Resting in the Lord
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February 4, 2017 - Saturday in the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
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Father Alex Yeung, LC
Mark
6:30-34
The apostles gathered together with Jesus
and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, "Come
away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." People were
coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat.
So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. People saw
them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from
all the towns and arrived at the place before them. When he disembarked and
saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were
like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.
Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe that You are present here. You know me through
and through, and despite my weaknesses, sins and imperfections You love me.
Lord, thank You for Your love. Today I give You my mind, my heart and my
will. Mold me and use me as You wish.
Petition: Mary, obtain for me the grace to understand and live the
Christian meaning of rest.
1. A Needed Rest: Jesus knows that his disciples need to rest
after returning from a long stint of missionary work. There is a need to
replenish energies — physical, mental and spiritual. It is within God’s will
to put moments of physical rest into our daily programs. Jesus tells the
apostles to get away together and with him. Physical rest, of course, is not
laziness or dissipation. It is not a place to lose the spiritual tautness of
our soul towards God and his things, or the readiness to do God’s will at all
times.
2. Thinking About Others: Jesus teaches us that being ready to do
God’s will in everything means also being always ready to serve others. How
beautiful it is when families can relax together with each member not just
selfishly thinking about myself, how much fun I can have, or making sure
everyone obeys my whims! In a culture where “vacation” is synonymous with
“loafing,” Jesus reminds us that for a Christian, relaxing and having fun are
not incompatible with thinking about and serving others. Jesus’ compassionate
heart was always active, and even with rest on his mind, he was moved to give
himself to the people who needed to hear the Word of God. Is my heart like
Christ’s? Am I aware of the physical and spiritual needs of my family and
friends even on my “day off”?
3. Thinking About God: There is a deeper meaning to “rest”: turning all our activity to glorify God and expressing our loving dependence on him. He commanded us to set apart one day of the week to “rest” in him, to direct our hearts and minds to him, to offer him the fruits of our week’s work, and to receive his grace to begin another week. Sunday must be the highlight of a Christian’s week, not just because he finds respite from his work, but because he offers all his work –– and himself –– to God the Father during the communal celebration of Mass, the heart of Sunday. This God-centered focus is extended throughout the whole Sunday rest, where “daily concerns and tasks can find their proper perspective: the material things about which we worry give way to spiritual values; in a moment of encounter and less pressured exchange, we see the true face of the people with whom we live. Even the beauties of nature — too often marred by the desire to exploit, which turns against man himself — can be rediscovered and enjoyed to the full” (John Paul II, Dies Domini, 67). Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, help me to find my true rest in You. You are the source of all that is good. Help me to order all my work and material things towards spiritual values. Help me make Mass the heart of my Sunday. As well, help me use Sunday to see the true face of my family, friends, colleagues and clients: they are souls which You call me to love, serve, and bring closer to You.
Resolution: I will find some concrete way to prepare
myself and my family for the celebration of Sunday Mass: reflecting on the
Mass readings, organizing ourselves to arrive early to visit Jesus in the
Blessed Sacrament, doing some service of charity like visiting the sick or
elderly, etc.
Excerpts from the
DIARY of Saint Faustina Kowalska
77 My mind became dimmed in a
strange way; no truth seemed clear to me. When people spoke to me about God,
my heart was like a rock. I could not draw from it a single sentiment of love
for Him. When I tried, by an act of the will, to remain close to Him, I
experienced great torments, and it seemed to me that I was only provoking God
to an even greater anger. It was absolutely impossible for me to meditate as
I had been accustomed to do in the past. I felt in my soul a great void, and
there was nothing with which I could fill it. I began to suffer from a great
hunger and yearning for God, but I saw my utter powerlessness. I tried to
read slowly, sentence by sentence, and to meditate in this way, but this also
was of no avail. I understood nothing of what I had read.
The abyss of my misery was constantly before my eyes. Every time I entered the chapel for some spiritual exercise, I experienced even worse torments and temptations. More than once, all through Holy Mass, I had to struggle against blasphemous thoughts which were forcing themselves to my lips. I felt an aversion for the Holy Sacraments, and it seemed to me that I was not profiting from them in any way. It was only out of obedience to my confessor that I frequented them, and this blind obedience was for me the only path I could follow and my very last hope of survival. The priest explained to me that these were trials sent by God and that, in the situation I was in, not only was I not offending God, but I was most pleasing to Him. "This is a sign," he told me, "that God loves you very much and that He has great confidence in you, since He is sending you such trials." But these words brought me no comfort; it seemed to me that they did not apply to me at all. One thing did surprise me: it often happened that, at the time when I was suffering greatly, these terrible torments would disappear suddenly just as I was approaching the confessional; but as soon as I had left the confessional, all these torments would again seize me with even greater ferocity. I would then fall on my face before the Blessed Sacrament repeating these words: "Even if You kill me, still will I trust in You!" [cf. Job 13:15] It seemed to me that I would die in these agonies. But the most terrible thought for me was the conviction that I had been rejected by God. Then other thoughts came to me: why strive to acquire virtues and do good works? why mortify and annihilate yourself? what good is it to take vows? to pray? to sacrifice and immolate yourself? why sacrifice myself all the time? what good is it - if I am already rejected by God? why all these efforts? And here, God alone knew what was going on in my heart.
