Some Consoling Biblical Titles for Christ

FROM THE BOOK OF PSALMS
My Mercy (Ps. 58:18)
My Saviour (Ps. 26:9)
My Helper (Ps. 18:5)
My Redeemer (Ps. 18:5)
My Patience (Ps. 70:5)
My Protector (Ps. 3:4)
My Joy (Ps. 31:7)
My Hope (Ps. 70:5)

FROM ELSEWHERE
‘My Beloved’ (Cant. 2:16)
‘Our Everlasting Saviour’ (Bar. 4:22)
‘Saint of Saints’ (Dan. 9:24)

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A Prayer Inspired by Some of the Aforementioned Titles
My Mercy (Ps. 58:18), have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy (Ps. 50:3).
My Saviour (Ps. 26:9), save me for Thy mercy’s sake (Ps. 6:5).
My Helper (Ps. 18:5), make haste to help me (Ps. 69:2).
My Redeemer (Ps. 18:5), redeem me and have mercy on me (Ps. 25:11).
My Patience (Ps. 70:5), give me constancy in my mind (Jud. 9:14).
My Protector (Ps. 3:4), protect me under the shadow of Thy Wings. (Ps. 16:8).
My Joy (Ps. 31:7), give joy to the soul of Thy servant (Ps. 85:4).
My Hope (Ps. 70:5), I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living (Ps. 26:13).

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An Important Spiritual Lesson
All that you seek can be found in Christ. Do you desire mercy? He is mercy. Are you in need of joy? He is joy. Are you wanting in patience? He is your patience. Go to Him for everything.

God Loves Nothingness
Believe and know that He draws you by His love alone. Give Him the consent of your faith. Give Him your poverty, your misery, your sins. God does not disdain nothingness; this is His vast domain of activity. “My child,” said Our Lord to Armella Nicolas, “make room for Me.”

‘To Live is Christ’
Know that God is the sanctity of the soul. Your wretchedness is no obstacle to His goodness; the only hindrance is your lack of faith and abandonment. Be little in His arms! He is your Abba, your ALL!

You will learn this littleness by gazing at your Mother, the littlest of all of His ‘most dear children’ (Eph. 5:1): ‘BEHOLD THY MOTHER’ (Mt. 12:47).

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A Beautiful Revelation For Every Christian (Pt. 2)

“I am perfect love, for all the things which I have done from eternity, I did out of love; and, whatsoever I do or shall do in the future, likewise proceeds and will proceed from My love. My love for man is now as great and incomprehensible as it was at the time of My Passion, when, out of exceeding love, I delivered all the elect by My death. And, if it were possible for Me to die as many times as there are souls in Hell, I would with most prompt will and most perfect charity give up My Body, and would endure for each soul the same Passion and Death that I endured for all.”

– Jesus to St. Bridget

The holy Benedictine, Fr. Paul of Moll, was often lost in ecstasy when he spoke about the love of God, to the extent that he would sometimes be raised off the ground for ten minutes or so; his face often radiated with an indescribable brightness, and an aureole surrounded his head. This holy priest knew well the love of God, which can bestow on us no greater blessing than transforming us into saints; the saints are partakers in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) to a remarkable degree, and for all eternity the Heavenly Father will be glorified by them to the degree that they resemble His Son. If we were to consider, even infrequently, the infinite desire that God has for our salvation, we would better be able to appreciate the value and purpose of trials, sufferings and temptations of all sorts. The cross is truly a blessing beyond compare. Sr. Jeanne Benigne Gojos, the holy lay-sister of the Visitation Order, was accustomed to adoring the holy will of God in all things. With God’s grace, we can do the same. 

If we truly desire to please Jesus and to save our souls, as well as many others, we must ask daily for the gift of divine love. This is a treasure beyond compare; It alone can transform this fallen world.

Deo Gratias!

Confession: Sins Forgotten Are Forgiven

(The following words are taken from pp. 51-52 of ‘Confession: A Little Book for the Reluctant’ by TAN publishers)

29. I COULD NEVER REMEMBER ALL MY SINS

What matter? Repent sincerely of your sins, known and unknown; accuse yourself of all you can remember; when you cannot remember the exact number, tell is as nearly as you can; hide nothing deliberately; be firmly resolved, in the future, to observe the commandments of God and the Church, and God requires no more.

