Your Personal God-Book

This is a computer-generated transcription that has been included to make the homily searchable.  It has not been verified by the author. 

“I humbly, humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls. Be doers of the word and not hearers only deluding yourselves.” Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls. These words are from James. He goes on to say, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers, only.” Hearers, because at that point, most of the New Testament was not yet written down, and so it was what he would they were responding to what he was preaching. And but so this is talking about the power of the Word of God, to do what is most important to save our souls.  In the first reading from Deuteronomy, the Lord, through Moses, said to the people, “now Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe,” why – “that you may live.” So he’s saying that’s the difference between life and death, that you may live and may enter and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. And gradually they would realize that that land was not just the promised land of Palestine, but it was their homeland, their true homeland of heaven, of eternal life. And so it’s talking about again, how can they live and enter into eternal life? And it’s by receiving and keeping what the Lord is saying to them. He says, “observe them carefully, for thus you will give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations who will hear of all these statutes and say this great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.” So he’s talking about the importance of keeping and observing the Word of God. But there’s a lot in the Word of God, and so how are we supposed to remember it all? Well, this very Book of Deuteronomy, the first readings from the book of Deuteronomy, also highlights one passage which became so important to the Israelites that they repeated it every day, the famous Shema, Shema Israel. So here’s that passage. “Hear O Israel, the LORD our God is the One Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” So all of Scripture is the inspired Word of God, but there’s some parts which are especially important. And this is highlighting one of those parts. And it goes on to say, “and these words, which I command you this day, shall be upon your heart. And you shall teach them.” So it’s telling them what to do with these words. Teach them diligently to your children. “Teach them diligently to your children. And you shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise.” And it goes on to give even more, it says, “And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes, and you shall write them on the doorpost of your house and your gates.” And a lot of the pious Jews took this very literally and would put those words on little scrolls, which they would bind to their hands and bind to their forehead and put them on the on their doorpost. But what the Lord is clearly saying is how important, how powerful His word is, if we remember them and put them into practice. And so again, all the Word of God is important, but there are some passages which are especially important, and also there are some passages which are especially important for you, for you personally. I think, for instance, of the example of Anthony, Anthony a young man many centuries ago. I think he was 19 years old. He had he was now orphan, and his parents had left them a lot of money, and he was wondering what he should do. And had this question, what should I do when he when he arrived at Mass that day and heard the gospel being read, when, if you want to be perfect, go sell what you have, give it to the poor and come follow me. And those words what he had probably heard many times before, but now it seemed like the Lord was saying it directly to him, and he put those words into practice, sold what he had, gave it to a boy. Went out, he set aside, he had a younger sister, so he set aside some to care for her. But then he went to live in the desert, the desert of Egypt. And now we know him as St, Anthony of the desert. But that word was especially important for him. I think of another example. This was when we had our St Michael squad and for a group for young men of high school age, a number of years ago, and at one point, I was inviting them to prepare for a little commitment ceremony if they were going to make and so I said, see what, what special word of Scripture the Lord wanted them to have for each one. So each one would choose, each one would discern and choose for himself. And so I spoke to about a week later, I spoke to one of them, and I said, have you come up with your motto yet, your word? And he said, Well, no, not yet. I said, well, have you tried? He said, Yeah, I have tried. I said, what happened? And he said, Well, I prayed about it, and I just opened the Bible at random, and I came upon a passage, but that didn’t seem to be it. So I closed and prayed again, and I chose another part, and that same passage came up, and I didn’t think it was that, so I closed and prayed again, and another part, I was careful. Now I knew the two places in the Bible where that passage was, so I chose another part, and it was the same passage. I said, What do you think maybe Lord trying to give you a message? Do you think that might be I said, What was the passage? And he said, Well, it was Honor your father and your mother. And so his situation was a little bit different. Well, difficult in his family. So that was not an easy thing for him to hear, but it’s probably, probably what the Lord is wanting to tell him. And so my point is both that there can be certain passages which are especially important for each one of us in particular times in our life, and sometimes we’re not really open to those passages.  