A Journey of Faith and Love
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December 21, 2016. Wednesday
of the Fourth Week of Advent
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Father Matthew Kaderabek, LC
Luke 1:39-45
During those days
Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When
Elizabeth heard Mary´s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and
Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said,
"Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in
my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to
you by the Lord would be fulfilled."
Introductory Prayer: Lord, help me to settle my mind and my heart. I know that You
are present in this prayer. I want to turn aside all distractions. Increase
my faith in Your action in my life. You are leading me to Yourself. Help me
to place myself more fully in Your hands. Increase my faith so that I will do
anything and suffer anything for You. Use me as an instrument of Your grace
in the lives of those I meet today.
Petition: Lord, help me to follow Mary’s example of
faith and love and bring You to others this Christmas.
1. Mary, Our Advent
Model: Mary is truly the
model of how we should be living Advent in preparing for Christ’s arrival.
God the Father prepared her from the first moment of her conception to be the
worthy mother of his Son. Like a faithful daughter of Israel, she had prayed
throughout her youth for the coming of the Messiah. When she was a young
lady, she discovered that she was part of God’s answer to that prayer, but in
a way that would have far exceeded any Hebrew maiden’s prayers: not only
would the Messiah be her son, but her son would also be God. Her “fiat”, her
wholehearted “yes!” to the Archangel Gabriel, launched the proximate
preparation for the birth of Jesus the Messiah. Let us enter into Mary’s
response of faith, which is a guide for us along our own pilgrimage of faith.
Let us listen to the beat of Mary’s contemplative heart, so that our
Christmas may be as fruitful as that first Christmas.
2. Someone Who Loves
Takes Notice of the Details: No sooner had the Archangel left Mary in Nazareth after
announcing her important role in God’s incredible plan of salvation than Mary
herself made plans to depart. She went with haste to help her elderly
kinswoman Elizabeth who was pregnant for the first time. Gabriel had not instructed
Mary to go to Elizabeth’s aid, nor did he suggest it. Mary’s great love was
sufficient to cause her to spring into action and embark upon the long
sixty-mile journey to Elizabeth’s hometown outside Jerusalem. In
undertaking this challenging and potentially dangerous journey, Mary showed —
as she did at the wedding feast in Cana — that someone who loves takes notice
of the details. She showed that someone who loves does whatever
possible to lend a helping hand, even at the cost of considerable sacrifice.
We can imagine that this was Mary’s attitude from her earliest childhood.
3. Be A Missionary —
Bring Christ! By going to
Elizabeth’s aid, Mary — carrying the tiny Jesus in her womb — became the
first missionary, the first bearer of the Good News that would change all of
human history. Mary was able to bring incredible joy to both Elizabeth and
John the Baptist in her womb precisely because she was bringing Christ. And
Mary was able to burst out with her beautiful Magnificat for the very same reason.
To bring joy to others this Christmas, we really have to bring them Christ.
He is the greatest gift we could ever bring to someone we love — all the
material goods in the world fall flat in comparison. Without sharing Jesus,
we are not giving our loved ones anything that is truly lasting. Bring Christ
and you bring everything.
Conversation with
Christ: Lord Jesus, it is
clear that Your mother wants me to learn from her example. She inspires me to
bring You to others this Christmas season. I know plenty of people who
desperately need You in their lives, who need Your forgiveness, who hunger
for Your love and presence, perhaps without even knowing it. I know that my
loving relationship with You is never meant to be kept to myself; it is a
gift meant to be shared. Your mother’s example shows me the way to live
Advent well and explicitly challenges me to be a missionary by bringing You
to the world.
Resolution: I will share my faith this Christmas season
with a friend or relative in need.
Excerpts from the
DIARY of Saint Faustina Kowalska
6 I am to write [3]
down the encounters of my soul with You, O God, at the moments of Your
special visitations. I am to write about You, O Incomprehensible in mercy
towards my poor soul. Your holy will is the life of my soul. I have received
this order through him who is for me Your representative here on earth, who
interprets Your holy Will to me. Jesus, You see how difficult it is for me to
write, how unable I am to put down clearly what I experience in my soul. O
God, can a pen write down that for which many a time there are no words? But
You give the order to write, O God; that is enough for me.