Who could remember exactly all his sins? No one in the world. But God, who knows all, pardons all when He sees in the heart a true, sincere repentance. Peace to men of good will!

… Moreover, remember that the sins forgotten in Confession, even if mortal sins, are pardoned like the others. Never disquiet yourself, either before Confession or after it; guard well the peace of your soul. If, after absolution, you remember any [mortal] sin, it will not be necessary for that reason to return to Confession; above all, it is not necessary to deprive yourself of Holy Communion.

(The following words are taken from ‘The Life and Revelations of St. Gertrude the Great’)

[Context: St. Gertrude, who was accustomed to having visions and locutions, was one day complaining to St. John the Apostle that she forgot to confess some little faults in Confession, and that she could not always remember her sins for Confession]

“Do not be troubled at this, my child,” replied the Saint lovingly; “for when you have prepared for a good and entire confession of your sins, and find that you cannot then have recourse to a confessor, if you forget anything in consequence of the delay, and omit to accuse yourself of it merely from a defect of memory, what you have forgotten will not fail to be effaced; and the grief you have for the omission will adorn your soul as a precious jewel, which will render it pleasing to the heavenly court.”

(The following words are taken from ‘The Life and Spiritual Legacy of Sister Mary of the Holy Trinity’)

“Have you really understood that My Blood blots out all sins and omissions acknowledged and regretted in Confession? Have you really understood that after having received absolution your soul is renewed? I bought it at a great price. Use the Sacrament of Penance with love and gratitude by preparing for it every day. There also I await you – I await your fidelity and correspondence so that I may bestow My graces… When you show yourself just as you are with all your mediocrity, it is as if you had given Me a beautiful present – because then your confessor will be able to find the remedy necessary for you. Then you have made a good confession.” (Words of Our Lord)

 

“Why do you fear death?” – Jesus to Sr. Mary

“Why do you fear death? Do you doubt Me?

(1) For your sins: see here is My mercy.

(2)For your cares, your anxieties, your desires: here is My Providence.

(3) For your weakness: here is My Omnipotence.

(4) It is My joy to give you hour by hour sufficient strength, to have you entirely dependent on My love.”

– Jesus to Sr. Mary of the Trinity

(I have inserted the numbers)

(1) St. John Vianney (Taken from his Catechism): “Some say, ‘I have done too much evil; the good God cannot pardon me.’ My children, this is a great blasphemy; it is putting a limit to the mercy of God, which has no limit – it is infinite. You may have done evil enough to lose the souls of a whole parish, and if you confess, if you are sorry for having done this evil, and resolve not to do it again, the good God will have pardoned you.”

“My mercy for fallen souls is limitless.” – Jesus to Sr. Josefa

(2) Garrigou-Lagrange (Taken from ‘The Three Ages of the Interior Life’): “We read of the just in the Book of Wisdom: ‘Though in the sight of men they suffered torments, their hope is full of immortality. Afflicted in few things, in many they shall be well rewarded: because God hath tried them, and found them worthy of Himself. As gold in the furnace He hath proved them, and as a victim of a holocaust He hath received them.’ Thus trial causes hope to grow, and hope does not deceive us, for God does not abandon those who trust Him. ‘No one hath hoped in the Lord, and hath been confounded.’ It is evident that the Lord will not refuse Himself to those who love Him, to those to whom He has already given His Son. . . . He has prepared eternal beatitude for those who love Him above all else.”

(3) “And when the enemy represents to us our weakness, let us say with the Apostle, ‘I can do all things in Him who strengtheneth me’ (Phil. 4:13). Of myself I can do nothing; but I trust in God, that, by His grace, I shall be able to do all things…” – St. Alphonsus

 “The only way to make rapid progress along the path of divine love is to remain very little and put all our trust in almighty God.” -St. Therese

(4) “O My daughter, how many would have abandoned Me if they had not been crucified. The cross is a gift too precious, and from it come many virtues.”

– Jesus to St. Gemma Galgani (Born: March 12, 1878; Died: April 11, 1903)

 

The Mercy of God “seeks even the obstinate.”

(Words of St. Padre Pio in the title).

“Why is there more joy in Heaven over one sinner who does penance than over ninety-nine just? Because in Heaven they see the joy which the fact of being able to love that man once more, procures for the Heart of the infinite love of God.”

– Fr. Paul of Moll

God does not give up on sinners. At some point, God’s goodness demands that He chastises unrepentant sinners, but let us shift our attention to God’s insatiable thirst for souls.

