Forgiveness from the Heart
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March 21, 2017. Tuesday
of the Third Week of Lent
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Matthew 18:21-35
Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
"Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As
many as seven times?” Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but
seventy-seven times. That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a
king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the
accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since
he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along
with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At
that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ´Be patient with me,
and I will pay you back in full.´ Moved with compassion the master of that
servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he
found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He
seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ´Pay back what you owe.´
Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ´Be patient with me, and
I will pay you back.´ But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until
he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,
they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole
affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ´You wicked servant! I
forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have
had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?´ Then in anger his
master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole
debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his
brother from his heart."
Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, as I prepare for the coming of Easter during this
Lenten season, I turn to You in prayer. You have been merciful to me. Many
times You have pardoned the great debt I owe. I trust in Your merciful love
and wish to transmit Your love to many others faithfully. Here I am, Lord, ready
to learn from Your tender heart.
Petition: Lord, enlighten me to Your gift of mercy.
1. An Unpayable Debt: Peter asks Jesus how many times he should
forgive his brother. Jesus gives a short answer, telling a parable to make
sure his answer is understood. In the parable God is the king, and we are all
the servants who owe the king a huge amount. We are all in debt to God. He
created us and keeps us in existence and gives us every good thing we have,
every talent and virtue. We owe God everything. He owes us nothing. Do my
daily thoughts and actions reflect this truth?
2. The Forgiving King: The servant, not being able to pay, falls to
his knees and begs for more time so that he can pay back the debt. The king
offers him more than just time – he pardons the entire debt. God is generous.
When we turn to him and ask for forgiveness, he offers us much more than we
could hope for – he pardons our entire debt. Then why, we might ask, does the
king settle accounts with his servant if he is so generous? Why not pardon
the debt from the beginning instead of ordering him along with his wife and
children to be sold? He calls the servant to account so that the servant will
realize how much he owes and in realizing this, he might imitate God when
dealing with his fellow-worker. God does not want us to be punished for our
sins. He desires to forgive us the great debt we owe him, but he calls us to
account for our sins in the hope that we will recognize how much we have both
received from him and owe to him and thus will ask for forgiveness.
3. Unequal Treatment and Abuse of Freedom: After being pardoned, the servant does not
treat his debtor in the same merciful manner. He sends him to prison. He had
every right to do so. In justice, his fellow servant owed him money; but in
doing so he abuses the liberty that he has just been given. He does not stop
to reflect that in this moment he himself should rightly be in slavery, sold
along with his wife and children in order to pay his debt. He does not
reflect that he is able to confront his fellow servant only because the king
has had pity on him in the first place, giving him liberty. The offenses we
suffer from our fellow men are real offenses, but before we demand justice we
must stop and reflect that it is only because God has forgiven us our sins
that we have the liberty to demand reparation from our fellow men. That
reflection must lead us to have the same mercy with our fellow men that God
has had with us.
Conversation with Christ: Lord thank You for this time of prayer. I
must recognize that You have been merciful with me and forgiven me the great
debt I owe. Thank You for the many times You have given me a second chance.
During this time of Lent, help me to practice mercy toward those who owe or
offend me.
Resolution: I will think of someone who has offended me
and say a prayer asking God to help me forgive them.
Excerpts from the DIARY of
Saint Faustina Kowalska
241 Love of neighbor. First:
Helpfulness towards the sisters. Second: Do not speak about those who are absent,
and defend the good name of my neighbor. Third: Rejoice in the success of
others.
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.
308
1934, Holy Thursday. Jesus said to me, I desire that you make an offering
of yourself for sinners and especially far those souls who have lost hope in
God's mercy.
God and
Souls. An Act of Oblation.
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!" S. M. Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament Holy Thursday, during Holy Mass, March 29, 1934.
310 -
I am giving you a share in the redemption of mankind. You are solace in My
dying hour.
324 The
next day, I felt very weak, but experienced no further suffering. After Holy
Communion, I saw the Lord Jesus just as I had seen Him during one adoration.
The Lord's gaze pierced my soul through and through, and not even the least
speck of dust escaped His notice. And I said to Jesus, "Jesus, I thought
You were going to take me. "And Jesus answered, My will has not yet
been fully accomplished in you; you will still remain on earth, but not for
long. I am well pleased with your trust, but your love should be more ardent.
Pure love gives the soul strength at the very moment of dying. When I was
dying on the cross, I was not thinking about Myself, but about poor sinners,
and I prayed for them to My Father. I want your last moments to be completely
similar to Mine on the cross. There is but one price at which souls are
bought, and that is suffering united to My suffering on the cross. Pure love
understands these words; carnal love will never understand them.
327
Once, my confessor [Father Sopocko] asked me where the inscription should be
placed, because there was not enough space in the picture for everything. I
answered, "I will pray and give you an answer next week." When I
left the confessional and was passing before the Blessed Sacrament, I
received an inner understanding about the inscription. Jesus reminded me of
what He had told me the first time; namely, that these three words must be
clearly in evidence: "Jesus, I trust in You. "["Jezu, Ufam
Tobie.'] I understood that Jesus wanted the whole formula to be there, but He
gave no direct orders to this effect as He did for these three words.