Sometimes, the Lord’s trying to tell us something, but we’re not very receptive. And so today, I want to, in following what these readings are saying, I want to talk about three simple steps that each one of us can take to receive the benefits of these special words of God. And so these are very simple steps. So the first step is just to be looking for those passages, or listening for those passages, for the passages which are especially helpful for you. That is the passages which God is especially saying to you. I’ll tell you something. One of the difficulties of preaching is that a lot of times there’s parts in Scripture which the Lord is saying very, very harsh passages, because there’s some people who won’t listen to anything except the harshest warnings, and they really need to be urgently woken up. And there’s other passages which are for people who are really struggling, trying to follow the Lord, but really struggling and getting discouraged. The problem is, a lot of times the passages which are meant to shake up those who won’t listen to anything else, the people who hear those passages are the ones who, on the contrary, need encouragement, and so that they’re taking passages for themselves which are not really meant for them. And so it’s important. So again, all we need to receive all the Word of God. But there’s some of the Word of God, which is especially, especially for you at this time, and there’s some parts. I’m saying this because I’ve dealt with scrupulous people who will receive a passage, whoa, that’s terrible. And I said, well, that’s not for you. That passage is the word of God, but that’s not what the Lord is telling you. You are trying. So it’s important to discern what the Lord is saying to each one of us, and so to be attentive, seeking what His Word is for us. Just like for instance, there are some foods and some medicines which can help some people a whole lot, and which can be very dangerous if other people took them. That’s why doctors prescribe medicines, because some of them are good for certain people and not good for other people. So there’s some things that there’s certain of the Word of God which is especially fitting for us. And so where can we find these words? And of course, we know we can find them in the Bible, of course. So looking for them, but see that that gives us a different attitude when we’re reading the Bible, when we’re reading it, looking for what is, are there special parts of this where that the Lord is saying to me that are especially for me? And also, of course, we can find them in the lives of the saints. There’s a lot of very inspiring passages that we can find in the lives of the saints. Another example, which, of course, is very important for us here at the Mission of Divine Mercy, is through prophetic messages, the prophetic messages that the Lord can give. And for instance, whether the messages He’s given through our community or others. But those can be very, very helpful, because they’re specially addressed to our time. And also sometimes it’s things which aren’t written anyplace but are simply said to our soul. The Lord says this to St Faustina, “when you reflect upon what I tell you in the depths of your heart.” Notice that what I tell you he doesn’t say here in Scripture, of course, that’s one of the ways he talks. But he says what I tell you in the depths of your heart. He said, “You profit more than if you had read many books. If souls would only want to listen to My voice when I am speaking in the depths of their hearts, they would reach the peak of holiness in a short time.” So this is another example of the power of listening to God, and in this case, listen to what God says in our hearts. And it’s striking to me because a lot of people say, Well, I listen. I don’t hear anything. It’s striking to me that I don’t know I don’t know polish, I don’t know what the original polish is, but here, at least the translation says, it doesn’t say if souls would hear what I’m saying to them. It says, “If souls would only want to listen,” would only want to listen. So just the fact of wanting to listen is already opening us to His graces, even if we feel like we’re not hearing anything, just the fact of wanting to listen. And I think of the example of Saint Francis shortly after his conversion, he heard the Lord saying to him, “Francis, save My Church, which is falling into ruin.” And he didn’t rebuild my church. He did understand what that meant. At first, he thought it meant actually rebuild physically at church, but then he discovered it had a much deeper meaning. But it was a word said to him, not written down, but said in his heart. And so that’s also important to listen to what the you know a lot of, for instance, the decision to start the Mission of Divine Mercy, even though, by that time, I had been with these, known these two women who had received a lot of prophetic messages, but the decision to start the Mission of Divine Mercy didn’t come through a prophetic message. I think there were messages which afterwards confirmed it, but it came interiorly as a lot of not as a clear word, but as kind of a gradual awareness that was becoming little by little clearer. So it’s just one example, an example that’s been many other examples like that. A lot of people think that, you know, since we’re so open to prophetic messages, that all our decisions are guided by prophetic messages, and we try to be open to those, but a lot of them have been God speaking in many other ways, like through, as I said, through interior inspirations and also through circumstances and events. It’s often through circumstances and events that God can speak, and that’s helpful for us to remember that all these different ways that God speaks, and so that’s the first thing. The first step is to be looking and listening attentively to all the different ways that God might be speaking to you. But the problem is, just like we read in the reading from Deuteronomy, it’s easy to forget the ways that God speaks to us. It’s easy to lose sight of them, and the devil does all he can to distract us. That’s always a problem. And so the second step is, what is the second step to write it down. So again, a very simple thing, to write it down. I mean, that’s the natural thing we do. We don’t want to forget something is to write it down. So just the fact of writing it down. You know that the memory experts say, just that act of writing it down helps implant it more in our mind. Because a lot, you know, the memory experts say a lot of what makes something stick in our minds is repetition, going back to that passage over and over again. And that’s what the Lord was talking about to the Israelites. Of this act of repeating it so that little by little, it sticks, and it guides us. And so writing it down. And today, of course, we can write it down. There’s a lot of apps you can use to dictate it on your phone or, you know, or, but there’s a lot of different technology to do that, but a lot of times it can be helpful to actually use old fashioned pen and paper and