God’s very essence is infinite love. With the entirety of His being He desires our love, which is poured into our souls- and enjoyed forever in Heaven- to the degree that we love God on Earth! 

When we love Him- especially in difficult times- we acquire and manifest a true love of God, for no soul can grow in love without suffering and sacrifice. The sufferings that He sends are great graces, and are eventually turned into joy- even while we are on Earth- should we be so humble, confident and loving as to see everything as coming from God’s loving Providence!

“Blessed indeed would we be if we received everything that happens as from God’s fatherly hand.” – St. Francis de Sales

(This is a great sign of predestination… understood in the Catholic sense)

“God permits temptations with a view to detach us more thoroughly from this life; and to kindle in us the desire to go and behold Him in Heaven.”

– St. Alphonsus

Let us strive to correspond to God’s graces. In this way, we not only reap a great reward, but we thank God for having given us His love. God can use a holy soul to save many others, as has been said many times on this website. These souls will love God forever! There is no greater gift that we can grant our neighbour than to assist them on the road to eternity! Here is an example that should suffice to arouse our fervour:

The servant of the Lord, sister Seraphina da Capri (d. 1699), as we read in her life, in her prayes to the most holy Virgin during the Novena of her assumption, asked of her the conversion of a thousand sinners; but as she feared that her demands were too extravagant, the Virgin appeared to her, and reproved her for this her vain fear, saying to her:

“Why do you fear? am I not powerful enough to obtain for thee from my
Son the salvation of a thousand sinners? Behold them, I have already obtained it.”

She showed her the soul of innumerable sinners who had merited hell, and had afterwards been saved by her intercession, and were already enjoying eternal bliss.

– St. Alphonsus (‘The Glories of Mary’)

 

A Revelation From God To All: Atheists, Christians…

Words of Jesus to Sr. Josefa Menendez:

“My appeal is addressed to all: to those consecrated in religion and those living in the world, to the good and to sinners, to the learned and the illiterate, to those in authority and to those who obey. To each of them I come to say: if you seek happiness you will
find it in Me. If riches, I am infinite wealth. If you desire peace, in Me alone is peace found. I am Mercy and Love! and I must be sovereign King…

I am your God and your Father, your Creator and your Saviour. You are My creatures, My sons, bought at the price of My life and Heart’s Blood, which I shed to free you from slavery and the tyranny of sin… All you, whose craving for affection is unsatisfied, remember that you were made to love that which is eternal, not that which passes with time… Perhaps you will answer Me, ‘I have no faith, nor do I believe in a future happiness.’ Have you no faith?  Then how is it that you persecute Me? … Why do you rebel against My laws, and war against those who love Me?  And since you desire freedom for yourselves, why not grant it to others? You say you do not believe in a future life? … Tell Me: are you perfectly contented here and do you never feel a yearning for that which it is not possible to obtain here below? If after seeking for enjoyment, you succeed in obtaining it, does it satisfy your cravings? If after pursuing riches, you at last possess them, have you ever enough? … If you feel the need of affection, and one day find it, are you not soon tired of it? … None of these things is what you long for, and here below you will never obtain all that your heart desires. Your craving is peace; not the peace of this world, but that of the children of God; and how do you expect to find it in the midst of rebellion? That is why I have come to show you where true peace and happiness are to be found, and where you can slake the thirst that for so long has consumed you. Do not rebel when I tell you that all these things are to be found in accomplishing My law.  Do not fear this word law, for My law is no tyranny but a law of love, because I am your God and your Father. You know that in a well-regulated army, discipline must be maintained, just as in a household there must be established customs. So in the great family of Jesus Christ there must be law, albeit a law of love… I realize that you do not know Me or love Me, but rather detest and persecute Me.  On My part, I love you with an infinite tenderness, and I want you to know this heritage which is yours by right, and know also the means to acquire it: Believe in My love and My mercy… Do not imagine that I am ignorant of your state of soul.  I know that you have despised my grace, perhaps even profaned My Sacraments.  Yet you have from Me a full pardon. If then you would be happy in this world and at the same time secure your eternal salvation, do as I tell you: … Both employer and employed must accept the law of labour with submission, acknowledging a Supreme Being over all created things, who is both your God and your Father. As God, He demands of you the accomplishment of His divine law. As your Father, He asks you to accept His commandments in a spirit of filial piety. Thus, when you have spent a week in the pursuit of work, business or sport, He claims but one half-hour, that you may fulfil your Sunday duty. Is this excessive? Go then to your Father’s House, where day and night He awaits your coming, and as Sundays and Holidays recur, give Him the homage of this half hour by assisting at the Mystery of Love and Mercy, that is, Holy Mass. Tell Him about everything: about your families, your children, your business, your desires… Lay at His feet your sorrows, difficulties and sufferings… believe in the interest and love with which He listens to your prayer. You may perhaps say to Me: ‘I have not entered a church for so many years that I have forgotten how to hear Mass.’ Do not be afraid on that account … Come, spend this half-hour with Me; your conscience will tell you what to do, and be docile to its voice… Open your soul wide to grace, and it will inspire you… Youth, wealth, wisdom, human glory, all that is nothing; it will all end with this life; God only will endure forever.”

