be lost!
274 Jesus gave me the grace of knowing myself. In this
divine light I see my principal fault; it is pride which takes the form of my
closing up within myself and of a lack of simplicity in my relations with
Mother Superior [Irene].
The second light concerns speaking. I sometimes talk too much. A thing could be settled in one or two words, and as for me, I take too much time about it. But Jesus wants me to use that time to say some short indulgenced prayers for the souls in purgatory. And the Lord says that every word will be weighed on the day of judgment. The third light concerns our rules. I have not sufficiently avoided the occasions that lead to breaking the rules, especially that of silence. I will act as if the rule were written just for me; it should not affect me at all how anyone else might act, as long as I myself act as God wishes. Resolution. Whatever Jesus demands of me regarding external things, I will immediately go and tell my superiors. I shall strive for childlike openness and frankness in my relations with the superior.
426 O terrible hour, at which one is obliged to see all
one's deeds in their nakedness and misery; not one of them is lost, they will
all accompany us to God's judgment. I can find no words or comparisons to
express such terrible things. And although it seems to me that this soul is
not damned, nevertheless its torments are in no way different from the
torments of hell; there is only this difference: that they will someday come
to an end.
496 Confession Day. From early morning, the turmoil in my
soul was more violent than anything I had ever experienced before. Complete
abandonment by God; I felt the utter weakness that I was. Thoughts bore in
upon me: why should I leave this convent where I am loved by the sisters and
superiors, where life is so tranquil; [where I am] bound by perpetual vows
and carry out my duties without difficulty; why should I listen to the voice
of my conscience; why follow an inspiration coming from who knows where;
wouldn't it be better to carry on like all the other sisters? Perhaps the
Lord's words could be stifled, not taken heed of; maybe God will not demand
an account of them on the day of judgment. Where will this inner voice lead
me? If I follow it, what tremendous difficulties, tribulations and
adversities are in store for me. I fear the future, and I am agonizing in the
present.
This suffering continued with the same intensity throughout the whole day. When, in the evening, my turn came for confession, I could not make a full confession, even though I had been preparing for a long time. I received absolution and left, not knowing what was going on within me. When I went to bed, the suffering grew even worse; or rather, it changed into a fire which penetrated all the faculties of my soul like lightning, piercing me to the marrow, and to the most secret recesses of my heart. In the midst of this suffering, I was unable to bring myself to do anything. "Your will be done, Lord." At times I could not even think these words. Truly, a deadly fear had taken hold of me, and the flames of hell were touching me. Toward morning, silence set in, and my tribulations disappeared in the twinkling of an eye, but I felt so frightfully exhausted that I could not even move. During my conversation with Mother Superior, my strength returned bit by bit, but God alone knows how I felt throughout that whole day.
939 There is an exception [to this], and that is when God
himself directs the person, but the director will immediately recognize that
the person in question is being guided by God himself. God will allow him to
know this clearly and distinctly, and such a person should be even more under
the director's control than anyone else. In this case, the director does not
so much guide and point out the road along which the soul is to journey; but
rather, he judges and confirms that the soul is following the right path and
is being led by a good spirit.
In this situation, the director should be not only holy, but also experienced and prudent, and the soul should give priority to his opinion over that of God himself, for then the soul will be safe from illusions and deviations. A soul that will not fully submit its inspirations to the strict control of the Church; that is, to the director, clearly shows by this that a bad spirit is guiding it. The director should be extremely prudent in such cases and test the soul's obedience. Satan can even clothe himself in a cloak of humility, but he does not know how to wear the cloak of obedience and thus his evil designs will be disclosed. But the director should not be overly afraid of such a soul, because if God puts that special soul in his care, He will also give him great divine light regarding it, for otherwise how could he deal wisely with the great mysteries which take place between the soul and God.
1106 + Virtue without prudence is not virtue at all. We
should often pray to the Holy Spirit for this grace of prudence. Prudence
consists in discretion, rational reflection and courageous resolution. The
final decision is always up to us. We must decide; we can and we ought to
seek advice and light...
1317 I understand Your words, Lord, and the magnitude of
the mercy that ought to shine in my soul. Jesus: I know, My daughter, that
you understand it and that you do everything within your power. But write
this for the many souls who are often worried because they do not have the
material means with which to carry out an act of mercy. Yet spiritual mercy,
which requires neither permissions nor storehouses, is much more meritorious
and is within the grasp of every soul. If a soul does not exercise mercy
somehow or other, it will not obtain My mercy on the day of judgment. Oh, if
only souls knew how to gather eternal treasure for themselves, they would not
be judged, for they would forestall My judgment with their mercy.
1426 Christ, give me souls. Let anything You like happen to
me, but give me souls in return. I want the salvation of souls. I want souls
to know Your mercy. I have nothing left for myself, because I have given
everything away to souls, with the result that on the day of judgment I will
stand before You empty-handed, since I have given everything away to souls.
Thus You will have nothing on which to judge me, and we shall meet on that
day: Love and mercy... + J. M. J.
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-36, 52, 154, 236, 274, 426, 496)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-939
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-III-1106)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-V-1317, 1426)
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