25 During the night, the Mother of
God visited me, holding the Infant Jesus in Her arms. My soul was filled with
joy, and I said, "Mary, my Mother, do You know how terribly I
suffer?" And the Mother of God answered me, I know how much you
suffer, but do not be afraid. I share with you your suffering, and I shall
always do so. She smiled warmly and disappeared. At once, strength and a
great courage sprang up anew in my soul; but that lasted only one day. It
seemed as though hell had conspired against me. A terrible hatred began to
break out in my soul, a hatred for all that is holy and divine. It seemed to
me that these spiritual torments would be my lot for the rest of my life. I
turned to the Blessed Sacrament and said to Jesus, "Jesus, my Spouse, do
You not see that my soul is dying because of its longing for You? How can You
hide Yourself from a heart that loves You so sincerely? Forgive me, Jesus;
may Your holy will be done in me. I will suffer silently like a dove, without
complaining. I will not allow my heart even one single cry of sorrowful
complaint."
116 My Jesus, You know what my
soul goes through at the recollection of these sufferings. I have often
marveled that the angels and saints hold their peace at the sight of a soul
suffering like that. Yet they have special love for us at such moments. My
soul has often cried out after God, as a little child who cries as loudly as
he can when his mother covers her face and he cannot recognize her. O my
Jesus, honor and glory to You for these trials of love! Great and
incomprehensible is your mercy. All that You intended for my soul, O Lord, is
steeped in Your mercy.
161 Immaculate Virgin,
Pure crystal for my heart,
You are my strength, O sturdy anchor!
You are the weak heart's shield and protection.
Mary you are pure, of purity incomparable;
At once both Virgin and Mother,
You are beautiful as the sun, without blemish,
And your soul is beyond all comparison.
Your beauty has delighted the eye of the Thrice-Holy One.
He descended from heaven, leaving His eternal throne,
And took Body and Blood of your heart
And for nine months lay hidden in a Virgin's Heart.
O Mother, Virgin, purest of all lilies,
Your heart was Jesus' first tabernacle on earth.
Only because no humility was deeper than yours
Were you raised above the choirs
of Angels and above all Saints.
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.
260 I had permission to visit
Czestochowa while on my journey. I saw the Mother of God [image] for the
first time, when I went to attend the unveiling of the image at five in the
morning. I prayed without interruption until eleven, and it seemed to me that
I had just come. The superior of the house there [Mother Serafin[75]]
sent a sister for me, to tell me to come to breakfast and said she was
worried that I would miss my train. The Mother of God told me many things. I
entrusted my perpetual vows to Her. I felt that I was her child and that She
was my Mother. She did not refuse any of my requests.
309 Before heaven and earth,
before all the choirs of Angels, before the Most Holy Virgin Mary, before all
the Powers of heaven, I declare to the One Triune God that today, in union
with Jesus Christ, Redeemer of souls, I make a voluntary offering of myself
for the conversion of sinners, especially for those souls who have lost hope
in God's mercy. This offering consists in my accepting, with total subjection
to God's will, all the sufferings, fears and terrors with which sinners are
filled. In return, I give them all the consolations which my soul receives
from my communion with God. In a word, I offer everything for them: Holy
Masses, Holy Communions, penances, mortifications, prayers. I do not fear the
blows, blows of divine justice, because I am united with Jesus. O my God, in
this way I want to make amends to You for the souls that do not trust in Your
goodness. I hope against all hope in the ocean of Your mercy. My Lord and my
God, my portion-my portion forever, I do not base this act of oblation on my
own strength, but on the strength that flows from the merits of Jesus Christ.
I will daily repeat this act of self-oblation by pronouncing the following
prayer which You yourself have taught me, Jesus:
"O Blood and Water which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a Fount of Mercy for us, I trust in You!"