Personally, I believe that Christianity best makes sense of human suffering, love, intentionality, beauty, morality, guilt, pride, and a host of other things that reason unaided is at a loss to explain (convincingly).

I would be happy to discuss anything with you. 

All the best.  

 

 

 “The lives of the Saints are nothing but the Gospel put into practice.”

Christian Mysticism: The Fire of Divine Love

“For our God is a consuming fire.”

– Hebrews 12:29

Many of the Saints experienced an inexplicable mystical phenomenon; their love for God was so vehement that, at times, their heart would burn with divine love. The sweetness that often accompanies this delightful fire is expressed by St. Gemma Galgani:

“For the last eight days I have felt something mysterious in the area of my heart that I cannot understand. The first couple of days I disregarded it, because it gave me only a little trouble. But today is the third day, and this fire has increased, oh so much, as to be almost unbearable. I should need ice to put it out, and it hinders my eating and sleeping. It is a mysterious fire that comes from within, then goes to the outside. It is, however, a fire that does not torment me, rather it delights me, but it also exhausts and consumes me.”

Many Saints experienced these flames of divine love, including St. Padre Pio, St. Catherine of Genoa, St. Therese, St. Mary Magdalene dei Pazzi, and many others. They are a gratuitous gift from God. According to the Saints, we should never ask for such graces. If we do receive them, we should thank God, whilst remembering that the gift is not greater than the Giver! We must also stay humble; Our Lord warned Sr. Josefa of a nun whose soul was in great danger because she took credit for the graces she had received (1 Corinthians 4:7). God warns us about pride because He loves us.

Remember that the Holy Spirit appeared as “tongues of fire” at Pentecost. The more time we spend with Jesus in prayer, and the more we accept everything as coming from His merciful Providence, the more we will grow in divine love.

“Love is not an effect of headwork, not a pushing forward of will to give to it greater force. It is the result of accepting generously all sacrifices, in accepting with a loving heart all trials.” – Saudreau

God’s love for us is so ardent that Our Lord said to Bl. Alexandrina:

“If you knew how much I love you, you would die of joy.”

Love does not require “nice feelings.” Even Jesus suffered desolation, yet His love is unchanging! No, a lover is someone who seeks to please their Beloved, regardless of feelings. If we live lives of prayer and sacrifice, we can be sure that we love God. When we receive the Eucharist, we receive God Himself! Bl. Imelda was so inflamed with love of God that she died of love when making her first communion!

What hinders our love of God?

– Deliberate sin (including venial sin)

– Excessive indulgence of the senses (overeating, sloth etc.)

– Infrequent prayer

– Lack of spiritual reading

Avoid these things, and recall the words of Our Lord to Sr. Josefa Menendez:

“Behold the Heart that gives life to souls; the fire of this love is stronger than the indifference and ingratitude of men.”

… And to St. Faustina:

“Let the sinner not be afraid to approach Me. The flames of mercy are burning Me – clamouring to be spent; I want to pour them out upon these souls. Gather all sinners from the entire word and immense them in the abyss of My mercy. I want to give Myself to souls; I yearn for the souls.”

”Oh what precious moments these are! It is a delight that can only be compared to the heavenly joy of the Angels and Saints. Yes, I am happy, because I possess You, oh Jesus. Oh Jesus, with what joy it fills me to know that I possess You! But, my God, if You deal so with us on earth, what must it be like in heaven!”

– St. Gemma Galgani