Longs For Us

Day's Saints
Therese of Lisieux, Carmelite
Blessed Cecilia Eusepi, Servants of Mary

Gospel Mt 21:28-32
Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people:
"What is your opinion?
A man had two sons.
He came to the first and said,
'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.'
He said in reply, 'I will not,'
but afterwards changed his mind and went.
The man came to the other son and gave the same order.
He said in reply, 'Yes, sir, 'but did not go.
Which of the two did his father's will?"
They answered, "The first."
Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you,
tax collectors and prostitutes
are entering the kingdom of God before you.
When John came to you in the way of righteousness,
you did not believe him;
but tax collectors and prostitutes did.
Yet even when you saw that,
you did not later change your minds and believe him."

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Reflected in the earth below, we are known to Him
and He longs for us.

Youtube video of inside St. James church Medjugorija.

Perhaps tax collectors and prostitutes were awakened to their sin being so great, so that they could see the gravity of their position and knew they dare not squander the grace of the Lord.

If they were awakened by the virtue and austerity of one man, what if all men were so virtuous and austere?

Therese knew her position and a great love of Jesus was awakened in her that served her through her whole life and the martyrdom of painful death she endured, winning countless souls for Christ.

The Lord knows how little I count for, and how little I am worth, and how it grieves me when I have no suffering to offer Him for love and to make atonement for souls in purgatory and those in most need of His mercy. Then again, the pain I suffer in the body is little enough that if He did not give me something, I should have to face Him on judgement day with nothing in my hands. He offers me the little I have and i embrace it, knowing that embracing it is the same as obeying His Will, and He is pleased. Whether those for whom I suffer will reap their reward in Christ I have no way to know, but then it is not an offering whose outcome I am given to know; I do not merit so much, and it is not supposed to be a personal gratification if they are saved, but to give joy to the Lord, and nothing for myself.

His honor is resplendent, and if we share in it, that is reward enough, but for each and every soul, there is a great reward waiting, which God Himself will bestow with His own gentle hands to complete our eternity of happiness in Him.

Do not live for anything earthly, but live for Jesus who loved you enough to die a real death of agony on the cross. Love Him for that, and let Him lift you up and hold you in the insubstantial air of joy, gazing into the most resplendent light.

I wanted to bleed in truth for Him, but the injuries that befell me were not sufficient to shed my blood, and my pain was humbling, just enough misery to be real, and just enough suffering to be substantial enough to give Him like a cup of water on the cross. So long as I could do that much I am content, but there are days when my life seems completely worthless and nothing I can even think seems to suffice. When He has thus granted me the crucifixion I desired, crushing me entirely, He comes to me, and it is enough to cause me to renew my desire to suffer with Him on the cross. One day all the bruises and the pain and whatever suffering will be at an end, and I trust that He will accept what I was capable of carrying for Him as sufficient, since I was little enough in my life as to be inconsequential altogether.

Sometimes the cross is so heavy, I cannot breathe for the weight of it and He must come to relieve me. So He does, and I carry on until I am overcome again. Neither sleep nor pleasure are enough to help me bear the weight, and if He did not help me I would be completely helpless. It adds up over time, and the loneliness that assaults me is enough to want to give up. But He does not allow me to give up, and insists I start again until I will have one day finished the course and stand waiting at the foot of the cross.

Sometimes I feel utterly lost, in the midst of my familiar place. Then I feel what the dying beggars felt as crowds passed them by, willing to let them die anonymously and obscurely. In Jerusalem that day, He was nailed to the cross when He would have rather eaten a feast, and skipped the whole torture completely. But that is not what He did. Rather He consecrated bread to become His Body and Blood. The Blood shed in the midst of Jerusalem fell in the dusty dirt at the foot of the cross, and He breathed a last breath and cried out for the anonymous, obscure beggars dying in the world or no more consequence that dust on His feet.

How full is the union with my Lord when He rescues me. Then there is no spot in all my being unwilling to do His desire. Obscurity and anonymity had their way with me, and now He must fulfill me, having taken away all unworthiness.

Blessed is the man who accepts all that crucifixion means and anticipates nothing worldly along the way. Leave an imprint in the vail, catch a drop of falling Blood and gather it in a fine linen cloth, and come closer to him dying up above. Hear the last breath and the rest commence, for in three days all this immense labor that was begun will culminate in resurrection for us all.

Not a single star is unknown or unnamed, for having created them, He knew them all. He knows all of us, and in His mind is room enough to know all our most inmost details. Each one being a glinting bit of His passion-life, He cannot forget us or how He made us and redeemed us, bringing everything to fulfillment and completion in His time.

I stand waiting before Him, to take His place, if that be required. Too few are willing to but stand inert and lifeless before Him when He longs for our living warmth and love. Stand and wait for the glad light of day, and the dawn will rise before us in glory.