The Grumpy Catholics
Guild
October 12, 2016.
Wednesday of the Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Father Daniel Ray, LC
Luke 11: 42-46
"But woe to you
Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect
justice and the love of God; it is these you ought to have practiced, without
neglecting the others. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love to have the seat of
honor in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces. Woe
to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without
realizing it." One of the lawyers answered him, "Teacher, when you
say these things, you insult us too." And he said, "Woe also to you
lawyers! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do
not lift a finger to ease them.”
Introductory
Prayer: Lord, I believe that
You are present here as I turn to You in prayer. I trust and have confidence in
Your desire to give me every grace I need to receive today. Thank You for Your
love, thank You for Your immense generosity toward me. I give You my life and
my love in return.
Petition: Lord make my heart more like yours.
1. Falling into the
Same Trap: Do we ever find
ourselves rooting for Jesus in this Gospel passage? “Give it to ‘em hard, Lord!
They deserve it!” We imagine ourselves there in the scene—our arms sternly
crossed, our heads shaking in disapproval of those oh-so hypocritical
Pharisees. Soon our thoughts turn to someone we know who “should also receive a
good verbal lashing!” Even a priest or a bishop might be the subject of our
mental reprimand. Yet we now find ourselves right in the shoes of the very
Pharisees we so deplore: Our hearts are embittered and dry. Although we are
able to condemn with the Lord, we do not love with the Lord. We forget that Christ
would lay down his life for these Pharisees he is calling to conversion—even if
they were the only ones who needed to be saved. Pointing the finger is easy,
but a call to conversion can come only from a heart that loves.
2. The Grumpy
Catholics Guild: Is
there anyone who can’t find at least one thing wrong in their parish or
diocese? One thing is to see, pray for, and help resolve these difficulties.
Another matter is to dwell on them. That is what the members of the “Grumpy
Catholics Guild” (GCG) do. This Gospel passage is the one exclusive lens
through which they view everything. For the Rosary, members of the GCG pray the
“Vengeful Mysteries”: Jesus curses the fig tree, Jesus clears the temple, Jesus
condemns the scribes and Pharisees. Might I be an anonymous member—or at least
a supporter—of the GCG? Christ used hard words, but they were only fruit of an
intense love and longing for the scribes’ and Pharisees’ salvation, not an
intense bitterness toward them. If I have any bitterness in my heart, I need to
ask Christ for the grace to forgive and to forgive as Christ forgives.
3. Helping Hand: Our Lord was the greatest teacher, the great
pedagogue of the fullness of life: the love of the Father. He knew how to bring
souls along little by little, at their pace and to the extent they were
capable. The opposite is true of the lawyers at the end of this Gospel passage.
They would load restrictions, unwieldy responsibilities and weighty sacrifices
upon the people, but would not reach out a helping hand to assist the people in
carrying the weight. As Christians we are called to help illuminate the
consciences of those around us so that they might have a closer relationship
with God. However if illuminating their consciences is merely our euphemism for
“throwing the book at them”, we need to stop and see if Christ’s words don’t
apply to us as well: “For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you
yourselves do not lift a finger to ease them.”
Conversation with
Christ: Lord Jesus, at times I
look at my heart and see that it is hard and bitter. It is ready to jump
self-righteously at the first opportunity to condemn someone else, but only so
as to assure myself of my own moral superiority. Grant me a heart, meek and
humble like Yours.
Resolution: If I find myself thinking critically about
someone today, I will pray for them and look for two good qualities in them.
Excerpts from the
DIARY of Saint Faustina Kowalska
92 Humiliation is my
daily food. I understand that the bride must herself share in everything that
is the groom's; and so His cloak of mockery must cover me, too. At those times
when I suffer much, I try to remain silent, as I do not trust my tongue which,
at such moments, is inclined to talk for itself, while its duty is to help me
praise God for all the blessings and gifts which He has given me. When I
receive Jesus in Holy Communion, I ask Him fervently to deign to heal my tongue
so that I would offend neither God nor neighbor by it. I want my tongue to
praise God without cease. Great are the faults committed by the tongue. The
soul will not attain sanctity if it does not keep watch over its tongue.
200 O Jesus, how
deeply it hurts the soul when it is always trying to be sincere and they accuse
it of hypocrisy and behave with mistrust toward it. O Jesus, You also suffered
like this to make satisfaction to Your Father.
282 Once the Lord said
to me, My Heart was moved by great mercy towards you, My dearest child,
when I saw you torn to shreds because of the great pain you suffered in
repenting for your sins. I see your love, so pure and true that I give you
first place among the virgins. You are the honor and glory of My Passion. I see
every abasement of your soul, and nothing escapes my attention. I lift up the
humble even to my very throne, because I want it so.
320 Jesus made known
to me how very pleasing to Him were prayers of atonement. He said to me, The
prayer of a humble and loving soul disarms the anger of My Father and draws
down an ocean of blessings. After the adoration, half way to my cell,
I was surrounded by a , pack of huge black dogs who were jumping and howling
and trying to tear me to pieces. I realized that they were not dogs, but
demons. One of them spoke up in a rage, "Because you have snatched so many
souls away from us this night, we will tear you to pieces." I answered,
"If that is the will of the most merciful God, tear me to pieces, for I
have justly deserved it, because I am the most miserable of all sinners, and
God is ever holy, just, and infinitely merciful." To these words all the
demons answered as one, "Let us flee, for she is not alone; the Almighty
is with her!" And they vanished like dust, like the noise of the road,
while I continued on my way to my cell undisturbed, finishing my Te Deum and
pondering the infinite and unfathomable mercy of God.
