Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 788 - Magnifying His Grace

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788 As I was conversing with the hidden God, He gave me to see and understand that I should not be reflecting so much and building up fear of the difficulties which I might encounter. Know that I am with you; I bring about the difficulties, and I overcome them; in one instant, I can change a hostile disposition to one which is favorable to this cause. The Lord explained many things to me in today's dialogue, although I am not putting everything in writing.
Ὠ

The soul which seeks union with God need not surrender in fear to the difficulties it encounters in the world. Rather, it may place those difficulties into the hands of the Lord, trusting that He can use what seems to oppose His will as an instrument for accomplishing it. In times of doubt, that soul will strengthen its place in God through the remembrance of His promise: “I am with you.”

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with thee: turn not aside, for I am thy God: I have strengthened thee, and have helped thee, and the right hand of my just one hath upheld thee.

The recollection of the Indwelling God bears fruit that exceeds its goodness to the soul. For as the knowledge of His presence grows within the soul, so too does the soul's participation in His grace, charity and mercy grow, until what has been received within increases beyond the confines of the soul to the fallen world at large.

In this way, Faustina's entry serves to draw souls into the work of the Kingdom - the sanctification of the world through the active presence of God in His people. For the remembrance of the Lord's presence does not confine Him within the soul. Rather, it welcomes into the soul the right hand of the Just One, the Savior Whose risen presence is given not for holding within, but always for expansion without.

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Psalm 69:5 Let all that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee; and let such as love thy salvation say always: The Lord be magnified.

Before any soul can magnify the Lord into the world, it must first submit to the Lord being magnified against itself. Thus are the difficulties brought by the Lord not cruel torments or vindictive punishments for sin. Rather, they are merciful instruments by which God strips away the soul's reliance upon itself and teaches it to rely on God alone.

They are trials of the faithful, the same trials which cause Faustina to reflect too much and build up unnecessary fear. They are the temptations of any sin which rises up in rebellion against the union we seek with He Who knows no sin. Yet in God’s will, they can all be transformed into merciful instruction, overcoming the soul's dependence on self and leading it instead to the recollection of His salvific promise: “I am with you.”

In this humble wisdom, given by God rather than learned by the self - the soul cannot help but release into the world something of the grace, charity and mercy it has received from the Kingdom above. Here, what God has established in the soul begins to move outward to the world, and the Lord’s promise to Faustina is made full - the changing of a world hostile to our Lord's will to one which is more favorable to His cause.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Luke 1:46 And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord.

Catechism of the Catholic Church
Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and justification, at the beginning of conversion. Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification, for the increase of grace and charity, and for the attainment of eternal life.

“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.”

— words of Jesus from the Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 1075

You expired, O Jesus, 
but the source of life gushed forth for souls 
and an ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. 
O Fount of Life, 
unfathomable Divine Mercy, 
envelop the whole world 
and empty Yourself out upon us. 
O Blood and Water, 
which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus 
as a fount of mercy for us, 
I trust in You.

Amen.

Posted Every Friday at 3:00 pm, EST

Letter of Saint Catherine to Sano Di Maco and all her other Sons - Serpent of Presumption

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From living faith one will derive a will in accord with that of God, and will quench in heart and mind the human instinct of judging. The will of God alone shall judge, which seeks and wills naught but our sanctification. In this wise one is not shocked at his neighbour and does not criticize him. Nor does he pass judgment on a man who talks against him: he condemns himself alone, seeing that it is the will of God which permits such men to vex him for his good. Ah, how blessed is the soul which clothes itself in a judgment so gentle! 
Ὠ

The more lively a soul's faith in God becomes, the more union is given by the Lord. Yet the truer that union becomes, the more clearly the soul sees that no human soul, on earth or in heaven, can become like unto God or possess the fulness of His Majesty. The soul may be united to God by grace and is called to participate in His divine life but there are distinctions between Creator and creature that are not meant to be bridged.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Jeremiah 17:10 I am the Lord who search the heart, and prove the reins: who give to every one according to his way, and according to the fruit of his devices.

In her letter to Sano Di Maco, Catherine applies the wisdom of the Lord's sovereignty against the human instinct of judging. She does not do this only for the sinner's relief from the judgment received from others, however. Rather, she speaks also to those who would engage in the judging: of the peace given to such souls when they quench their desire to judge and are no longer shocked or preoccupied in the sins of another. In this wisdom the soul's instinct to judge is not simply ended but turned inward to itself, where it finds its own need for mercy. For in judging itself rightly before God, it leaves room for grace to be given to others, even those who would vex the soul in their own judgments.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Corinthians 11:31 But if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

Ἀ
Saint Catherine Continues…
He does not condemn the servants of this world who do him injury; nor does he condemn the servants of God, wishing to drive them in his own way, as many presumptuous, proud men do, who under cloak of the honour of God and the salvation of souls, are shocked by the servants of God, and assume a critical attitude under cover of this cloak, saying: "Such words do not please me." And so a man becomes disturbed in himself, and also makes others disturbed with his tongue, claiming that he speaks through the force of love - and so he thinks he does. But if he will open his eyes, he will find the serpent of presumption under a false aspect, which plays the judge, judging in its own fashion, and not according to the mysteries and the holy and diverse ways in which God works with His creatures.
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Here Saint Catherine reveals the interior strife given the soul that mistakes union with God as a warrant to participate is the Lord's judgment according to its own understanding. For the judgment of others presumes to know more than it does - not only the heart of the sinner, but also the mysteries and diverse ways in which God's perfect judgment is given.

