JOURNEY INTO THE DIVINE WILL

From The Writings of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta

May 3, 1900
The Feast of the Cross in Heaven.
This morning I found myself outside of myself, and I saw all of Heaven studded with crosses – some
small, some large, some medium; some which were larger, emanated more splendor. It was a most sweet
enchantment to see so many crosses adorning the firmament, more refulgent than suns. Then, it seemed that
Heaven opened, and one could see and hear the feast that the Blessed were making for the cross. Those who
had suffered more were celebrated more on this day. One could distinguish in a special way the martyrs and
those who had suffered in a hidden way. Oh, how esteemed were the cross and those who had suffered more, in
that blessed dwelling!

As I was seeing this, a voice resounded throughout the whole of Heaven, saying: “If the Lord did not
send the crosses upon the earth, He would be like a father who has no love for his own children – who wants to
see them poor and dishonored, instead of honored and rich.”
The rest that I saw during this feast I have no words to describe. I can feel it within me, but I am unable
to express it; so I remain silent.

Scripture– Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. ⁴ In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵ And have you forgotten the exhortation which addresses you as sons?—

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor lose courage when you are punished by him.
⁶ For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”

⁷ It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸ If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. ⁹ Besides this, we have had earthly fathers to discipline us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰ For they disciplined us for a short time at their pleasure, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. (Hebrews 12:3-10).

Reflection- O Lord we thank You, we bless You, and we glorify You because while we may not like those crosses in our lives we know, or should know they are our path to sanctity. The crosses discipline us for our good that we would share in Your holiness. And You want to see us honored and rich in Heaven because You love us so much! Lord we surely do not walk around celebrating when illness strikes, we lose a loved one, have children away from the faith or even bearing our little daily crosses which so often are the ones that can make a whole day fall apart! And yet it is the crosses from small to large which will be adorned with splendor in Heaven and how consoling it is that what were among the worst things that could ever happen to us when joined to Your Cross are indeed victories worthy of a feast in Heaven! That cancer, that loss of a loved one, that dealing with a child or a young adult on the wrong path, that financial reversal where you had to start over, those little persecutions and white martyrdoms even in your own family, that just trying to live life and it’s always a struggle- those crosses will turn into victories in Heaven !Let us pray for the grace to bear our crosses with patience, faith, and trust because the best is yet to come! Fiat!

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