‘Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.’ (Rom 15:7)
To welcome
our neighbor is certainly fundamental in order to live the
commandment of God, “Love your neighbor as yourself”. But we must
also remember that prudence must govern all of the other virtues,
also and above all, charity. One sees clearly in the Gospels that
Jesus welcomed people, byt also Jesus Who is Love incarnate, welcomed
people for their true good and for the good of the community and for
the good of the whole Church. At the beginning of the Gospels, at the
beginning of the public life of Jesus, He preformed many miracles and
healings. But slowly Jesus offered to the people and to His disciples
the explanation of how one must live in order to follow Him totally
in order to freely choose the way that leads to true happiness that
lasts, true peace and in the end, eternal life. Many were very happy
to be healed or to receive a lunch offered with the multiplication of
the bread and the fish. But when Jesus explained what was needed in
order to overcome our egoism and to truly love God and neighbor, that
is, to follow Jesus to Jerusalem, to Calvary, to the crucifixion, few
remained faithful to Jesus.
Saint
Thomas Aquinas wrote: “Rarely affirm, seldom deny, always
distinguish.” But more and more in our world today WE ARE
DISCOURAGED TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL, with the help of
the supernatural virtue of prudence, especially regarding the
essential things, which results in much evil and damage. In our
secularized world today, which has entered very much into the Church,
the values of true Christianity, which direct us toward God and to
our true home in heaven, do not count for anything and are even
criticized.
IT IS
NECESSARY TO WELCOME THE NEIGHBOR IN A WAY THAT OFFERS TO THE
NEIGHBOR HIS TRUE GOOD. How many people today offer the good to the
neighbor only for this short life without any concern if that good,
or welcome, helps the person to arrive to the happiness that lasts
for eternity, and thus to help the person to welcome the Truth of God
which truly makes us free (Jn 8:32), and not just happiness today but
not tomorrow or after death? THE FUNDAMENTAL LAW OF GOD IN THE
NATURAL AND SUPERNATURAL REALMS, which one sees in the life of Jesus,
is that first there is sacrifice, the passion, the crucifixion, and
then the true fruits, the resurrection. Today, a great number of
people believe, even and especially in the Church, that one can skip
or jump over Calvary and paradise is automatic: for a great number of
people today, there is no more sin which Jesus tells us does great
harm, in fact, the evil for which Jesus came to offer us the
possibility to free ourselves from the fundamental evil. As our
grandparents told us: no cross, no crown; no pain, no gain! But today
almost everyone believes that you can have the crown and the gain
without the cross and without the pain with Jesus. In our world today
there is needed a good amount of guts to say the Truth that makes us
truly free (Jn 8:32), instead of only what people want to hear which
does not help them to arrive at their true good!
Today
there are a great number of priests and bishops who offer misguided
compassion, false mercy, instead of: “ONLY
WHAT IS TRUE CAN ULTIMATELY BE PASTORAL”.
TRUE LOVE
MEANS TO RESPECT ALSO OUR FREE WILL: each person is free to seek the
uncomfortable Truth, tied to the cross, which leads to true freedom,
or to freely deceive oneself pushing aside the Truth of God, the 10
Commandments explained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and
to convince oneself that tomorrow does not matter! As Saint Augustine
wrote: “God who made you without your consent, will not save you
without your consent.”
Sometimes,
depending on the situation, prudence tells us to do as the saints did
in certain situations:
“Now we
command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you
deep away from any brother who is living in idleness and not in
accord with the tradition that you received from us…” (2Thess
3:6).
IN THE
DIARY OF SAINT FAUSTINA ONE FINDS:
“I will
not speak with a certain person, because I know that Jesus does not
like it and that she does not profit by it” (Diary, 277).
Regarding
the Vow of Chastity: “To guard the senses, to avoid occasions, to
avoid idleness, to remove temptations promptly, to remove oneself
from all - and especially particular friendships, the spirit of
mortification, and to reveal all these temptations to one's
confessor” (Diary, 93).
“I will
avoid sisters who grumble, and if they cannot be avoided, I will at
least keep silent before them, thus letting them know how sorry I am
to hear such things” (Diary, 226).
“There
was a person who kept accosting me with flattering words, … When I
left the chapel, they were there, armed and waiting for me to pass.
This time, I was overcome with fear. Then Jesus stood by me and said,
Do not fear. I am with you. Then I felt
an extraordinary strength in my soul, which I cannot describe and,
being a few steps from them, I said boldly and loudly, "Praised
be Jesus Christ."And they, stepping aside, responded, "For
ever and ever. Amen." As if struck by lightning, they bowed
their heads, not even daring to look at me. After I had passed, I
could hear some malicious comments. Ever since that time, when this
person sees me, he runs away in order not to meet me and I, thanks to
the Lord, have been left in peace...” (Diary, 1704).
