Showing posts with label Mystic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mystic. Show all posts

Friday 14 August 2015

Luisa Piccarreta. Diary March 6, 1926. 15 August 2015

Image result for Heavenly Mother, Luisa, Pictures
bookofheaven.org
The Assumption of the Blessed  Virgin of Mary into Heaven

   In this table, 2 columns, we can experience the “double portion” in the bi-focal vision from the Diary entry on ‘secrets in the sanctuary of Heavenly Mother'.



“Catholic Divine Will” Volume Nineteen by Luisa Piccarreta
 Online Edition.

March 6, 1926

Only the most important thing was known about the Celestial Mama – that the Son of God was Her Son. The same will happen with the daughter of the Divine Will – the most important thing only will be known, so as to make the Divine Will known. A good which is not known has no ways to communicate itself.

As I was in my usual state, my always lovable Jesus came, and holding my hand in His, He drew me to Himself - up high, between Heaven and earth. Almost fearing, I clung to Jesus, holding on tightly to His most holy hand; and wanting to pour out my pain with Him, which so much oppresses me, I said to Him:

‘My Love and my Life, Jesus, some time ago You told me that You wanted to make of me a copy of my Celestial Mama; yet, almost nothing was known about Her, of the many seas of grace with which, in every instant, She was inundated by You. She said nothing to no one – She kept everything within Herself; nor does the Gospel say anything. It is known only that She was your Mama, and that She gave You, Eternal Word, to the world; but everything that passed between You and Her – the favours, the graces – She kept all within Herself. With me, then, You want the opposite – You want me to manifest what You tell me; You do not want the secret of what passes between You and me. I feel sorrow because of this; where, then, is the copy You want to make between me and my Mama?’

And my sweet Jesus, clasping me tightly to His Heart, all tenderness told me: “My daughter, courage, do not fear. Nothing was known about my Mama but that which it was necessary and sufficient to be known – that I was Her Son; that through Her I came to redeem the generations, and that She was the first one in whose soul I had my first field of divine actions. Everything else – the favours and the seas of graces which She received – remained in the sacrarium of the divine secrets. However, the most important, the greatest, the holiest thing was indeed known – that the Son of God was Her Son. This was the greatest honour for Her, which raised Her above all creatures. Therefore, since the greatest was known about my Mama, the lesser was not necessary.

The same will happen with my daughter: it will be known only that my Will had Its first field of divine action in your soul, as well as everything that is necessary in order to make known what regards my Will; how It wants to enter the field so that the creature may return to her origin, and how It anxiously awaits her into Its arms, so that there may be no more division between her and Me. If this were not made known, how could creatures long for this great good? How could they dispose themselves to receive a grace so great? If my Mama had not wanted to make known that I was the Eternal Word and Her Son, what good would Redemption have produced? A good which is not known, as great as it may be, has no ways to communicate the good it possesses. And just as my Mama was not opposed, so must my daughter not oppose what regards my Will. All the rest of the secrets - the flights you do in my Will, the goods you take, and the most intimate things between you and Me – will remain in the sacrarium of the divine secrets. Do not fear, your Jesus will content you in everything.”


 NEXT; see Scan of [The 1995 Edition].
Luisa Piccarreta 
The Kingdom of Heaven
Volume 19 [Edition 1995 – Florida].

March 6, 1926

As It Was Known by the Heavenly Mother that Jesus Was Her Son, So with the Divine Will. The Necessity of the Knowledge of a Good in order for It to Become Path of Communication.

Finding myself in my usual state, my always amiable Jesus came and, taking my hand in his, drew me to Himself on high, between Heaven and earth. And I, almost afraid, squeezed myself to Jesus holding his Most Holy Hand tightly; and, wanting to vent my pain with Him which oppressed me so much, I said to Him:

"My Love and my Life, Jesus, You once said to me that You wanted to make me a copy of my Heavenly Mother; yet of Her almost nothing is known of the seasof graces from You which inundated Her in each instant. She said nothing to anyone; She kept everything to Herself; nor does the Gospel say anything of Her. It is known only that She was your Mamma, and that She gave You, Eternal Word, to the world; but all that passed between you and Her, of favours, of grace, She kept to Herself. To me, then, You want the contrary; You want manifested what You say to me: You do not want to keep secret what passes between me and You. I am very sorry about this; where then is the copy of my Mamma that you want to make of me ?"

