Saturday, April 13, 2013

Devotion for today: I will attain sanctity




Today is a perfect day to renew our commitment to God to attain sanctity, and who better to help us understand this than St. Faustina? I offer for our meditation today several excerpts from her diary, including messages from Jesus. I have taken these excerpts from the book “Consoling the Heart of Jesus” by Father Michael Gaitley, Marian Press, 2011). The italicized writing is from St. Faustina and the bold are the words of Jesus revealed to her.

I have come to a knowledge of my destiny; that is, an inward certainty that I will attain sanctity. This deep conviction has filled my soul with gratitude to God, and I have given back all the glory to God, because I know very well what I am of myself. (1362)

Tell souls not to place within their own hearts obstacles to My mercy, which so greatly wants to act within them. My mercy works in all those hearts which open their doors to it. Both the sinner and the righteous person have need of My mercy. Conversion, as well as perseverance, is a grace of My mercy.

Let souls who are striving for perfection particularly adore My mercy, because the abundance of graces which I grant them flows from My mercy. I desire that these souls distinguish themselves by boundless trust in My mercy. I myself will attend to the sanctification of such souls. I will provide them with everything they will need to attain sanctity. The graces of My mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is – trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive. Souls that trust boundlessly are a great comfort to Me, because I pour all the treasures of My graces into them. I rejoice that they ask for much, because it is my desire to give much, very much. On the other hand, I am sad when souls ask for little, when they narrow their hearts. (1577-1578).

If souls would put themselves completely in My care, I Myself would undertake the task of sanctifying them, and I would lavish even greater graces on them (1682).

Despite my misery, with Your help, I can become a saint. (1718).

(Here is a thought from me: This is a good prayer to say when spending time in front of the Blessed Sacrament):

O eternal God, how ardently I desire to glorify this greatest of Your attributes; namely, Your unfathomable mercy. I see all my littleness, and cannot compare myself to the heavenly beings who praise the Lord’s mercy with holy admiration. But I, too, have found a way to give perfect glory to the incomprehensible mercy of God.
 O most sweet Jesus, who have deigned to allow miserable me to gain a knowledge of Your unfathomable mercy; this day I take into my hands the two rays that spring from Your merciful Heart; that is, the Blood and the Water; and I scatter them all over the globe so that each soul may receive Your mercy and, having received it, may glorify it for endless ages. O most sweet Jesus who, in Your incomprehensible kindness, have deigned to unite my wretched heart to Your most merciful Heart, it is with Your own Heart that I glorify God, our Father, as no soul has ever glorified Him before .(835-836)





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