On the Holy Will of God

 From the Diary of St. Faustina:

“There is one word I heed and continually ponder; it alone is everything to me; I live by it and die by it, and it is the holy will of God.  It is my daily food.  My whole soul listens intently to God’s wishes.  I do always what God asks of me, although my nature often quakes and I feel that the magnitude of these things is beyond my strength.  I know well what I am of myself, but I also know what the grace of God is, which supports me.” #652

Eight-day retreat, Feb. 4, 1935:

“I am surprised that you still have not completely renounced your self-will, but I rejoice exceedingly that this change will be accomplished during the retreat.”

“During this retreat, I will strengthen you in peace and in courage so that your strength will not fail in carrying out My designs.  Therefore, you will cancel out your will absolutely in this retreat and, instead, My complete will shall be accomplished in you. Know that it will cost you much, so write these words on a clean sheet of paper: “From today on, my own will does not exist,” and then cross out the page. And on the other side write these words, “From today on, I do the will of God everywhere, always, and in everything.”  Be afraid of nothing; love will give you strength and make the realization of this easy.”  #372

Faustina:  Particular interior practice; that is, the examination of conscience.  Self-denial, denial of my own will.

1.       The denial of my reason. Subjecting it to the reason of those who represent God to me here on earth. (The Church!)

2.      The denial of my will.  Doing the will of God, which is revealed in the will of those who represent God to me…

3.      The denial of my judgment.  Accepting immediately and without reflection, analysis or reasoning all orders given by those who represent God to me.

4.      The denial of my tongue.  I will not give it the least bit of freedom, but in one case only I will give it complete freedom; that is, in proclaiming the glory of God.  Whenever I receive Holy Communion, I will ask Jesus to fortify and cleanse my tongue that I may not injure my neighbor with it.

“I desire that you live according to My will, in the most secret depth of your soul. #443

In Confession, Fr. Sopocko told Faustina:  “There are three degrees in the accomplishment of God’s will; in the first, the soul carries out all rules and statutes pertaining to external observance; in the second degree the soul accepts interior inspirations and carries them out faithfully; in the third degree, the soul, abandoned to the will of God, allows Him to dispose of it freely, and God does with it as He pleases, and it is a docile tool in His hands.”  #444

“I am the Mother to you all, thanks to the unfathomable mercy of God.  Most pleasing to Me is that soul which faithfully carries out the will of God.”  She gave me to understand that I had faithfully fulfilled the will of God and had thus found favor in His eyes.  “Be courageous.  Do not fear apparent obstacles, but fix your gaze upon the Passion of My Son, and in this way you will be victorious.”  #449

Faustina:  Now I understand well that what unites our soul most closely to God is self-denial; that is, joining our will to the will of God.  This is what makes the soul truly free, contributes to profound recollection of the spirit, and makes all life’s burdens light and death sweet.

One evening while walking in a garden cemetery, Faustina asked interiorly, “You are very happy are you not?”  Then she heard the words, “We are happy in the measure that we have fulfilled God’s will.”   Faustina:  I became introspective and reflected for a long time on how I am fulfilling God’s will and how I am profiting from the time that God has given me.  #515

Faustina:  Before All Souls Day, I went to the cemetery at dusk.  Although it was locked, I managed to open the gate a bit and said, ‘If you need something, my dear little souls, I will be glad to help you to the extent that the rule permits me.’ I then heard these words, “Do the will of God; we are happy in the measure that we have fulfilled God’s will.”#518

“…all creatures,, whether they know it or not, and whether they want to or not, always fulfill My will.”  #586

Faustina: Jesus bent toward me, looked at me kindly and spoke to me about the will of the Heavenly Father.  He told me that the most perfect and holy soul is the one that does the will of the Father but there are not many such, and that He looks with special love upon the soul who lives His will.  And Jesus told me that I was doing the will of God perfectly… “and for this reason I am uniting Myself with you and communing with you in a special and intimate way.”  God embraces with His incomprehensible love the soul who lives by His will.  #603

Faustina: The essence of the virtues is the will of God.  He who does the will of God faithfully, practices all the virtues.  In all the events and circumstance of my life, I adore and bless the holy will of God. The holy Will of God is the object of my love.  In the most secret depths of my soul, I live according to His will.  I act exteriorly according to what I recognize inwardly as the will of God.  Sweeter to me are the torments, sufferings, persecutions and all manner of adversities by divine will than popularity, praise and esteem by my own will.

Pope Benedict XVI - "Jesus tells us that it is only in conforming one's own will to the divine will that the human being attains his true greatness, that he becomes 'divine'; it is only by going out of himself -- only in his 'yes' to God -- that the desire of Adam and of us all is fulfilled -- that of being completely free. This is what Jesus accomplishes in Gethsemane: by placing the human will within the divine will the true man is born, and we are redeemed."

From the Diary of Blessed Conchita de Armida:  Jesus: 'I had no other food… from the first moment of my Incarnation than this divine will. It is through it I came into this world, through it I was raised above the earth to consummate my life in the cruelest of martyrdoms, …it then soothed My agony. It was My sole solace, while on earth. I would have suffered death a thousand times to fulfill it. Divine and active Love burned in My heart, had as its main motive to carry out the divine will on behalf of man. The Redemption was naught but the faithful accomplishment of this divine will. Its echo sounds constantly in the depths of My most loving heart, causing it to throb for the salvation of souls and the glorification of My Father.'

Lynne Bauer