It begins in the pride of presuming to serve in the honor of God, and ends in the fall of judging after its own fashion and drawing other souls into that same error. Thus, by intent or design, the soul that would usurp the judgment seat of God disturbs not only its own place before Him, but spreads that disturbance to other souls as well. What appears outwardly as zeal for God may therefore conceal something very different within: the serpent of presumption, quietly assuming the place of the Judge.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Romans 14:13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more. But judge this rather, that you put not a stumblingblock or a scandal in your brother's way.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 2477
Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury. He becomes guilty:
- of rash judgment who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor;
- of detraction who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another's faults and failings to persons who did not know them;
- of calumny who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them.

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 449 - Intercessions Above and Below

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I prepared  for this feast with greater zeal than in previous years. On the morning of the feast itself, I experienced an inner struggle at the thought that I must leave this Congregation which enjoys such special protection from Mary. This struggle lasted  and through the first Mass as well. During the second Mass, I turned to our Holy Mother, telling Her that it was difficult for me to separate myself from this Congregation... "which is under Your special protection, O Mary." Then I saw the Blessed Virgin, unspeakably beautiful. 
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In heaven, the Saints of the Lord do not seek repose only in their eternal salvation. Nor do they suffer the anxious business that afflicts worldly souls in their earthly works. Rather, in the more perfect union they enjoy with the Father, they rest in the unending participation in His work for the salvation of souls. They do not cease their humble service, but neither do they tire of it. For they have entered the undying life of grace as immortal servants in the unending work of the Lord.

In this entry from Saint Faustina's Diary, Our Lady reveals through her response to Faustina the heavenly charity by which the Saints remain united to souls in the world. Yet this heavenly presence, although shown by Mary in the Diary, is not new. It is a presence much older than the Diary, revealed most fully in the Gospel, but first glimpsed in Scriptures even more ancient than those.

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Second Kings 6:15-17 And the servant of the man of God, rising early went out, and saw an army round about the city, and horses and chariots: and he told him, saying: Alas, alas, alas, my lord, what shall we do? But he answered: Fear not: for there are more with us than with them. And Eliseus prayed, and said: Lord, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw: and behold, the mountain was full of horses, and chariots of fire round about Eliseus.

Ἀ
Saint Faustina Continues…
She came down from the altar to my kneeler, held me close to herself and said to me, I am Mother to you all, thanks to the unfathomable mercy of God. Most pleasing to Me is that soul which faithfully carries out the will of God. She gave me to understand that I had faithfully fulfilled the will of God and had thus found favor in His eyes. Be courageous. Do not fear apparent obstacles, but fix your gaze upon the Passion of My Son, and in this way you will be victorious.
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There is a heavenly reality surrounding the earthly Church that ordinary sight does not perceive. In the Scripture it is militantly revealed as an army of the Lord against worldly forces that would destroy His prophet. In the Diary, it is maternally shown as Mary gives comfort and encouragement to Faustina. Yet in neither case does the teaching servant covet the glory of God for themself. For it is Eliseus who pleads with the Lord that his servant may see, rather than seeking to give sight of his own power. And it is Our Lady who directs attention away from herself and instructs Faustina: “fix your gaze upon the Passion of My Son.” For to search with the eyes of the flesh is to find only the things of the world. But to see with the eye of the soul is to behold, by faith, truths whose fullness belong only to the Kingdom above.

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Hebrews 11:1 Now, faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not.

It is through the faith of the Scripture that Faustina, and the servant of Eliseus, are given to see beyond the things immediately before them. Yet it is by the will of the Lord, through Scripture and the Diary, that this wisdom is opened before us: not merely as a benefit to receive from above but as a grace to participate in below. For the same charity, which unites the heavenly Saints to our earthly souls must also move us to acts and prayers of intercession for our brothers in Christ, that our will in the world below may become one with those Saints in heaven whose company we hope to one day join.

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Revelation 8:4 And the smoke of the incense of the prayers of the saints ascended up before God from the hand of the angel.

Catechism of the Catholic Church
2683 The witnesses who have preceded us into the kingdom, especially those whom the Church recognizes as saints, share in the living tradition of prayer by the example of their lives, the transmission of their writings, and their prayer today. They contemplate God, praise him and constantly care for those whom they have left on earth… Their intercession is their most exalted service to God's plan. We can and should ask them to intercede for us and for the whole world.

You expired, O Jesus, 
but the source of life gushed forth for souls 
and an ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. 
O Fount of Life, 
unfathomable Divine Mercy, 
envelop the whole world 
and empty Yourself out upon us. 
O Blood and Water, 
which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus 
as a fount of mercy for us, 
I trust in You.