And my sweet Jesus, squeezing me tightly to his Heart, all tenderness, said to me: "My daughter, courage, do not fear. Concerning my Mamma, nothing was known other than what was necessary. It was sufficient to be known that I was her Son, and that by her means I came to redeem the generations, and that She was the first in whom I had my prime Held of Divine actions in her soul. All the rest of the favours, of the seas of graces She received, remained in the sanctuary of the divine secrets. But the most important, most grand, most holy thing was known-that the Son of God was her Son. For Her this was the greatest honour and which raised Her above all creatures. Therefore, the greater thing being known of my Mamma, the lesser was not necessary.

So it will be with my daughter. It will be known only that my Will had had Its prime Held of divine action in your soul; and all that is necessary is to make known what regards my Will, which wants to go out into the Held to make the creature return to her origin, and how anxiously I await her in my arms, so that there no longer be division between Me and her. If that were not known how can she long for this great good? How can she dispose herself to a grace so grand? If my Mamma would not have wanted to make known that I was the Eternal Word and her Son, what good would the Redemption have had? A good not known, for however great it is, does not have ways to communicate the good that it possesses. And, as my Mamma did not oppose Herself, so my daughter must not oppose herself to that which regards my Will. All the rest of the secrets, the flight that you make in my Will, the goods that you take, the most intimate things between Me and you will remain in the sanctuary of the divine secrets. Do not fear, your Jesus will content you in everything."



      http://bookofheaven.org/       
  AUG
15

FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY INTO HEAVEN

FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY INTO HEAVEN

feast of the AssumptionAugust 15

FROM THE BOOK OF HEAVEN

V18 – 8.15.25 – After this, I began to think about the feast of my Celestial Mama Assumed into Heaven; and my sweet Jesus, with a tender and moving tone, added:  “My daughter, the true name of this Feast should be Feast of the Divine Will.  It was the human will that closed Heaven, broke the bonds with its Creator, made miseries and sorrow enter the field, and put an end to the feast that the creature was to enjoy in Heaven.  Now, this creature, Queen of all, by doing the Will of the Eternal One always and in everything – even more, it can be said that Her life was Divine Will alone – opened the Heavens, bound Herself to the Eternal One, and restored in Heaven the feasts with the creature.  Every act She did in the Supreme Will was a feast that She started in Heaven, it was suns that She formed to adorn this feast, it was melodies that She sent to delight the Celestial Jerusalem.  So, the true cause of this feast is the Eternal Will operating and fulfilled in my Celestial Mama.  It operated such prodigies in Her as to astonish Heaven and earth, chain the Eternal One with indissoluble bonds of love, and capture the Word even into Her womb.  The very Angels, enraptured, repeated among themselves:  ‘From where comes so much glory, so much honor, such greatness and prodigies never before seen, in this excelling Creature?  Yet, it is from the exile that She is coming.’  Astonished, they recognized the Will of their Creator as Life operating in Her; and, trembling, they said:  ‘Holy, Holy, Holy – honor and glory to the Will of Our Sovereign Lord.  And glory, and trice Holy – She who let this Supreme Will operate.’
So, it is my Will that, more than anything, was and is celebrated on the day of the Assumption into Heaven of my Most Holy Mother.  It was my Will alone that made Her ascend so high as to distinguish Her among all.  Everything else would have been as nothing, had She not possessed the prodigy of my Will.  It was my Will that gave Her Divine Fecundity and made Her the Mother of the Word.  It was my Will that made Her see and embrace all creatures together, becoming the Mother of all, and loving all with a love of Divine Maternity.  And making Her the Queen of all, It made Her rule and dominate.  On that day, my Will received the first honors, the glory and the abundant fruit of Its work in Creation, and It began Its feast, which It never interrupts, for the glorification of Its operating in my beloved Mother.  And even though Heaven was opened by Me, and many Saints were already in possession of the Celestial Fatherland when the Celestial Queen was assumed into Heaven, however, She Herself was the primary cause, having fulfilled the Supreme Will in everything, and therefore we waited for She who had honored It so much and contained the true prodigy of the Most Holy Will, to make the first feast for the Supreme Volition.  Oh! how the whole of Heaven magnified, blessed and praised the Eternal Will, upon seeing this sublime Queen enter the Empyreum, in the midst of the Celestial Court, all circumfused by the Eternal Sun of the Supreme Volition!  They saw Her all studded with the power of the Supreme Fiat; there had been not even a heartbeat in Her which did not have this Fiat impressed on it.  And, astonished, they looked at Her and said to Her:  ‘Ascend, ascend higher.  It is right that She who so much honored the Supreme Fiat, and through whom we find ourselves in the Celestial Fatherland, have the highest throne and be our Queen.’  And the greatest honor that my Mama received, was to see the Divine Will glorified.” 
   

