Always remember Him

 

My children, always remember Jesus so that in all your weaknesses you may find the appropriate medicine.  Are you in pain?  By calling on Jesus you will find relief and enlightenment.  Are you in affliction?  Call on Jesus and behold, consolation will dawn in the realm of your heart.  Are you overcome by discouragement?  Do not neglect to set your hopes on Jesus, and your soul will be filled with courage and strength.  Are you bothered by carnal thoughts that allure you to sensual pleasure?  Take the consuming fire of the name of Jesus and set fire to the tares.  Are you oppressed by some worldly affair?  Say, "Enlighten me, my Jesus, how to deal with the matter which lies before me. Work it out in accordance with Thy holy will."  And behold, you will be at peace and will walk with hope. 

On those who tempt and grieve you

Put up with that person who grieves you and creates temptations.  Put up with him joyfully.  Pray for him every day.  Alays try to do good to him, to commend him, to speak to him with love, and God will work His miracle and he will reform.  Then our Christ will be glorified and the devil, who sets up all the stumbling-blocks, will be foiled.  Force yourself especially to stop criticizing and lying.  Your penance is to do one prayer-rope every day for this person who hates you, so that God may enlighten him to repent…   

 

If this person does something against you, overlook it, be patient.  Let yourself be wronged, but do not wrong; let yourself be slapped,  but do not slap; let yourself be criticized, but do not criticize.  When you do all this, then the Son of God, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit, will dwell in your soul.  Fight the good fight; overlook the deeds of this person, just as our Christ has overlooked your sins. 

Fashioned through involuntary pain

God loves us and through involuntary pain seeks to count us worthy to participate in His most perfect blessings.  Unfortunately, we--and I--do not love our soul in a spiritual way.  If we loved it we would endure trials of both soul and body without complaining, in order to attain the eternal blessings. 

Pain softens the heart and removes its hardness.  As the heart is softened in this manner, the ground is prepared for the sowing of genuine repentance and correction.  We who are cowardly in every affliction chase away, so to speak, the grace of God. 

When man is prospering, he cannot remember God, and if he remembers Him, it is only faintly.  When affliction or pain approaches, he remembers Him vividly and with fervor, then he prays most ardently.  And our holy God is pleased with this, just as a mother is pleased when her child seeks her with heartfelt pain, for in this she discerns love. 

No matter how man is tried, he always benefits when he shows the corresponding patience and gratitude during the trial.  This is revealed at the end of the trial, when he sees the lightness of his soul, the clarity of his mind, and the sweetness that comes to his inner self.   

Let us pray to be granted knowledge and patience in life's miseries, so that we may gain our salvation.  Amen.