In our last Lenten lesson, let us try to listen to Jesus’ specific hint, which very clearly states that looking for healing outside Him will not bring lasting results: Now, rest your head on My bosom, on My heart, and draw from it strength and power for these sufferings because you will find neither relief nor help nor comfort anywhere else (Diary, 36). Perhaps after seven weeks of Lent, we already feel the depth of these words, and at the same time we realize that inviting God to enter the wounds of our heart is not so easy. Original sin makes it difficult for us to see our best friend and doctor in Jesus.
In “Diary”, our exemplary patient shows the path of trust in God: “she reveals all the wounds of her heart. God heals them, and her suffering becomes a source of her sanctification” (see Diary, 1487). She reveals to us the image of Merciful Jesus who, having gone victorious through the gate of death, comes towards us. Emerging from the darkness, he is not afraid of the darkness of our suffering. After all, He is the light of the world itself. He is very delicate – he allows us to come with a monologue of accusations, a grudge – that everything that has accumulated over the years in our heart, under the bandage of time, would have been spoken by us. He listens with curiosity, although he knows every detail of our life, especially the most painful one. He transforms our suffering into a precious grace that he distributes between sinners.
At the end of the last lesson, let us not ask ourselves whether at this time each of our wound was filled with God’s grace. This process has certainly begun, because God has one answer to every request of the suffering soul: as often as they turn to Me, I hurry to their aid, shielding them with My mercy, and I give them the first place in My compassionate Heart (Diary, 1682). With each of our suffering, we have to go to Jesus so that it can be included in the saving work of redemption. We trust that Jesus will make a miracle of the trust in our hearts and we will be able to say a prayer that accompanied Sister Faustina in difficult times: My Jesus, You suffice me for everything else in the world. Although the sufferings are severe, You sustain me. Although the times of loneliness are terrible, You make them sweet for me. Although the weakness is great, You change it into power for me (Diary, 1656).
Sr. Anna Maria Trzcińska ZMBM