Saturday 1 August 2015

Luisa Piccerreta. The Divine Firmness excerpt Vol. 21, ans FM Rega OFS


Product Details

 COMMENT Book of Heaven:
Text, quotation from Luisa Piccarreta from Vol. 21 before.
Frank M. Regan OFS has 3 books of abridgment from Luisa, and in ways beautifully clear in sense. http://www.frankrega.com/luisaimportant.htm  
Example parallel below.

Life of the Mystic Luisa Piccarreta: Journeys in the Divine Will - The Middle Years - Part-B

2 Oct 2014
by Frank Rega

Divine Will Volume Twenty-one
VOLUME 21
J.M.J.
Fiat!

March 5, 1927
How firmness in good is only of God, for once He has done an act, it never ceases. Effects of firmness. How the Humanity of Our Lord was the bond of times, the remedy and the model. How God wants the rights of the Divine Will to be secured.

I felt myself in a slumber of affliction because of the privation of my sweet Jesus, and in my interior I said to Him: ‘My Love and my life, how is it? You have departed from me without saying good-bye, without teaching me where to direct my steps, or the way I must follow in order to find You. Even more, it seems to me that You Yourself have burned away the paths through which You may be found. And as much as I wander around and call You, You do not listen to me – the paths are closed; and exhausted with tiredness, I am forced to stop, longing for the One whom I wish to find at any cost, but I don’t. Ah! Jesus! Jesus! Come back - come to the one who cannot live without You.’
But while I was pouring out my pain, He just barely moved in my interior; and as I felt Him move, I said to Him: ‘My Jesus, my life, how is it? You make me wait for so long, to the point that I cannot take anymore; and if You make Yourself seen, You just flash by, and You don’t say anything to me. So it becomes darker than before, and I remain fidgety and delirious with pain; I search for You; I call You – but I wait for You in vain.’

   
The Divine Firmness
And Jesus, compassionating me, told me: “My daughter, do not fear, I am here with you. What I want is that you never go out of my Will, and that you continue your acts - always, without ever moving from the boundaries of the Kingdom of the Supreme Fiat. This will give you the firmness which will make you be like your Creator – once He has done an act, that act has the virtue of continuing, without ever ceasing. An act which is always continuous, is only of God, who suffers no interruption in His acts. This is why Our firmness is unshakable, and extending everywhere with Our immensity, it renders Our acts uninterrupted. Wherever We lean, We find Our firmness, which gives Us the greatest honor – it makes Us known as the Supreme Being, Creator of all, and renders Our Being and Our acts inexorable. In fact, whatever place We want to lean on, We find Our firmness, which sustains everything.

My daughter, firmness is of divine nature, and a divine endowment; and so it is right that We give this participation and endowment of divine nature to one who must be daughter of Our Divine Fiat, and who must live in Our Kingdom. So, the fact that you continue your acts in It, without ever interrupting them, reveals that you already are in possession of the endowment of Our firmness. How many things firmness says. It says that the souls moves only for God; it says that she moves with reason and out of pure love – not with passion and out of self-interest. It says that she knows the good she does, and therefore she is firm in it, without ever interrupting it. Firmness says, with indelible characters: “Here, there is the finger of God”. Therefore, be firm in your acts, and you will have Our divine firmness within your works.”

