JOURNEY INTO THE DIVINE WILL

Vol. 11 – May 25, 1916

Continuing in my usual state, I was all afflicted, especially because in the past days blessed Jesus had shown me how foreign soldiers were invading Italy, the great massacre of our soldiers, and the pools of blood which Jesus Himself was horrified to look at.  I felt my poor heart bursting with grief, and I said to Jesus:  ‘Save my brothers, your images, from this pool of blood.  Do not permit that any soul plunge into hell.’  And in seeing that Divine Justice will ignite Its fury even more against the poor creatures, I felt I was dying.  Almost to distract me from such tormenting scenes, Jesus told me:  “My daughter, the love with which I love souls is so great, that as soon as the soul decides to give herself to Me, I surround her with so much grace, I caress her, I move her, I pick her up, I endow her with sensible graces, with fervors, with inspirations, with squeezes of her heart.  So, in seeing herself so filled with graces, the soul begins to love Me, forms as though a foundation of prayers and pious practices within her heart, and begins to exercise herself in the virtues.  All this forms a flowery field in the soul.

But my love is not content with just flowers – it wants fruits.  So it begins to make the flowers fall – that is, it strips her of the sensible love, of fervor and of everything else – in order to make the fruits be born.  If the soul is faithful, she continues her pious practices, her virtues, she takes no pleasure in any other human thing, she does not think about herself, but only of Me.  Through trust in Me, she will give flavor to the fruits; through faithfulness, she will make the fruits mature; and through courage, tolerance and tranquility, they will grow and become rich fruits.  And I, the Celestial Farmer, will pick these fruits and make of them my food, and I will plant another field, more flowery and beautiful, in which heroic fruits will grow, such as to snatch unheard-of graces from my Heart.  But if she is unfaithful and mistrustful, becomes restless, takes pleasure in human things, etc., these fruits will be unripe, insipid, bitter, covered with mud, and will serve to embitter Me and to make Me withdraw from the soul.”

Scripture Meditation- ³ And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵ Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, ⁶ but when the sun rose they were scorched; and since they had no root they withered away. ⁷ Other seeds fell upon thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸ Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹ He who has ears, let him hear.”

Prayer- O Lord we thank You, we praise You and we adore You because You are the Celestial Sower. May we trust You and bear fruit that will last!