248 The words of the Bishop [Rospond[73]], spoken at the ceremony of the taking of
perpetual vows: "Accept this candle as a sign of heavenly light and of
burning love." While giving the ring: "I betroth you to Jesus
Christ, the Son of the Father Most High; may He keep you unblemished. Take
this ring as a sign of the eternal covenant you are making with Christ, the
Spouse of Virgins. May it be for you the ring of faith and the sign of the
Holy Spirit, that you may be called the bride of Christ and, if you serve Him
faithfully, be crowned [as such] for all eternity.
375 Particular interior practice; that is, the examination
of conscience. Self-denial, denial of my own will.
I. The denial of my reason. Subjecting it to the reason of those who represent God to me here on earth. II. The denial of my will. Doing the will of God, which is revealed in the will of those who represent God to me and which is contained in the rule of our order. III. The denial of my judgment. Accepting immediately and without reflection, analysis or reasoning all orders given by those who represent God to me. IV. The denial of my tongue. I will not give it the least bit of freedom; but in one case only I will give it complete freedom; that is, in proclaiming the glory of God. Whenever I receive Holy Communion, I will ask Jesus to fortify and cleanse my tongue that I may not injure my neighbor with it. That is why I have the greatest respect for the rule which speaks about silence.
376 My Jesus, I trust that Your grace will help me to
carry out these resolutions. Although the above points are contained in the
vow of obedience, I want to practice these things in a special way, because
this is the essence of the religious life. Merciful Jesus, I beg You
fervently to enlighten my mind so that I may come to know You better, You who
are the Infinite Being, and that I may get to know myself better, who am
nothingness itself.
378 Once as I was talking with my spiritual director, I
had an interior vision-quicker than lightning-of his soul in great suffering,
in such agony that God touches very few souls with such fire. The suffering
arises from this work. There will come a time when this work, which God is
demanding so very much, will be as though utterly undone. And then God will
act with great power, which will give evidence of its authenticity. It will
be a new splendor for the Church, although it has been dormant in it from
long ago. That God is infinitely merciful, no one can deny. He desires
everyone to know this before He comes again as Judge. He wants souls to come
to know Him first as King of Mercy. When this triumph comes, we shall already
have entered the new life in which there is no suffering. But before this,
your soul [of the spiritual director] will be surfeited with bitterness at
the sight of the destruction of your efforts. However, this will only appear
to be so, because what God has once decided upon, He does not change. But
although this destruction will be such only in outward appearance, the
suffering will be real. When will this happen? I do not know. How long will
it last? I do not know.[89] But God has promised a great grace
especially to you and to all those... who will proclaim My great mercy. I
shall protect them Myself at the hour of death, as My own glory. And even if
the sins of soul are as dark as night, when the sinner turns to My mercy he
gives Me the greatest praise and is the glory of My Passion. When a soul
praises My goodness, Satan trembles before it and flees to the very bottom of
hell.
379 During one of the adorations, Jesus promised me that: With
souls that have recourse to My mercy and with those that glorify and proclaim
My great mercy to others, I will deal according to My infinite mercy at the
hour of their death.
My Heart is sorrowful, Jesus said, because even chosen souls do not understand the greatness of My mercy. Their relationship [with Me] is, in certain ways, imbued with mistrust. Oh, how much that wounds My Heart I Remember My Passion, and if you do not believe My words, at least believe My wounds.
389 Love must be reciprocal. If Jesus tasted the fullness
of bitterness for me, then I, His bride, will accept all bitterness as proof
of my love for Him.
391 Through Holy Baptism, we entered into union with other
souls. Death tightens the bonds of love. I ought always to be of help to
others. If I am a good religious, I will be useful, not only to the Order,
but to the whole Country as well.
392 The Lord God grants His graces in two ways: by
inspiration and by enlightenment. If we ask God for a grace, He will give it
to us; but let us be willing to accept it. And in order to accept it,
self-denial is needed. Love does not consist in words or feelings, but in
deeds. It is an act of the will; it is a gift; that is to say, a giving. The
reason, the will, the heart-these three faculties must be exercised during
prayer. I will rise from the dead in Jesus, but first I must live in Him. If
I do not separate myself from the Cross, then the Gospel will be revealed in
me. Jesus in me makes up for all my deficiencies. His grace operates without ceasing.