Afterwards, I was continuing my acts in the Supreme Volition, and as I arrived at the point of following the acts of Jesus, from the moment of His conception in the womb of the Immaculate Queen, up to His death on the Cross, my adorable Jesus, making Himself felt again in my interior, told me: “My daughter, my Humanity came upon earth as though in the midst of times, in order to reunite the past, when, in creation, the fullness of my Will reigned in man. Everything belonged to It; everywhere It had Its kingdom – Its operative and divine life. And I enclosed this fullness of my Divine Will in Me, and binding those in the present, first I became the model to form the remedies which were needed, the helps and the teachings which were necessary to heal them; and then I bound the posterity to the fullness of that Divine Will which reigned in the first times of creation.

Therefore, my coming upon earth was a bond of reunion of times; it was the remedy in order to form this bond, so that the Kingdom of the Divine Fiat might return into the midst of creatures; it was the model for all, so that, being molded, they would be tied to the bonds formed by Me. This is why, before speaking to you about my Will, I spoke to you about my coming upon earth, of what I did and suffered, in order to give you the remedies and the model of my own life; and then, I spoke to you about my Will: it was bonds that I formed in you, and in these bonds I formed the Kingdom of my Will. A sign of this is the many knowledges I manifested to you about It; Its sorrow for not reigning with all Its fullness in the midst of creatures, and the goods It promises to the children of Its Kingdom.”

Then I continued to pray, and I was almost asleep, when, all of a sudden, I heard someone speak in a loud voice within me. I paid closer attention, and I saw my beloved Jesus with His arms raised, in the act of embracing me, saying to me with powerful voice: “My daughter, I ask nothing else from you but this: that you be the daughter, the mother, the sister of my Will, and that you place in safety within you, Its rights, Its honour, Its glory.” He said this with a loud and powerful voice. Then, lowering His voice and hugging me, He added: “My daughter, the reason for which I want the rights of my Eternal Fiat to be secured, is that I want to enclose the Most Holy Trinity in the soul. My Divine Will alone can give Us the place and the glory worthy of Us. Through It, We can operate freely and place in you all the good of creation, forming even more beautiful things, because with Our Will in the soul, We can do everything, while, without It, We would lack the place in which to put Ourselves, and in which to lay Our works; so not being free, We remain in Our celestial residences.

It happens as to a king, who, loving one of his subjects with excessive love, wants to lower himself to live in his little hovel. But he wants to be free; he wants to put royal things in the little hovel; he wants to command; he wants that subject to eat of his good and delicate foods together with him. In sum, he wants to live his life of king. But the subject does not want him to put his royal things, or to command; nor does he want to adapt himself to the food of the king. The king does not feel free; so, for love of freedom, he goes back to his royal palace.

Wherever my Will does not reign, I am not free; the human will causes a continuous contrast with Mine; therefore, not having Our rights secured, We cannot reign, so We remain in Our royal palace.”

March 10, 1927
How, in Creation, God gave the rights to possess the Kingdom of the Divine Will.
 .........


Life of the Mystic Luisa Piccarreta
The Middle Years - Part B
Luisa Piccarreta
Précis (abridged)  by Frank M. Rega OFS 2014
 
www.lifeofluisa.com  

The Divine Firmness

Luisa was restless and sorrowful because of the absence of the One with Whom she could not live without. But the Lord, compassionating her, said that she should not fear, because He is with her. He told her that He never wants her to go out of His Will. She must continue her acts, without ever moving from the boundaries of the Kingdom of the Supreme Fiat. This  gives her a firmness [fermezza], similar to that of her Creator. Once He has done an act, it has continuous life, and never ceases. This firmness is unshakable, and it extends everywhere in the divine immensity. It gives the Divinity great honour, making God known as the Supreme Being and Creator of everything.

