Laws That Bind or
Free
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October 13, 2015.
Tuesday of the Twenty-Eighth Week of Ordinary Time
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Father Daniel Ray, LC
Luke 11: 37-41
After Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited
him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat. The
Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing
before the meal. The Lord said to him, "Oh you Pharisees! Although you
cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with
plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the
inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be
clean for you."
Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe that You are present here as I turn to You in
prayer. I trust and have confidence in Your desire to give me every grace I
need to receive today. Thank You for your love, thank You for Your immense
generosity toward me. I give You my life and my love in return.
Petition: Lord, grant me this grace of conversion.
1. Law for the Law’s Sake: The Mosaic Law was intended to
free them for worship, delivering them from slavery to pagan gods and
from slavery to sin. When the Law (and the added customs and regulations)
became an end in itself, it was truncated and severed from the One to whom it
was meant to lead. Today in the Catholic Church there are enough laws,
customs and regulations to make even the most rigorous Pharisee proud. The
danger is that we can fall into one of two traps. First, we can adhere to
them with such vigor that we lose sight of the One they are freeing us to
worship. We don’t allow our hearts and minds to be educated and formed by
them, we just follow them blindly. We wind up cleaning the outside of the cup
and stopping there, without going on to see God’s love and let it purify our
hearts.
2. The Second Trap: The second trap we can fall into is at the
other extreme: to give ourselves an easy pass by presuming that “if my heart
is in the right place, I don’t need to worry about all these rules and such.”
With a lax attitude we permit ourselves to ease up on fulfilling these laws
which in truth will free us. “I know today is Sunday and I should go to Mass,
but it’s vacation! God knows I’m a good person.” Yet it is in the Sunday Mass
that we receive the many graces necessary toward our being that “good
person”. The commandment to keep the Sabbath holy, as with any of the Ten
Commandments and customs of the Church, is there to lead us to God. These
free us from our often confused subjective conclusions about how we should
worship God and live our lives.
3. Cleaning the Cup: “Charity covers a multitude of sin” (1 Peter
4:8). The law of love is the most important of all the commandments of the
Lord. In Chapter 12 of the Gospel of Mark, Christ responds to a scribe’s
question about the first of all the commandments: “The first is this: ‘Hear,
O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all
your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Love of God and
neighbor is both the source and the summit of the Law of the Old Covenant and
of the New. Living these two greatest commandments purifies and cleanses our
hearts—the inside of the cup. So when Christ says to give alms, he is telling
the Pharisees to love their neighbors. Then their hearts will be clean.
Conversation with Christ: Lord, I want my heart always to be focused
on You. I need Your guidance, for I can’t do it alone. I need You to teach me
how to love You, how to worship and serve You. The laws You give me free me
and guide me toward You. Help me to see Your hand leading me ever closer to
You.
Resolution: If there is a rule or custom of the Church
that I don’t understand or don’t practice, I will read up on it to come to
understand better how it frees me and guides me in my relationship with
Christ.
Excerpts from the DIARY of Saint Faustina
Kowalska
92 Humiliation is my
daily food. I understand that the bride must herself share in everything that
is the groom's; and so His cloak of mockery must cover me, too. At those
times when I suffer much, I try to remain silent, as I do not trust my tongue
which, at such moments, is inclined to talk for itself, while its duty is to
help me praise God for all the blessings and gifts which He has given me.
When I receive Jesus in Holy Communion, I ask Him fervently to deign to heal
my tongue so that I would offend neither God nor neighbor by it. I want my
tongue to praise God without cease. Great are the faults committed by the
tongue. The soul will not attain sanctity if it does not keep watch over its
tongue.