The Holy Trinity grants me Its life abundantly, by the gift of the Holy
Spirit. The Three Divine Persons live in me. When God loves, He loves with
all His Being, with all the power of His Being. If God has loved me in this
way, how should I respond I, His spouse?
393 During one conference, Jesus said to me, You are a
sweet grape in a chosen cluster; I want others to have a share in the juice
that is flowing within you.
441 Once, the image was being exhibited over the altar
during the Corpus Christi procession [June 20, 1935]. When the priest exposed
the Blessed Sacrament, and the choir began to sing, the rays from the image
pierced the Sacred Host and spread out all over the world. Then I heard these
words: These rays of mercy will pass through you, just as they have
passed through this Host, and they will go out through all the world. At
these words, profound joy invaded my soul.
525 O
Holy Trinity, in whom is contained the inner life of God, the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit, eternal joy, inconceivable depth of love, poured
out upon all creatures and constituting their happiness, honor and glory be
to Your holy name forever and ever. Amen.
When I consider Your greatness and beauty, O my God, I rejoice exceedingly that the Lord I serve is so great. With love and joy I carry out His will, and the more I come to know Him, the more I desire to love Him. I burn with the desire to love Him ever more and more.
543
The duration of the postulancy. The postulancy will last one year. During
this time, the candidate should examine whether she is attracted to this type
of life and whether it is suitable to her. The directress should also
diligently consider whether or not the person in question is suitable for
this type of life. After a year, if the postulant shows evidence of a stable
will and an earnest desire to serve God, she should be admitted to the
novitiate.
699 On one occasion, I heard these words: My daughter,
tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of
Mercy [139] be a refuge and
shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very
depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon
those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to
Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of
sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which
grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its
sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of
angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that
exists has come forth from the very depths of My most tender mercy. Every
soul in its relation to Me will contemplate My love and mercy throughout
eternity. The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is
My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter.
Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy.
745 During Holy Mass, I was so enveloped in the great
interior fire of God's love and the desire to save souls that I do not know
how to express it. I feel I am all aflame. I shall fight all evil with the
weapon of mercy. I am being burned up by the desire to save souls. I traverse
the world's length and breadth and venture as far as its ultimate limits and
its wildest lands to save souls. I do this through prayer and sacrifice. I
want every soul to glorify the mercy of God, for each one experiences the
effects of that mercy on himself. The Saints in heaven worship the mercy of
the Lord. I want to worship it even now, here on earth, and to spread
devotion to it in the way that God demands of me.
930 + O my Jesus, although I will go to You, and You will
fill me with Yourself, and that will make my happiness complete, I will
nevertheless not forget about humanity. I desire to draw aside the veils of
heaven, so that the earth would have no doubts about The Divine Mercy. My
repose is in proclaiming Your mercy. The soul gives the greatest glory to its
Creator when it turns with trust to The Divine Mercy.
+ The
Love of God is the flower - Mercy the fruit.
1000
In the terrible desert of life,
O my sweetest Jesus, Protect souls from disaster, For You are the Fountain of Mercy. Let the resplendence of Your rays, O sweet Commander of our souls, Let mercy change the world. And you who have received this grace, serve Jesus. Steep is the great highway I must travel, But I fear nothing, For the pure fount of mercy is flowing for my sake, And, with it, strength for the humble soul. I am exhausted and worn out, But my conscience bears me witness That I do all for the greater glory of the Lord, The Lord who is my repose and my heritage. [End of Notebook Two of the Diary.]
962 + I often see a certain person dear to God. The Lord
has great love for him, not only because he is striving to spread the
veneration of God's mercy, but also because of the love he has for the Lord
God, although he does not always feel this love in his own heart and is
almost always in Gethsemane. However, this person is always pleasing to God,
and his great patience will overcome all difficulties.
1074 When I went for adoration, I heard these words: My
beloved daughter, write down these words, that today My Heart has rested in
this convent [the Cracow house]. Tell the world about My mercy and My
love.
The flames of mercy are burning me. I desire to pour them out upon human souls. Oh, what pain they cause Me when they do not want to accept them! My daughter, do whatever is within your power to spread devotion to My mercy. I will make up for what you lack. Tell aching mankind to snuggle close to My merciful Heart, and I will fill it -with peace. Tell [all people], My daughter, that I am Love and Mercy itself. When a soul approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls.
1075 Souls who spread the honor of My mercy I shield
through their entire lives as a tender mother her infant, and at the hour of
death I will not be a Judge for them, but the Merciful Savior. At that last
hour, a soul has nothing with which to defend itself except My mercy. Happy
is the soul that during its lifetime immersed itself in the Fountain of
Mercy, because justice will have no hold on it.
