In Lent 2018 Scoop is publishing a serialisation of Katya Rivas’s “The Passion”. Readers can sign up to receive the serial by email at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dailykatya/. To order a video about Katya’s work see… http://www.apleatohumanity.com/
The Medallion of the Apostolate of the New Evangelization
The Passion
Reflections that Jesus makes on the mystery of His suffering and the value it has on the Redemption.
Cochabamba — Bolivia
Spanish Editions: 1996 and 1998
English 1st Edition - November 1999
Extracts 5 to 21
Jesus Prays in the Garden
Extract
5
Jesus
The desire that all souls be clean
when they receive Me in the Sacrament of Love, led Me to
wash the feet of My Apostles. I also did it to represent the
Sacrament of Penance, in which the souls that have had the
misfortune of falling into sin, can wash themselves and
regain their lost purity.
By washing their feet, I wanted
to teach the souls that have apostolic tasks to humble
themselves and treat with tenderness the sinners and all the
souls who have been entrusted to them.
I wrapped Myself
in a cloth to teach them that, in order to be successful
with souls, one has to girdle oneself with mortification and
self-denial.
I wanted them to learn mutual charity and
how the faults they observe in their neighbor should be
purged, concealing them and always forgiving them without
ever disclosing their faults. The water that I poured over
My Apostles’ feet was a reflection of the zeal that
consumed My Heart in desiring the salvation of men.
At
that moment the Love that I felt for men was infinite and I
did not want to leave them orphans… In order to live with
you until the consummation of time and to show you My Love,
I wanted to be your breath, your life, your support, your
All! Then I saw all the souls that, in the course of time,
would be nourished by My Body and Blood, and I saw all the
divine effects that this nourishment would produce in many
souls…
That immaculate Blood would engender purity and
virginity in many souls; in others, it would light the fire
of love and zeal. Many martyrs of Love gathered at that hour
before My eyes and in My Heart! Many other souls, after
having committed many and serious sins and weakened by force
of passions, would come to Me to renew their strength with
the Bread of the strong!
How I would like to make known
the feelings of My Heart to all souls! How much I desire
that they know the Love I felt for them at the Cenacle when
I instituted the Holy Eucharist. Nobody could penetrate the
feelings in My Heart during those moments - feelings of
love, joy, tenderness… But greater was also the sorrow
that invaded My Heart.
Are you perhaps good ground for
the construction of a magnificent building? Yes and no…
Yes, because of the gifts that I have given you since birth;
no, because of the use that you have made of them. Do you
think that your ground is of suitable proportion to the
structure of the building that I raise? O, it is paltry!
Then, in spite of all the opposing elements that exist in
you, My calculations will not fail because it is My
handicraft to choose that which is poor for the intent that
I set Myself. I never make a mistake because I use artistry
and love. I construct actively without your realizing it.
Your own desire to know what I am doing serves Me to prove
to you that you cannot do or know anything without My
desiring it… It is time to work, do not ask Me for
anything because there is someone who thinks about you.
I
want to tell My souls the sorrow, the tremendous pain that
filled My Heart that night. Even though My joy was great in
becoming the Divine Nourishment of souls and man’s
companion till the end of time, and of seeing how many would
render Me homage of adoration, love, and reparation, great
was the sadness that caused Me to contemplate all those
souls that were to abandon Me at the Tabernacle and the many
that would doubt My presence in the Holy Eucharist.
O,
how many hearts stained, dirty, and torn by sin I would have
to enter! And how My profaned Flesh and Blood, would become
the reason for the damnation of so many souls! You cannot
understand the way in which I contemplated all the
sacrileges, offences, and tremendous abominations that would
be committed against Me… the many hours that I would spend
alone in the Tabernacles. So many long nights! How many men
would reject the loving calls that would be directed to
them.
For love of souls, I remain prisoner in the Holy
Eucharist, so that in your sorrows and sadness you can go to
console yourselves with the most tender of Hearts, with the
best of Fathers, with the most loyal friend. But that Love,
which is consumed for the good of mankind, is not going to
be returned.
I live amongst sinners to be their salvation
and life, their doctor and medicine; yet they, in return, in
spite of their sick nature, will distance themselves from
Me. They offend Me and scorn Me.
My children, poor
sinners! Do not distance yourselves from Me. I wait for you
night and day at the Tabernacle. I will not reproach your
crimes; I will not throw your sins in your face. What I will
do is to wash you with the Blood of My wounds. Do not be
afraid, come to Me. You do not know how much I love
you.
And you, dear souls, why are you cold and
indifferent to My Love? I know you have to attend to the
needs of your family, your home, and of the world that
constantly calls for you. But, do you not have a moment to
come and give Me proof of your love and gratitude? Do not
let so many useless worries pull you away; reserve a moment
of your time to visit the Prisoner of Love. If your body is
sick, can you not find a few minutes to look for a physician
to cure you? Come to He who can give you the strength and
health of the soul. Give alms of love to this Divine Beggar,
who calls you, wants you, and waits for you.
These words
will produce the effect of a great reality in souls. They
will penetrate in the families, schools, religious
congregations, hospitals, prisons, and many souls will
succumb to My Love. My greatest pains come from the souls of
priests and nuns.
At the moment that I instituted the
Holy Eucharist, I saw all the privileged souls that would be
nourished with My Body and Blood and the effects produced in
them.
To some, My Body would be a remedy to their
weakness. To others, a fire that would succeed in consuming
their miseries, inflaming them with love. Ah!… Those souls
gathered before Me will be an enormous garden in which every
plant produces a different flower, but all delight Me with
their scent. My Body will be the sun that brings them back
to life. I shall come to some to be consoled, to others to
hide, in others I will rest. If you only knew, beloved
souls, how easy it is to console, to hide, and to give rest
to God.
This God, who loves you with infinite Love after
freeing you from the bondage of sin, has planted in you the
incomparable grace of the religious vocation. He has brought
you in a mysterious way to the garden of His delights. This
God, your Redeemer, has become your spouse. He Himself
nourishes you with His Body so pure, and with His Blood, He
quenches your thirst. In Me you shall find rest and
happiness.
O, little daughter! Why is it that so many
souls, after having been filled with so many blessings and
caresses, have to be the cause of such sadness in My Heart?
Am I not always the same? Have I changed for you? …. No! I
will never change, and I will love you with predilection and
tenderness till the end.
I know you are full of miseries,
but this will not keep from you My most tender looks and I
wait for you anxiously, not only to ease your miseries, but
also to fill you with My blessings.
If I ask for your
love, do not deny it to Me. It is very easy to love He who
is Love itself. If I ask for something dear to your nature,
I give you both the grace and the strength necessary so you
can be My comfort. Allow Me to come into your souls and, if
you do not find in them anything that is worthy of Me, tell
Me with humility and with confidence: “Lord, you can see
the fruit that this tree produces. Come and tell me what to
do, so that from now on it may bear the fruit that You
desire.”
If the soul tells Me this with a real desire
of proving its love, I shall answer: “Dear soul, allow Me
to cultivate your love…”
Do you know the fruits that
you will obtain? The victory over your character will repair
offences; it will atone for faults. If you are not upset
when you are corrected and you accept it gladly, you will
bring about a change in those souls blinded by pride who
will humble themselves and ask for forgiveness.
This is
what I will do in your soul if you allow Me to work freely.
The garden will not flourish immediately, but you will give
great comfort to My Heart.
All this passed before Me when
I instituted the Eucharist and I was ignited with desire to
nourish the souls. I was not going to stay on Earth to live
with perfect beings, but rather to hold the weak and nourish
the children… I would make them grow, invigorate their
souls, and rest in their miseries, and their good desires
would console Me.
But within My elected ones there are
souls that cause Me sorrow. Will they all persevere? This is
the scream of pain that escapes from My Heart; this is the
moan that I want the souls to hear.
The Eternal Love is
looking for souls who may say new things about the old
truths already known. The infinite Love wants to create in
the bosom of humanity a tribunal of pure Mercy, not of
Justice. That is why the messages are multiplying all over
the world. Whoever understands this admires its work, takes
advantage of them, and helps others profit from them as
well. Whoever does not understand, keeps on being a slave of
the spirit that dies and is condemned.