316 Once, the Mother of God came
to visit me. She was sad. Her eyes were cast down. She made it clear that She
wanted to say something, and yet, on the other hand, it was as if She did not
want to speak to me about it. When I understood this, I began to beg the
Mother of God to tell me and to look at me. Just then Mary looked at me with
a warm smile and said, You are going to experience certain sufferings
because of an illness and the doctors; you will also suffer much because of
the image, but do not be afraid of anything. The next day I fell ill and
suffered a great deal, just as the Mother of God had told me. But my soul was
ready for the sufferings. Suffering is a constant companion of my life.
497 O Eternal Truth, Word Incarnate, who
most faithfully fulfilled Your Father's will, today I am becoming a martyr of
Your inspirations, since I cannot carry them out because I have no will of my
own, though interiorly I see Your will clearly. I submit in everything to the
will of my superiors and my confessor. I will follow Your will insofar as You
will permit me to do so through Your representative. O my Jesus, it cannot be
helped, but I give priority to the voice of the Church over the voice with
which You speak to me.
564 On the feast day of the Immaculate Conception of the
Mother of God, during Holy Mass, I heard the rustling of garments and saw the
most holy Mother of God in a most beautiful radiance. Her white garment was
girdled with a blue sash. She said to me, You give Me great joy
when you adore the Holy Trinity for the graces and privileges which were
accorded Me. And She immediately disappeared.
620 Mary is my Instructress, who
is ever teaching me how to live for God. My spirit brightens up in Your
gentleness and Your humility, O Mary.
635 March 25. In the morning,
during meditation, God's presence enveloped me in a special way, as I saw the
immeasurable greatness of God and, at the same time, His condescension to His
creatures. Then I saw the Mother of God, who said to me, Oh, how pleasing
to God is the soul that follows faithfully the inspirations of His grace! I
gave the Savior to the world; as for you, you have to speak to the world
about His great mercy and prepare the world for the Second Coming of Him who
will come, not as a merciful Savior, but as a just Judge. Oh, how terrible is
that day! Determined is the day of justice, the day of divine wrath. The
angels tremble before it. Speak to souls about this great mercy while it is
still the time for [granting] mercy. If you keep silent now, you will be
answering for a great number of souls on that terrible day. Fear nothing. Be
faithful to the end. I sympathize with you.
Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God.
805 From early morning, I felt the nearness of the Blessed
Mother. During Holy Mass, I saw Her, so lovely and so beautiful that I have
no words to express even a small part of this beauty. She was all [in] white,
with a blue sash around Her waist. Her cloak was also blue, and there was a
crown on Her head. Marvelous light streamed forth from Her whole figure. I
am the Queen of heaven and earth, but especially the Mother of your
[Congregation]. She pressed me to Her heart and said, I feel constant
compassion for you. I felt the force of Her Immaculate Heart which was
communicated to my soul. Now I understand why I have been preparing for this
feast for two months and have been looking forward to it with such yearning.
From today onwards, I am going to strive for the greatest purity of soul,
that the rays of God's grace may be reflected in all their brilliance. I long
to be a crystal in order to find favor in His eyes.
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.
874 Mary, Immaculate Virgin, take me under Your special
protection and guard the purity of my soul, heart and body. You are the model
and star of my life.
1097 Since that time, I have been living under the
virginal ', cloak of the Mother of God. She has been guarding me and
instructing me. I am quite at peace, close to Her Immaculate Heart. Because I
am so weak and inexperienced, I nestle like a little child close to Her
heart.
+ J. M. J.
1232 O sweet Mother of God,
I model my life on You;
You are for me the bright dawn;
In You I lose myself, enraptured.
O Mother, Immaculate Virgin,
In You the divine ray is reflected,
Midst storms, 'tis You who teach me to love the Lord,
O my shield and defense from the foe.
Cracow, August 10, 1937.
1410 Today [December 7, 1937] is the eve of the Feast of
the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. During the midday meal, in an
instant, God gave me to know the greatness of my destiny; that is, His
closeness, which for all eternity will not be taken away from me, and He did
this in such a vivid and clear fashion that I remained wrapped up in His
living presence for a long time, humbling myself before His greatness. +
J.M.J.