146 Prayer.-A soul arms itself by prayer for all kinds of combat. In whatever state the soul may be, it ought to pray. A soul which is pure and beautiful must pray, or else it will lose its beauty; a soul which is striving after this purity must pray, or else it will never attain it; a soul which is newly converted must pray, or else it will fall again; a sinful soul, plunged in sins, must pray so that it might rise again. There is no soul which is not bound to pray, for every single grace comes to the soul through prayer. 178 Today we are beginning the third probation. All three of us met at Mother Margaret's, as the other sisters were having their probation in the novitiate. Mother Margaret began with a prayer, explained to us what the third probation consists of, and then spoke on how great is the grace of the perpetual vows. Suddenly I began to cry out loud. In an instant all God's graces appeared before the eyes of my soul, and I saw myself so wretched and ungrateful toward God. The sisters began to rebuke me, saying, "Why did she break out crying?" But Mother Margaret came to my defense, saying that she was not surprised. At the end of the hour, I went before the Blessed Sacrament and, like the greatest and most miserable of wretches, I begged for His mercy that He might heal and purify my poor soul. Then I heard these words, My daughter, all your miseries have been consumed in the flame of My love, like a little twig thrown into a roaring fire. By humbling yourself in this way, you draw upon yourself and upon other souls an entire sea of My mercy. I answered, "Jesus, mold my poor heart according to Your divine delight."
200 O Jesus, how
deeply it hurts the soul when it is always trying to be sincere and they
accuse it of hypocrisy and behave with mistrust toward it. O Jesus, You also
suffered like this to make satisfaction to Your Father.
224 To suffer without complaining, to bring comfort to others and to drown my own sufferings in the most Sacred Heart of Jesus! I will spend all my free moments at the feet of [Our Lord in] the Blessed Sacrament. At the feet of Jesus, I will seek light, comfort and strength. I will show my gratitude unceasingly to God for His great mercy towards me, never forgetting the favors He has bestowed on me, especially the grace of a vocation. I will hide myself among the sisters like a little violet among lilies. I want to blossom for my Lord and Maker, to forget about myself, to empty myself totally for the sake of immortal souls-this is my delight. 282 Once the Lord said to me, My Heart was moved by great mercy towards you, My dearest child, when I saw you torn to shreds because of the great pain you suffered in repenting for your sins. I see your love, so pure and true that I give you first place among the virgins. You are the honor and glory of My Passion. I see every abasement of your soul, and nothing escapes my attention. I lift up the humble even to my very throne, because I want it so.
294 +Once the Lord
said to me, Act like a beggar who does not back away when he gets
more alms [than he asked for], but offers thanks the more fervently. You too
should not back away and say that you are not worthy of receiving greater
graces when I give them to you. I know you are unworthy, but rejoice all the
more and take as many treasures from My Heart as you can carry, for then you will
please Me more. And I will tell you one more thing: Take these graces not
only for yourself, but also for others; that is, encourage the souls with
whom you come in contact to trust in My infinite mercy. Oh, how I love those
souls who have complete confidence in Me. I will do everything for them.