To these I direct
My word of condemnation, because they hinder My Divine Work
and they become accomplices of the Devil.
When they
condemn, cover-up, and repress that which comes not from
mere creatures but from the Creator, their cleverness
produces pressure over their childlike minds. To those whom
I have called little ones, I reveal My knowledge, which on
the other hand, I hide from the proud.
Soul, allow Me to
pour Myself in you. Become a valve of My Heart because there
is always someone who stifles My
Love…
Extract 6
Jesus
Of
My Passion I want you to consider above all, the bitterness
that was caused by My knowing the sins, that darkening the
mind of man, lead him to aberrations. Most of the time these
sins are accepted as a fruit of natural inclinations that,
it is said, cannot be opposed by one’s own will. Today,
many live in grave sin, blaming others or fate, without the
possibility of getting rid of them. I saw this in Gethsemane
and I knew the great evil that My soul would absorb. So many
are lost like that and how I suffered for them!
Thus by
My example, by washing their feet and becoming their Food, I
taught My Apostles to mutually support each other. The hour
was approaching for which the Son of God had been made man
and Redeemer of the human race; for which He was going to
spill His Blood and give His Life for the world.
At that
moment I wanted to be in prayer and give Myself to the Will
of My Father… It was then that My Will as a man conquered
the natural resistance to the great suffering prepared for
Me by Our Father, who you see was hurting more than Myself.
Then, among those lost souls, I surrendered My Own Soul in
order to repair that which had already become corrupt. My
Omnipotence can do all, but wants littleness upon which to
add of the other, and this littleness, I Myself offer it
with infinite Love.
My Passion… what a bottomless abyss
of bitterness within which it enclosed itself!
How
mistakenly remote is he who believes he comprehends it, yet
only thinks of the terrible sufferings of My Body.
My
daughter, I have reserved for you other scenes of the
intimate tragedies that I lived and I wish to share them
with you because you are one of those whom the Father gave
Me in the Garden.
Dear souls, learn from your Model that
the only necessary thing, even if your nature rebels, is to
submit yourself with humility and to surrender yourself to
fulfill the Will of God.
I also wanted to teach souls
that all-important acts must be prepared and revitalized
through prayer. In prayer the soul is fortified for the most
difficult things and God communicates with the soul, gives
it advice, and inspires it even when it (the soul) is not
aware of it.
I withdrew to the Garden with three of My
Disciples, in order to teach them that the three Powers of
the soul should accompany and help them in
prayer.
Remember, from memory, the divine benefits, the
perfection of God: His Kindness, His Power, His Mercy, and
the Love that He has for you. Afterwards, look with
understanding on how to correspond to the marvels that He
has done for you…. Through prayer, in your retreat and
silence, allow your will to be moved to do more and the best
for God, and to be consecrated for the salvation of souls,
whether by means of your apostolic work or by your humble
and hidden life.
Prostrate yourselves humbly as creatures
in the presence of their Creator, and adore His designs over
you, whatever they may be, committing your will to the
Divine One.
In this way I offered Myself to fulfill the
work of redeeming the world. Ah! What a moment it was when I
felt all those torments come over Me, the torments I was to
suffer in My Passion: the slander, the insults, the
scourging, the kicks, the Crown of Thorns, the thirst, the
Cross…
All that passed before My eyes at the same time
that an intense pain hurt My Heart; the offenses, the sins,
and the abominations that would be committed in the passing
of time. And I not only saw them, but I felt reinvested with
all those horrors, and in this way I presented Myself to My
Celestial Father to implore Mercy.
My little daughter, I
offered Myself as a lily to calm His anger and appease His
wrath. Nevertheless, with so many crimes and so many sins,
My human nature experienced a mortal agony to the point of
sweating blood.
Is it possible for this anguish and this
Blood to be useless for so many souls?… My Love was the
origin of My Passion. If I had not wanted it, who would have
been able to touch Me? I wanted it and to accomplish this, I
used the cruelest amongst men.
Before suffering, I knew
in Myself all suffering and I could evaluate it entirely.
But then, when I wanted to suffer, in addition to full
knowledge and appraisal, I had the human sensation of all
sufferings. I took all of them.
Speaking of My Passion, I
cannot go into so much detail. Other times I have done so
and you cannot understand it. Because of your human nature,
you could not begin to understand the enormous extent of the
pains that I have suffered.
Yes, I illuminate you, but I
stay within a limit beyond which you cannot advance. Only to
My Mother did I make known all My pains, that is why she
suffered them more than anyone.
But today the world will
know more than I have allowed up to now, because My Father
wants it this way. For that reason, a ray of love flourishes
in My Church because of all the changing circumstances that
took Me from the Garden to Calvary. More than to anyone
else, I manifest My Passion to the loved ones I had in the
Garden. They are able to mention something that adapts to
the mind of present-day travelers. And if they can, they
should do it. That is why you should write all that I tell
you, little one, for you and for many others, in comfort for
the souls and for the Glory of the Holy Trinity who desires
that My suffering in Gethsemane be known.
My soul is sad
until death. While the sadness of not being physically well
could be the cause of death, I wanted to experience the
sadness of the spirit, which consisted of the complete
absence of the influence of the Divinity and the
heartbreaking presence of the causes of My Passion.
In My
Spirit, which was agonizing unto death, were present all the
reasons that impelled Me to bring Love to earth. Foremost
were the offenses made against My suffering Divinity as a
man, yet with the consciousness of God. You cannot find
anything like this type of suffering because the man who
sins understands, with My light, the part that corresponds
to him and many times, imperfectly, he does not see what sin
is like in front of Me. For that reason, it is clear that
only God can know the importance of an offense done to
Him.
Nevertheless, humanity should be able to offer
complete knowledge, true sorrow, and repentance to the
Divinity, and I can let humanity do so whenever it wishes. I
do this in fact by offering My knowledge that has worked
within Me, a man, a human who bore the offenses against
God.
This was My wish: that through Me, the repented
sinner would have the way of presenting to his God the
knowledge of the committed offense, and that I, in My
Divinity, could also receive the full understanding of what
he has done against Me.
Enough for today, you do not know
how much you console Me when you give yourself to Me with
entire abandonment… Not everyday can I talk to souls…
Let Me tell you, for them, My secrets!… Let Me make use of
your days and nights!
I was sad unto death because I
could see everywhere the huge accumulation of the offenses
committed. And if for one I experienced a death without
comparison, what could I have experienced for the
combination of all the offences? “Sad is My Soul unto
death…” a sadness which produced in Me the abandonment
of all strength; a sadness which had as a center in Me the
Divinity towards which would converge the tide of the faults
and the stench of the souls corroded by all types of vices.
For that reason, I was at the same time target and arrow -
as God, the target, and as man, the arrow. As soon as I had
absorbed all sin, I appeared before My Father as the only
offender. Greater sadness than this could not exist, and I
wanted to take all of it, for the Love of the Father, and
for Mercy to all of you.
If he does not pay attention to
this matter, man ponders in vain over the meaning of these
words, which include all My essence as God and Man. Look at
Me in this gigantic prison of spirit. Do I not deserve love
if I struggled and suffered so much? Do I not deserve for
creatures to count on Me as their own, knowing that I give
Myself entirely without reserve? Drink all of you from My
inexhaustible fountain of goodness. Drink! I offer you My
sadness in the Garden; give Me your sadness, all your
sadness. I want to make of your sadness a bouquet of
violets, whose perfume is constantly directed toward My
Divinity.
“Father, if it is possible, take this Cup
away from Me, but let not My Will but Yours be done.” I
said this in the height of bitterness, when the load that
weighed upon Me had become so bloody that My Soul found
itself in the most unbelievable darkness. I said it to the
Father because, upon assuming all the blame, I presented
Myself before Him as the only sinner against whom all His
Divine Justice was discharged. And feeling deprived of My
Divinity, only humanity appeared before Me.