As I wrote
in the Spiritual Food 1407:
MORE THAN EVERY
BEFORE THE WORLD NEEDS THESE SPIRITUAL TREASURES OF GRACE AND
GUIDANCE! This is similar to how so many families in Italy put
the first priority in being together at table, at supper, while
avoiding as taboo disagreements due to differences in belief in the
Catholic religion or Catholic morality. In the USA, this would be
analogous to setting aside the Truth in order to be “politically
correct”! For the great majority of Catholics today, the first
priority is human respect, and what God desires for our true good is
not even considered.
THE ANGUISH OF THE
PROPHET: “I have become a laughingstock all the day; every one
mocks me” (Jer 20:7).
In
my homily for November 1, 2013 at the cemetery of the parish I gave A
FEW STRONG REPROACHES when I saw that
at that Mass at the cemetery of the parish, there were more than 100
people, but at the Sunday Mass, there were less than 20. I said to
them: “For your mother or your grandmother here in the cemetery,
more than 100 people, but for Jesus Who gave you your mother and your
grandmother and all the rest, less than 20 people at the Sunday Mass;
it seems to me that it has become a religion of the dead instead of
the living. Without gratitude, there is no salvation!...”
(If
you understand Italian, you can read more at: “Attirare
la Gente, a Chi?”
(http://cibo-spir.blogspot.it/2014/01/attirare-la-gente-chi.html).
Is
it not also necessary to welcome those who suffer much due to the
diffusion of pornography? To read about my struggle against the
selling of PORNOGRAPHY
and the indifference of the owners of a bar in Italy, visit:
LET
US WELCOME THE BROTHER WITH THE MOTIVE FOR HIS TRUE GOOD,
which sometimes will not be what the brother wants and we will be
even treated very badly (like Jesus and the prophets) for our true
love and welcome of the brother!
- - - - -
- -
An Experience of Life:
I work in a
prison, where there are difficulties. One evening, as I was leaving
having completed my shift, I heard some cries. I kept walking because
I was tired and wanted to get home right away, but screams continued.
I thought: "No need to return, those who shift is now beginning
will take care of it ...". But then I began to think; it could
be something serious. In fact, some policemen were beating a man so
that he might confess something that he did not know.
As soon as I
entered they stopped, because they know that I do not agree with
these methods. I stopped to talk with them and the atmosphere became
more peaceful.
I accompanied
the man in his cell, I washed him and I treated his wounds.
Eventually it was discovered that he had nothing to do with the story
and had not committed any crime. It was let go from prison. As he
left the prison he hugged me crying. We remained very good friends.
A., Brazil
- - -
Father
Joseph Dwight
P.s.
A
supplement to this “Spiritual Food 1409”, from the 100-page
booklet, "Saint Veronica Giuliani - True Disciple and Apostle of
Mary”, by Fr. Emmanuele of the Immaculate and Sorrowful Heart of
Mary.
Part Two:
Her Doctrine and Teaching
Chapter
One: “The infinite and unspeakable love of God”
(Pp.
53-60)
God is
love (1Jn 4.8). And the truth most "true" - in the
sense of the obvious - the most beautiful and comforting. It is the
basis of the whole spiritual structure and of faith of the
Christians, but also of all of mankind. God is love! God is good:
"Only God is good" (Lk 18:19). He created everything for
love and with love, and "does not despise anything that He has
created" (Wis 11:24). It is the first encyclical of Pope
Benedict XVI: “Deus caritas est”.
A true
vision of God - especially after Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word,
true God and true Man, born as a baby and died poor for us, forgiving
us and excusing us on the Cross – one cannot doubt the fact that
the whole history of mankind, and of every person, should be read
with this in mind: I have a good Father in heaven, Who is love in
Himself, who is my father, Who watches over me, Who turns everything
into good if I believe in Him, in His Word, if I turn to Him, if I
place my trust in Him, if I invite Him to do so.
Without
this vision of children who trust in God, you can not enter heaven:
"Unless your turn and become like children, your will never
enter the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 18:3). Now this Kingdom is Love
in itself, it is the light in itself, it is peace in itself.
This
is what the life of St. Veronica wants us to understand. She,
trusting in God, knowing well her nothingness, in fact the
nothingness of every creature before the "whole" of the
Creator, was lead to "swim in God", to "merge herself
in God" in Love to the point of concluding her blessed existence
with these words, already quoted: "Love
allowed Itself to be found! This is the secret of my suffering! Tell
everyone, tell everyone!"
