The Richest Gift
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November 26, 2018. Monday of the Thirty-Fourth Week in Ordinary
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Father
Edward Hopkins, LC
Luke 21:1-4
When Jesus looked up he saw some wealthy people putting their offerings into the treasury and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins. He said, "I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood."
Introductory Prayer: Dear Jesus, I believe that You have blessed me with life and
with a vibrant faith. Thank You. I dedicate this time and prayer to You. I
love You, and I offer You all that I am and all that I have with the desire
of becoming a joyful gift to You.
Petition: Lord, teach me to share joyfully all that I have received!
1. Some Wealthy People: Jesus sat before the temple treasury. What
did Jesus see as he looked on? He saw more than we do. He saw the heart.
Wealth tends to captivate us with desire and enslave us with concerns and
worries. Jesus saw many hearts squeeze out just a couple drops of their
abundant security, a gesture that was neither painful nor difficult. The act
of fulfilling, or thinking they were fulfilling a duty to God, caused them to
glow with self-satisfaction. Some even were bloated with pride for having
given so much, and yet their act was empty of real self-giving. They gave
with routine indifference. Their giving lacked love. What does Jesus see in
my daily or weekly gifts? Do I generously give God my all when I see him on
the altar? Do I generously give him my all when I am on my knees in prayer?
Do I give him my all on my feet at work?
2. A Poor Widow: Only Jesus could have seen that this widow
was now reduced to total dependence on family or friends. She gave more
because she gave herself with a heart full of surrender. Is there anything we
can give God that he has not already given us? We can give God our trustful
surrender. The poor widow gave to God with trust since she knew that he would
continue to care for her. She had no other real desire but to be with him and
be enriched by him. Her giving was serene and resigned, not despairing, but
rather full of hope. She had the hope of one who knows deep down how much God
loves her. How much do I trust and depend on him, particularly when other
securities begin to disappear?
3. Offering My Whole Life: Jesus shows the great importance of how we
give—not only of what we give. What we have—our possessions and those, which
in some way we have made our own—are not for us. We have them so that we
might give them, and we should give them back to God, for they are his. We
give them as an expression of our love for God. I give my life when I work
diligently, practice charity, pray, or sacrifice for love of Christ. All
these acts of love, if not made explicit before, are made into an intentional
gift to Jesus, when I mentally place them upon the paten along with the hosts
to be consecrated during the Offertory at Mass. Do I give him my whole life?
Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, awaken me to all You are for me,
and let me realize all that You have given me. May I never cease to thank You
through my own self-giving. You are my living and constant invitation to be
more generous, to give more often and with more love. Open my heart, Lord, to
Your work!
Resolution: In prayer, I will make a list of all that I
can do for Jesus this week and offer this to him. Then, on Sunday during the
Offertory, I will mentally place before him on the paten all the sacrifices I
have made during the week—my real gift to him, given with faith and
love.
Excerpts from the DIARY of Saint Faustina Kowalska
80 O Jesus, Divine Prisoner of Love, when I consider Your love and how You emptied Yourself for me, my senses fail me. You hide Your inconceivable majesty and lower Yourself to miserable me. O King of Glory, through You hide Your beauty, yet the eye of my soul rends the veil. I see the angelic choirs giving You honor without cease, and all the heavenly Powers praising You without cease, and without cease they are saying: Holy, Holy, Holy.
Oh, who will comprehend Your love
and Your unfathomable mercy toward us!
O Prisoner of Love, I lock up my poor heart in this tabernacle, that
it may adore You without cease night and day.
I know of no obstacle in this adoration, and even though I be
physically distant, my heart is always with You. Nothing can put a stop to my love for
You. No obstacles exist for me. O my Jesus, I will console You for all the
ingratitude, the blasphemies, the coldness, the hatred of the wicked, the
sacrileges. O Jesus, I want to burn as
a pure offering and to be consumed before the throne of Your hiddenness. I plead with You unceasingly for poor dying
sinners.
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.
140 Pure love is capable of great
deeds, and it is not broken by difficulty or adversity. As it remains strong in the midst of great
difficulties, so too it perseveres in the toilsome and drab life of each
day. It knows that only one thing is
needed to please God: to do even the
smallest things out of great love – love, and always love.
