Journeying With The Saints

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.

This week we are reading the 22nd number from "Way to Inner Peace." This is the last reading from the section on external influences. We will move into a section on virtues. The reading is a little different this week and I wasn't quite sure to approach it. I think I came up with a pretty clever way to talk about the five groups of people that are "fish for the devil's hooks." They take the bait, so to speak.

There are not three points to key in on as Bishop Sheen will give us five groups to focus on.

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.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 658-663.

How do we know if we are truly being guided by the Holy Spirit? Well, there are safeguards we need to put into place to check and make sure any inspirations are truly from God. St. Faustina shows us those safeguards: Talking with a spiritual director, speaking with priests, other friends grounded in their Catholic Faith, and lots of prayer.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 653-657.

Sister Faustina talks about having contrition for her sins in her writings today. It is so important that we have true contrition for our sins. There is imperfect contrition and perfect contrition. We will discuss the differences today and, also, how to have contrition for our sins. Sometimes, our sins can make us numb and cause us to forget how much pain they inflicted on Christ.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 646-652.

We get the continuation of the saga that happened in yesterday's readings. Today, everyone has changed. The confessor is less severe. Satan doesn't show up. Christ doesn't have too much to say and St. Faustina has renewed strength and courage. I think what we are seeing is the battle of self-will vs. God's Will. Even saints have to work out their holiness.