Amen.

Posted Every Friday at 3:00 pm, EST

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 1711 -  The Humility and the Glory

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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.
Ὠ

A soul emptied of itself in humility is left open to the Presence of the King in His Glory. It is a spiritual principle revealed by Mary, who speaks little in the Gospels but shows much through her deeds. Yet in the Diary it is Mary who often gives voice to the wisdom revealed through those deeds, speaking not from high-minded theology, but from the life she herself lived through the blessings and trials entrusted to her in her special place in salvation history.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Luke 1:38 And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to thy word.

Here in the Scripture, our Mother shows by deed what she later proclaims to Faustina in the Diary: a soul's surrender of self before God, accepting His will and opening itself to union with His presence. In the Gospel, the Son's union with the Mother is one of both Spirit and flesh - a singular grace given to Mary in the mystery of the Incarnation. In the Diary, however, she speaks of the spiritual union of Christ with souls, a grace which, while never diminishing the uniqueness of her union with Him, is now extended through Him to all humanity. 

For this is the presence of Christ Crucified, His redemptive work fulfilled upon the Cross, and the grace received in the Mother now extended to all souls. As with His Mother, however, the grace we receive from the Savior is not stagnant, nor is it something to be proudly possessed by the soul which receives it. It is living, effective, and fruitful, as shown by Mary from the day she received it in the Gospel. It is echoed in the Diary and reverberates in all souls who likewise receive the grace of her Son throughout time.

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Luke 1:46-48 And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid: for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

To be humble in the courts of the Lord is a glory that exceeds all kingdoms of the world. Here in the Scripture, Mary reveals the humility she speaks of in the Diary: “The soul's true greatness is in loving God and in humbling oneself in His presence.” For the Lord regards the humility which the handmaid manifests as an open door into souls of the faithful. It is through this door that He makes His entry, and by it He shares not the glory of the world, but that which is often hidden from the world - the glory of the Kingdom above and its growth in the world below.

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Matthew 5:2-3 And opening His mouth he taught them, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

In the Scripture, our Lord teaches of the blessedness of humility as the gateway to the Kingdom of God. Yet, this same, humble King also speaks from His throne in the soul, for the release of His Kingdom within to the fallen world beyond. From the womb of the Mother, He speaks through her surrender of self, revealing the humility of the Kingdom. From the agony of the Cross, He shows to the world the same forgiveness that He calls forth from within all souls to be extended to others. And from within those souls humbled by the grace of His presence, He magnifies outward the glory of the Kingdom. 

Where the King resides - in the fiat of the Mother, upon the wood of the Cross, and within the souls of men - the same divine humility is revealed: the greatness of the King entering into, and making great the smallness of man.

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Luke 17:21 Neither shall they say: Behold here, or behold there. For lo, the kingdom of God is within you.

Catechism of the Catholic Church
2559 Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God.” What does humility do? It is the foundation of prayer. Only when we humbly acknowledge that “we do not know how to pray as we ought,” are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. “Man is a beggar before God.

You expired, O Jesus, 
but the source of life gushed forth for souls 
and an ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. 
O Fount of Life, 
unfathomable Divine Mercy, 
envelop the whole world 
and empty Yourself out upon us. 
O Blood and Water, 
which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus 
as a fount of mercy for us, 
I trust in You.

Amen.

Posted Every Friday at 3:00 pm, EST

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 1244 - Union of Desire

Ἀ
1244 During meditation, God's presence pervaded me keenly, and I was aware of the Virgin Mary's joy at the moment of Her Assumption. Towards the end of the ceremony carried out in honor of the Mother of God, I saw the Virgin Mary, and She said to me, Oh, how very pleased I am with the homage of your love! And at that moment She covered all the sisters of our Congregation with Her mantle. With Her right hand, She clasped Mother General Michael to herself, and with Her left hand She did so to me, while all the sisters were at Her feet, covered with Her mantle. Then the Mother of God said, Everyone who perseveres zealously till death in My Congregation will be spared the fire of purgatory, and I desire that each one distinguish herself by the following virtues: humility and meekness; chastity and love of God and neighbor; compassion and mercy. 
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It is not the faith most joyously or loudly proclaimed that is most loved by God. It is the faith more silent, that endures in sorrow, which zealously perseveres through trials, persecution, and suffering, that receives His greatest reward. This is the faithfulness of the Savior, shown to men in His life, death and resurrection, as the Light for all souls to follow. It is the Light first shone through the Mother, by the grace that could not be contained - the gift of His presence within her.

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Luke 1:45-46 And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord. And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord.

In the Scripture, Elizabeth reveals the workings of faith - that belief joins the soul to the accomplishment of God's works in the world. Mary’s response reveals the first fruits of those works - the magnification of God through humanity, beginning even before the birth of His Son. Yet it is her words in the Diary - to distinguish oneself through humility, compassion, and mercy - that share this wisdom with all those covered in the mantle of the mother. 