Pure love never errs. Its light is strangely plentiful. It will not do anything that might
displease God. It is ingenious at
doing what is more pleasing to God, and no one will equal it. It is happy when it can empty itself and
burn like a pure offering. The more it
gives of itself, the happier it
is. But also, no one can sense dangers
from afar as can love; it knows how to unmask and also knows with whom it has
to deal.
146 Prayer.-A soul arms itself by prayer for all kinds of combat. In whatever state the soul may be, it ought to pray. A soul which is pure and beautiful must pray, or else it will lose its beauty; a soul which is striving after this purity must pray, or else it will never attain it; a soul which is newly converted must pray, or else it will fall again; a sinful soul, plunged in sins, must pray so that it might rise again. There is no soul which is not bound to pray, for every single grace comes to the soul through prayer. 178 Today we are beginning the third probation. All three of us met at Mother Margaret's, as the other sisters were having their probation in the novitiate. Mother Margaret began with a prayer, explained to us what the third probation consists of, and then spoke on how great is the grace of the perpetual vows. Suddenly I began to cry out loud. In an instant all God's graces appeared before the eyes of my soul, and I saw myself so wretched and ungrateful toward God. The sisters began to rebuke me, saying, "Why did she break out crying?" But Mother Margaret came to my defense, saying that she was not surprised. At the end of the hour, I went before the Blessed Sacrament and, like the greatest and most miserable of wretches, I begged for His mercy that He might heal and purify my poor soul. Then I heard these words, My daughter, all your miseries have been consumed in the flame of My love, like a little twig thrown into a roaring fire. By humbling yourself in this way, you draw upon yourself and upon other souls an entire sea of My mercy. I answered, "Jesus, mold my poor heart according to Your divine delight." 224 To suffer without complaining, to bring comfort to others and to drown my own sufferings in the most Sacred Heart of Jesus! I will spend all my free moments at the feet of [Our Lord in] the Blessed Sacrament. At the feet of Jesus, I will seek light, comfort and strength. I will show my gratitude unceasingly to God for His great mercy towards me, never forgetting the favors He has bestowed on me, especially the grace of a vocation. I will hide myself among the sisters like a little violet among lilies. I want to blossom for my Lord and Maker, to forget about myself, to empty myself totally for the sake of immortal souls-this is my delight. 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.
292 +When a soul loves God sincerely, it ought not fear
anything in the spiritual life. Let it subject itself to the action of grace,
and let it not impose any restraints on itself in
communing with the Lord.
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.
549 Work. As poor persons, the
nuns themselves will do all the work in the convent. Each one should be glad
when she is given some work which is humbling or which goes against her
nature, as that will greatly help her interior formation. The superior will
often change the sisters' duties, and in this way help them to detach
themselves completely from the little details to which women have a great
attachment. Truly, I often find it amusing to see with my own eyes souls who
have forsaken really great things only to attach themselves to fiddle faddle;
that is, trifles. Each sister, including even the superior, shall work in the
kitchen for a month. Everyone should take a turn at every chore which is to
be done in the convent.
581 I will tell you most when you converse with Me in the depths of your heart. Here, no one can disturb My actions. Here, I rest as in a garden enclosed. 582 The interior of my soul is like a large and magnificent world in which God and I live. Except for God, no one is allowed there. At the beginning of this life with God, I was dazzled and overcome with awe. His radiance blinded me, and I thought He was not in my heart; and yet those were the moments when God was working in my soul. Love was becoming purer and stronger, and the Lord brought my will into the closest union with His own holy Will. No one will understand what I experience in that splendid palace of my soul where I abide constantly with my Beloved. No exterior thing hinders my union with God. Even if I used the most forceful words, they would not express even a shadow of how my soul revels in happiness and inexplicable love, as great and pure as the spring from which it flows; that is, God himself. My spirit is so prevaded with God that I feel it physically, and the body partakes of these joys. Although it happens that God's touches vary in the same soul, they come, however, from the same source. 587 Once, I suddenly saw Jesus in great majesty, and He spoke these words to me: My daughter, if you wish, I will this instant create a new world, more beautiful than this one, and you will live there for the rest of your life. I answered, "I don't want any worlds. I want You, Jesus. I want to love You, with the same love that You have for me. I beg You for only one thing: to make my heart capable of loving you. I am very much surprised at Your offer, my Jesus; what are those worlds to me? Even if You gave me a thousand of them, what are they to me? You know very well, Jesus, that my heart is dying of longing for You. Everything that is not You is nothing to me." -At that moment, I could no longer see anything, but a strange force took over my soul, a strange fire sprang up in my heart, and I entered into a kind of agony for Him. Then I heard these words: With no other soul do I unite myself as closely and in such a way as I do with you, and this because of the deep humility and ardent love which you have for Me.
