Sunday, April 19, 2020

Jesus, I Trust in You, Divine Will and Divine Mercy



The message of Divine Mercy is inseparable from trust in Jesus.  "Completely trust in Jesus. God wants us to know that the graces of His mercy are dependent upon our trust. The more we trust in Jesus, the more we will receive."  The Message of Divine Mercy

Also in the Volumes on the Divine Will trust is crucial and Jesus repeats this often to Luisa, but he also expounds on why and how it is important and on how he facilitates creatures trust.



“My daughter, there is no one who can stand before my Majesty and purity; rather, all are forced to be terrified and struck by the thunderbolt of my sanctity.  Man would almost want to flee from Me, because his misery is such and so great, that he does not have the courage to stand before the Divine Being.  And here is why, giving the field to my mercy, I took on my Humanity which, tempering the rays of the Divinity, is the means to infuse in man trust and courage to come to Me.  Placing himself before my Humanity, which spreads temperate rays of the Divinity, man has the good of being able to purify, sanctity and even divinize himself in my very deified Humanity.   
Therefore, you - remain always before my Humanity, keeping it as a mirror through which you will clean all of your stains; not only this, but as a mirror through which, by reflecting yourself in it, you will acquire beauty, and little by little you will keep adorning yourself in my own likeness.  In fact, it is a property of a mirror to make an image appear within it, similar to that of the one who is reflecting himself in it.  If such is the material mirror, much more so the divine, because my Humanity serves man as mirror in order to reflect my Divinity.  And here is how all goods come to man from my Humanity.”
Vol. 3, August 1, 1900


My lovable Jesus made Himself seen as a little child who, all clinging to me, made me many loving cuddles. Oh, how beautiful it is to see Him in His baby Humanity, all love, all trust! The soul feels so much trust in being with Jesus, because she sees His Humanity in Him, which is so much like her that they join together like brothers, they identify themselves with each other, and one is transformed into the other. So, the veil of the Humanity of Jesus, in which He encloses His adorable Divinity, serves as a means of trust, by which the poor creature loses all fear, and remains all love with Jesus - more than a son in the arms of his Celestial Father. The love of Jesus is so great, that He says to the creature: ‘Do not fear, I am yours - similar to you, clothed like you; and my love is so great, that I hide the endless light of my majesty within my Humanity so as to have you be with Me like a little child in my arms.’ On the other hand, when my beloved Jesus makes His Divinity shine through Himself, His very Humanity is eclipsed within that endless light, and I feel the great distance between myself and my Creator. His blazing divine majesty annihilates me, I plunge myself into my dust; and not knowing where to go to escape His light, because there is no point at which it is not present, my little atom remains submerged within His very light.
Vol. 24, August 30, 1928



Jesus knows that without his intervention man can not stand before God.  It is only through the Mercy expressed in and through the Humanity of Jesus that we can dare approach with trust the Divinity of God.  Without this Mercy of God which diffuses and as veils his brilliance we would remain crushed and would flee such perfection.  But when we look at ourselves in Jesus we can copy little by little his attributes in ourselves, each time bringing us closer to his Divinity.  In fact even with the filter of the Humanity of Jesus he will even go further in his Mercy by hiding from ourselves certain defects which would keep us from approaching him with full trust.  He does this so that we don't distance ourselves from him which ends up paralyzing or even killing the growth of his life in us.  Truly sometimes ignorance is bliss.



 See, I love so much that souls be with Me in full trust, that many times I hide some defect or imperfection of theirs, or some lack of correspondence to my grace, so as not to give them any occasion to not be with Me in full trust. In fact, if the soul loses trust, she remains as though separated from Me and all huddled within herself; she places herself at due distance from Me, and remains paralyzed in her surge of love, and therefore paralyzed in sacrificing herself for Me. Oh! how much harm does distrust cause! It can be said that it is like the spring frost that blocks the vegetation of the plants; and many times, if it is strong, frost can even make them die. In the same way, distrust blocks the development of virtues, and puts freezing cold into the most ardent love. Oh! how many times, because of lack of trust, my designs and the greatest sanctities are blocked. This is why I tolerate some defects rather than distrust – because those can never be so harmful.
Vol. 17, September 2, 1924


So distrust is a greater obstacle to God's grace than many defects.  While trust opens the door to God's grace in order to let his light enter.  The size of the area, the empty void, he can fill with his light can only be enlarged through humility and detachment from everything.  But without trust the door that Jesus knocks at remains closed.