write it down. Because just that act also, which involves more your body, helps us to remember it. But what if you’re not sure? Well, I’m not sure if that’s really from the Lord or not. I had a dream, or this word came to I’m not sure. Well, I would say, write it down anyway. You can say, I’m not sure if this is from the Lord or not. I’m going to write it down anyway, because oftentimes time helps discern. And so even if you’re not sure right away, gradually, oftentimes it’ll become clear if this is something from the Lord or if it’s not. So that’s the second step, to write it down, and then what’s the third step, to read it. To read it, not just to write it down and forget it, but to go back and read it, especially in difficult times, in temptations, of discouragement, despair, times in which we really need some help. For instance, that happens to me a lot, because this path we’re on now is very difficult and for our community, I know for myself, it’s a very, very heavy weight, and a lot of times it’s hard to keep stepping forward in that situation. And so it’s very helpful for me to go back. And sometimes the message, sometimes it’s the simplest messages, which are the most helpful messages. It would say something like, Do not be afraid. Why does the Lord have to tell me that so often, do not be afraid? Or something like, keep your eyes on me. Keep your eyes on me. Because, just because, when we look at the world, we get confused, and we get discouraged and so just reminded to keep our eyes on Jesus is so helpful for continuing. And so again, oftentimes it’s not necessarily, it can be very simple things, but the simple things can be some of the most helpful. And so I like that some of the messages that we’ve received, because I’ve written these down in a book. And in fact, I even, I got a nice notebook, and I even got a fountain pen. So it was it’s nice to write with, writing these passages with fountain pens are great. Fountain pens are a little bit complicated, but you can write really well with them. And I don’t get any money for saying that, but it’s just a tip. But some of those passages from the messages, I go back over and over and over again, like every night before I go to bed, I’ll read these passages over and over and over again, some of them, some of those passages which, so there’s the Lord’s given us a lot of messages, but there’s some parts in particular which are especially helpful to me right now. And so I’ll go back to those passages and read them and reread them and reread them and reread them. And I think that all of us can do this to find things that are especially helpful for you, and to go back and make it so you can go back to them when you especially need to. But also you can make it a habit of making it part of a routine, maybe in the morning when you start or at the end of the day when you’re finishing, to have the last thoughts that come into your mind at the end of the day, or if you’re going to make, for instance, a Holy Hour, or like praying a rosary, or something like that, or a family rosary, those can be good opportunities that make it kind of a routine to go back. Because that’s what the Lord is telling the Israelites, that He’s giving them practical ways to remember. I mean very practical things even like write it on your doorpost and so forth. Giving them very practical ways. You know, that’s what people do when they don’t want to forget some things, right? Sometimes they even write it on their hand. And so the Lord’s giving them very practical ways. I don’t want to say, make a tattoo practical, that’ll be that. That’d be a good way if, people are going to get tattoos, that would be good things to tattoo, tattoo the Word of God. I’m not suggesting you get tattoos, but if you’re going to get tattoos, the word of God, rather than some Chinese symbol or something, would probably be better. But writing it down so that it can be like your special vitamins, like your special spiritual vitamins. And so this is a practical way to put into and to practice the receiving and meditating on and trying to live and be guided by the word of God. So you can make your personal God book. Your personal God book, I think a good name for it might be a Samuel book. A Samuel book. Samuel was the young man who learned to say when God called him, “speak Lord Your servant is listening,” speak, Lord, Your servant is listening. “Humbly, welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls.” And we have the greatest example of that in our Blessed Mother, welcoming the Word of God, the Word made flesh in in a special way. Also our little Mission of Divine Mercy is called to be a community which is listening to God, listening to God who spoke through scripture, listening to God who continues to speak through prophetic words. But also listening to God, who speaks in many of these different ways, as I’ve just mentioned, that’s been the whole Mission of Divine Mercy has been an experience of learning to listen and discern the Word of God. And I’m going back, and I’m trying to write a book to talk about that, but it’s helpful for me as I’m writing this book, to go back and remember, remember the different ways that the Lord has helped us and guided. I mean, just for instance, this mission, this property. I won’t take the time now; a lot of you have heard their stories, but there’s a whole series of stories which made it clear that the Lord was guiding us to that. And it’s helpful for me to go back and remember that, because a lot of times as you’re going as this as again, this is a difficult path that we’re on, and sometimes you feel that it feels very obscure and very foggy. And so it’s helpful to go back and see how the Lord has guided us. That’s, you know, so many times in Scripture, the Lord tells His people to remember the actions of the Lord, to go back and remember what He has done with Hs people. And that can be true in each one of our lives. Like there can be moments in which we receive a special grace from God that guides us, but then later on, as the years go by and stuff happens, we can kind of forget about it. And so it can be helpful for us to go back and revisit that, revisit those moments, to help refocus us, kind of a compass that guides us. So, as St James says, “Let us humbly welcome the word that has been planted in us.” Amen.

KEYWORDS / PHRASES:
James 1:17-18,21-22, 27
Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8