His firmness sustains everything. It is of a divine nature and quality, and it is right that the daughter of the Fiat who lives in the Divine Kingdom should participate in this quality. When Luisa continues her acts in His Will, without ever interrupting them, it reveals that she is in possession of the quality of the divine firmness. Such solidity indicates that the soul moves only for God, that she acts with reason and out of pure love, not from passion or self-interest. She knows the good that she does and remains firm in it, without stopping. Firmness signifies the presence of the finger of God.

After this, while Luisa was continuing to pray, she suddenly heard Jesus speaking within her in a loud and powerful voice. He told her that He wants her to be the daughter, mother, and sister of His Will, and asked that she place its rights, honor and glory in safety within herself. Then, softening His voice and embracing her, He said that the reason He wants the rights of the Eternal Fiat placed in safety is because He wants to enclose the Most Holy Trinity in the soul. Only the Divine Will can give the Divinity the place and glory worthy of It. By means of the Fiat, the Most High can operate freely and lay within her all the good of Creation, forming yet more beautiful things.
With the Fiat reigning in the soul, the Trinity can do everything, but without it, the place in which the Divinity can enclose Itself and operate freely is lacking. Wherever the Divine Will does not reign, God does not feel free, since the human will causes continuous contrast with the Divine Volition. Not being free and without His rights in safety, God remains in the celestial dwellings (03/05/1927).

Luisa is Important - Frank Rega

www.frankrega.com/luisaimportant.htm
12 Feb 2014 - ... that introduces her writings,. Life of the Mystic Luisa Piccarreta Journeys in the Divine Will - the Early Years. please visit www.lifeofluisa.com ...

Saturday 4 July 2015

Adrienne von Speyr SATURDAY 4TH, July 2015

Jacob Wrestling with the Angel (c. 1659–1660), Rembrandt


 COMMENT:
MAGNIFICAT July 2015
Magnificat com, the Meditation, on this occasion is appreciated.
At the same time, I am not bright enough to grasp Adrienne von Speyr’s nice logic – looking for clarity of mystic and stigmatist; help!   


SATURDAY 4TH, MASS

Alleluia, alleluia! Let your face shine on your servant, and teach me your decrees. Alleluia!
Surely the bridegroom's attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them .
A reading from
the holy Gospel according to Matthew          9:14-17
JOHN'S DISCIPLES CAME to Jesus and said, "Why is it that
we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?" Jesus replied, "Surely the bridegroom's attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of un shrunken cloth on to an old cloak, because the patch pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; if they do, the skins burst, the wine runs out, and the skins are lost. No; they put new wine into fresh skins and both are preserved."
The Gospel of the Lord.
 
MEDITATION   OF THE     DAY
What is the New Wine?
by Adrienne von Speyr


No one is such a fool that he would pour new wine into old wineskins. New wine ferments: it has a power whose effect must be reckoned with, a power that lies outside the realm of the exactly predictable. It takes up more room than old wine. Old wine has already settled and lost its fermenting power; it can be poured into an old container. New wine is different. It deserves from us-if we want to keep it-a vessel that is up to the challenge. No one does this. So a Christian, or someone who is becoming a Christian, may not do it either.

How is it with the new teaching, which is like the new wine? It needs room, for when it does not have enough, it bursts the vessel and the teaching too is lost. So we are to search for room, to clear things out, to find vessels, that do not burst, for the loss of the skins involves the loss of the wine and the teaching. In all Christian things, it is so: wherever something is lost, more is lost than we can measure. There is no calculable Christian loss .. "
Teaching that has undergone a renewal, in the Lord's time and every time, must be able to fill us as it would a new wineskin. This means that we may not understand ourselves in any other way than as vessels: vessels in the sense of pure instrumentality, vessels that are really there only to receive the new wine. And the new wine is the entirety of the teaching, the entirety of the Christian life for which we have opted, the entirely of the vows, the absolutely unconditional and incomprehensible nature of an assent. All we know about this assent is that it should be uttered in a spirit of service, so that the wine may find enough room in us and expand according to the power of its newness.