Take from Me,
O Father, this extremely bitter Chalice that You present to
Me, and that I accepted for Your Love when I came to this
world. I have arrived at a point in which I do not even
recognize Myself. You, O Father, who loves Me, have made sin
My inheritance and this makes My presence before You
unbearable. The ingratitude of human beings is known to Me
but how will I endure seeing Myself alone? My God, have pity
of the great solitude in which I find Myself. Why do even
You want to abandon Me? What help shall I find then in such
great desolation? Why do You also strike Me this way? Yes,
You deprive Me of You. I feel like I am going down into such
an abyss that I do not even recognize your hand in such a
tragic situation. The Blood that oozes out of My Body gives
You testimony of My annihilation under Your powerful
hand.
Thus, I cried; I fell. But then I continued: It is
just, Holy Father, that You do of Me what You want. My life
is not Mine, it belongs totally to You. I do not want that
My Will be done, but rather Yours. I have accepted a death
on the Cross, I accept also the apparent death of My
Divinity.
It is just. All this I should give You and,
before everything, I should offer You the holocaust of My
Divinity which unites Me to You. Yes, Father, with the Blood
that You see, I confirm My donation and My acceptance: Your
Will be done, not
Mine…
Extract 7
Jesus
In
spite of everything, the enormous weight and the terrible
fatigue, together with the sweat of Blood, I had been hit in
such a way that when I went to look for My Apostles, I felt
tremendously exhausted.
Peter, John, James! Where are you
that I do not see you alert? Wake up, look at My face, see
how My Body trembles in this tribulation that I experience!
Why do you sleep? Wake up and pray with Me; I have sweated
Blood for you!
Peter, My chosen disciple, do you not care
about My Passion?… James, to you I have given so much
preference, look at Me and remember Me! And you John, why do
you let yourself sink into sleep with the others? You can
bear more than they… Do not sleep, keep watch and pray
with Me!
This is what I obtained: seeking comfort, I
found bitter affliction. Not even they are with Me. Where
else shall I go?… It is true, My Father gave Me only that
which I asked for, so that the judgment to all humanity
would fall upon Me. My Father, help Me! You can do all; help
Me!
I prayed again as a man for whom all hope has been
destroyed and who seeks comprehension and comfort from on
high. But what could My Father do if I had freely chosen to
pay for everything? My election had not changed.
Nevertheless, the natural resistance had come to such an
excessive degree that My humanity was overwhelmed.
Again
I fell to the ground on My face because of the shame of all
your sins; again I asked My Father to take away that
Chalice. But He answered that, if I did not drink from it,
it would be as if I had not come to this world and for Me to
console Myself because many creatures would take part in My
agonies in the Garden.
I answered: Father, do not let My
Will be done, but Yours. This Angel has assured Me of Your
Love, and this brief joy that You have sent Me, has done a
good deed even with My natural resistance. Give Me My
creatures, those I have redeemed. You Yourself take them
because for You I have accepted. I want to see You content.
I offer You all My sufferings and My unchanging Will, that
in truth is not in disagreement with Yours, because We have
always been One… Father, I am destroyed but thus Our Love
will be known. Your Will be done, not Mine!
Again I
returned to wake My Disciples, but the rays of the Divine
Justice had left Me in a permanent rut… They became filled
with fright when they saw Me like a mad man, and the one who
suffered the most was John. I, silent…they stunned… Only
Peter had the courage to speak. Poor Peter, if he had only
known that part of My agitation had been caused by him.
I
had taken My three friends so that I could rest in them and
in their love, so that they could help Me by sharing My
anguish, and pray with Me… How do I describe what I felt
when I saw them asleep?
How My Heart suffers even today
and, wanting to find relief in My souls, I go to them and
find them asleep. More than once, when I wanted to wake them
and take them out of themselves, away from their worries.
They answer Me, if not with words, with deeds: “Not now, I
am too tired; I have too much to do; this is bad for My
health; I need a little time; I want some peace.”
I
insist and gently tell that soul: Do not fear. If for Me you
leave your rest, I shall reward you. Come and pray with Me,
only one hour! Look, this is the moment when I need you! If
you stop, will you now be behind schedule? How many times I
hear that same answer!
Poor soul, you have not been able
to keep watch one hour with Me. Soon I will come and you
shall not hear Me because you are asleep. I will want to
give you the Grace but since you are asleep, you shall not
be able to receive it. And who will make sure that later you
will have the strength to wake up?… It is possible that
deprived of food, your soul will be weak and you may not be
able to come out from that lethargy.
Many souls have been
surprised by death in the middle of a deep sleep and, where
and how have they awakened?
Dear souls, I also want to
teach you how useless and vain it is to look for relief in
creatures. How often they are asleep and, instead of finding
the relief that I look for in them, I leave with bitterness
for they do not correspond to Our wishes nor to Our
Love.
When I prayed to My Father and asked for help, My
sad and abandoned soul was suffering the anguish of death. I
felt overpowered with the weight of the worst
ingratitude.
The Blood that poured out of all the pores
of My Body and that in a short time would gush forth from
all My wounds, would be useless for a great number of souls
that would be lost. Many would offend Me and many would not
know Me! Later I would spill My Blood for all and My merits
would be applied to each one of them. Divine Blood! Infinite
merits! And yet, useless for so many, many souls.
But by
then I was already going to encounter other things, and My
Will was bent to the fulfillment of My Passion.
Men, if I
suffered, it has certainly not been without fruit nor
without reason. The fruits that I have obtained have been
Glory and Love. It is now up to you, with My help, to
demonstrate to Me that you appreciate My work.
I never
tire! Come to Me! Come to He who vibrates in Love for you
and who only knows how to give you the real Love that reigns
in Heaven and that transforms you now on earth.
Souls
that taste My thirst, drink from My bitter and glorious
Chalice, for I tell you that the Father wants to reserve
some of the drops of this Chalice precisely for you. Think
about these few drops taken from Me and then, if you
believe, tell Me that you do not want them. I have not set
limits and neither should you. I was destroyed without
mercy. For love, you should allow Me to destroy your
self-esteem.
I am He who works in you, just as My Father
worked in Me when in the Garden.
I am He who gives you
sufferings so that one day you may be happy. Be docile for a
time; be docile in imitation of Me because this helps you
greatly and it pleases Me a great deal. Do not lose
anything, but rather acquire the love. How could I allow My
beloved ones to suffer real losses while they try to show Me
love?
I wait for you. I am always waiting and I shall not
tire. Come to Me; come as you are, it does not matter as
long as you come. Then you shall see that I will adorn your
foreheads with jewels, with those drops of Blood that I
spilled in Gethsemane - those drops are yours, if you want
them. Come, soul, come to Jesus who calls you.
I said: My
Father; I did not say: My God. This is what I want to teach
you: when your heart suffers most, you should say “My
Father” and ask Him for consolation. Show Him your
sufferings, your fears, and with moans remind Him that you
are His children. Tell Him that your soul can no longer bear
it! Ask with a child’s trust and wait, for your Father
will help you; He will give you and the souls who trust, the
necessary strength to go through your
tribulations…
This is the Chalice that I accepted and
drained to its last drop. Everything to teach you, dear
children, not to ever believe again that suffering is
useless. If you do not see results always attained, yield
your judgment and allow the Divine Will to be fulfilled
within you.
I did not retreat. On the contrary, knowing
that it was in the Garden where they had to apprehend Me, I
stayed there. I did not want to flee from My
enemies…
My daughter, tonight allow My Blood to
irrigate and strengthen the roots of your
littleness.
Extract 8
Jesus
After
having been comforted by My Father’s messenger, I saw that
Judas, followed by all those who would apprehend Me, was
approaching Me. They had ropes, sticks, and stones… I
stepped forward and told them: “Who are you looking
for?” While Judas, with a hand on My shoulder, kissed
Me…
So many souls have sold Me and will sell Me for the
wretched price of a delight, for a momentary and passing
pleasure… Poor souls, those that look for Jesus, as the
soldiers did.