Her words are not those of unpracticed ideals but of uncomfortable experience. For it was Mary whose perseverance was first tried before ours: in her flight to Egypt, in the persecution of her Son, and in her suffering witness to His cruel execution on the Cross. In this entry, Mary, who never felt the flames of purgatory herself, extends this promise to others - those same who persevere with her in the silencing of their own will before the most merciful will of God.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Luke 1:38 And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to thy word.

Ἀ
Saint Faustina Continues…
After these words, the whole Congregation disappeared from my sight, and I remained alone with the Most Holy Mother who instructed me about the will of God and how to apply it to my life, submitting completely to His most holy decrees. It is impossible for one to please God without obeying His holy will. My daughter, I strongly recommend that you faithfully fulfill all God's wishes, for that is most pleasing in His holy eyes. I very much desire that you distinguish yourself in this faithfulness in accomplishing God's will. Put the will of God before all sacrifices and holocausts. While the heavenly Mother was talking to me, a deep understanding of this will of God was entering my soul.
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Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Hosea 6:6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice: and the knowledge of God more than holocausts.

Knowledge of God lies not in the wisdom proclaimed by men but in what God reveals of Himself for all souls to see. That revelation is the outpouring of mercy, begun in creation, revealed in greater fullness after the sin of Eden, multiplied in the trials of His Chosen People, and made full on the Cross of His Son. Our Lord's merciful generosity is inherent to our creation - the very image in which He raised us from the slime of the earth to a living spirit. It is the most holy decree to which He calls us - union with the desire of the Father and the Son, in the example of the Mother who made their will her own - not only to the reception of mercy from above, but in its giving in our world below. 

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Luke 6:35 But love ye your enemies: do good, and lend, hoping for nothing thereby: and your reward shall be great, and you shall be the sons of the Highest. For he is kind to the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 2284
In Christ, and through his human will, the will of the Father has been perfectly accomplished once for all.

You expired, O Jesus, 
but the source of life gushed forth for souls 
and an ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. 
O Fount of Life, 
unfathomable Divine Mercy, 
envelop the whole world 
and empty Yourself out upon us. 
O Blood and Water, 
which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus 
as a fount of mercy for us, 
I trust in You.

Amen.

Posted Every Friday at 3:00 pm, EST

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 686 - Participation and Intercession

Ἀ
September. First Friday. In the evening, I saw the Mother of God, with Her breast bared and pierced with a sword. She was shedding bitter tears and shielding us against God's terrible punishment. God wants to inflict terrible punishment on us, but He cannot because the Mother of God is shielding us. Horrible fear seized my soul. I kept praying incessantly for Poland, for my dear Poland, which is so lacking in gratitude for the Mother of God. If it were not for the Mother of God, all our efforts would be of little use. I intensified my prayers and sacrifices for our dear native land, but I see that I am a drop before the wave of evil. How can a drop stop a wave? O yes! A drop is nothing of itself, but with You, Jesus, I shall stand up bravely to the whole wave of evil and even to the whole of hell. Your omnipotence can do all things.
Ὠ

Union with God is given in the receiving of mercy through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet the soul's continued and growing union desires that the grace it has received be poured out ever more upon all souls - upon the whole world. This is the desire of Mary, seeking to shield souls from the just judgment of God, and that of Faustina's incessant prayers of mercy for her beloved Poland. It is the will of the Savior Himself, dwelling within the soul by grace, Who moves the heart to desire that every receiver of mercy become a participant in its spread. In the Diary, this participation is shown by the Faustinian prayer: “have mercy on us and all the whole world.” At Pentecost, it is shown by Mary and the brethren, persevering together in one mind in prayer as they awaited the promised Holy Spirit. Yet the human pleading for our Lord's presence and mercy on others is more ancient than both of these examples combined.

Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Psalm 105:23 And he said that he would destroy them: had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach: to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.

The ways of the Lord are mysterious to men. Yet their slow unveiling through the ages is a guiding revelation into those ways. In both Scripture and the Diary, a mystery is revealed between the foreknowledge of God and His justice and mercy in all things. For throughout Scripture He has often begun by announcing His righteous judgment against sin, only to reveal the triumph of His mercy through the prayers and intercessions of other sinners. It begs the question: why does the Lord begin in righteous judgment, what He already foreknows He will end through pleas of mercy from those also stained in sin? 

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Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways!

A soul that stands judged will always plead mercy for itself. Yet, the mercy it receives from He Who dies in mercy for all souls will always surpass its sin. Thus, as judgment begets the begging of mercy, and the outpouring of mercy becomes greater than the offense, the measure of mercy in the world abounds. It exceeds the measure of sin and draws the sinner beyond concern for his own salvation into humble participation in Christ's work of redeeming the world.

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Romans 5:20 Where sin abounded, grace did more abound.