I am offering people a vessel with which they are to keep coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. That vessel is this image with the signature: "Jesus, I trust in You."
328 O
purest Love, rule in all Your plenitude in my heart and help me to do Your
holy will most faithfully!
362 +One day, during the morning
meditation, I heard this voice: I myself am your director; I was, I am,
and I will be. And since you asked for visible help, I chose and gave you a
director even before you had asked, for My work required this. Know that the
faults you commit against him wound My Heart. Be especially on your guard
against self-willfulness; even the smallest thing should bear the seal of
obedience.
With a crushed and humbled heart I begged forgiveness of Jesus for these faults. I also begged pardon of my spiritual director and resolved to do nothing rather than to do many things wrongly. 363 O good Jesus, thank You for the great grace of making known to me what I am of myself: misery and sin, and nothing more. I can do only one thing of myself, and that is to offend You, O my God, because misery can do no more of itself than offend You, O infinite Goodness!
365 My spiritual director replaced
it with an interior mortification; namely, throughout Holy Mass I was to
meditate on why the Lord Jesus had submitted to being baptized. The
meditation was no mortification for me, for thinking about God is a delight
and not a mortification; but there was a mortification of the will in that I
was not doing [simply] what I like, but what I was told to do, and it is in
this that interior mortification consists. When I left the confessional and
started to recite my penance, I heard these words: I have granted the
grace you asked for on behalf of that soul, but not because of the
mortification you chose for yourself. Rather, it was because of your act of
complete obedience to My representative that I granted this grace to that
soul for whom you interceded and begged mercy. Know that when you mortify
your own self-will, then Mine reigns within you.
366 O my Jesus, be patient with me. I will be more careful in the future. I will rely, not upon myself, but upon Your grace and Your very great goodness to miserable me. 367 +On one occasion, Jesus gave me to know that when I pray for intentions which people are wont to entrust to me, He is always ready to grant His graces, but souls do not always want to accept them: My Heart overflows with great mercy for souls, and especially for poor sinners. If only they could understand that I am the best of Fathers to them and that it is for them that the Blood and Water flowed from My Heart as from a fount overflowing with mercy. For them I dwell in the tabernacle as King of Mercy. I desire to bestow My graces upon souls, but they do not want to accept them. You, at least, come to Me as often as possible and take these graces they do not want to accept. In this way you will console My Heart. Oh, how indifferent are souls to so much goodness, to so many proofs of love! My Heart drinks only of the ingratitude and forgetfulness of souls living in the world. They have time for everything, but they have no time to come to Me for graces. So I turn to you, you-chosen souls, will you also fail to understand the love of My Heart? Here, too, My Heart finds disappointment; I do not find complete surrender to My love. So many reservations, so much distrust, so much caution. To comfort you, let Me tell you that there are souls living in the world who love Me dearly. I dwell In their hearts with delight. But they are few. In convents too, there are souls that fill My Heart with joy. They bear My features; therefore the Heavenly Father looks upon them with special pleasure. They will be a marvel to Angels and men. Their number is very small. They are a defense for the world before the justice of the Heavenly Father and a means of obtaining mercy for the world. The love and sacrifice of these souls sustain the world in existence. The infidelity of a soul specially chosen by Me wounds My Heart most painfully. Such infidelities are swords which pierce My Heart.
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 1 Remember My Passion, and if you do not believe My words, at least believe My wounds.
390 He who knows how to forgive
prepares for himself many graces from God. As often as I look upon the cross,
so often will I forgive with all my heart.
477 Silence is a sword in the
spiritual struggle. A talkative soul will never attain sanctity. The sword of
silence will cut off everything that would like to cling to the soul. We are
sensitive to words and quickly want to answer back, without taking any regard
as to whether it is God's will that we should speak. A silent soul 14 strong;
no adversities will harm it if it perseveres in silence. The silent soul is
capable of attaining the closest union with God. It lives almost always under
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. God works in a silent soul without
hindrance.
478 O my Jesus, You know, You alone know well that m heart knows no other love but You! All my virginal love is drowned eternally in You, O Jesus! I sense keenly ho Your divine Blood is circulating in my heart; I have no the least doubt that Your most pure love has entered m heart with Your most sacred Blood. I am aware did You are dwelling in me, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, or ratherIam aware that it is I who it living in You, O incomprehensible God! I am aware that I am dissolving in You like a drop in an ocean. I am aware that You are within me and all about me, that You are in all things that surround me, in all that happens to me. O my God, I have come to know You within my heart, and I have loved You above all things that exist on earth or in heaven. Our hearts have a mutual understanding, and no one of humankind will comprehend this.
483 O God, how I desire that souls
come to know You and to see that You have created them because of Your
unfathomable love. O my Creator and Lord, I feel that I am going to remove
the veil of heaven so that earth will not doubt Your goodness.
