WEEK 6: Unite the sufferings caused by your own weakness with Jesus
Like all of us, St. Faustina experienced suffering and pain in her life which were caused by her own sins and human weakness. She gradually matured to holiness, cooperating with God’s grace. Jesus let her know His great love and at the same time the nothingness that we are of ourselves. Everything that is good in us is a gift from God. Experiencing the enormity of God’s Mercy and her misery, she experienced true suffering. This is evidenced by the words of Jesus, who wanted to console His Apostle in painful moments: “My Heart was moved with great mercy towards you, My dearest child, when I saw you torn to shreds by the terrible pain you suffered in repentance for your sins” (Diary 282).
Sometimes we may fall into temptation, thinking that my sins are not so great, they did not cause Jesus so much suffering … there are “bigger” sinners than me who became the cause of His torment. It is worth drawing from the experience of Sister Faustina in such moments, so that true humility and repentance may be born in us, which opens our hearts to receive the rays of mercy that transform us. Once she noted: “O Jesus, despite Your graces I can still see and feel all my nothingness. I begin the day in battle and end it in battle, I have barely dealt with one problem when another ten appear in its place to contend with, but I’m not worried by that, as I know this is the time of battle, not peace. Whenever the stress of the battle is too much for my strength to bear, I cast myself like a child into the arms of my Heavenly Father and trust I shall not perish. O Jesus, how susceptible I am to evil, and that’s what is forcing me to be constantly on guard over myself, but I won’t be daunted, I trust in God’s grace, which is bounteous even in the greatest misery”(Diary 606).
- How does my sorrow for sins and imperfections look like? Do I ask the Holy Spirit for the gift of a contrite heart?
- Am I aware of the greatness of God’s mercy towards me – a sinner – redeemed and set free thanks to the Passion of God’s Son?
- This week I will try to follow the example of St. Faustina: “As far as possible with God’s grace I shall always exercise myself in perfect contrition. I shall devote more time to contrition” (Diary 225).
