Soothe His Aching Heart

     “I desire that you know more profoundly the love that burns in My Heart for souls, and you will understand this when you meditate upon My Passion. Call upon My mercy on behalf of sinners; I desire their salvation. When you say this prayer, with a contrite heart and with faith on behalf of some sinner, I will give him the grace of conversion. This is the prayer; “O blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a font of Mercy for us, I trust in You.” Jesus to Saint Faustina

     Jesus loves us so very much and reveals the way we can begin to internalize His love for souls: Meditating on His Passion.

     While familiarizing ourselves and delving into the words and actions of Christ, His Passion will become more than just a story. It will penetrate and soak deeply within our hearts as the love story it is. Jesus’ tremendous love will pierce our hearts as we meditate on His Passion. We will clearly see the depths He was willing to submit Himself for the salvation of each soul.

Transformed into Glory

     Saint Matthew’s Gospel (Mt. 16 vs. 21-22 & 17 vs. 1-9), brings out the close connection between the Transfiguration and the Passion of Jesus. The Divine Master wished to teach His disciples in this way that it was impossible -- for Him as well as for them – to reach the glory of the Transfiguration without passing through suffering. It was the same lesson that He would give later to the two disciples at Emmaus: “Ought not Christ to have suffer these things and so to enter into His glory?” (Lk. 24 vs. 26). What has been disfigured by sin cannot regain its original supernatural beauty except by way of purifying suffering. Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D.



     When sin entered the world, life as we would have known it was changed forever! Sin brought death, and with it, hardship and pain. Suffering was something that would now be a part of man’s life, and although man had walked away from God, God would not abandon man. He promised to send a Savior to restore to us what had been lost.