From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   On Humble Attention to God's Word (IV)   
      
   Write My words in your heart, and meditate on them earnestly; they   
   will aid you in temptation. Whatever you do not understand when you   
   read, you shall know in the day of My coming. I visit My chosen in two   
   ways; with trial and with consolation. Day by day, I teach them two   
   lessons, one in which I correct their faults, and the other in which I   
   encourage them to progress in virtue. `He who hears My words and   
   despises them has One who will judge him on the Last Day. (John 12:48)   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 3, Ch 3   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   October 5: - Saint Faustina   
      
   Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Faustina (1905-1938), mystic,   
   and “secretary of the Lord.” Throughout her brief life, Jesus appeared   
   and spoke to Saint Faustina, who faithfully recorded His words in her   
   diary, entitled “Divine Mercy in my Soul.” When she left this world,   
   she left this incomprehensible gift behind for the betterment of   
   mankind—detailing the Lord’s gracious gift of Mercy to the world.   
      
   “JESUS, make my heart like unto Yours, or rather transform it into   
   Your own Heart that I may sense the needs of other hearts, especially   
   those who are sad and suffering. May the rays of mercy rest in my   
   heart.”   
      
   Saint Faustina's struggles were like our own and on the outside her   
   life appeared rather ordinary. But, internally, her soul was   
   transformed daily through prayer and God's mercy. Through Saint   
   Faustina, Jesus Himself commissioned a painting that would portray His   
   mercy, known today as the “Divine Mercy” image. Jesus also taught her   
   to pray the chaplet of Divine Mercy, offering it for sinners and for   
   the world.   
      
   Throughout her short life, Our Lord assigned Saint Faustina three basic tasks:   
      
   1. To pray for souls, entrusting them to God's Incomprehensible Mercy;   
   2. To tell the world about God's Generous Mercy;   
   3. To start a new movement in the Church focusing on God's Mercy.   
      
   Saint Faustina struggled to follow God's Will in these three tasks, at   
   times struggling and finding it nearly impossible. Yet, through it   
   all—including suffering and sickness—she entrusted herself to the   
   Lord, relying on His mercy, and letting Him work through her, weak   
   though she may be.   
      
   Saint Faustina was born Helena Kowalska, the third of ten children, in   
   the small village of Lodz, Poland. She was able to finish only three   
   years of education, and as a teenager worked as a domestic servant for   
   other families. By the age of 18, she was convinced of her calling to   
   serve the Lord, but her parents objected to her entering the religious   
   life. Ever obedient, Helena attempted to forget her calling, but one   
   night, while at a village dance, Helena saw Jesus, sad and suffering.   
   The very next day she packed a small bag and went to the capital city   
   of Warsaw. After being rejected by several religious orders, she was   
   accepted by the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, an   
   order devoted to care and education of troubled young women. The   
   following year she received the habit and took the name Sister Maria   
   Faustina of the Most Blessed Sacrament. She served the Lord as a   
   Sister of Mercy for 13 years, during which she served her   
   sisters as cook, gardener, and porter.   
      
   Beginning in the 1930's, Sister Faustina began receiving from the Lord   
   a message of mercy that she was told to spread throughout the world.   
   She was asked to become the apostle and secretary of God's mercy, a   
   model of how to be merciful to others, and an instrument for   
   reemphasizing God's plan of mercy for the world. He said to her:   
      
   "If souls would put themselves completely in my care, I myself would   
   undertake the task of sanctifying them, and I would lavish even   
   greater graces on them. There are souls who thwart My efforts, but I   
   have not given up on them; 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.” Jesus also asked that a picture be   
   painted of Him with the inscription: “Jesus, I Trust in You.” She   
   commissioned this painting in 1935, showing a red and a white light   
   shining from Christ’s Sacred Heart, representing the blood and water   
   that poured from His side.   
   by Jacob   
      
      
   Bible quote:   
   "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye   
   shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye   
   shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than   
   raiment?" (Mat 6:25)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Prayer Against Anger   
      
   O MOST meek Jesus, Prince of Peace, who, when Thou wast reviled,   
   reviled not, and on the Cross didst pray for Thy murderers: implant in   
   our hearts the virtues of gentleness and patience, that, restraining   
   the fierceness of anger, impatience, and resentment, we may overcome   
   evil with good, for Thy sake love our enemies, and as children of our   
   heavenly Father seek Thy peace and evermore rejoice in Thy love.   
   Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)