581 I will tell you most when you converse with Me in the depths of your heart. Here, no one can disturb My actions. Here, I rest as in a garden enclosed. 582 The interior of my soul is like a large and magnificent world in which God and I live. Except for God, no one is allowed there. At the beginning of this life with God, I was dazzled and overcome with awe. His radiance blinded me, and I thought He was not in my heart; and yet those were the moments when God was working in my soul. Love was becoming purer and stronger, and the Lord brought my will into the closest union with His own holy Will. No one will understand what I experience in that splendid palace of my soul where I abide constantly with my Beloved. No exterior thing hinders my union with God. Even if I used the most forceful words, they would not express even a shadow of how my soul revels in happiness and inexplicable love, as great and pure as the spring from which it flows; that is, God himself. My spirit is so prevaded with God that I feel it physically, and the body partakes of these joys. Although it happens that God's touches vary in the same soul, they come, however, from the same source. 587 Once, I suddenly saw Jesus in great majesty, and He spoke these words to me: My daughter, if you wish, I will this instant create a new world, more beautiful than this one, and you will live there for the rest of your life. I answered, "I don't want any worlds. I want You, Jesus. I want to love You, with the same love that You have for me. I beg You for only one thing: to make my heart capable of loving you. I am very much surprised at Your offer, my Jesus; what are those worlds to me? Even if You gave me a thousand of them, what are they to me? You know very well, Jesus, that my heart is dying of longing for You. Everything that is not You is nothing to me." -At that moment, I could no longer see anything, but a strange force took over my soul, a strange fire sprang up in my heart, and I entered into a kind of agony for Him. Then I heard these words: With no other soul do I unite myself as closely and in such a way as I do with you, and this because of the deep humility and ardent love which you have for Me. 1155 The Lord gave me knowledge of His will under three aspects, so to speak, but it all comes down to one. [198] The first is that souls separated from the world will burn as an offering before God's throne and beg for mercy for the whole world... and by their entreaties they will obtain blessings for priests, and through their prayers prepare the world for the final coming of Jesus. 1156 The second is prayer joined to the act of mercy. In particular, they will defend the souls of children against the spirit of evil. Prayer and merciful deeds are all that will be required of these souls, and even the poorest persons can be admitted to their number. And in this egoistic world they will try to rouse up love, the mercy of Jesus. 1157 The third is prayer and deeds of mercy, without any obligation of taking vows. But by doing this, these persons will have a share in all the merits and privileges of the whole [congregation]. Everyone in the world can belong to this group. 1163 When I went to talk with the Lord for a while, I heard a voice in my soul: My- I will not give you the grace to reveal yourself to someone else, and even if you did bare yourself, I will not give that priest the grace needed to understand you. At this time, it is My desire that you put up with yourself patiently. My daughter, it is not My will that you should tell everybody about the gifts I have granted you. I have entrusted you to the care of the friend of My Heart, and under his direction your soul will bloom. I have given him light to recognize My life in your soul. 1164 My daughter, when I was before Herod, I obtained a grace for you; namely, that you would be able to rise above human scorn and follow faithfully in My footsteps. Be silent when they do not want to acknowledge your truth, because it is then that you speak more eloquently. 1165 Know this, My daughter: if you strive for perfection you will sanctify many souls; and if you do not strive for sanctity, by the same token, many souls will remain imperfect. Know that their perfection will depend on your perfection, and the greater part of the responsibility for these souls will fall on you. 1166 Then He said to me, Do not fear, My child; but remain faithful only to My grace... 1180 June [July] 15, 1937. Once, I learned that I was to be transferred to another house. My knowledge of this was purely interior. At the same time, I heard a voice in my soul: Do not be afraid, My daughter; it is My will that you should remain here. Human plans will be thwarted, since they must conform to My will. 1181 When I was close to the Lord, He said to me, Why are you afraid to begin the work which I have commanded you to carry out? I answered, "Why do You leave me on my own at such times, Jesus, and why do I not feel Your presence?" My daughter, even though you do not perceive Me in the most secret depths of your heart, you still cannot say that I am not there. I only remove from you the awareness of My presence, and that should not be an obstacle to the carrying out of My will. I do this to achieve My unfathomable ends, which you will know of later on. My daughter, know without doubt, and once and for all, that only mortal sin drives Me out of a soul, and nothing else. 1182 + Today the Lord said to me, My daughter, My pleasure and delight, nothing will stop Me from granting you graces. Your misery does not hinder My mercy. My daughter, write that the greater the misery of a soul, the greater its right to My mercy; [urge] all souls to trust in the unfathomable abyss of My mercy, because I want to save them all. On the cross, the fountain of My mercy was opened wide by the lance for all souls-no one have I excluded!
(Diary of Sister
Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-92, 146, 178, 224, 282, 294)
(Diary of Sister
Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-580-581, 587)
(Diary of Sister
Faustina Kowalska Notebook-III-1155-1157, 1163-1166, 1180-1182)
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