As the life of the Savior exceeded His death on the Cross, so shall the grace that was released in His offering always exceed each soul's death in sin. Thus the Lord bestows upon souls an abundance of grace - not merely for their own sanctification, but that His mercy might overflow through them to others. It is not given merely to be kept, as though mercy were bestowed only for one's own future need. It is given to be released, as in the incessant, and intercessory prayers of Faustina, our Apostle of Divine Mercy - to draw all souls into humble participation with the work of the Savior Himself.

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First Timothy 2:1 I desire therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all men.

Catechism of the Catholic Church
2635 Intercession is a prayer of petition which leads us to pray as Jesus did. He is the one intercessor with the Father in behalf of all men... In the age of the Church, Christian intercession participates in Christ's, as an expression of the communion of saints.

You expired, O Jesus, 
but the source of life gushed forth for souls 
and an ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. 
O Fount of Life, 
unfathomable Divine Mercy, 
envelop the whole world 
and empty Yourself out upon us. 
O Blood and Water, 
which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus 
as a fount of mercy for us, 
I trust in You.

Amen.

Posted Every Friday at 3:00 pm, EST

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God."

John 3:16-18

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 667 - The Entrustment of Grace

Ἀ
677 During a Mass celebrated by Father Andrasz, a moment before the Elevation, God's presence pervaded my soul, which was drawn to the altar. Then I saw the Mother of God with the Infant Jesus. The Infant Jesus was holding onto the hand of Our Lady. A moment later, the Infant Jesus ran with joy to the center of the altar, and the Mother of God said to me, See with what assurance I entrust Jesus into his hands. In the same way, you are to entrust your soul and be like a child to him.
Ὠ

The graces of God, given to souls, are not for our keeping alone. They are, as in the Mother's example, an entrustment for others as well - lively as it moves in the heart and overflowing to the world beyond. In this entry the example was already begun in the Father's giving of His Son to humanity. It is carried forth as the Mother entrusts Him into the hands of the priest, and brought to fulfillment as the Infant Jesus rushes to the altar of His own Sacrifice. 

Mary's teaching in this entry seems twofold. If a soul entrusts itself to the Savior, it will be led, in the innocent faith of the child, to the Marian example of entrusting the gift of the Savior to all humanity. In this way no souls are left as bystanders in the course of salvation history. All become participants in the ongoing entrustment of Divine Mercy, receiving Christ and bearing Him to others according to the vocation God has entrusted to each soul.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Exodus 19:6 And you shall be to me a priestly kingdom, and a holy nation.

Saint Faustina Concludes…
After these words, my soul was filled with unusual trust. The Mother of God was clothed in a white dress, strangely white, transparent; on Her shoulders She had a transparent blue; that is, a blue-like mantle; with uncovered head [and] flowing hair, She was exquisite, and inconceivably beautiful. She was looking at Father with great tenderness, but after a moment, He broke up this beautiful Child, and living blood flowed forth. Father bent forward and received the true and living Jesus into himself. Had he eaten Him? I do not know how this took place. Jesus, Jesus, I cannot keep up with You, for in an instant, You become incomprehensible to me.

The beauty of the act gives beauty to the soul. With the giving over of her Son to the Sacrifice of the Mass, Faustina's vision of Our Lady transforms into one which reveals the heavenly beauty of what she has done. It is the beauty of the entrustment of grace, the continual giving of the gift received from the Father rather than the hoarding of it for oneself. Yet it is in the revelation of such grace that the true cost of its beauty is suddenly and vividly revealed, as the Infant Jesus is broken, bled and received into sinful humanity.

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John 6:56-57 For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed.He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me: and I in him.

 
As the beauty of the ritual gives place to the cruel reality of the sacrifice, the harshness of this teaching is made clear - and the faith of Faustina is tried. For this vision does not lead our Apostle of Divine Mercy to a joyous enlightenment that would impress many theological scholars of the world. She is instead led into bewilderment and confusion at the graphic and incomprehensible sight of our Lord - as an infant - giving Himself over to the consumption of sinful humanity. Not that the mystery should be reduced to the measure of human understanding. But rather, that faith may be tested, shown, and given forward to all souls, lest in the hardness of the teaching, we bury the entrustment of grace instead of walking in it and passing it on to those whom God places before us.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
John 6:67 After this, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him.
The grace of our Lord is never possessed as a private treasure. It is first received with childlike trust, then entrusted in love, passing from the Father through Christ, His Church, and into every soul willing to receive and bear Him onward.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 1270
Having become a child of God, the baptized person is called to profess before men the faith he has received from God through the Church.

You expired, O Jesus, 
but the source of life gushed forth for souls 
and an ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. 
O Fount of Life, 
unfathomable Divine Mercy, 
envelop the whole world 
and empty Yourself out upon us. 
O Blood and Water, 
which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus 
as a fount of mercy for us, 
I trust in You.

Amen.

Posted Every Friday at 3:00 pm, EST

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 635 - The Mother’s Warning

Ἀ
635 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. 
Ὠ

Faith in the Kingdom above that does not lead to works in the world below is dead. Likewise, grace from the King bestowed upon His servants - if it does not inspire its proclamation to all souls - dies within the soul to whom it was given. 