“My daughter, the sun is symbol of grace.  When it finds a void, be it even a cave, a vault, a fissure, a hole, as long as there is empty space and a little opening through which to penetrate, it enters and fills everything with light; nor with this does it diminish its light in the other spaces.  And if its light does not illuminate more, it is not because it lacks light, but rather, because of the lack of space in which to be able to diffuse its light more.  So is my grace:  more than majestic sun, it envelops all creatures with its beneficial influence; however, it does not enter but into empty hearts – as much empty space as it finds, so much light does it let penetrate into hearts.
           “These voids, then - how are they formed?  Humility is the hoe that digs and forms the void.  Detachment from everything and also from oneself is the void itself.  The window in order to let the grace of light enter into this void, is trust in God and distrust of ourselves.  Therefore, as much trust as one has, so much does he enlarge the door in order to let the light in, and to take more grace.  The custodian which keeps the light and expands it, is peace.”
Vol. 9, May 16, 1909




The greater the trust the larger the door we open to Jesus the more grace he is able to pour into us.  Jesus says that the souls which will shine the brightest with his light are the ones which trust the most while the opposite is also true.  Those who do not trust will be equally darkened and constrained.  So the trusting souls become the object of God's love where he can pour himself out in love and amuse himself.



“My daughter, the souls who will shine the most, like bright gems in the crown of my mercy, are the souls who have more trust, because the more trust they have, the more they give space for the attribute of my Mercy to pour into them any grace they want.  On the other hand, the soul who does not have true trust, herself closes the graces within Me, remaining always poor and unequipped, while my love remains constrained within Me, and I suffer very much.  And in order not to suffer so much, and to be able to pour out my love more freely, I deal more with those souls who trust than with the others.  With these I can pour out my love, I can play, I can cause loving contrasts, since there is no worry that they might take offense or become fearful; on the contrary, they become more brave and take everything in order to love Me more.  Therefore, trusting souls are the outpouring and the amusement of my love, the ones who receive more graces, and the richest."
Vol. 11, April 10, 1912




...scatter every fear, in my Volition neither dread, nor fears, nor mistrust have any right to exist, they are not things that belong to Us, and you should not do other than to live of love and of my Will.  You should know that one of the purest joys that the creature can give Me is trust in Me, I feel her (as) my daughter to Me and I do that that I want with her, I can say that trust in Me makes known who I am, that I am the immense Being, my goodness without end, my mercy without limits, and when I find more trust, I love her more and I abound more toward creatures."
Vol. 33, May 26, 1935


So trust is a sign of love to Jesus and honors him and he is then able to act as the generous, powerful God that he is, but the reverse is also true.  One who distrusts Jesus dishonors him, constrains him, does not truly love him and is an affront to him.


“So, the trusting soul is my smile and my amusement.  One who has confidence in Me loves Me, esteems Me, believes I am rich, powerful, immense; on the other hand, one who has no confidence does not really love Me; she dishonors Me, believes I am poor, powerless, small.  What and affront to my goodness."
Vol. 12, October 8, 1919



The lack of trust is not only an obstacle to Gods action in the soul but it keeps her grounded and unable to take flight to God and heaven making her feel vividly her own passions and weaknesses.  It is this lack of trust which is then the greatest obstacle to letting the creature arrive to live in God's Divine Will because it takes full trust to do so.


...if there isn’t full confidence between Me and the creature, they cannot be elevated to live in my Divine Will. Lack of confidence always places an obstacle to the union between Creator and creature; it is the wing-clipper of the flight toward the One who loves her so much; it makes her live at the earth’s level; and even though she does not fall, it makes her feel, vividly, her passions. More so, since lack of confidence has been the weak act in the course of the centuries, and sometimes even good souls have drawn back in the journey of virtues because of lack of confidence. And I, in order to remove this torpor that the specter of the lack of confidence produces, wanted to show Myself with you as all love, and in an intimate way, more than father and daughter, in order to call back, not only you, but all others, to live as my children, as though rocked in my arms. And I have enjoyed, and so have you, how beautiful it is to have the creature as all love and all trust with Me; I can give whatever I want, and she has no fear of receiving what she wants. So, once true confidence is placed in order between Me and you, the greatest obstacle to letting my Divine Will reign in their souls is removed.
 Vol. 28, June 2, 1930


So what about fear?  There is holy fear after all.  But Jesus says that fear even if it is holy is a step to removing trust in Jesus and so it is a step to losing Jesus.  It is "human virtue" not Divine.  Only love is Divine virtue and can overcome fear and distrust.  And this love and trust forms the first post for the Divine Will to come and form his Kingdom in the creature where he can extend himself.  So when fears assault us we need to cast them in the Divine Will and abandon ourselves even more in Jesus' arms.