Souls whom I love; you, who come to Me and
receive Me in your bosom, who tell Me so many times that you
love Me…will you hand Me over after you receive Me? In the
places that you visit there are stones that wound Me, there
are conversations that offend Me, and you, who have received
Me today lose the beautiful whiteness of Grace there.
Why
do the souls who know Me, hand Me over this way when on more
than one occasion they boast of being pious and practicing
charity? All things that truly could help you acquire
greater merits… What are they to you but a veil to cover
your crime of treasuring goods on earth?
Be watchful and
pray! Fight without rest and do not let your bad
inclinations and defects become habitual.
Look, it is
necessary to cut down the grass every year and possibly even
during the four seasons. You have to work the land and clear
it. You have to make it better and take care to pull out the
weeds that sprout up in it.
You also have to take care of
the soul with much diligence and you must straighten out the
twisted tendencies.
Do not believe that the soul who
sells Me and gave itself to grave sin, started with a grave
sin. Usually the great fall started with something little:
something the soul enjoyed, a weakness, an illicit consent,
a pleasure that is not forbidden but that is not very
convenient… In this way, the soul starts blinding itself,
it diminishes in Grace, the passion strengthens, and lastly,
it conquers.
Understand this: if it is sad to receive an
offense and ingratitude from any soul, it is more so when it
comes from My most beloved, chosen souls. However, others
can do reparation and console Me.
Souls, you whom I have
chosen to make My resting place, the garden of My delights,
I expect from you greater tenderness, more gentleness, and a
lot more love.
I expect you to be the balm that heals My
wounds, to clean My face made ugly and dirty; to help Me
give light to so many blind souls that in the darkness of
night apprehend Me and bind Me to give Me death.
Do not
leave Me alone… Wake up and come, for My enemies are
arriving!
When the soldiers came close I said: “I
am!” These same words I repeat to the soul who is about to
fall into temptation: "I am,” there is still time and if
you want, I shall forgive you. And instead of you tying Me
up with the ropes of sin, I am He who shall tie you up with
the bond of Love.
Come, I am He who loves you; the One
who has so much compassion for your weaknesses; the One who
is anxiously waiting to receive you in His arms.
The
episode of My capture, well examined, has a lot of
importance. If Peter had not given that blow to Malchus, I
would not have had the opportunity to call to your attention
the method I want you to use in fighting for Me.
Then I
made use of a proverb to admonish Peter and I restored
Malchus’ ear because I do not like violence, being that I
am the Lord of liberty. But notice that apart from doing
this, I expressed to Peter the firm desire that My Passion
be completed and I made him contemplate the fact that if I
wanted, the Father would defend Me with His Angels.
See
how many things in just one episode? But the main thing is
precisely the lesson that I had to give to all of you about
fighting your enemies. Whoever is like Me does it thus: he
allows himself to be taken where they want to take him,
because he will have strength in the moments which are not
those sought by the world (by man), by human experience, and
by the astuteness of self-love.
No, whoever is like Me
shall stay in the situation where he is placed and will
receive unknown but vigorous strength to dominate his
suppressors. My true disciple does the most improbable
things without interrupting in the least My designs for him.
The world pleases itself with singularities, in excelling,
and showing its own superiority. This is the spirit that I
have fought and conquered. That is why I told you all to
take courage, because having conquered it, that world can
now do nothing to cut its unity with Me provided that you do
not unite with it. If you do, you would have to suffer the
consequences with the added difficulty that since I Myself
oppose its victory with the weapons of the world, many times
you will have as adversaries the world and Me - the world
because of its selfish love, and Me for pure Love, for Love
of your true well- being.
Therefore, no blows like
Peter’s to the ears of your enemies without full
acceptance of the Chalice that I offer you. A Chalice in
which you should see My Will as I saw that of My Father when
I asked the beloved Peter: “Do you not want Me to drink
from this Chalice that My Father gives Me?”
Always
meditate on My Passion, but penetrate intimately into My
Spirit and obtain the impressions that are wholesome and
incite you to imitate Me. Naturally, I am He who works these
things in you but you must apply yourselves and, later, you
will attain what I say.
Ah! If man could only understand
this aspect of My Passion! How much easier it would be to
yield and relive My Life!
Go ahead, My children,
everything is a question of love, not of anything else. Of
love and My work that I want to accomplish in you, and of
you always loving Me more. Stop reasoning in a human way;
open your mind to My world, to the one that I have with you.
This is important!
You are Mine for three reasons:
because I created you from nothing; because I redeemed you;
and because you shall receive part of My Crown of Glory.
That is why you must remember that I care for you for these
three reasons, and that I could never lose My interest in
whom I have created, have saved, and in whom shall be My
Glory.
You are driven to this path and you must travel it
all. As it was for Me, it will not only be good for you but
also for many of your brothers who should receive from Me,
through you, Grace and Life.
Advance, because I delight
Myself in it; learn, because Love wants to possess you
completely.
I give you My Blessing, full of promise. I
give it to all of you with the power that I enjoy as a man,
power that is yours, and joy that I shall award with the
prize, which shall confirm My infinite Love for you.
My
hour had come; the hour in which I had to consummate the
sacrifice, and I surrendered Myself to the soldiers with the
meekness of a
lamb.
Extract 9
Jesus
I was
taken before Caiaphas, where I was received with jeers and
insults. One of his soldiers struck My cheek. It was the
first blow I received and in it I saw the first mortal sin
of many souls who, after having lived in grace, committed
that first sin… So many other sins followed that first
sin, serving as an example so that other souls would also
commit them.
My Apostles abandoned Me and Peter remained
hidden behind a fence, amongst the servants, spying, moved
by curiosity.
With Me were men only trying to accumulate
crimes against Me, accusations that could further incite the
anger of such wicked judges. There I saw the faces of all
the demons, of all the bad angels. They accused Me of
disturbing the order, of being an instigator and a false
prophet, of being blasphemous, and profaning the Sabbath.
And the soldiers, overexcited by the slanders, shouted and
threatened Me.
Then My silence cried out, shaking My
whole Body. Where are you, Apostles and disciples who have
been witnesses of My Life, of My teachings and of My
miracles? Of all those from whom I was expecting some proof
of love, there is no one left to defend Me. I am alone and
surrounded by soldiers who want to devour Me like
wolves.
Contemplate how they mistreated Me: one deals Me
a blow against the face, another thrusts his dirty saliva at
Me, another twists My face to make fun of Me; another pulls
My beard; another wrings My arms between his fingers;
another hits My genitals with his knee, and when I fall, two
of them pull Me up by the
hair.
Extract 10
Jesus
While My Heart
offers to suffer all these ordeals, Peter, whom I had named
“Leader and Head of the Church” and who hours before had
promised to follow Me unto My death, denies Me in response
to a simple question that is asked of him and which could
have served him in giving testimony of Me. And as fear
seizes him even more, when the question is repeated, he
swears that he has never known Me nor has he been My
disciple. Questioned for the third time, he answered with
terrible curses.
Little children, when the world protests
against Me and, turning towards My chosen souls, I see
Myself abandoned and denied, do you know how great is the
sadness and bitterness in My Heart?
I shall tell them as
I told Peter: Soul, whom I love so much, do you not remember
the tests of love that I have given you? Have you forgotten
that many times you have promised Me to be faithful and to
defend Me?
You do not trust yourself because you are
lost; but if you come to Me with humbleness and firm trust,
fear nothing; you are well sustained.
Souls, you, who
live surrounded by so many dangers, do not enter into
occasions of sin through vain curiosity; be careful that you
could fall like Peter.
And you souls who work in My
vineyard, if you feel moved by curiosity or by some human
satisfaction, I shall tell you to run away. But if you work
for obedience and are propelled by zeal for souls and for My
Glory, be not afraid. I will defend you and you shall depart
victorious.
My beloved, I am educating you little by
little and with much patience. I am consoled with the
thought of having a pupil eager to learn. Thus, I forget
your negligence and mistakes. If I look in creation for the
most beautiful names to call you, be not afraid. Why do you
suppress them? Love has no
limits.