ADRIENNE VON SPEYR Adrienne von Speyr (t 1967) was a Swiss physician, a mystical writer, and a stigmatist. With Hans Urs von Balthasar, she co-founded the Community of Saint John.

Prayer for the Evening
Vigil of the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time In Christ Jesus, God speaks to us the living word: let us listen and rejoice!

JULY LECTIO DIVINA
Lectio Divine
A PRAYERFUL READING OF SACRED SCR1PTURE The Gospel for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark 6:1-6a
Jesus went to his home town and his disciples accomp­anied him (6:1).
Saint Peter Chrysologus: "In truth, Christ goes out and comes in not of himself, nor for himself, but in you, and on behalf of you, until he recovers you from your exile, and calls you home from your captivity." Although the disciples who accompany Jesus play no role in this account, their presence here prepares us for Mk 6:7-13, when Jesus will send them out on mission. Jesus dares to allow his disciples to witness the cynicism, the prejudice, and perhaps the envy of his own kinspeople toward him. Jesus risks his disciples developing the same petty, deprecatory attitude that his townspeople bear toward him. The disciples must judge for themselves "what kind of wisdom" has been given to Jesus ... and so must we. The way we know it is real is by the way it has changed us.
With the coming of the sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue and most of them were astonished when they heard him. They said, "Where did the man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been granted him, and these miracles that are worked through him?" (6:2). Astonished: see Mk 1 :22; 7:37; 10:26; 11 :18. Although God never fails to astonish us, one of the greatest marks of immorality in LIS is our resistance to this astonishment when it breaks into our life. Whenever we attempt to measure or refashion Jesus according to our own image, we diminish and delimit him who has come to reveal us to ourselves. Catena in Marcum (5th century): 'The people look down upon Jesus on account of their familiarity. And they were astounded by


LECTIO DIVINA 73
the extraordinariness of his words and the incredible nature of his works, but they did not honour him on account of these things and they disparaged him on account of their familiarity with his earthly family. Consequently, what hap­pened to them, as the saying goes, was the common experi­ence of those who have no faith. So the Lord does not lead people like that into accurate knowledge of himself." What mighty deeds have been wrought in your life by the hands of Jesus Christ? What is it about Jesus that astonishes you and moves you to get to the source of his wisdom?
'This is the carpenter, surely, the son of Mary, the brother of lames and Ioset and [ude and Simoni His sisters, too, are they not here with us?" And they would not accept him (6:3).
Justin Martyr: "Jesus was merely a carpenter, making ploughs and yokes, and instructing us by such symbols of righteousness to avoid an inactive live." Saint Ephrem the Syrian: 'The ordinary workmen will come to the son of Joseph singing: 'Our whole craft praises you, who are our eternal glory. Make for us a yoke that is light, even easy, for us to bear. Establish that measure in LIS in which there can be no falseness." Saint Bede: "For it is almost natural for men to envy their fellow-townsmen; for they do not consider the present works of the man, but they remember the weakness of his infancy." Symeon the New Theologian: "It is certain that anyone who now hears Christ cry out daily through the holy Gospels, and proclaim the will of his blessed Father, but does not obey him with fear and trembling and keep his commandments-it is certain that such a person would have refused to believe in him then, if he had been present, and seen him, and heard him teach. Indeed there is reason to fear that in his total incredulity he would have blasphemed by regarding Christ not as true God, but as an enemy of God." 0 Jesus, may our know/edge of you as Son of Mary be for ever our greatest claim on your mercy!   