“My blessed daughter, fear although it might be holy is always human virtue, it breaks the flight to love and dread and difficulty becomes born, in walking in the way by making one always look to the right and to the left and one arrives to fear He who so very loves her, it removes the sweet enchantment of trust that lets one live in the arms of her Jesus and if she fears too much, she loses Jesus and lives by herself.  Instead love is Divine virtue and with its fire holds the purifying virtue to purify the soul from whatever stain, it unites her and transforms her in her Jesus, and gives her such trust as to make her enraptured by her Jesus, the sweet enchantment of trust is such and so much that they enrapture each other that the one can not remain without the other, and if she looks, she looks only if she loves He who so very loves her.  So that all her being becomes enclosed in the love and since love is the inseparable child of the Divine Volition, therefore it gives the first post of dominion to my Divine Will.  He extends himself in all the acts of the creature human and spiritual, ennobles everything, and although the human acts remain in the form and material with which they are formed, they don’t undergo any external change, all the change remains in the depth of the human will, all that which she does remains, even the most indifferent things, to change into Divine and confirmed by the Divine Will.  His work is incessant and over all that which the creature does he extends his sojourn of peace, and as true Mother he doesn’t do other than to enrich with Divine conquests his dear daughter.  Therefore scatter every fear, in my Volition neither dread, nor fears, nor mistrust have any right to exist, they are not things that belong to Us, and you should not do other than to live of love and of my Will.  You should know that one of the purest joys that the creature can give Me is trust in Me, I feel her (as) my daughter to Me and I do that that I want with her, I can say that trust in Me makes known who I am, that I am the immense Being, my goodness without end, my mercy without limits, and when I find more trust, I love her more and I abound more toward creatures."
Vol. 33, May 26, 1935



Even faith in God is not enough and without trust it is empty.  To know God without possessing him is empty knowledge.  Only trust in Jesus is the sure hope that leads us to find Him and as he has said, we find him, not in some distant and remote place but in our very selves.  So that love gives birth to trust which gives rise to hope.  Hope, the fruit of the memory gives rise to faith a faculty of the intellect, which as we know God better we come to love God more which gives rise to greater trust.




“God, God, God alone.  Daughter, faith makes one know God, but trust makes one find Him.  So, without trust, faith is sterile, and even though faith possesses immense riches with which the soul can enrich herself, if there is no trust she remains always poor and lacking in everything.” 
Vol. 6, July 29, 1904

 
The more trust we have the more we will learn to abandon ourselves in God and the more we will sense his life in us and we will lose the life of our passions.  This allows us to climb up so high as to become bound to God.  So that before we would have been crushed before his majesty and Divinity and would have fled now we become bound to him in an inseparable union and he states that trust forms the victory of the creature over the Creator.
“My little daughter, how much more you will abandon yourself in me, so much more you will feel my life in you, and I will take the post of primary life in your soul.  You know that true trust in me forms the arms of the soul and the feet in order to climb up even to me and to press me so very strongly as to not be able to release myself from her.  So that one who doesn’t have trust has neither the arms nor feet, hence she is a poor cripple.  Therefore your trust will be your victory over me, and I will hold you pressed in my arms(,) attached to my breast in order to give you the continuous milk of my Divine Will.
Vol. 30, November 4, 1931 
Trust and abandonment goes hand in hand and the one leads to the other and both lead to God taking his place in our souls with equal abandonment making him the soul's sweet prisoner.  Truly the creature becomes victorious.
“Daughter, I am here, abandon yourself in my arms and rest in me, your abandonment in me calls my abandonment in you and forms my sweet rest in your soul.  Abandonment in me forms the sweet and powerful chain that ties me so much to the soul, that I can not release myself from her, even to make myself her dear and sweet Prisoner.  Abandonment in me gives birth to true trust, and she has trust with me and I have trust with her, I have trust in her love that will never come to less, I have trust in her sacrifices, that will never refuse me anything of that which I want, and I have all trust that I can complete my designs.  Abandonment in me says that she gives me liberty and I am free to do that which I want, and entrusting myself to her I manifest my most intimate secrets to her.  Therefore, my daughter, I want you all abandoned in my arms, and how much more abandoned in me (you are), (so much) more you will feel my abandonment in you.”
Vol. 29, October 26, 1931