Extract 11
Jesus
Let us go
on with this painful story, which you will manage to take to
as many people as you can. I will enlighten you in the way
in which it should be done.
When the soldiers took Me
prisoner, Peter was half hidden in one of the patios amid
the crowd. Our looks crossed; his eyes were disoriented, it
was only for a fraction of a second and yet, I told him so
much!… I saw him cry bitterly for his sin and with My
Heart I told him: “The enemy has tried to possess you but
I do not abandon you. I know that your heart has not denied
Me. Be ready for the battle of the new day, for the renewed
battles against spiritual darkness and ready yourself to
take the good news. Goodbye, Peter."
How many times I
look into the soul that has sinned, but does it look also?
Not always do our eyes meet. How many times do I look at the
soul and it does not look at Me; it does not see Me; it is
blind…. I call it by its name and it does not answer Me. I
send it a sorrow, a pain, so that it can come out of its
sleep, but it does not want to wake up.
My beloved ones,
if you do not look at Heaven, you shall live as beings
deprived of motive. Raise your head and contemplate the Home
that awaits you. Search for your God and you shall always
find Him with His eyes fixed upon you, and in His look you
shall find peace and life.
Contemplate Me in prison where
I spent a great part of the night. The soldiers came to
insult Me with words and deeds, pushing Me, hitting Me,
making fun of My condition as a man.
Close to dawn, fed
up with Me, they left Me alone tied up in a dark, humid and
foul-smelling room, full of rats. I was tied in such a way
that I had to be standing up or sitting on a pointed rock
which was what they gave Me as a seat. My aching body was
soon numbed with cold. I remembered the thousands of times
that My Mother covered My Body, wrapping it up when I was
cold… and I cried.
Now let us compare the Sanctuary
with the prison and, above all, with the hearts of men. In
prison I spent one night… how many nights do I spend in
the Sanctuary?
In prison the soldiers, who were My
enemies, injured Me; but in the Sanctuary I am badly treated
and insulted by souls who call Me Father. In the prison I
was cold, sleepy, hungry, ashamed, sad, aching, lonely, and
abandoned. I could see, over the course of time, how in so
many Sanctuaries I would not have the coat of love. So many
frigid hearts would be for Me like the rock in the
prison!
So many times I would be thirsty for love,
thirsty for souls! So many days do I wait for such a soul to
visit Me, to receive Me in its heart because I have spent
the night alone and have thought about that soul in order to
quench My thirst! So many times I hunger for My souls, for
their fidelity, for their generosity!
Do they know how to
calm this longing? When they have to undergo some suffering,
will they know to tell Me: “this will help to ease Your
sadness, to be with You in Your loneliness?” And, O! If at
least united to Me and as long as you would console My
Heart, you would endure it all with peace and be
strengthened.
In prison I felt shame when I heard the
horrible words that were said about Me, and that shame grew
when I later saw that those same words would be repeated by
beloved souls.
When those dirty and repugnant hands
struck My face and hit Me, I saw how many times I would be
hit and struck by so many souls who, without purifying
themselves from sin, without cleaning their house with a
good confession, would receive Me in their hearts. Those
habitual sins would strike Me repeatedly.
When they would
make Me get up by pushing Me, being without strength and
because of the chains that bound Me, I would fall to the
ground. I saw how so many souls, tying Me up with the chains
of ingratitude, would let Me fall upon the stones renewing
My shame and prolonging My loneliness.
Chosen souls,
contemplate your Spouse in prison. Contemplate Me this night
of such pain and consider that this pain is prolonged in the
solitude of so many Sanctuaries, in the coldness of so many
hearts.
If you want to give Me proof of your love, open
your heart so I can make it My prison. Tie Me up with the
chains of your love. Cover Me with your gentleness; feed Me
with your kindness. Quench My thirst with your zeal. Console
My sadness and abandonment with your faithful company. Make
My shame disappear with your purity and honest
intentions.
If you want Me to rest in you, avoid the
tumult of your passions and in the silence of your soul, I
shall sleep peacefully.
Now and then you will hear My
voice that softly tells you: Spouse of Mine, now that you
are My rest, I will be yours through eternity. To you, who
provide Me the prison of your heart with so much dedication
and love, I promise that My reward shall have no limits, and
the sacrifices that you have made for Me during your life
will not weigh you
down.
Extract 12
Jesus
Pilate
ordered that they take Me to the presence of Herod… He was
a poor corrupt man who only searched for pleasure, allowing
him to be driven to disorderly passions. He was glad to see
Me come before his tribunal because he hoped to amuse
himself with My words and miracles.
Consider, My
children, the repulsion that I felt in the presence of the
most repulsive of men, whose words, questions, and affected
gestures covered Me with confusion. Pure and virginal souls,
come to surround and defend your Spouse.
Herod expects Me
to answer his sarcastic questions but I do not utter a word;
I keep the most absolute silence before him. Not answering
was the greatest proof of My dignity that I could give him.
His obscene words were not worthy to cross with My pure
ones. In the meantime, My Heart was infinitely united to My
Heavenly Father. I was consumed with desire to give up even
the last drop of My Blood for souls. The thought of every
man, who later would follow Me, conquered by My example and
generosity, ignited Me in love and, not only did I enjoy
that terrible interrogation but I wanted to run to the
torture of the Cross.
Extract 13
Jesus
I allowed them to treat Me as a mad
man and they covered Me with a white tunic as a sign of
their ridicule and their making fun of Me. Later, in the
middle of furious mocking shouts, they took Me again before
Pilate.
Watch how this bewildered and very confused man
does not know what to do with Me. And to quiet the fury of
the mob, he commands that they have Me
scourged.
Represented in Pilate, I saw the souls that
lack the courage and generosity to break away once and for
all from the demands of the world and from their own nature.
Instead of nipping the dangers of what their conscience
tells them about not being of the world and of nature, their
conscious mind tells them not to be of the good spirit. Then
they give in to a whim, enjoy themselves in a passing
satisfaction, and surrender in part to what their passion
demands. And to silence the guilty feelings, they tell
themselves: “I have already deprived myself of this or
that, and that is enough.”
I will only say to this
soul: “You scourge Me as did Pilate.” You have already
taken one step, tomorrow another. Do you plan to satisfy
your passion in this way? No! It shall soon demand
more.
As you have not had the courage to fight your own
nature in this small thing, much less will you have it later
when the occasion shall be
greater.
Extract 14
Jesus
Look at Me, My dear ones. Letting Myself be led
with the meekness of a lamb to the terrible torture of the
scourging. On My Body, already covered with blows and
overwhelmed with fatigue, the executioners cruelly discharge
terrible lashes with braided rope, with rods. I am punished
with so much violence that that there was no part of Me
which was not prey to the most terrible pain. The blows and
the kicks caused immeasurable wounds… The rods tore away
pieces of My skin and flesh. Blood oozed from all My
members. Time after time I fell because of the pain caused
by the blows to My manliness. My Body was in such a state
that I resembled a monster more than a man. The features of
My face had lost their shape; it was all swollen.
The
thought of so many souls, who later were going to be
inspired to follow My footsteps, consumed Me with
Love.
While in prison I saw the faithful imitators
learning from My meekness, patience, and serenity. Not only
to accept the suffering and scorns, but even loving those
who persecute them and, if necessary, sacrificing themselves
for them as I sacrificed Myself.
During those hours of
solitude in the midst of so much pain, I became inflamed,
more and more, in My desire of perfectly completing My
Father’s Will. How I offered Myself in reparation of His
deeply offended Glory! Thus you, religious souls who find
yourselves in the chosen prison for love, who more than once
pass in the eyes of others as useless and possibly harmful
creatures, do not be afraid. Let them shout against you and,
during those hours of pain and solitude, unite your heart
intimately with your God, the only object of your love.
Repair His Glory violated by so many
sins.
Extract 15
Jesus
At dawn Caiaphas ordered them to take Me to
Pilate so that he might pronounce the sentence of death.
Pilate questioned Me, hoping to find a reason to condemn Me,
but at the same time his conscience tormented him and he
felt great fear at the injustice that he was going to
commit. Finally he found a way to ignore Me and had Me taken
to Herod.
