FIVORIAMBEN'NY KARENY
Day 20
SASANY Mety ho ity no andinin-teny mampatahotra sy mahakivy indrindra ao amin'ny Baiboly.
Tonga lafatra, tahaka ny fahatanterahan'ny Rainao any an-danitra. (Mat 5:48)
Fa maninona i Jesosy no nilaza zavatra toy izany tamin'ny olombelona tsotra toa ahy sy ianao izay milofo isan'andro amin'ny fanaovana ny sitrapon'Andriamanitra? Satria ny fahamasinana tahaka ny fahamasinan'Andriamanitra dia amin'ny fotoana hahatongavako sy ianao sambatra.
Imagine if the earth were to go off tilt by only a single degree. Scientists say it would throw our weather and seasons into chaos, and certain portions of the earth would remain in darkness longer than others. So too, when you and I commit even the smallest sin, it throws our equilibrium into imbalance and our hearts into more darkness than light. Remember, we were never created for sin, never created for tears, never created for death. The call to holiness is the call to simply become who you were meant to be, created in God’s image. And through Jesus, it is now possible for the Lord to restore the joy we once knew in the Garden of Eden.
St. Faustina was very alive to how the smallest sin was a dent in her happiness and a little wound in her relationship with the Lord. One day, after committing the same error again, she came to the chapel.
Falling at the feet of Jesus, with love and a great deal of pain, I apologized to the Lord, all the more ashamed because of the fact that in my conversation with Him after Holy Communion this very morning I had promised to be faithful to Him. Then I heard these words: If it hadn’t been for this small imperfection, you wouldn’t have come to Me. Know that as often as you come to Me, humbling yourself and asking My forgiveness, I pour out a superabundance of graces on your soul, and your imperfection vanishes before My eyes, and I see only your love and your humility. You lose nothing but gain much… -Famindrampon'Andriamanitra ao amin'ny fanahiko, Diary, n. 1293
This is a beautiful exchange that again demonstrates how the Lord turns our humility into grace, and how “love covers a multitude of sins,” as St. Peter said. [1]jer. 1 Pet 4: 8 But he also wrote:
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Pet 1:14-16)
We are living in an era of great compromise where everyone now is a victim, right? We are no longer ny mpanota, just victims of genetics, victims of hormones, victims of our environment, our circumstances and so forth. While these things can play a part in reducing our culpability in sin, when we use them as an excuse, they also have the effect of white-washing our responsibility to repent and to become the man or woman God made us to be—that He died on the Cross to make possible. This victim mentality is turning many, at best, into lukewarm souls. But St. Faustina wrote:
The disobedient soul exposes itself to great misfortunes; it will make no progress toward perfection, nor will it succeed in the spiritual life. God lavishes His graces most generously upon the soul, but it must be an obedient soul. -Famindrampon'Andriamanitra ao amin'ny fanahiko, Diary, n. 113
In fact, brothers and sisters, it is the negligence of the small things that eventually blinds us to the bigger, thus casting our hearts into more darkness than light, more restlessness than peace, more dis-satisfaction than joy. Moreover, our sins obscure the light of Jesus from shining through us. Yes, becoming holy isn’t just about me—it’s about being a light to a broken world.
One day, Faustina wrote how much the Lord desired the perfection of souls:
Chosen souls are, in My hand, lights which I cast into the darkness of the world and with which I illumine it. As stars illumine the night, so chosen souls illumine the earth. And the more perfect a soul is, the stronger and the more far-reaching is the light shed by it. It can be hidden and unknown, even to those closest to it, and yet its holiness is reflected in souls even to the most distant extremities of the world. -Famindrampon'Andriamanitra ao amin'ny fanahiko, Diary, n. 1601
ianao, my brothers and sisters, are the fanahy voafidy at this time in the world. I have no doubt about this. If you feel small and incapable, then all the more reason that you have been chosen (see Hope dia Dawning). We are the little army of Ilay Gideona Vaovao. [2]jereo Ilay Gideona Vaovao ary Ny fitsapana This Lenten Retreat is about equipping you to begin growing in perfection so that you can carry the Flame of Love, who is Jesus, into the growing darkness of our times.
You know what to do now when you stumble and fall, and that is turn to Christ’s mercy with total trust, especially through the Sacrament of Penance. But in the last half of this Lenten Retreat, we will focus more on how to keep from falling into sin, by His grace. And this is His desire too, for Jesus already prayed to the Father….
…that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one… (John 17:22-23)
FAMINTINANA SY SORATRA MASINA
You will be your happiest when you are holiest—and the world will see Jesus in you.
Matoky aho fa ilay nanomboka asa tsara ao aminao dia mbola hahavita azy mandra-pihavin'ny andron'i Kristy Jesosy. (Fil 1: 6)
Manatevin-daharana an'i Marka amin'ity Karemy Retreat ity,
kitiho ny sora-baventy etsy ambany mankany famandrihana.
Tsy zaraina amin'ny olon-kafa ny mailakao.
Ny hazo nataon'i Denise Mallett dia mpandinika mahavariana. Faly kokoa aho hizara ny tantaran'ny zanako vavy voalohany. Nihomehy aho, nitomany, ary ny sary, ny endri-tsoratra ary ny fitantarana tantara mahery dia mitohy maharitra ao amin'ny fanahiko. Kilasika eo noho eo!
Ny hazo dia boky nosoratana tena tsara sy mahasarika. Mallett dia nanoratra tantaram-piainan'ny olombelona sy teolojika tena manaitaitra ny fiainana, ny fitiavana, ny fiokoana ary ny fikarohana ny marina sy ny dikany farany. Raha namboarina ho sarimihetsika ity boky ity - ary tokony hisy izany - dia tsy tokony hanaiky ny fahamarinan'ny hafatra maharitra mandrakizay izao tontolo izao.
— Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC, mpanoratra & mpandahateny
Ny fiantsoana an'i Denise Mallett mpanoratra manan-talenta mahatalanjona dia fanambaniana kely! Ny hazo mahaliana sy voasoratra am-pitoerana tsara tarehy. Manontany tena foana aho hoe: "Ahoana no ahafahan'ny olona manoratra zavatra toa izao?" Tsy miteny.
— Ken Yasinski, Mpikabary katolika, mpanoratra ary mpanorina ny FacetoFace Ministries
Henoy ny podcast an'ny fandinihana anio:
Podcast: Milalao ao amin'ny varavarankely vaovao | Download
fanamarihana ambany pejy
| ↑1 | jer. 1 Pet 4: 8 |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | jereo Ilay Gideona Vaovao ary Ny fitsapana |