Each day until Divine Mercy Sunday on April 7th, I will email you one thought from that day’s brief reading from Fr. Michael Gaitley’s fine book, 33 Days to Merciful Love. I render full credit for these thoughts, respecting copyright laws, to Fr. Gaitley. Each reading ends with a prayer, which I ask you to pray with me for this intention: the conversion of our parish.
Day Thirty-One
To console the Heart of Jesus is simply to “stay” with Him, as He asked Peter, James, and John the night of His Passion. In her home for the dying in Calcutta, Mother Teresa had the sisters take turns at the bedside of the dying men, so that they would never be alone in their last agony. Jesus is dying for love of us—for a thought, a glance, a prayer—but we are busy with our own affairs. To consecrate oneself to Merciful Love is simply to stand by Him.
To “suffer with” is the root meaning of “compassion,” and that’s why compassion can be difficult. What do you say when someone is suffering in a way you have not experienced yourself? How long must I stay with a person who is suffering? How will his or her suffering change my own plans and my lifestyle? These are all difficult questions, and anyone who is married knows well how compassion works. One cannot not share the sufferings of the beloved, and one cannot know how much the beloved’s suffering will demand of one’s own life.
To be saint, then, is simply to allow God to love you, no matter what form that love takes. “When you suffer greatly,” Mother Teresa said, “you are allowing Christ to kiss you from the Cross.” Sometimes He kisses us in the garden, shining in resurrected radiance, and sometimes He kisses us from the Cross, covered with sweat and blood. The goal of life is to love God, in the manner and time of His choosing. It’s all love, if it comes from Him, and as Thérèse said as a little girl, “Je choisis tout!”
Prayer
Come, Holy Spirit, fire of mercy. Help me to let you love me and so console your Merciful Heart, especially on behalf of your children who reject your tender love. Let them finally receive your mercy one day too!
Day Thirty-One
To console the Heart of Jesus is simply to “stay” with Him, as He asked Peter, James, and John the night of His Passion. In her home for the dying in Calcutta, Mother Teresa had the sisters take turns at the bedside of the dying men, so that they would never be alone in their last agony. Jesus is dying for love of us—for a thought, a glance, a prayer—but we are busy with our own affairs. To consecrate oneself to Merciful Love is simply to stand by Him.
To “suffer with” is the root meaning of “compassion,” and that’s why compassion can be difficult. What do you say when someone is suffering in a way you have not experienced yourself? How long must I stay with a person who is suffering? How will his or her suffering change my own plans and my lifestyle? These are all difficult questions, and anyone who is married knows well how compassion works. One cannot not share the sufferings of the beloved, and one cannot know how much the beloved’s suffering will demand of one’s own life.
To be saint, then, is simply to allow God to love you, no matter what form that love takes. “When you suffer greatly,” Mother Teresa said, “you are allowing Christ to kiss you from the Cross.” Sometimes He kisses us in the garden, shining in resurrected radiance, and sometimes He kisses us from the Cross, covered with sweat and blood. The goal of life is to love God, in the manner and time of His choosing. It’s all love, if it comes from Him, and as Thérèse said as a little girl, “Je choisis tout!”
Prayer
Come, Holy Spirit, fire of mercy. Help me to let you love me and so console your Merciful Heart, especially on behalf of your children who reject your tender love. Let them finally receive your mercy one day too!
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