In Pilate are faithfully represented the souls
who feel the movement of grace and at the same time their
own passion, who are dominated by human respect and blinded
by self love, and who allow the grace to pass for fear of
being mocked.
I did not answer any of Pilate’s
questions. But when he asked: “Are You the King of the
Jews?”, then with seriousness and integrity, I answered:
“You have said so, I am the King, but My kingdom is not of
this world…” With these words I wanted to teach many
souls how, when they are presented with the opportunity to
endure suffering or a humiliation that could easily be
avoided, they should answer with generosity: “My kingdom
is not of this world…”. That is, I am not searching to
be praised by men. My Home is not this one, yet I will rest
where it really is. Now, be encouraged to fulfill My duty
without taking into account the opinion of the world. What
matters is not their esteem but to follow the voice of grace
that drowns the lures of nature. If I am not able to conquer
alone, I will ask for strength and counsel since, on many
occasions, passions and excessive pride blind the soul and
impel it to act wrongly.
The executioners who destroy My
Body are not ten nor twenty. There are many hands that hurt
My Body; receiving Communion in the hands - the sacrilegious
work of Satan!
How can they contemplate Me in this sea of
pain and bitterness without their hearts being moved with
compassion? But it is not the executioners who have to
console but you, chosen souls, so that My pain may be
alleviated. Contemplate My wounds and see if there is anyone
who has suffered as much as I, to show you their
love.
Extract 16
Jesus
In the Will of Father I have lived days of
intense sadness without complaining but accepting what the
Father wanted to make Me feel. When I was apprehended in the
Garden, My accusers were quick with every lie and I, without
the least resistance, allowed them to take Me to wherever
they wanted to. And when they wanted to encircle My Head
with the crown of thorns, I bowed My Head without
resistance, because I took everything from the hands of He
who had sent Me into the world.
When the arms of those
cruel men were exhausted by the force of discharging blows
against My Body, they placed over My head the crown woven
with branches of thorns, and parading before Me they said:
“So you are King? We salute you!”
Some spat at Me;
others insulted Me; others discharged new blows against My
head, each one adding a new pain to My Body, so hurt and
destroyed.
I am tired; I have nowhere to rest. Lend Me
your heart and your arms to cover Myself in your love. I am
cold and feverish; embrace Me for an instant before they
continue destroying this temple of Love.
The soldiers and
executioners, with their dirty hands, push My Body, and
others with disgust for My Blood, push Me with their lances
and reopen My flesh. With a shove they seat Me on sharp
stones; I cry in silence because of the pain. In a grotesque
way, they make fun of My tears. Finally they tear My
temples, forcing down the crown woven of thorny
branches.
Consider how with that crown, I wanted to make
reparation for the sin of pride of so many souls who,
wishing to be excessively praised, let themselves be
influenced by the false opinions of the world. Above all, I
allowed them to crown My Head with thorns. My Head suffered
cruelly this way in order to make reparation through
voluntary humility for the loathing and proud pretense of so
many souls. Souls who because they judge it unworthy of
their condition and status, refuse to follow the path set by
My Providence.
No path is humiliating when it is planned
by the Will of God… In vain you intend to fool yourselves,
thinking of following the Will of God and in full submission
of whatever He asks of you.
There are people in the world
who, when the moment of decision arrives (to undertake a new
type of life), reflect and examine the desires of their
hearts. Maybe they will find, in him or her with whom they
plan to unite, the solid foundations for a Christian and
pious life. Perhaps they will see that they will follow
their family duties in a way necessary to satisfy their
wishes of happiness. But vanity and pride come to obscure
their spirit and they let themselves be pulled by the desire
of being prominent and showing off. Then they do their best
to look for someone, who being richer or of high class, to
satisfy their ambition. O! How stubbornly they blind
themselves. No, I will tell them, you will not find real
happiness in this world and I hope that you will find it in
the next. Watch out, you are putting yourself in great
danger!
I will also talk to the souls to whom I call to
the path of perfection. How many illusions are in those who
tell Me that they are ready to do My Will and then they
pierce My Head with the thorns of My Crown.
Respectively,
there are souls whom I want for Myself. Knowing them and
loving them, I want to place them where I live, in My
infinite wisdom, where they will find all that is necessary
to reach sanctity. It is there where I will make Myself
known to them, and where they will give Me more comfort,
more love, and more souls.
But, so many deceptions! So
many souls are blinded with pride and arrogance for mere
ambition. They fill their heads with vain and useless
thoughts; they refuse to follow the path that lays out My
Love.
Souls whom I have chosen, do you think that you
fulfill My Will by resisting the voice of the grace that
calls you and guides you along that path which your pride
rejects?
My daughter, love of My sorrows, console Me.
Make a throne in your small heart for your King and Savior
and crown Me with kisses.
Crowned with thorns and covered
with a purple mantle, the soldiers presented Me again to
Pilate. Not finding in Me a crime for which to punish Me,
Pilate asked Me several questions, asking Me why I did not
answer him knowing that he had all power over Me.
Then,
breaking My silence I told him: ”You would not have that
power if you had not received it from above, but it is
necessary that the Scriptures be carried out.” And,
abandoning Myself to My Celestial Father, I was silent
again.
Extract 17
Jesus
Pilate was
looking for ways to free Me. He was worried because of his
wife’s warning and confused between the guilt of his
conscience and the fear that the people would initiate a
riot against him. In the pitiable state in which I found
Myself, he exposed Me to the sight of the mob proposing that
he give Me liberty and condemn Barabbas, a famous thief and
murderer, in My place. The people answered in one voice:
“Let him die and have Barabbas set free!”
Souls who
love Me, see how they have compared Me to a criminal, how
they have lowered Me more than the most perverse of men.
Listen to the furious shouts projected against Me. See with
what fury they ask for My death. Did I refuse to go through
such shameful confrontation? No, on the contrary, I embraced
it for My Love of souls and to show them that this Love did
not only take Me to death, but to the most ignominious
death…
However, do not believe that My human nature did
not feel revulsion nor pain. On the contrary, I wanted to
feel all its revulsion, and be subject to its same
condition, giving you an example that will give you strength
in every circumstance in life and teach you to conquer the
revulsion to what you are offered when it is a question of
fulfilling the Divine Will.
I return to the souls I was
talking about yesterday… those souls called to the state
of perfection, who discuss with grace and retreat when faced
with the humility of the path that I show them, fearing how
they will be judged by the world or as they assess their
capabilities, convince themselves that they will be more
useful somewhere else to My service and for My Glory.
I
will respond to those souls: Tell Me, did I refuse or even
hesitate when I saw Myself being born at night to poor and
humble parents in a stable, far from My Home and Country in
the harshest season of the year?
Afterwards I lived
thirty years fulfilling the hidden and gloomy occupation in
the workshop: I went through humiliations and scorns from
the people who requested work done by Joseph, My father. I
did not detest helping My Mother in the most menial of tasks
in the house. Nonetheless, did I not have more talent than
that required for the rough work of a carpenter? I, who at
the age of twelve, taught Doctors in the Temple… But it
was the Will of My Celestial Father and, thus, I glorified
Him. When I left Nazareth and started My public life, I
could have had Myself known as the Messiah and Son of God,
so that men would listen to My teachings with veneration,
but I did not do it because My only wish was to do My
Father’s Will…
And when the time of My Passion came,
through the cruelty of some and the insults of others, the
abandonment of My own and the ingratitude of the mob,
through the unspeakable martyrdom of My Body and the
revulsion of My soul, see how with greater love, I was still
revealing and embracing the Will of My Celestial
Father.
Thus when overcoming difficulties and revulsion,
the soul generously submits itself to the Will of God. There
comes a moment in which, intimately united to Him, the soul
enjoys the most indescribable sweetness.
What I have said
to the souls who loathe the humble and hidden life, I repeat
to those who are called to a constant contact with the world
when, on the contrary, their preference would be toward
complete solitude and humble and hidden work.
