The Office
of Readings today offers this excerpt from her writings for our fruitful meditation
and response:
Our Lord and Savior lifted up his voice and said with incomparable majesty:
“Let all men know that grace comes after tribulation. Let them know that
without the burden of afflictions it is impossible to reach the height of
grace. Let them know that the gifts of grace increase as the struggles
increase. Let men take care not to stray and be deceived. This is the only true
stairway to paradise, and without the cross they can find no road to climb to
heaven.”
When I heard these words, a strong force came upon me and seemed to place me in
the middle of a street, so that I might say in a loud voice to people of every
age, sex and status: “Hear, O people; hear, O nations. I am warning you about
the commandment of Christ by using words that came from his own lips: We cannot
obtain grace unless we suffer afflictions. We must heap trouble upon trouble to
attain a deep participation in the divine nature, the glory of the sons of God
and perfect happiness of soul.”
That same force strongly urged me to proclaim the beauty of divine grace. It
pressed me so that my breath came slow and forced me to sweat and pant. I felt
as if my soul could no longer be kept in the prison of the body, but that it
had burst its chains and was free and alone and was going very swiftly through
the whole world saying:
“If only mortals would learn how great it is to possess divine grace, how
beautiful, how noble, how precious. How many riches it hides within itself, how
many joys and delights! Without doubt they would devote all their care and
concern to winning for themselves pains and afflictions. All men throughout the
world would seek trouble, infirmities and torments, instead of good fortune, in
order to attain the unfathomable treasure of grace. This is the reward and the
final gain of patience. No one would complain about his cross or about troubles
that may happen to him, if he would come to know the scales on which they are
weighed when they are distributed to men.”
(Source of image: St. Rose of Lima Parish, Safford,
AZ)