Yes, only
for love one accepts and one understands suffering.
Why is
that?
Because
God is Holy; and eternal life is union with God, with "The Holy
One", with Holiness Itself. We can not unite ourselves with Him,
if we are still stained. That is the reason for pain, for suffering,
that cleanses us in order to unite ourselves to God, to merge
ourselves and bask in Him for all eternity; but even now, in the
measure of our acceptance and tolerance of this purification, due to
sin.
With this
in mind, humble and true, one understands the judgment of God on the
first man, after original sin, should not be seen as punishment, but
as a remedy: it is the indispensable way for the purification of the
disastrous effects of sin.
That is
also the reason of purgatory, toward which - in the words of the
Saint – the happy souls run, in spite of the pains, to purify
themselves and be able to enjoy as soon as possible the embrace of an
eternal God so beautiful, so good, so pure, so Holy. The souls in
purgatory behave like this because they have seen, in the particular
judgment immediately after death, the truth of this good God,
merciful, offended by sins, and have seen clearly the horror of sin
that stains the soul, rendering it unable to draw near to "The
Holy One".
It is this
that the experience of Saint Veronica reveals to us better. Happy are
we if, despite not seeing, believe in this: "Blessed are those
who believe without seeing" (Jn 20:29).
This is
also the motive of the same hell, which is not punishment, but it is
an inevitable consequence for those who refuse this love, who do not
believe, who do not accept to let themselves be purified, who do not
want the "order" established by God for eternal Life, by
way of His Commandments and His laws which are laws of life, of love,
and neglecting them they loose their life because they refuse to
accept the rules of Heaven.
God, in
His infinite love, does not compel man Who He created free (because
in His image and likeness), but neither to destroy it, because life
is a gift, and "the gifts of God are irrevocable" (Rom
11:29), but teaching him the Truth, invites man to choose life: "I
have put before you life and death; choose life” (Dt 30:19); and in
this truth, He presents to him also hell, not to threaten him, but to
let him know the result of his choices, of his disobedience, to help
him reject sin, to push him to fight, for his own good ... thus He
presents this to him "out of love, out of mercy, for justice",
so that no man may one day complaining of God, accusing Him of not
having made it known this, to have left him in the dark, without the
light of the full truth.
Here is
the important role of Saint Veronica! Here is her contribution to the
“triumph of love” Yes, God is Love; yes, Heaven is stupendous;
but, at the same time there is also hell for those who do not believe
in Heaven, for those who do not think about it and do not desire it
and do not want to sacrifice certain vanities to earn it for
themselves, for those who reject this Love, which is also order,
obedience: "If a man loves me, he will keep my word" (John
14:23). "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; the
word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's Who sent Me” (Jn
14:24).
But the
devil and our human proud nature want to make us see things in
reverse.
And why is
this?
The devil,
because he is the "father of lies" (Jn 8:44), hates us and
wants us to believe that God is not Love if he creates hell, or, even
worse, that God is false - as with Eve (Gen 3.5) - and that hell does
not exist.
Our human
nature, because it is haughty, self-sufficient and undisciplined and
seeks a false freedom that does not want to submit to the laws of
God, because it is wounded and weak and does not want to leave out
the delights, the so-called "pleasures" joys ...
Yes, man is created
for happiness, and therefore he seeks it spontaneously; but
reading the writings of the Saint, and marveling about this reigning
God, dominant, active, infinite ocean of love, light, peace ... we
will begin to see much more as petty and ephemeral our "joys",
our "pleasures", to see rather their dangers, the poison
hidden as in the fruit of the Garden of Eden that was “nice and
pleasant" (Gen 2:6), and to convince ourselves of the vanity of
this passing world; and then we will begin to say with St.
Francis: "So much is the good that waits for me, that every pain
is a delight to me”.
How true
are these words! How well the Saint lived them!
She, too,
by excess of light and love and knowledge of God, wept as St. Francis
because "Love is not loved." She wanted to run through the
whole world to cry out that God is Love, God the Creator, Redeemer,
Who, by His nature, can not but give, love, even to madness, to the
folly of the cross that Veronica touched and described; and to shout
also penance and conversion, in order to enjoy this: "Repent,
the Kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Mt 3:2).
Let us
help to bring forth this anguished cry by citing some passages of
this "love poem" almost unique that is sprinkled in the
Diary of this "chosen one among the chosen”:
-
"... The more the abyss of my nothingness is deep, the more I
rest in the consideration of the divine attributes. I pause on that
of mercy and, as in a mirror, I see with
what kind of love God has loved me and still loves me. I hope in this
love ...”.
