The Millionaire’s Folly
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July 31, 2016. Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary
Time
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Father Patrick Murphy, LC
Luke 12: 13-21
Someone in the crowd
said to Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with
me." He replied to him, "Friend, who appointed me as your judge and
arbitrator?" Then he said to the crowd, "Take care to guard against
all greed, for though one may be rich, one´s life does not consist of
possessions." Then he told them a parable. "There was a rich man
whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ´What shall I do,
for I do not have space to store my harvest?´ And he said, ´This is what I
shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall
store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, "Now as
for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat,
drink, be merry!" But God said to him, ´You fool, this night your life
will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they
belong?´ Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but
is not rich in what matters to God."
Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, I believe you want me to have faith in You, faith
that hearkens to Your words without any second guessing. I hope in Your
words, not relying solely on my own strength or reasoning. I love You. You
continue to astonish me by showing me that Your ways are not my ways.
Petition: Lord, may I love you with all my heart, mind, soul and
strength.
1. Guarding Against
Greed “Take care to
guard against all greed.…” Greed arises when our heart loves material things
and possessions in selfish and disordered ways. God created “things” –
material reality – for a purpose: to help us fulfill our mission in this
life. Our heart can grow to love these things and to love accumulating wealth
for its own sake, not for the sake of using it to fulfill our mission and
save our soul.
2. One Heart, One
Love Jesus has
called us to “love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul,
with all your strength and with all your mind.” But we only have one heart,
one soul, one will and one mind. If I love material wealth in a disordered
way, then my one heart, one soul, etc. will be divided and pulled in many
directions simultaneously. Not only will I not be able to love God with a
total, faithful, focused love, I will not be able to love anyone in this way.
No matter whom I love, my love will always be weakened and diluted by a
divided heart.
3. Late Have I
Loved… “Late have I
loved You, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved You. You were
within me, and I looked outside; I sought you, and miserable as I was, I
longed for creatures, I was detained by the wonderful works of your hands”
(St. Augustine, Confessions). What dilutes my love is disordered affection
for the things God created. Our heart is capable of loving multiple persons
and things (God, parents, children, friends), but only to the degree it is
capable of focusing on one of them. Loving God first is like using a
magnifying glass: The rays of sunlight, like the affection and love we
have for numerous persons and things, are united by the glass and magnified
into a more powerful beam. When we love God first, our love for others and
the world increases in intensity.
Conversation with
Christ: Lord, you created my heart to love. Often I
fall in love with the things You created. I can even begin to love them more
than You, to forget that You are their Creator and that You have given them
to me to lead me to You. Help me to love You above them all, and to thank and
bless You in a thousand ways.
Resolution: Today I will take stock of my loves to make sure they don’t
compete with my love for God.
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.
62 O life so dull and monotonous,
how many treasures you contain! When I look at everything with the eyes of
faith, no two hours are alike, and the dullness and monotony disappear. The
grace which is given me in this hour will not be repeated in the next. It may
be given me again, but it will not be the same grace. Time goes on, never to
return again. Whatever is enclosed in it will never change; it seals with a
seal for eternity.
66
O inexhaustible treasure of purity of intention which makes all our actions
perfect and so pleasing to God!
O Jesus, You know how weak I am; be then ever with me; guide my actions and my whole being, You who are my very best Teacher! Truly, Jesus, I become frightened when I look at my own misery, but at the same time I am reassured by Your unfathomable mercy, which exceeds my misery by the measure of all eternity. This disposition of soul clothes me in Your power. O joy that flows from the knowledge of one's self! O unchanging Truth, Your constancy is everlasting!
142 When I was set
at peace and taught how to follow God's paths, my spirit rejoiced in the
Lord, and it seemed to me that I was running, not walking. My wings were
spread for flight; I soared into the very heat of the sun, and I will not
descend until I rest in Him, in whom my soul has lost itself forever. And I
subjected myself totally to the action of grace. God stoops very low to my
soul. I do not draw back, nor do I resist Him, but I lose myself in Him as my
only treasure. I am one with the Lord. It is as if the gulf between us,
Creator and creature, disappears. For a few days, my soul was in a state of
continuous ecstasy. God's presence did not leave me for a single moment. And
my soul remained in a continuous loving union with the Lord. But this in no
way interfered with the performance of my duties. I felt I was transformed
into love; I was all afire, but without being burned up. I lost myself in God
unceasingly; God drew me to himself so strongly and powerfully that sometimes
I was not aware of being on earth. I had impeded and feared God's grace for
so long, and now God himself, through Father Andrasz, has removed all
difficulties. My spirit has been turned towards the Sun and has blossomed in
His rays for Him alone; I understand no more... [The sentence breaks off here
and begins a completely new thought in the next line.]
