Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 714-719.

Christ seems to say some really harsh words to Sister Faustina. He tells her that she needs to be aware of what she truly is. It is so important that we are truthful with ourselves about our sins and about how those sins have made us do things that are not becoming to us. I share my experiences as a counselor. It is very difficult to get people to truly look at who they are and who they have become. Too often we want to blame everyone else for our shortcomings and sins.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 709-713.

Apologizes for the mispronunciation of ciborium by me today in the readings and for the scratchy sound at the very end.

Sister Faustina realizes that she may not see the full fruits of her labors with regards to the Divine Mercy message. She knows that her life may end before the message fully spreads. She's okay with that. We, too, should always be ready to make things better even if we never see the full fruits of our efforts.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 702-708.

Sister Faustina shares how much she loves to be close to God. She wants to talk to Him, learn from Him, share her life with Him. The good news is that God wants us to be close to Him. He is not a distant, unapproachable God. He is relational. He desires a close relationship with each of His created souls.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 697-701.

So often, we look to Christ as a last resort to solve our problems. This is true for individuals, communities, and countries. Too often we look to politicians, the media, and progressive movements to fix problems. If we don't seek Christ's guidance in any problem we try to fix, not only will we not fix it, we will more than likely make the problem worse. Sister Faustina reminds us that God must come first.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 692-696.

Sister Faustina talks about the sufferings of death today. I would wager that most of us fear that sufferings of death and would just like to go peacefully in our sleep when we are 95. But, the reality is that this probably won't happen to most of us--most of us will suffer in some capacity. Talking about it helps to lessen the fear.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 686-691.

Do we show up in the hard? Do we show people we love them by showing up even when we are tired or even if we really don't want to do something at the moment? Sister Faustina is very tired and, yet, she still goes to give a Holy Hour. Christ tells her this pleases Him very much. It's because she still chose to give to Him even when it was hard.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 680-685.

Sister Faustina is asking for the intercession of Jesuit Saints. I thought today would be a great day to talk about the Jesuits and how they came about. My daughter recently learned about St. Ignatius and how he came to found the Jesuits. What I love about the Jesuits is their willingness to go into the unknown to bring the Gospel.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 675-679.

Sister Faustina mentions todays that the practicing the virtues is important to living out God's Will. So, I thought today would be a good day to talk about the Cardinal Virtues. We know that the virtues are good to practice, but I'm not sure we think about them very often. If we don't know what we are aiming to practice, it will be difficult to practice them. I thought it would be a good time to go over Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 669-674.

Sister Faustina is being tormented by Satan and she just wants to run into the garden to cry aloud. She is even tempted to miss Holy Communion because of temptations. Christ appears and asks her a very pointed question. It's a question that Christ will ask to each one of our souls at least once in our life. It reminds me of a question Christ asks in John 6.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 664-668.

Sister Faustina talks a lot about doing God's Will in our readings today. What impresses me is how willing she is to do God's Will even it means she is hidden and meek. She isn't worried about being known or famous. My pride causes me to struggle with doing things God wants when it may not be seen by others. This is a fault that I think many of us struggle with and it all boils down to pride.