332 +Thursday.
When I started the Holy Hour, I wanted to immerse myself in the agony of Jesus
in the Garden of Olives. Then I heard a voice in my soul:Meditate on the
mystery of the Incarnation . And suddenly the Infant Jesus appeared
before me, radiant with beauty. He told me how much God is pleased with
simplicity in a soul. Although My greatness is beyond understanding, I
commune only with those who are little. I demand of you a childlike spirit.
1306 + O
humility, lovely flower, I see how few souls possess you. Is it because you are
so beautiful and at the same time so difficult to attain? O yes, it is both the
one and the other. Even God takes great pleasure in her. The floodgates of
heaven are open to a humble soul, and a sea of graces flows down upon her. O
how beautiful is a humble soul! From her heart, as from a censer, rises a
varied and most pleasing fragrance which breaks through the skies and reaches
God himself, filling His Most Sacred Heart with joy. God refuses nothing to
such a soul; she is all-powerful and influences the destiny of the whole world.
God raises such a soul up to His very throne, and the more she humbles herself,
the more God stoops down to her, pursuing her with His graces and accompanying her
at every moment with His omnipotence. Such a soul is most deeply united with
God. O humility, strike deep roots in my whole being. O Virgin most pure, but
also most humble, help me to attain deep humility. Now I understand why there
are so few saints; it is because so few souls are deeply humble.
1579 + It is when I
meet with hypocrisy that I suffer most. Now I understand You, my Savior, for
rebuking the Pharisees so severely for their hypocrisy. You associated more
graciously with hardened sinners when they approached You contritely.
1602 Today the Lord
said to me, Daughter, when you go to confession, to this fountain of My
mercy, the Blood and Water which came forth from My Heart always flows down
upon your soul and ennobles it. Every time you go to confession, immerse
yourself entirely in My mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty
of My grace upon your soul. When you approach the confessional, know this, that
I Myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest, but I myself
act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy. Tell
souls that from this fount of mercy souls draw graces solely with the vessel of
trust. If their trust is great, there is no limit to My generosity. The
torrents of grace inundate humble souls. The proud remain always in poverty and
misery, because My grace turns away from them to humble souls.
1702 Towards the end
of the Way of the Cross which I was making, the Lord Jesus began to complain
about the souls of religious and priests, about the lack of love in chosen
souls. I will allow convents and churches to be destroyed. I answered,
"Jesus, but there are so many souls praising You in convents." The
Lord answered, That praise wounds My Heart, because love has been banished from
convents.
Souls without love and
without devotion, souls full of egoism and self-love, souls full of pride and
arrogance, souls full of deceit and hypocrisy, lukewarm souls who have just
enough warmth to keep them alive: My Heart cannot bear this. All the graces
that I pour out upon them flow off them as off the face of a rock. I cannot
stand them, because they are neither good or bad. I called convents into being
to sanctify the world through them. It is from them that a powerful flame of
love and sacrifice should burst forth. And if they do not repent and become
enkindled by their first love, I will deliver them over to the fate of this
world...
How can they sit on the promised throne of judgment to judge the world, when their guilt is greater than the guilt of the world? There is neither penance nor atonement. O heart, which received Me in the morning and at noon are all ablaze with hatred against Me, hatred of all sorts! O heart specially chosen by Me, were you chosen for this, to give Me more pain? The great sins of the world are superficial wounds on My Heart, but the sins of a chosen soul pierce My Heart through and through..
How can they sit on the promised throne of judgment to judge the world, when their guilt is greater than the guilt of the world? There is neither penance nor atonement. O heart, which received Me in the morning and at noon are all ablaze with hatred against Me, hatred of all sorts! O heart specially chosen by Me, were you chosen for this, to give Me more pain? The great sins of the world are superficial wounds on My Heart, but the sins of a chosen soul pierce My Heart through and through..
1710 May 26,
[1938-Feast of the Ascension]. Today I accompanied the Lord Jesus as He
ascended into heaven. It was about noon. I was overcome by a great longing for
God. It is a strange thing, the more I felt God's presence, the more ardently I
desired Him. Then I saw myself in the midst of a huge crowd of disciples and
apostles, together with the Mother of God. Jesus was telling them to... Go
out into the whole world and teach in My name. He stretched out His
hands and blessed them and disappeared in a cloud. I saw the longing of Our
Lady. Her soul yearned for Jesus with the whole force of Her love. But She was
so peaceful and so united to the will of God that there was not a stir in Her
heart but for what God wanted.
1711 When I was left alone with the Blessed Virgin, She instructed me concerning the interior life. She said,The soul's true greatness is in loving God and in humbling oneself in His presence, completely forgetting oneself and believing oneself to be nothing; because the Lord is great, but He is well pleased only with the humble; He always opposes the proud.
1711 When I was left alone with the Blessed Virgin, She instructed me concerning the interior life. She said,The soul's true greatness is in loving God and in humbling oneself in His presence, completely forgetting oneself and believing oneself to be nothing; because the Lord is great, but He is well pleased only with the humble; He always opposes the proud.
(Diary of Sister
Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-92, 200, 282, 320, 332)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-IV-1306)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-IV-1306)
(Diary of Sister
Faustina Kowalska Notebook-V-1579)
(Diary of Sister
Faustina Kowalska Notebook-VI-1602, 1702, 1710-1711)
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