The memorial feast of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska (October 5) is the day after the memorial feast of St. Francis of Assisi (October 4). Interestingly, these memorial feast days share the same Gospel Reading: Matthew 11:25-30. So we may hear the same Gospel reading text two days in row, reflecting St. Francis of Assisi and St. Maria Faustina Kowalska. And there must be something in common between these Saints in regard to the text of Matthew 11:25-30.
This Gospel narrative has two components:
Jesus praising the Father for revealing His wisdom and
salvific truth only to those who are humble, while keeping these from those who
are arrogant and do not believe (vv.25-27).
Jesus invites all who believe come to him to unburden
themselves by yoking themselves with Christ (vv. 28-30).
In fact, Jesus made a revelation to St. Francis and
called him to repair his house. And Jesus also appeared to St. Faustina and
revealed the salvific truth of the Divine Mercy. And these Saints found rest in
their intimate relationship with Jesus,
benefitting the true peace that only Jesus can give (John 14:27).
Otherwise, as St. Augustine indicated in his Confession, their hearts would
remain restless to be in the world. Because St. Francis and St. Faustina sought
Jesus and yoked themselves with him, they were in peace though they were
physically in this restless world. At
the same time, Jesus chose them to have the truth on his Christological and
soteriological truth be revealed to them, because these Saints were trustworthy
to him for their faith and humility. They were blessed anawim for being poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3).
Besides this common aspect with St. Francis of Assisi,
as reflected in Mathew 11:25-30, St. Maria Faustina Kowalska has her own
uniquely intimate relationship with Jesus, reflecting her mission.
It was on May 27, 1937, as she was praying, Jesus revealed
himself to St. Maria Faustina, through these words:
My daughter, let your heart be filled with
joy. I, the Lord, am with you. Fear nothing. You are in My heart (Diary
of St. Maria Faustina, 1133).
In response, she wrote in her diary:
At that moment, I knew the great majesty
of God, and I understood that nothing could be compared with one single
perception of God. Outward greatness dwindles like a speck of dust before one
act of a deeper knowledge of God (1133). The Lord has
poured such a depth of peace into my soul that nothing will disturb it any
more. Despite everything that goes on around me, I am not deprived of my peace
for a moment. Even if the whole world were crumbling, it would not disturb the
depth of the silence which is within me and in which God rests. All events, all
the various things which happen are under His foot (1134). This deeper
knowledge of God gives me full liberty and spiritual freedom, and nothing can
disturb my close union with Him, not even the angelic powers. I feel that I am
great when I am united to God. What happiness it is to have the consciousness
of God in one's heart and to live in close intimacy with Him (1135).
This intimate revelation of Jesus to St. Maria
Faustina reflects these words of Jesus spoken to the crowds, confronting their
disbelief and unrepentance, with his testimony to John the Baptist and himself
(Matthew 11:7-24).
I
give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have
hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the
childlike (Matthew 11:25). Yes, Father, such has been your
gracious will (v.26). All things have been handed over to me by my
Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father
except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him (v.27).
What was revealed to St. Maria Faustina, whom Jesus
called “my daughter”(1133) is what she describes as deeper knowledge
given by God led her to full liberty and spiritual freedom in intimate union
with God (1135).
On that day, Jesus further spoke to her from the Eucharistic
host:
Here is My repose
(1135).
And Jesus said more to Maria Faustina during
benediction:
I am pleased to rest in your heart and
nothing will stop Me from granting you graces (1135).
On the day of Corpus Christi, 1937, through his
revelation, it was made clear that St. Maria Faustina was in Jesus and he in
her (her heart), as desired by him (John 14:20; 15:4; 17:23).
Then, on the day of Corpus Christi, June 1, 1937, during
the procession, Jesus , again, spoke to Maria Faustina, as her heart was
pierced as a flame issued from the Eucharistic host:
Here is My resting
place (1140).
With these words, Jesus
found his resting place in the heart of St. Maria Faustina, on the Corpus
Christi fest day, 1937.
And she wrote in her
diary:
My heart was
enflamed, and I felt that I was transformed completely into Him
(1140). In the evening, He gave me to understand how fleeting all earthly
things are, and how everything that appears great disappears like smoke, and
does not give the soul freedom, but weariness. Happy the soul that understands
these things and with only one foot touches the earth. My repose is to be
united with You; everything else tires me. Oh, how much I feel I am in exile! I
see that no one understands my interior life. You alone understand me, You who
are hidden in my heart and yet are eternally alive (1141).
St. Maria Faustina’s heart was on holy fire through what Jesus revealed to her. The revelation made her in him and he in her, though she was physically in the world. And this transformative union that she had with him, while being in the world made her tired as if being in exile, assured her of peace and freedom.
Through this revelation
of Jesus to her, his daughter, Maria Faustina was yoked with him as one, just
as these words of his describe:
Come to me, all
you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you
and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest
for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light
(Matthew 11:28-30).
The union between St.
Maria Faustina Kowalska and Jesus enjoy, being one (yoked together/ ἑτεροζυγέω (heterozugeo)), is because
of his love, which empowered her though having felt tired to be in this
sin-plagued world, like being in exile. And this is reflected in these words of
St. Paul of Tarsus to the Ephesians, as found in the First Reading on her memorial
feast (Ephesians 3:14-19):
He (Christ) may grant you
in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through
his Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through
faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend
with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and
to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled
with all the fullness of God (vv. 16-19).
Because of this intimate union with her, reflecting love, Jesus revealed the Christological and soteriological truth about the Divine Mercy to her and asked her to let the world know. So she humbly and faithfully did as Jesus’ God’s beloved daughter and trusted one. And St. John Paul II, as pope, further carried her mission on.
Has Jesus revealed
something hidden from those whose own secular knowledge and wisdom blind them
to you? If so, are you in him and he in you? In other words, are you yoked with
him as one? And is your heart on holy fire? In other words, is your heart burning
with the Holy Spirit, the power?
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