1412 + It is with great zeal that I have prepared for the
celebration of the Feast of the
Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God. I have made an
extra effort to keep
recollected in spirit and have meditated on that unique
privilege of Our Lady. And thus my heart was completely drowned in Her,
thanking God for having accorded this great privilege to Mary.
1413 I prepared not only by means of the novena said in
common by the whole community, but I also made a personal effort to salute
Her a thousand times each day, saying a thousand "Hail Mary's" for
nine days in Her praise.
+ This is now the third time I have said such a novena to
the Mother of God; that is, a novena made up of a thousand Aves each day.
Thus the novena consists in nine thousand salutations. Although I have done
this now three times in my life, and two of these while in the course of my
duties, I have never failed in carrying out my tasks with the greatest
exactitude. I have always said the novena outside the time of my exercises;
that is to say, I have not said the Aves during Holy Mass or Benediction.
Once, I made the novena while lying ill in the hospital. Where there's a
will, there's a way. Apart from recreation, I have only prayed and worked. I
have not said a single unnecessary word during these days. Although I must
admit that such a matter requires a good deal of attention and effort,
nothing is too much when it comes to honoring the Immaculate Virgin.
1414 The Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Before Holy
Communion I saw the Blessed Mother inconceivably beautiful. Smiling at me She
said to me, My daughter, at God's command I am to be, in a special
and exclusive way your Mother; but I desire that you, too, in a special way,
be My child.
1415 I desire, My dearly beloved daughter, that you
practice the three virtues that are dearest to Me-and most pleasing to God.
The first is humility, humility, and once again humility; the second virtue,
purity; the third virtue, love of God. As My daughter, you must especially
radiate with these virtues. When the conversation ended, She pressed me
to Her Heart and disappeared. When I regained the use of my senses, my
heart became so wonderfully attracted to these virtues; and I practice
them faithfully. They are as though engraved in my heart.
1742 Be praised, merciful God, One God in the Holy
Trinity,
Unfathomable, infinite, incomprehensible, immersing themselves in You, their minds cannot comprehend You, So they repeat without end their eternal: Holy. Be glorified, O merciful Creator of ours, O Lord, Omnipotent, but full of compassion, inconceivable. To love You is the mission of our existence, Singing our eternal hymn: Holy... Be blessed, merciful God, Eternal Love. You are above the heavens, the saphires, the firmaments. The host of pure spirits sings You praises, With its eternal hymn: Thrice Holy. And, gazing upon You, face to face, O God, I see that You could have called other creatures before them. Therefore they humble themselves before You in great humility, For well they see that this grace comes solely from Your mercy. One of the most beautiful spirits would not recognize Your mercy, And, blinded by his pride, he drew others after him. Angel of great beauty, he became Satan And was cast down in one moment from heaven's heights into hell. Then the faithful spirits cried, "Glory to God's mercy!" And they stood firm in spite of the fiery test. Glory to Jesus, the Christ abased, Glory to His Mother, the humble and pure Virgin. After this battle, the pure spirits plunged into the ocean of Divinity; Contemplating and praising the depths of His mercy, They drown in His mercy and manifold light, Possessing in knowledge the Trinity of Persons, the Oneness of Godhead.
+The Infinite Goodness of God in Sending Us His
Only-Begotten Son.
1745 God, You did not destroy man after his fall, but in Your mercy You forgave him, You forgave in a divine way; that is, not only have You absolved him from guilt, but You have bestowed upon him every grace. Mercy has moved You to deign to descend among us and lift us up from our misery. God will descend to earth; the Immortal Lord of lords will abase Himself. But where will You descend, Lord; will it be to the temple of Solomon? Or will You have a new tabernacle built for Yourself? Where do You intend to come down? O Lord, what kind of tabernacle shall we prepare for You, since the whole earth is Your footstool? You have indeed prepared a tabernacle for Yourself: the Blessed Virgin. Her Immaculate Womb is Your dwelling place, and the inconceivable miracle of Your mercy takes place, O Lord. The Word becomes flesh; God dwells among us, the Word of God, Mercy Incarnate. By Your descent, You have lifted us up to Your divinity. Such is the excess of Your love, the abyss of Your mercy. Heaven is amazed at the superabundance of Your love. No one fears to approach You now. You are the God of mercy. You have compassion on misery. You are our God, and we are Your people. You are our Father, and we are Your children by grace. Praise be to Your mercy, that You have deigned to descend among us.