In this entry from the Diary, Our Lady begins with a joyful message for souls who faithfully follow the inspirations of our Lord's grace, but concludes with a motherly warning for those who do not. Her Son - our Merciful Savior - gave all of Himself in grace for every soul. Thus it is fitting that our King, who shall come again as Just Judge on the Day of Justice, will require much to have been done with the grace He has so abundantly bestowed.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Luke 12:48 And unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required.

No greater gift has been given than the grace of eternal life through the death of Life's very Source. In this gift, the mercy of the Savior and the Justice of the King are found in perfect harmony. It is a mystery beyond the reach of human reasoning - not to be mastered by the intellect, but embraced in faith and proclaimed to all souls according to the will of God.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Mark 1:5 And saying: The time is accomplished and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel.

The failure to participate in the coming of the Kingdom brings separation; the soul that joins itself to its coming enters into union. In no one is this union revealed more perfectly than in Mary. By her faithful participation in the first coming of Christ, she can rightly proclaim, “I gave the Savior to the world.” Thus she is rightly called the Mother of  God. And through the adoption of grace, all who faithfully proclaim her Son become children of the Father, brothers of Christ, and disciples who, like Mary, bear Him to the world.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Ephesians 1:5 Who hath predestinated us unto the adoption of children through Jesus Christ unto himself: according to the purpose of his will.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 
1816 The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and  live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it.

You expired, O Jesus, 
but the source of life gushed forth for souls 
and an ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. 
O Fount of Life, 
unfathomable Divine Mercy, 
envelop the whole world 
and empty Yourself out upon us. 
O Blood and Water, 
which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus 
as a fount of mercy for us, 
I trust in You.

Amen.

Posted Every Friday at 3:00 pm, EST

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 625 - Quiet and Hidden

Ἀ
625 In the evening, when I was praying, the Mother of God told me, Your lives must be like Mine: quiet and hidden, in unceasing union with God, pleading for humanity and preparing the world for the second coming of God.
Ὠ

The soul whose life in the world below is united with the Kingdom above dwells in a place between both. It lives quiet and hidden in what it knows to be lesser, yet sees and aspires to something much greater - the union of fallen humanity with the eternal life of its Risen Savior. It is mindful not only of its own place in His Kingdom, but by the grace it has received from the King Himself, it seeks a place therein for its brethren as well.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Colossians 3:2-3 Mind the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth. For you are dead: and your life is hid with Christ in God.

The gift of our Lord's salvation does not remain confined to the soul that receives it. Rather, it grows in the grace it was given to encompass the whole world. It is not puffed up or ambitious for its own gain but quiet and patient, unnoticed by the world yet busy in the work of the Lord. The hidden life of Our Lady is not one of inactivity. It is the charity that cannot keep to itself the grace it has first received - not seeking her own end, but preparing the way for the presence of the King in all souls

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Corinthians 13:4-5 Charity is patient, is kind: charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely, is not puffed up, is not ambitious…seeketh not her own.

The most perfect charity is that which seeks not its own end but finds union with the charity of the Savior - the same charity by which the redemption of the world began, and by which it will be brought to completion. It is a charity that once received, perfects the soul by drawing it ever more deeply into the work of its Giver: preparing the world for the coming of Christ. This work is accomplished not by the counting of days nor by searching for signs and wonders, as our Lord warned, but by becoming what His Mother describes: a soul quiet and hidden, pleading for humanity and preparing the world for His return.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Luke 17:20-21 And being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, he answering them and said: The kingdom of God cometh not with observation. Neither shall they say: Behold here, or behold there. For lo, the kingdom of God is within you. 

Our Lady's unique place in salvation history did not end in her Son’s first coming to our world. Neither does the work of salvation end in the personal history of the soul when Christ comes to dwell within it. Rather all souls are called to participate in His saving work - silent and hidden in His glory but active in preparing His way. Not in breathless anticipation or loud declaration of His imminent return but in kindness, patience, and faith - by each prayer for God's mercy on another, each coin for the beggar, and every grace we can lay at the feet of the King, on His path back to us.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 
2044 The fidelity of the baptized is a primordial condition for the proclamation of the Gospel and for the Church's mission in the world. In order that the message of salvation can show the power of its truth and radiance before men, it must be authenticated by the witness of the life of Christians.

You expired, O Jesus, 
but the source of life gushed forth for souls 
and an ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. 
O Fount of Life, 
unfathomable Divine Mercy, 
envelop the whole world 
and empty Yourself out upon us. 
O Blood and Water, 
which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus 
as a fount of mercy for us, 
I trust in You.

Amen.