Make of me, Jesus, a pure and agreeable offering before the Face of Your Father. Jesus, transform me, miserable and sinful as I am, into Your own self (for You can do all things), and give me to Your Eternal Father. I want t become a sacrificial host before You, but an ordinary wafer to people. I want the fragrance of my sacrifice be known to You alone. O Eternal God, an unquenchable fire of supplication for Your mercy burns within me. I know and understand that this is my task here and in eternity. You yourself have told me to speak about this great mercy and about Your goodness.
612 One time, I was in doubt as to
whether what had happened to me had seriously offended the Lord Jesus or not.
As I could not solve this doubt, I made up my mind not to go to Communion
before first going to confession, although I immediately made an act of
contrition, as it is my habit to ask for forgiveness after the slightest
transgression. During those days when I did not receive Holy Communion, I did
not feel the presence of God. This caused me unspeakable pain, but I took it
as a punishment for sin. However, at the time of Holy Confession I was
reproached for not going to Holy Communion, because what had happened to me
was not an obstacle to receiving Holy Communion. After confession, I received
Holy Communion, and I saw the Lord Jesus who said to me, Know, My
daughter, that you caused Me more sorrow by not uniting yourself with Me in
Holy Communion than you did by that small transgression.
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.
723 +
Today, I heard these words: The graces I grant you are not for you alone,
but for a great number of other souls as well... And your heart is My
constant dwelling place, despite the misery that you are. I unite Myself with
you, take away your misery and give you My mercy. I perform works of mercy in
every soul. The greater the sinner, the greater the right he has to My mercy.
My mercy is confirmed in every work of My hands. He who trusts in My mercy
will not perish, for all his affairs are Mine, and his enemies will be
shattered at the base of My footstool.
730 +
In this retreat, I shall keep you continually close to My Heart, that you may
better know My mercy, that mercy which I have for people and especially for
poor sinners.
1059
Jesus is commanding me to make a novena before the Feast of Mercy, and today
I am to begin it for the conversion of the whole world and for the
recognition of The Divine Mercy... so that every soul will praise My
goodness. I desire trust from My creatures. Encourage souls to place great
trust in My fathomless mercy. Let the weak, sinful soul have no fear to
approach Me, for even if it had more sins than there are grains of sand in
the world, all would be drowned in the unmeasurable depths of My mercy.
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.
1148 June 20, [1937]. We resemble
God most when we forgive our neighbors. God is Love, Goodness, and Mercy...
Every soul, and especially the soul of every religious, should reflect My mercy. My Heart overflows with compassion and mercy for all. The heart of My beloved must resemble Mine; from her heart must spring the fountain of My mercy for souls; otherwise I will not acknowledge her as Mine.
1396 Today I heard a voice in my
soul: Oh, if sinners knew My mercy, they would not perish in such great
numbers. Tell sinful souls not to be afraid to approach Me; speak to them of
My great mercy.
1397 The Lord said to me, The
loss of each soul plunges Me into mortal sadness. You always console Me when
you pray for sinners. The prayer most pleasing to Me is prayer for the
conversion of sinners. Know, My daughter, that this prayer is always heard
and answered.
1447 +Oh, how painful it is to Me that souls so seldom
unite themselves to Me in Holy Communion. I wait for souls, and they are
indifferent toward Me. I love them tenderly and sincerely, and they distrust
Me. I want to lavish My graces on them, and they do not want to accept them.
They treat Me as a dead object, whereas My Heart is full of love and mercy.
In order that you may know at least some of My pain, imagine the most tender
of mothers who has great love for her children, while those children spurn
her love. Consider her pain. No one is in a position to console her. This is
but a feeble image and likeness of My love.
1448 Write, speak of My mercy. Tell souls where they
are to look for solace; that is, in the Tribunal of Mercy [the Sacrament
of Reconciliation]. There the greatest miracles take place [and]
are incessantly repeated. To avail oneself of this miracle, it is not
necessary to go on a great pilgrimage or to carry out some external ceremony;
it suffices to come with faith to the feet of My representative and to reveal
to him one's misery, and the miracle of Divine Mercy will be fully
demonstrated. Were a soul like a decaying corpse so that from a human
standpoint, there would be no [hope of] restoration and everything
would already be lost, it is not so with God. The miracle of Divine Mercy
restores that soul in full. Oh, how miserable are those who do not take
advantage of the miracle of God's mercy! You will call out in vain, but it
will be too late.
(Diary of Sister
Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-241, 282, 308-310, 324, 327-328 362)
(Diary of Sister
Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-363, 365-367,378-379, 390)
(Diary of Sister
Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-447-448, 483
(Diary of Sister
Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-612, 699, 723, 730)
(Diary of Sister
Faustina Kowalska Notebook-III-1059, 1074-1076, 1148)
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Marso 21, 2017
Forgiveness from the Heart-Divine Mercy Miracles Meditations
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