1746 Be adored, O God of mercy,
Because You have deigned to descend from heaven to earth. Most humbly we adore You For Your having vouchsafed to exalt all mankind. Unfathomable and incomprehensible in Your mercy, For love of us You take on flesh From the Immaculate Virgin, ever untouched by sin, Because You have willed it so from all ages. The Blessed Virgin, that Snow-White Lily, Is first to praise the omnipotence of Your mercy. Her pure heart opens with love for the coming of the Word; She believes the words of God's messenger and is confirmed in trust. Heaven is astounded that God has become man, That there is on earth a heart worthy of God Himself. Why is it that You do not unite Yourself with a Seraph, but with a sinner, O Lord? Oh, because, despite the purity of the virginal womb, this is a mystery of Your mercy. O mystery of God's mercy, O God of compassion, That You have deigned to leave the heavenly throne And to stoop down to our misery, to human weakness, For it is not the angels, but man who needs mercy. To give worthy praise to the Lord's mercy, We unite ourselves with Your Immaculate Mother, For then our hymn will be more pleasing to You, Because She is chosen from among men and angels. Through Her, as through a pure crystal, Your mercy was passed on to us. Through Her, man became pleasing to God; Through Her, streams of grace flowed down upon us.
+ God's Infinite Goodness in Redeeming Man.
1747 God, You could have saved thousands of worlds with one word; a single sigh from Jesus would have satisfied Your justice. But You Yourself, Jesus, purely out of love for us, underwent such a terrible Passion. Your Father's justice would have been propitiated with a single sigh from You, and all Your self-abasement is solely the work of Your mercy and Your inconceivable love. On leaving the earth, O Lord, You wanted to stay with us, and so You left us Yourself in the Sacrament of the Altar, and You opened wide Your mercy to us. There is no misery that could exhaust You; You have called us all to this fountain of love, to this spring of God's compassion. Here is the tabernacle of Your mercy, here is the remedy for all our ills. To You, O living spring of mercy, all souls are drawn; some like deer, thirsting for Your love, others to wash the wound of their sins, and still others, exhausted by life, to draw strength. At the moment of Your death on the Cross, You bestowed upon us eternal life; allowing Your most holy side to be opened, You opened an inexhaustible spring of mercy for us, giving us Your dearest possession, the Blood and Water from Your Heart. Such is the omnipotence of Your mercy. From it all grace flows to us.
1748 Be adored, O God, in the work of Your mercy,
Be blessed by all faithful hearts On whom Your gaze rests, In whom dwells Your immortal life. O my Jesus, have mercy, sorrowful was Your life on this earth, And in terrible torment Your work came to an end, Hanging stretched out on the wood of the Cross, And all this for the love of our souls. In Your inconceivable love, You allowed Your most holy side to be opened, And streams of Blood and Water gushed forth from Your Heart. Here is the living fountain of Your mercy, Here souls receive consolation and refreshment. In the Blessed Sacrament, You left us Your mercy; Your love deigned to arrange it so, That, going through life, suffering and toil, I might never doubt of Your goodness and mercy. For even if the whole world's miseries weighed on my soul, We must not doubt for even a moment, But have trust in the power of God's mercy, Because, with graciousness, God receives a contrite soul. O unspeakable mercy of our Lord, Source of compassion and all sweetness, Trust, trust, O soul, though you are stained by sin, For when you approach God, you will not taste bitterness. Because He is a living fire of great love, When we approach Him with sincerity, Our miseries, sins and evil deeds vanish; He will settle our debts when we surrender ourselves to Him.
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-6, 25, 116, 161, 220, 260, 309, 316,
497)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-564, 620, 635, 805, 843, 874)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-III-1097)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-IV-1232, 1244)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-V-1410, 1412-1414)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-VI-1742, 1745-1748)
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Disyembre 21, 2016
A Journey of Faith and Love-Divine Mercy Miracles Meditations
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