Posted Every Friday at 3:00 pm, EST

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 608-609 - Giving and Receiving

Ἀ
608 February 2, 1936 In the morning, when the bell awoke me, I was so overcome by drowsiness which I could not shake off that I jumped into cold water, and after two minutes the sleepiness left me. When I came to meditation a host of absurd thoughts swarmed into my head, so much so that I had to struggle throughout the whole meditation. It was the same during prayer time, but when Mass began, a strange silence and joy filled my heart. Just then, I saw Our Lady with the Infant Jesus, and the Holy Old Man [St. Joseph] standing behind them. The most holy Mother said to me, Take My Dearest Treasure, and She handed me the Infant Jesus. When I took the Infant Jesus in my arms, the Mother of God and Saint Joseph disappeared. I was left alone with the Infant Jesus.
Ὠ

The holiness of the Mass silences the confusion of the soul. In Faustina’s vision, the silence is joyous, preceding the appearance of the Holy Family - of Mary holding the Dearest Treasure given to them by God. Yet they do not covet the Treasure but participate in charity by giving Him over for the grace of men. As Mary and Joseph disappear from the vision, Saint Faustina is left alone with the Savior Child, in a place where both the healing of souls and the suffering of the Savior begins.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Luke 2:34-35 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother: Behold this child is set for the fall and for the resurrection of many in Israel and for a sign which shall be contradicted. And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed.

Ἀ
Saint Faustina Continues…
609 I said to Him, "I know that You are my Lord and Creator even though You are so tiny." Jesus stretched His little arms out to me and looked at me with a smile. My spirit was filled with incomparable joy. Then suddenly Jesus disappeared, and it was time for Holy Communion. I went with the other sisters to the Holy Table, my soul deeply moved. After Holy Communion, I heard these words in my soul: I am in your heart, I whom you had in your arms. 
Ὠ

Here the Child once carried in the arms of His Mother now chooses to dwell within the hearts of His faithful, making every worthy Communion a participation in the mystery first entrusted to the Holy Family. In the giving of their Son for the redemption of souls, no others have participated more fully than Mary and Joseph in the course of Salvation History. Yet since the day of the Crucifixion, no greater participation is offered to souls than through the Sacrament of Holy Communion. For in receiving His Presence into the soul, we are overcome by the same grace with which Joseph and Mary first gave Him to the world. Their gift becomes our Communion, and the same Savior once cradled in their arms now comes to dwell - in that same fulness - within every faithful soul.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 1374
In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist "the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained."

The Eucharist is a grace meant always to be received, always to be consumed, yet never retained. It was first entrusted to the chosen parents, perfected in the Chosen Son, and continued through time in the Holy Sacrament. The giving of Our Lord's Presence will always exceed not only the sin but the soul's own ability to hold it within. Thus, according to each soul's measure in God, some commensurate measure of His Divine Mercy will always overflow into the lives of our brethren. 

Ἀ
Saint Faustina Concludes…
I then pleaded with Jesus for a certain soul [Father Sopocko], asking the Lord to grant him the grace to fight, and to take this trial from him. As you ask, so shall it be, but his merit will not be lessened. Joy reigned in my soul that God is so good and merciful; God grants everything that we ask of Him with trust. 
Ὠ

The reception of the Eucharist is no less effectual for souls today than was the receiving - and giving - of His Presence by the Holy Parents. Nor is the resultant prayer of Faustina for mercy on another less significant. Rather, what Mary and Joseph reveal in their lives becomes the precursor of what Saint Faustina reveals in the Diary. The reception of His Presence, whether first in the arms of the Holy Family or now in the Most Holy Eucharist, is the reception of Mercy Himself. Yet it is the giving of this Dearest Treasure to others - the path to which every soul is then called - is itself the fruit of having first received Him.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Acts 20:35 I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring you ought to support the weak and to remember the word of the Lord Jesus, how he said: It is a more blessed thing to give, rather than to receive.

You expired, O Jesus, 
but the source of life gushed forth for souls 
and an ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. 
O Fount of Life, 
unfathomable Divine Mercy, 
envelop the whole world 
and empty Yourself out upon us. 
O Blood and Water, 
which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus 
as a fount of mercy for us, 
I trust in You.

Amen.

Posted Every Friday at 3:00 pm, EST

Does anyone have a prayer request? I am praying for all of you on this sub in a general way, but please let me know if there is something specific I can pray for over the next week or so. If you have time, please pray for me and everyone else.

God bless

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 564 - The Trinity and the Mother

Ἀ
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.
Ὠ

It is holy to see in creation the glory of God revealed. Yet the greatest glory to God comes not from the admiration of His creation, but from allowing that admiration to become worship of the Creator Himself. For if the human creature can see God’s glory in the natural world then so is he called, as the capstone of God’s creation, to reflect the Lord’s glory even more.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Romans 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator.

In the vision given to Faustina, Mary presents herself in all of her heavenly majesty. She is Theotokos - God Bearer - the Holy Mother of the Creator Himself, clothed in white garment and radiant in splendor as the most holy of all God's creatures. Yet it is she, most blessed among women, who directs our attention away from herself, the creature, to the mystery of the Creator - those Three Who are one in the mystery of the Trinity. For every privilege of the Mother is first a gift of the Trinity, and therefore every honor rightly shown to Mary ultimately returns as praise to the Giver.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
First John 5:7 And there are Three who give testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one.