220 O my eternal Lord and Creator, how am I going to thank
You for this great favor; namely, that You have deigned to choose miserable
me to be Your betrothed and that You are to unite me to yourself in an
eternal bond? O dearest Treasure of my heart, I offer You all the adoration
and thanksgiving of the Saints and of all the choirs of Angels, and I unite
myself in a special way with Your Mother. O Mary, my Mother, I humbly beg of
You, cover my soul with Your virginal cloak at this very important moment of
my life, so that thus I may become dearer to Your Son and may worthily praise
Your Son's mercy before the whole world and throughout all eternity.
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.
304 +O my Jesus, my
only hope, thank You for the book which You have opened before my soul's
eyes. That book is Your Passion which You underwent for love of me. It is
from this book that I have learned how to love God and souls. In this book
there are found for us inexhaustible treasures. O Jesus, how few souls
understand You in Your martyrdom of love! Oh, how great is the fire of purest
love which burns in Your Most Sacred Heart! Happy the soul that has come to
understand the love of the Heart of Jesus!
338 When I started
to look deep within myself, I did not find any attachment to anything, but as
in all things that concern me, so also in this matter, I was afraid and
distrustful of myself. Tired out by this detailed selfexamination, I went
before the Blessed Sacrament and asked Jesus with all my heart, "Jesus,
my Spouse, Treasure of my heart, You know that I know You alone and that I
have no other love but You; but, Jesus, if I were about to become attached to
anything that is not You, I beg and entreat You, Jesus, by the power of Your
mercy, let instant death descend upon me, for I prefer to die a thousand
times than to be unfaithful to You once in even the smallest thing."
342 Suffering is the
greatest treasure on earth; it purifies the soul. In suffering, we learn who
our true friend is.
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.
415 Saturday. During
Vespers I saw the Lord Jesus radiant as the sun, in a bright garment, and He
said to me, May your heart be joyful. And great joy flooded
me, and I was penetrated with God's presence, which for the soul is a
treasure beyond words.
454 Once, the Lord
said to me, My daughter, take the graces that others spurn; take as
many as you can carry. At that moment, my soul was inundated with
the love of God. I feel that I am united with the Lord so closely that I
cannot find words to express that union; in this state I suddenly feel that
all the things God has, all the goods and treasures, are mine, although I set
little store by them, for He alone is enough for me. In Him I see my
everything; without Him-nothing.
I look for no happiness beyond my own interior where God dwells. I rejoice that God dwells within me; here I abide with Him unendingly; it is here that my greatest intimacy with Him exists; here I dwell with Him in safety; here is a place not probed by the human eye. The Blessed Virgin encourages me to commune with God in this way.
608 February 2,
[1936]. In the morning, when the bell awoke me, I was so overcome by
drowsiness which I could not shake off that I jumped into cold water, and
after two minutes the sleepiness left me. When I came to meditation a host of
absurd thoughts swarmed into my head, so much so that I had to struggle
throughout the whole meditation. It was the same during prayer time, but when
Mass began, a strange silence and joy filled my heart. Just then, I saw Our
Lady with the Infant Jesus, and the Holy Old Man [St. Joseph] standing behind
them. The most holy Mother said to me, Take My Dearest
Treasure, and She handed me the Infant Jesus. When I took the Infant
Jesus in my arms, the Mother of God and Saint Joseph disappeared. I was left
alone with the Infant Jesus.
649 Mass of the
Resurrection. [April 12, 1936]. When I entered the chapel, my spirit was
immersed in God, its only treasure. His presence flooded me.