692 + O Jesus, I understand that
Your mercy is beyond all imagining, and therefore I ask You to make my heart
so big that there will be room in it for the needs of all the souls living on
the face of the earth. O Jesus, my love extends beyond the world, to the
souls suffering in purgatory, and I want to exercise mercy toward them by
means of indulgenced prayers. God's mercy is unfathomable and inexhaustible,
just as God himself is unfathomable. Even if I were to use the strongest
words there are to express this mercy of God, all this would be nothing in
comparison with what it is in reality. O Jesus, make my heart sensitive to
all the sufferings of my neighbor, whether of body or of soul. O my Jesus, I
know that You act toward us as we act toward our neighbor.
My Jesus, make my heart like unto
Your merciful Heart. Jesus, help me to go through life doing good to everyone.
1155 The Lord gave me knowledge of His will under three aspects, so to speak, but it all comes down to one. [198] The first is that souls separated from the world will burn as an offering before God's throne and beg for mercy for the whole world... and by their entreaties they will obtain blessings for priests, and through their prayers prepare the world for the final coming of Jesus. 1156 The second is prayer joined to the act of mercy. In particular, they will defend the souls of children against the spirit of evil. Prayer and merciful deeds are all that will be required of these souls, and even the poorest persons can be admitted to their number. And in this egoistic world they will try to rouse up love, the mercy of Jesus. 1157 The third is prayer and deeds of mercy, without any obligation of taking vows. But by doing this, these persons will have a share in all the merits and privileges of the whole [congregation]. Everyone in the world can belong to this group. 1163 When I went to talk with the Lord for a while, I heard a voice in my soul: My- I will not give you the grace to reveal yourself to someone else, and even if you did bare yourself, I will not give that priest the grace needed to understand you. At this time, it is My desire that you put up with yourself patiently. My daughter, it is not My will that you should tell everybody about the gifts I have granted you. I have entrusted you to the care of the friend of My Heart, and under his direction your soul will bloom. I have given him light to recognize My life in your soul. 1164 My daughter, when I was before Herod, I obtained a grace for you; namely, that you would be able to rise above human scorn and follow faithfully in My footsteps. Be silent when they do not want to acknowledge your truth, because it is then that you speak more eloquently. 1165 Know this, My daughter: if you strive for perfection you will sanctify many souls; and if you do not strive for sanctity, by the same token, many souls will remain imperfect. Know that their perfection will depend on your perfection, and the greater part of the responsibility for these souls will fall on you. 1166 Then He said to me, Do not fear, My child; but remain faithful only to My grace... 1180 June [July] 15, 1937. Once, I learned that I was to be transferred to another house. My knowledge of this was purely interior. At the same time, I heard a voice in my soul: Do not be afraid, My daughter; it is My will that you should remain here. Human plans will be thwarted, since they must conform to My will. 1181 When I was close to the Lord, He said to me, Why are you afraid to begin the work which I have commanded you to carry out? I answered, "Why do You leave me on my own at such times, Jesus, and why do I not feel Your presence?" My daughter, even though you do not perceive Me in the most secret depths of your heart, you still cannot say that I am not there. I only remove from you the awareness of My presence, and that should not be an obstacle to the carrying out of My will. I do this to achieve My unfathomable ends, which you will know of later on. My daughter, know without doubt, and once and for all, that only mortal sin drives Me out of a soul, and nothing else. 1182 + Today the Lord said to me, My daughter, My pleasure and delight, nothing will stop Me from granting you graces. Your misery does not hinder My mercy. My daughter, write that the greater the misery of a soul, the greater its right to My mercy; [urge] all souls to trust in the unfathomable abyss of My mercy, because I want to save them all. On the cross, the fountain of My mercy was opened wide by the lance for all souls-no one have I excluded!
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-I-80, 92, 140, 146, 178, 224, 282)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-I-292, 294, 296)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-II-549, 580-581, 587, 692)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-III-1155-1157, 1163-1166, 1180-1182)
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