- "I
have experienced love. My soul is immersed in the immensity of this
sea; love transforms my soul in love itself. My soul is in God. God
is in my soul. God speaks with the voice of silence, the soul
responds, but its response is the echo of God's voice, which in her
loves herself. It seems that my soul, with love, knows God in God
Himself and shares His eternal happiness. God draws the soul to
Himself with transport, impulses, raptures, fruits of love, and the
new knowledge of God produces a new transformation in God. "
- "O
Father of my life, Spouse of my soul, heart of my heart, return into
my heart!... stars that shine before Him, tell Him that I languish
with love ...".
God enjoyed the ardor
of the Saint, He would return, He consoled her: "I am Love in
person; I love you and I carry you in my heart. My Heart is the life
of yours. You are the Bride of My Heart. "He asks her: "This
heart that I see in your chest, whose is it?”. "Yours or the
Lord." "Then I take it." And He places it on the Heart
of Mary who is present; then He puts it on His chest. "And now
which is My heart?", He asks the Saint. And Jesus replied, "Your
heart is Me ... I have transformed you into Me; you have become
Myself".
How
many times she would arrive to union: first she speaks of "the
closest union" in which the soul feels attracted as iron by the
magnet, sweetly "tied", "flooded" in the ocean of
God's love; later she will add the experience of feeling "uniformed",
"transformed" in God; and in the last stage, when she
receives in each communion the "grace of the three graces",
she will reach the peak of the wise ones of union of the blessed in
heaven: it is the moment of "intimate communications" which
pass between God and the soul, thus ineffable. “You
can not describe them”, "she
affirms, but she succeeds in referring to the confessor the effects
that they leave in the whole person.
"...
in a moment it seemed that the Divine Love was infused in my whole
soul; and it became the same thing with the Divine Love ... I do not
know if I was in heaven or on earth; I had cognition of myself, it
seemed to me that I was the most vile worm of the earth ... I saw
that I was nothing. To this was added the sight of so much
ingratitude ... a God so beneficial, so great, so merciful to have
been so offended by an ungrateful creature! ... I was absorbed in God
... I saw the divine attributes of God .. . God was my memory, God
was my understanding, God was my will; all God in the soul, and my
whole soul in God. What I felt in these moments, one can not express
... my soul remained more detached away from all that is not God
...it seemed to me to be in a furnace ..."
"The
humanity (of the person) suffers so much in these operations of
Divine Love ... it wanted to complain ... but it was placid, and the
spirit cried aloud, O Love! O Love! O Love, so little known by the
creatures and by me, in particular! No, No; I will no longer be like
this, because I want only You and with You I remain ...
-
"... the soul has experienced in itself, at that point, certain
operations of Divine Love ... I seemed to notice that God in His
infinite immensity of love that manifested itself in this soul; and
it, by way of those intimate communications between God and the soul,
remained wholly united to the Supreme Good ... it was all, in all,
transformed in its God of love ... and the same love operated within
it, and for it all immersed in God Who communicated all to it ...
these things you can never explain with words ... I only say that the
soul, at that point, remains so absorbed in God, that, having
returned to its feelings , everything seems new to it! Oh!
What a pain it is to see itself imprisoned in this mortal body! There
remains a nausea of all earthly things ...
- "...
while the soul was all swimming in the vast sea of the Divinity, in
that instant, there was represented before the soul my Jesus, in the
way that He came into the light in order to redeem us sinners ... at
that point there was something in this soul I could not understand;
it seemed to me I changed into another; and it seems to me that, at
that same point, God put me in Himself and filled this heart and this
soul full of love. I felt certain impulses that lifted me from
myself, and at the same time I felt like I wholly united to the
Supreme Good".
Dear
reader, the Diary is extremely full of this sublime language. To get
to so great a good, it is worth some penance, some abstinence, some
detachment… in a word, purification.
And if it
will not be possible to imitate the Saint in many things, may God
will it that these writings help us to humble ourselves deeply,
realizing to what sublime levels that God calls and draws man,
created in His image and likeness, and how instead we are still
crawling in the mud of false pleasures that the world and the prince
of this world offers. And this humility will be the first step ...
and God, in His love, will help us do more ...
"No
more senses, no more humanity;
God only:
this I want to love.
Come all,
oh foolish creatures, come,
love the
highest Good:
come,
sinners,
convert
yourselves to God.
He is the
greatest charity,
His mercy
is infinite:
stop
offending Him,
come back
to God.
He is all
love;
He will
give you His same love,
to those
who might love Him.
Look!
As He does
with me,
He will do
also with you;
come
all".