Chosen
souls, your happiness and perfection does not consist in
following the taste of your preference and inclinations of
nature, in being known or unknown by creatures, in using or
hiding the talent you have, but rather in uniting and
conforming yourselves through love and with total submission
to God’s Will, to that which is asked of you for His Glory
and your own sanctification.
Enough for today, My little
daughter, love and embrace My Will joyfully; you know that
it is always done for love.
Meditate for a moment upon
the unspeakable martyrdom of My Heart, upon seeing it put
behind Barabbas. How I remembered then My Mother’s
tenderness when she embraced Me against her Heart! And how
vivid were the anxieties and fatigue that My adoptive father
suffered to show Me his love. How I remembered the benefits
I so freely poured over thankless people: giving sight to
the blind, giving the sick their health, the use of their
limbs to those who had lost them, feeding the crowds, and
resurrecting the dead. Now to see Myself reduced to the most
despicable state! I am the most hated of men, and I am being
condemned to death like an infamous
thief.
Extract 18
Jesus
Pilate has pronounced sentence. My little
children, consider attentively how My Heart
suffered…
After Judas surrendered Me in the Garden of
Olives, he wandered off and ran away as a fugitive without
being able to silence the shouts of his conscience, which
accused him of the most horrible sacrilege. When the news of
My death sentence reached his ears, he gave in to the most
terrible despair and hung himself.
Who will be able to
understand the intense pain in My Heart when I saw that soul
throw himself to eternal damnation? He who had spent three
years in the School of My Love learning My doctrine,
receiving My teaching, and many times hearing My lips
forgive the greatest sinners.
Judas! Why do you not come
and throw yourself at My feet so that I may forgive you? If
you do not dare to come near Me for fear of those who
surround Me and treat Me so badly, at least look at Me and
you will see how soon My eyes will look at you.
Souls,
who are entangled in the greatest sins… If at times you
have lived wandering as fugitives because of your crimes, if
the sins of which you are guilty have blinded you and
hardened your hearts, if by pursuing some passion you have
fallen into greater disorder, do not allow desperation to
take possession of you when the accomplices of your sin
abandon you and your soul realizes its blame. As long as man
has an instant of life, he still has time to appeal to My
Mercy and implore forgiveness.
If you are young and the
scandals of your past life have left you in a state of
degradation before men, do not be afraid! Even when the
world may despise you, treat you as evil people, insult you,
and abandon you, be certain that your God does not want your
soul to be fodder for the flames of hell. He wants you to
dare to speak to Him, to direct your gaze and sighs of your
heart at Him, and you will soon see that His kind and
paternal hand leads you to the source of forgiveness and of
life.
If out of malice you have perhaps spent a greater
part of your life in disorder and indifference, and now near
eternity, desperation wants to blindfold your eyes, do not
let it deceive you. There is still time for forgiveness.
Listen carefully: if you have but a second of life, take
advantage of it because you could gain eternal life during
that second.
If your existence has passed away in
ignorance and in error, if you have been the cause of great
harm to men, to society, and even to religion, and for any
reason you perceive your mistake, do not allow yourself to
be brought down by the weight of faults nor by the harm for
which you have been an instrument. But, on the contrary,
allow your soul to be penetrated with the deepest sorrow,
plunge yourself in trust and turn to the One who is always
waiting to forgive you.
The same is true for a soul who
has spent the first years of its life in faithful observance
of My Commandments, but has little by little fallen from
fervor into a lukewarm and comfortable life…
Do not
hide anything that I tell you, for it is all for the benefit
of the whole of humanity. Repeat it in broad daylight;
preach it to those who truly want to hear it.
The soul
who one day receives a strong jolt that wakes it up, all of
a sudden sees its useless life, empty and without merits for
eternity. The Evil One, with infernal jealousy, attacks it
in a thousand ways, exaggerating its faults. He inspires in
it sadness and loss of heart, and finally drives it to fear
and despair.
Soul that belongs to Me, do not pay
attention to the cruel enemy. As soon as you feel the
movement of grace at the beginning of your battle, come to
My Heart. Feel and watch how it pours a drop of its Blood
over your soul, and come to Me. You know where I am, under
the veil of faith…. Lift it and, with complete confidence,
tell Me all your sorrows, your miseries, your falls…
Listen to My words with respect and do not fear for the
past. My Heart has submerged it in the endless depths of My
Mercy and My Love.
Your past life will give you the
humility that will fill you. And if you want to give Me the
best proof of love, trust Me and count on My forgiveness.
Believe that your sins shall never be greater than My
endless Mercy.
Extract 19
Jesus
Let us continue, My little daughter. Follow Me
on the way to Calvary, overwhelmed under the weight of the
Cross….
While My Heart was absorbed with sadness for
the eternal loss of Judas, the cruel executioners,
insensitive to My pain, put over My wounded shoulders the
hard and heavy Cross on which I was to consummate the
mystery of the Redemption of the world.
Contemplate Me,
Angels from Heaven. See the Creator of all the marvels; the
God to whom all the heavenly spirits render adoration; the
God walking towards Calvary and carrying on His shoulders
the holy and blessed log; the God who is going to receive
His last breath.
Also look at Me, you souls who wish to
be My faithful imitators. My Body, destroyed by so much
torture, walks without strength, bathed in sweat and
Blood…. I suffer, without anyone being sorry for My pain!
The mob walks with Me and there is not a single person who
feels pity for Me. They all surround Me like hungry wolves,
wanting to devour their prey… All the demons came out of
hell to make My suffering worse.
The fatigue that I feel
is so great and the Cross so heavy that half-way through, I
fall. See how those inhuman men lift Me up in the most
brutal manner. One takes Me by the arm, another pulls My
clothes that are stuck to My wounds, tearing them open
again…. This one grabs Me by the neck, the other by the
hair, others discharge with their fists and even with their
feet terrible blows all over My Body. The Cross falls over
Me and with its weight causes new wounds. My face brushes
over the stones on the path and the blood which runs down My
face sticks to My eyes that are almost closed because of the
blows they have received; the dust and the mud mingle with
the blood and I am turned into the most repugnant
object.
My Father sends Angels to help Me support Myself
so that My Body does not lose consciousness when it falls,
so that the battle may not be won before its time and all My
souls are lost.
I walk over the stones that destroy My
feet. I stumble and fall time and time again. I look at both
sides of the road, searching for a small look of love, of
surrender, of union with My pain, but… I do not see
anyone.
My children, you who follow in My footsteps, do
not let go of your cross even if it seems so heavy. Do it
for Me. In carrying your cross, you will help Me carry Mine,
and on the difficult path, you will find My Mother and the
holy souls who will give you support and comfort. Continue
with Me for a few moments, and a few steps ahead you will
see Me in the presence of My Holy Mother who, with her Heart
pierced by pain, comes out to meet Me for two reasons: to
get more strength to suffer at the sight of her God and,
with her heroic attitude, to give her Son encouragement to
continue His work of Redemption.
Consider the martyrdom
of these two Hearts. What My Mother loves most is her
Son…. She cannot ease My pains and she knows that her
visit will make My sufferings much worse, but it will also
increase My strength to fulfill the Will of the
Father.
My Mother is My most beloved being on earth, and
not only can I not console her, but the sad state in which
she sees Me causes her heart a suffering as deep as Mine.
She allows a sob to escape. She receives in her heart the
death that I suffer in My Body. O, how her eyes are fixed on
Me and Mine on her! We do not utter a single word, but our
Hearts say many things in this painful gaze.
Yes, My
Mother witnessed all the tortures of My Passion, which
through Divine revelation were presented to her spirit.
Several disciples, even though they remained far for fear of
the Jews, tried to find out everything and would inform My
Mother…. When she found out that the death sentence had
already been given, she departed to meet Me and did not
abandon Me until they placed Me in the
grave.
Extract 20
Jesus
I
am on My way to Calvary. Those wicked men, fearing to see Me
die before reaching the end, look for someone to help Me
carry the Cross, and from the vicinity they seized a man
called Simon.