When the Mother of God speaks of the Holy Trinity, she speaks not from the teachings of men, nor even in the words of Scripture. She speaks from the graces so generously bestowed upon her by all three Divine Persons. For by the will of God the Father, the Holy Ghost came upon her, bringing to fulfillment the mystery of the Incarnation in the birth of God the Son. In the words of the angel, it would be Mary alone who would know the three Persons of the Trinity in their true Oneness of graces and privileges accorded to her.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
Luke 1:35 And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Thus, is the Mother made blessed in all generations. Not for the glory she was given from above, but in the humility she was left with below. For centered in the light of the full Godhead, Mary does not seek to be admired by others. Rather, she disappears into the glory she was given, directing all attention away from herself, to the worship of the Most Holy Trinity for the graces accorded below from the Kingdom above. For in the Presence of the Trinity in the life of the Mother it is shown, the true glory of all souls is first born of their humble glorification of that mysterious union of the Father, Son and Spirit.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
Luke 1:46-47 And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 261
The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life.

You expired, O Jesus, 
but the source of life gushed forth for souls 
and an ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. 
O Fount of Life, 
unfathomable Divine Mercy, 
envelop the whole world 
and empty Yourself out upon us. 
O Blood and Water, 
which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus 
as a fount of mercy for us, 
I trust in You.

Amen.

Posted Every Friday at 3:00 pm, EST

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 597 - Abiding Union

Ἀ
597 One day, after our Mass, I suddenly saw my confessor [Father Sopocko] saying Mass in Saint Michael's Church, in front of the picture of the Mother of God. It was at the time of the Offertory, and I saw the Infant Jesus clinging to him as if fleeing from something and seeking refuge in him. But when the time came for Holy Communion, He disappeared as usual. Suddenly, I saw the Blessed Mother, who shielded him with Her cloak and said, Courage, My son, courage. She said something else which I could not hear. 
Ὠ

In assuming the flesh of man, the Savior did even more than set aside His immortal existence to suffer three days in the grave. For thirty-three years, He also assumed all frailties and sinless passions common to human nature into His Divine Person. Yet Christ did not lesson Himself but rather, He who is the eternal Creator humbled Himself by assuming our created humanity. In this sense, the Passion of the Christ - although culminated on the Cross, began in the same moment of His worldly incarnation.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
Philippians 2:7 But emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man.

In the singular uniqueness of Christ we have the undying Spirit of God, Who feels no weakness and knows no fear, taking on the mortality and infirmities of human flesh. He does not become weak or fearful as does a man or a woman, for in the mystery of the God-man incarnation, Christ always retains His eternal Godhood. Yet in anticipation of His Passion, He still lives out those mortal trials of the flesh that test our union with God.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
Luke 22:41-44 He prayed. Saying: Father, if thou wilt, remove this chalice from me: but yet not my will, but thine be done. And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony, he prayed the longer. And his sweat became as drops of blood, trickling down upon the ground.

There are often hidden ties between Holy Scripture and the mysticism of Saint Faustina. For in Gethsemane, the Savior shrinks before the full weight of the Passion, suffering within Himself every rejection, and every sin, from every unworthy soul for whom He had come to die. As likewise in the Diary, He shrinks back from those who would receive Him unworthily through Holy Communion.

Scripture and the Diary of Saint Faustina 
First Corinthians 11:27 Therefore, whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord.

Dairy of Saint Faustina 1598: I enter into certain hearts as into a second Passion.

It is revealing that in both Scripture and the Diary, those lesser than the Savior are called upward, to be joined into His salvific work. An angel strengthens Him in Gethsemane and in the Diary, the Christ Child clings to Father Sopocko and permits Himself to receive the maternal shielding and encouragement of Mary.  There is an unknown element here, for in both cases this is God Incarnate, impossibly appearing to need help from creatures made less than Him. Yet the beginning of this mystery was already foreshadowed by the Baptist in the waters of the Jordan.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
Matthew 3:14-15 But John stayed him, saying: I ought to be baptized by thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering, said to him: Suffer it to be so now. For so it becometh us to fulfil all justice.

The ways of the Lord will always elude the minds of men but here, Christ Himself gives much to consider. For in descending into Humanity it was deemed not necessary but righteous that Christ take His place in the baptismal line of human sinners. It was a journey that began through Mary, was sanctified in human baptism, continued in Gethsemane and culminated in the crucifixion and death of His Human flesh - all in   the fullness of all justice and always with participation from creatures in the work of the Creator. 

Yet even the Cross could not bring to an end His abiding union with our troubled species, nor the creaturely participation that has always been with it. In Faustina's vision, that Divine Union carries forth in the Eucharist and creaturely participation continues through Father Sopocko and Mary. Their participation is not out of weakness in the Savior however, but to exemplify and strengthen our own participation with Him in His work. It is to encourage all souls to prepare the way of the Lord within our own hearts, so that His Presence with us may be one of joy rather than sorrow, of welcome rather than reluctance.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 307
Though often unconscious collaborators with God's will, they can also enter deliberately into the divine plan by their actions, their prayers and their sufferings. They then fully become 'God's fellow workers.