74 LECTIO DIVINA
And Jesus said to them, '~prophet is only despised in his own country, among his own relations and in his own house;" (6:4).
This well-known proverb in the ancient world is quoted by all the Evangelists: Mt 13:57; Lk 4:24; Jn 4:44. The other place in the Gospel of Mark that mentions this dishonour is the parable where the tenant farmers treat the son of the owner of the vineyard shamefully: Mk 12:7-8. As Jesus enters into his Passion, some of his enemies will blindfold him, hit him, and spit on him saying, Play the prophet! (d. Mk 14:65).
And he could work no miracle there, though he cured a few sick people by laying his hands on them. (6:5).
John Cassian: "The bounty of God is actually curtailed tem­porarily according to the receptivity of our faith. If the faith of those who bring them or of the sick is lacking, it may prevent those who possess the gift of healing from exercis­ing it." Cured a few sick people: Origen: 'Thus the power in Jesus overcame even their un belief."
He was amazed at their lack of faith (6:6a).
Amazed: see Mk 5:20; 12: 17; 15:5, 44. The Evangelist Mark on lack of faith (apistia): see Mk 4:40; 9: 19, 23, 24; 11 :31; 16: 11, 13, 14, 16. Pope Benedict: "Faith is something living that demands our whole existence, understanding, our will, our feelings, our love. It requires letting go of our­selves. It is a fundamental option that affects every domain of our existence, our whole self."
Lord we implore you to give us great faith, so that we may be receptive to all that you, in your wisdom, have to teach.




SUNDAY 5TH JULY p.75

Suggested Prayer of the Faithful
(Each local community should compose its own Universal Prayer, but may find inspiration in the texts proposed here.)

Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy. Turning to the Father, we pray:

That, during this Year of Consecrated Life, God will continue to enrich the Church by calling forth sons and daughters to live lives of consecration.
That political responsibility may be lived at all levels as a high form of charity. (Holy Father's Universal Intention)
That Christians who work in education and health­care may be free to assist others without having to abandon their ethical principles.
That our parish may flourish in faith, hope, and love.
For those burdened by poverty, hardship, oppression, and persecution: that God will rescue them and lift them up.
For the grace this week to live with great confidence in the goodness of God.


Loving Father, we are content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, and persecutions. For when we are weak, then we are strong. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. _    


A Strange Adventure
Faithful friends of Magnificat are invited to read the story of Jacob’s struggle with the angel (Gn 32:23-31) as an allegory of their prayer life. Is it not similar to a battle of faith, crowned by the victory of perseverance? Yes, at times in our prayer we are like Jacob in his quest for God in the depths of the dark night, in his fight to know God’s true name and to contemplate his true face, in Jacob’s vigor and resolve to ask for God’s blessing and a new name for rebirth…
 
Outside the realm of the spiritual life, this combat proves difficult to interpret. “A strange adventure,” writes Elie Wiesel, “mysterious from beginning to end, breathtakingly beautiful, intense to the point of making one doubt one’s senses. Who has not been fascinated by it?” Moderns see it as a universal symbol of the internal struggle “against all that hinders the creative fulfillment of a being: darkness, chaos, and the forces of evil.” And, indeed, is not the victory over self the most necessary victory of all? Deeply Catholic, Baudelaire saw in this battle “a fight between natural and supernatural man, each according to his nature.” Lamartine, inspired by the struggle between the muse and her chosen one, gives a glimpse into the great mystery:
Finally, from the dark hours/ When evening battles with shadows,/ At times vanquished, at times victorious,/ Against this unknown rival/ he fought till dawn…./ And it was the spirit of the Lord!
 
Here Rembrandt chooses not to represent a particular episode in the combat, but to focus directly on the eschatological issue at stake: it is at the outcome of a decisive trial, a baptism, that one receives the grace of God. Through the strength and persistence of his faith, Jacob emerges victorious and blessed in this struggle. But contemplation of this masterpiece, particularly the placid beauty of the angel, unveils an even greater mystery: in his purple tunic, Jacob appears as the figure of the One who, conceived and begotten in the bosom of God as his eternal Wisdom, wholly deigned to be born and ever remain the son of man. Yet here, at the break of dawn, this true God, rendered handicapped—and what a handicap for a God to be mortal!—prevails over the almighty God, wresting from him, in a hand-to-hand Eucharistic battle, the perpetual blessing that revokes the original curse weighing upon humanity. 
 
 
Pierre-Marie Dumont
 
 
Jacob Wrestling with the Angel (c. 1659–1660), Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606–1669), Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, Germany. © BPK, Berlin, Dist. RMN-GP / Jörg P. Anders.