Look at him behind Me, helping Me carry the
Cross, and above all consider two things: this man lacks
good will, and is a mercenary because if he comes and shares
with Me the weight of the Cross, it is because he has been
requisitioned. For that reason, when he feels too tired, he
lets the weight fall more on Me and thus, I fall to the
ground twice.
This man helps Me carry part of the Cross
but not My entire Cross.
There are souls that walk this
way behind Me. They accept to help Me carry My Cross but
they still worry about comfort and rest. Many others agree
to follow Me and, with this end, they have embraced the
perfect life. But they do not abandon their self-interests,
which keep on being, in many cases, their priority. That is
why they falter and drop My Cross when it weighs upon them
too much. They look to suffer in the least possible way,
they measure their self-denial, evade humiliation and
fatigue as much as possible, and, remembering perhaps with
sorrow, those whom they left behind, they try to obtain for
themselves certain comforts and pleasures.
In a word,
there are souls who are so selfish and egotistical that they
have come, more for themselves than for Me, in pursuit of
Me. They resign themselves only to give what bothers them
and what they cannot put aside… They help Me carry only a
very small part of My Cross, and in such a manner that they
can hardly acquire the indispensable merits for their
salvation. But in eternity, they will see how far they have
left the path that they should have traveled.
On the
contrary, there are souls, and not few, who, moved by their
desire for salvation but mainly for the love inspired by the
vision of what I have suffered for them, decide to follow Me
on the path to Calvary. They embrace the perfect life and
give themselves to My service, not to help Me carry just a
part of the Cross but all of it. Their only desire is to
give Me rest and to console Me. They offer themselves to
everything that My Will asks of them, searching for anything
that can please Me. They do not think about the merits or
the reward that awaits them, nor the tiredness or the
suffering that will follow. The only thing they are aware of
is the love that they can show Me, and the comfort they give
Me…
If My Cross is presented as an illness, if it is
hidden under a job contrary to their inclinations and of
little agreement with their abilities; if it comes
accompanied by the absence of the people that surround them,
they accepted it with total submission.
O! These are the
souls that truly carry My Cross; they adore it. They take
advantage of it, to make sure of My Glory without any other
interest or payment other than My Love. They are the ones
that consider Me and Glorify Me.
If you do not see the
product of your sufferings, of your self-denial, or if you
see it later, be certain that they have not been in vain and
fruitless, but, on the contrary, the fruit shall be
abundant.
The soul who truly loves, does not keep count
of how much it has suffered or worked, nor does it expect
this or that reward, but it only searches for that which it
believes glorifies its God… For Him it spares neither
labors nor weariness. It does not become agitated nor
restless, far from it, for it does not lose its peace if it
finds itself thwarted or humiliated because the only motive
for its actions is love, and love abandons the consequences
and the results. This is the goal for the souls who do not
seek rewards. The only thing that they hope for is My Glory,
My comfort, My rest, and, for that reason they have taken My
Cross and all the weight that My Will wants to load upon
them.
My children, call Me by My name, for Jesus means
everything. I will wash your feet, those feet that have
stepped on a slippery path and are now wounded by the blows
against the rocks. I will wipe away your tears, cure you,
kiss you, and you will remain healthy and know no other path
but the one that leads you to Me.
We are now at Calvary!
The mob is excited because the terrible moment is near….
Exhausted by fatigue, I can hardly walk. My feet bleed
because of the stones on the way… Three times I have
fallen along the way: one to give sinners used to sinning
the strength to convert; another to encourage the souls that
fall because of being frail, and the souls blinded by
sadness and restlessness, to get up and embark with courage
upon the path of virtue; and the third, to help souls depart
from sin at the hour of their
death.
Extract 21
Jesus
I am on My way to Calvary. Those wicked men,
fearing to see Me die before reaching the end, look for
someone to help Me carry the Cross, and from the vicinity
they seized a man called Simon.
Look at him behind Me,
helping Me carry the Cross, and above all consider two
things: this man lacks good will, and is a mercenary because
if he comes and shares with Me the weight of the Cross, it
is because he has been requisitioned. For that reason, when
he feels too tired, he lets the weight fall more on Me and
thus, I fall to the ground twice.
This man helps Me carry
part of the Cross but not My entire Cross.
There are
souls that walk this way behind Me. They accept to help Me
carry My Cross but they still worry about comfort and rest.
Many others agree to follow Me and, with this end, they have
embraced the perfect life. But they do not abandon their
self-interests, which keep on being, in many cases, their
priority. That is why they falter and drop My Cross when it
weighs upon them too much. They look to suffer in the least
possible way, they measure their self-denial, evade
humiliation and fatigue as much as possible, and,
remembering perhaps with sorrow, those whom they left
behind, they try to obtain for themselves certain comforts
and pleasures.
In a word, there are souls who are so
selfish and egotistical that they have come, more for
themselves than for Me, in pursuit of Me. They resign
themselves only to give what bothers them and what they
cannot put aside… They help Me carry only a very small
part of My Cross, and in such a manner that they can hardly
acquire the indispensable merits for their salvation. But in
eternity, they will see how far they have left the path that
they should have traveled.
On the contrary, there are
souls, and not few, who, moved by their desire for salvation
but mainly for the love inspired by the vision of what I
have suffered for them, decide to follow Me on the path to
Calvary. They embrace the perfect life and give themselves
to My service, not to help Me carry just a part of the Cross
but all of it. Their only desire is to give Me rest and to
console Me. They offer themselves to everything that My Will
asks of them, searching for anything that can please Me.
They do not think about the merits or the reward that awaits
them, nor the tiredness or the suffering that will follow.
The only thing they are aware of is the love that they can
show Me, and the comfort they give Me…
If My Cross is
presented as an illness, if it is hidden under a job
contrary to their inclinations and of little agreement with
their abilities; if it comes accompanied by the absence of
the people that surround them, they accepted it with total
submission.
O! These are the souls that truly carry My
Cross; they adore it. They take advantage of it, to make
sure of My Glory without any other interest or payment other
than My Love. They are the ones that consider Me and Glorify
Me.
If you do not see the product of your sufferings, of
your self-denial, or if you see it later, be certain that
they have not been in vain and fruitless, but, on the
contrary, the fruit shall be abundant.
The soul who truly
loves, does not keep count of how much it has suffered or
worked, nor does it expect this or that reward, but it only
searches for that which it believes glorifies its God… For
Him it spares neither labors nor weariness. It does not
become agitated nor restless, far from it, for it does not
lose its peace if it finds itself thwarted or humiliated
because the only motive for its actions is love, and love
abandons the consequences and the results. This is the goal
for the souls who do not seek rewards. The only thing that
they hope for is My Glory, My comfort, My rest, and, for
that reason they have taken My Cross and all the weight that
My Will wants to load upon them.
My children, call Me by
My name, for Jesus means everything. I will wash your feet,
those feet that have stepped on a slippery path and are now
wounded by the blows against the rocks. I will wipe away
your tears, cure you, kiss you, and you will remain healthy
and know no other path but the one that leads you to
Me.
We are now at Calvary! The mob is excited because the
terrible moment is near…. Exhausted by fatigue, I can
hardly walk. My feet bleed because of the stones on the
way… Three times I have fallen along the way: one to give
sinners used to sinning the strength to convert; another to
encourage the souls that fall because of being frail, and
the souls blinded by sadness and restlessness, to get up and
embark with courage upon the path of virtue; and the third,
to help souls depart from sin at the hour of their
death.
EDITOR’S NOTES: In Lent 2018 Scoop is publishing a series of daily reflections on the Passion from Bolivian author Katya Rivas. Rivas has received an official imprimatur from the Catholic Church for several books.. Readers can sign up to receive daily extracts from Katya Rivas’s writings by email at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dailykatya/
COPYRIGHT
NOTICE: “Copyright© 2000 by The Great Crusade of Love
and Mercy. All rights reserved. This book is published in
coordination with The Apostolate of the New Evangelization.
Permission is granted to reproduce this book as a whole in
its entirety with no changes or additions and as long as the
reproduction and distribution is done solely on a non-profit
basis.“.