1076 Write this: Everything that exists is enclosed in
the bowels of My mercy, more deeply than an infant in its mother's womb. How
painfully distrust of My goodness wounds Me! Sins of distrust wound Me most
painfully.
1083 + That beautiful soul who is spreading this work of
divine mercy throughout the world is, by his deep humility, very pleasing to
God.
1104 Today there was a beautiful teaching [by Father Plaza
on the goodness and mercy of God. During this conference my soul experienced
the flames of God's love, and I understood that God's word is a living word.
1256 [August] 30. Reverend Father Sopocko left this
morning. When I was steeped in a prayer of thanksgiving for the great grace
that I had received from God; namely, that of seeing Father, I became united
in a special way with the Lord who said to me, He is a priest after My own
Heart; his efforts are pleasing to Me. You see, My daughter, that My will
must be done and that which I had promised you, I shall do. Through him I
spread comfort to suffering and careworn souls. Through him it pleased Me to
proclaim the worship of My mercy. And through this work of mercy more souls
will come close to Me than otherwise would have, even if he had kept giving
absolution day and night for the rest of his life, because by so doing, he
would have labored only for as long as he lived; whereas, thanks to this work
of mercy, he will be laboring till the end of the world.
1286 + Thank You, O God, for
all the graces
Which unceasingly You lavish upon me, Graces which enlighten me with the brilliance of the sun, For by them You show me the sure way. Thank You, 0 Lord, for creating me, For calling me into being from nothingness, For imprinting Your divinity on my soul, The work of sheer merciful love. Thank You, O God, for Holy Baptism Which engrafted me into Your family, A gift great beyond all thought or expression Which transforms my soul. Thank You, O Lord, for Holy Confession, For that inexhaustible spring of great mercy, For that inconceivable fountain of graces In which sin-tainted souls become purified. Thank You, O Jesus, for Holy Communion In which You give us Yourself. I feel Your Heart beating within my breast As You cause Your divine life to unfold within me. Thank You, O Holy Spirit, for the Sacrament of Confirmation, Which dubs me Your knight And gives strength to my soul at each moment, Protecting me from evil. Thank You, O God, for the grace of a vocation. For being called to serve You alone, Leading me to make You my sole love, An unequal honor for my soul. Thank You, O Lord, for perpetual vows, For that union of pure love, For having deigned to unite Your pure heart with mine And uniting my heart to Yours in the purest of bonds. Thank You, O Lord, for the Sacrament of Anointing Which, in my final moments, will give me strength; My help in battle, my guide to salvation, Fortifying my soul till we rejoice forever. Thank You, O God, for all the inspirations That Your goodness lavishes upon me, For the interior lights given my soul, Which the heart senses, but words cannot express. Thank You, O Holy Trinity, for the vastness of the graces Which You have lavished on me unceasingly through life. My gratitude will intensify as the eternal dawn rises, When, for the first time, I sing to Your glory.
1300 When I looked at this image, I was pierced with such
a lively love for God that, for a moment, I did not know where I was. When we
had finished our business, we went to the Church of the Most Holy Virgin
Mary. We attended Holy Mass, during which the Lord gave me to know what a
great number of souls would attain salvation through this work. Then I entered
into an intimate conversation with the Lord, thanking Him for having
condescended to grant me the grace of seeing how the veneration of His
unfathomable mercy is spreading. I immersed myself in a profound prayer of
thanksgiving. Oh, how great is God's generosity! Blessed be the Lord, who is
faithful in His promises...
1520 Today the Lord said to me, I have opened My Heart
as a living fountain of mercy. Let all souls draw life from it. Let them
approach this sea of mercy with great trust. Sinners will attain
justification, and the just will be confirmed in good. Whoever places his
trust in My mercy will be filled with My divine peace at the hour of death.
1652 Adore, my soul, the mercy of the Lord,
O my heart, rejoice wholly in Him, Because for this you have been chosen by Him, To spread the glory of His mercy. His goodness no one has fathomed, no one can measure, His compassion is untold. Every soul that approaches Him experiences this. He will shield her and clasp her to His merciful bosom. Happy the soul that has trusted in Your goodness And has abandoned herself completely to Your mercy. Her soul is filled with the peace of love. You defend her everywhere as Your own child. O soul, whoever you may be in this world, Even if your sins were as black as night, Do not fear God, weak child that you are, For great is the power of God's mercy.
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.
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-77, 248, 375-376, 378-379, 389, 391)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-392-393, 441)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-525, 543, 699, 745, 930, 962, 1000)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-III-1074-1076, 1083, 1104)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-IV-1256, 1286, 1300)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-V-1520)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-VI-1652, 1710-1711 )
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