763 November 22,
[1936]. Today during confession, the Lord Jesus spoke to me through the lips
of a certain priest. This priest did not know my soul, and I only accused
myself of my sins; yet he spoke these words to me: "Accomplish
faithfully everything that Jesus asks of you, despite the difficulties. Know
that, although people may be angry with you, Jesus is not angry and never
will be angry with you. Pay no attention to human opinion." This
instruction surprised me at first; but I understood that the Lord was
speaking through him without his realizing it. O holy mystery, what great
treasures are contained in you! O holy faith, you are my guidepost!
781 O Love, O queen!
Love knows no fear. It passes through all the choirs of angels that stand on
guard before His throne. It will fear no one. It reaches God and is immersed
in Him as in its sole treasure. The Cherubim who guards paradise with flaming
sword, has no power over it. O pure love of God, how great and unequalled you
are! Oh, if souls only knew your power!
801 Today, I still
managed to pay a short visit to the Lord [in the Eucharist] before going to
bed. My spirit was immersed in Him as in its only treasure. My heart rested a
while near the Heart of my Spouse. I received light as to how I should behave
toward those around me, and then I returned to my solitude. The doctor is
taking good care of me; all those around me are very kind to me.
826 This morning I
had an adventure. My watch had stopped, and I did not know when to get up,
and I thought of what a misfortune it would be to miss Holy Communion. It was
still dark, so I had no way of knowing whether it was time to get up. I
dressed, made my meditation and went to the chapel, but everything was still
locked, and silence reigned everywhere. I steeped myself in prayer,
especially for the sick. I now see how much the sick have need of prayer.
Finally, the chapel was opened. I found it difficult to pray because I was
already feeling very exhausted, and immediately after Holy Communion I
returned to my room. Then I saw the Lord, who said to me, Know, My
daughter, that the ardor of your heart is pleasing to Me. And just as you
desire ardently to become united with Me in Holy Communion, so too do I
desire to give Myself wholly to you; and as a reward for your zeal, rest on
My Heart. At that moment, my spirit was immersed in His Being, like
a drop in a bottomless ocean. I drowned myself in Him as in my sole treasure.
Thus I came to recognize that the Lord allows certain difficulties for His
greater glory.
843 December 24,
[1936]. During Holy Mass today, I was united in a particular way with God and
His Immaculate Mother. The humility and love of the Immaculate Virgin penetrated
my soul. The more I imitate the Mother of God, the more deeply I get to know
God. Oh, what infinite longing envelops my soul! Jesus, how can You still
leave me in this exile? I am dying of longing for You. Every touch of my soul
by You wounds me immensely. Love and suffering go together; yet I would not
exchange this pain caused by You for any treasure, because it is the pain of
incomprehensible delights, and these wounds of the soul are inflicted by a
loving hand.
846 December 25,
[1936]. Midnight Mass. During Mass, God's presence pierced me through and
through. A moment before the Elevation I saw the Mother of God and the Infant
Jesus and the good Old Man [St. Joseph]. The Most Holy Mother spoke these
words to me: My daughter, Faustina, take this most precious
Treasure, and she gave me the Infant Jesus. When I took Jesus in my
arms, my soul felt such unspeakable joy that I am unable to describe it. But,
strange thing, after a short while Jesus became awful, horrible-looking,
grown up and suffering; and then the vision vanished, and soon it was time to
go to Holy Communion. When I received the Lord Jesus in Holy Communion, my
soul trembled under the influence of God's presence. The next day, I saw the
Divine Infant for a brief moment during the Elevation.
928 Then suddenly I
saw the Lord, who clasped me to His Heart and said to me, My
daughter, do not weep, for I cannot bear your tears. I will grant you
everything you ask for, but stop crying. And I was filled with great
joy, and my spirit, as usual, was drowned in Him as in its only treasure.
Today, encouraged by His kindness, I conversed with Jesus at greater length.
957 The pure
offering of my will will burn on the altar of love. That my sacrifice may be
perfect, I unite myself closely with the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
When great sufferings will cause my nature to tremble, and my physical and
spiritual strength will diminish, then will I hide myself deep in the open
wound of the Heart of Jesus, silent as a dove, without complaint. Let all my
desires, even the holiest, noblest and most beautiful, take always the last
place and Your holy will, the very first. The least of Your desires, O Lord,
is more precious to me than heaven, with all its treasures. I know very well
that people will not understand me; that is why my sacrifice will be purer in
Your eyes.
969 +Today, I went
to meditate before the Blessed Sacrament [in the sanatorium chapel]. When I
approached the altar, God's presence pervaded my soul, I was plunged into the
ocean of His divinity, and Jesus said to me, My daughter, all that
exists is yours. I answered the Lord, "My heart wants nothing
but You alone, O Treasure of my heart. For all the gifts You give me, thank
you, O Lord, but I desire only Your Heart. Though the heavens are immense,
they are nothing to me without You. You know very well, O Jesus, that I am
constantly swooning because of my longing for You." Know this,
My daughter, that you are already tasting now what other souls will obtain
only in eternity.
1021 + I have such a
strong desire to hide myself that I would like to live as though I did not
exist. I feel a strange inner urge to hide myself as deeply as possible so as
to be known only to the Heart of Jesus. I want to be a quiet little dwelling
place for Jesus to rest in. I shall admit nothing that might awaken my
Beloved. My concealment gives me a chance to commune constantly and
exclusively with my Bridegroom. I commune with creatures in so far as it is
pleasing to Him. My heart has come to love the Lord with the full force of
love, and I know no other love, because it is from the beginning that my soul
has sunk deeply in the Lord as in its only treasure.
1064 + O my most
sweet Master, good Jesus, I give You my heart. You shape and mold it after
Your liking. O fathomless love, I open the calyx of my heart to You, like a
rosebud to the freshness of dew. To You alone, my Betrothed, is known the
fragrance of the flower of my heart. Let the fragrance of my sacrifice be
pleasing to You. O Immortal God, my everlasting delight, already here on
earth You are my heaven. May every beat of my heart be a new hymn of praise
to You, O Holy Trinity! Had I as many hearts as there are drops of water in
the ocean or grains of sand in the whole world, I would offer them all to
You, O my Love, O Treasure of my heart! Whomever I shall meet in my life, no
matter who they may be, I want to draw them all to love You, O my Jesus, my
Beauty, my Repose, my sole Master, Judge, Savior and Spouse, all in one; I
know that one title will modify the other-I have entrusted everything to Your
mercy.
1122 God of great
mercy, who deigned to send us Your only begotten Son as the greatest proof of
Your fathomless love and mercy, You do not reject sinners; but in Your
boundless mercy You have opened for them also Your treasures, treasures from
which they can draw abundantly, not only justification, but also all the
sanctity that a soul can attain. Father of great mercy, I desire that all
hearts turn with confidence to Your infinite mercy. No one will be justified
before You if he is not accompanied by Your unfathomable mercy. When You
reveal the mystery of Your mercy to us, there will not be enough of eternity
to properly thank You for it.
1385 November 19.
After Communion today, Jesus told me how much He desires to come to human
hearts. I desire to unite Myself with human souls; My great delight
is to unite Myself with souls. Know, My daughter, that when I come to a human
heart in Holy Communion, My hands are full of all kinds of graces which I
want to give to the soul. But souls do not even pay any attention to Me; they
leave Me to Myself and busy themselves with other things. Oh, how sad I am
that souls do not recognize Love! They treat Me as a dead object. I
answered Jesus, "O Treasure of my heart, the only object of my love and
entire delight of my soul, I want to adore You in my heart as You are adored
on the throne of Your eternal glory. My love wants to make up to You at least
in part for the coldness of so great a number of souls. Jesus, behold my heart
which is for You a dwelling place to which no one else has entry. You alone
repose in it as in a beautiful garden.
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-57, 62, 66, 142, 294, 296, 304, 338)
(Diary of Sister
Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-342-343, 415, 454)
(Diary of Sister
Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-608, 649, 763, 781, 801, 826)
(Diary of Sister
Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-843, 846, 928, 957, 969
(Diary of Sister
Faustina Kowalska Notebook-III-1021, 1064, 1122)
(Diary of Sister
Faustina Kowalska Notebook-V-1385)
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Hulyo 31, 2016
The Millionaire’s Folly-Divine Mercy Miracles Meditations
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