God Speaks With a Sinful Soul

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

“Whoever is in Christ is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, new things have come.” “Whoever is in Christ is a new creation. The old things have passed away. New things have come.” This is a message of joyful hope in this Laetare Sunday, and we see an example of it in this great Gospel of the prodigal son. Because all of us can look back on our lives and see bad choices that we made. Sins are sins that weigh us down, maybe like the son, the prodigal son, we wanted a time in our life, and we wanted to be free from God, very attracted by the world. And so we can look back and see things that still cause us pain, still, like I say, weigh us down. And at the same time, we can also have some like of the older son, because we not only have to deal with our own sins, but we also have to deal with other people who sin. And so we are not only a sinner, but we’re also a person who has to deal with sinners. I’m sorry that at this time I’m not able to exercise the sacrament of reconciliation to hear confessions. That’s because of certain, our circumstances. I’m hoping that that’ll change soon. But I wanted to share with you, with this gospel of the prodigal son, a passage; one of what to me, it seems like it’s kind of in the diary of St Faustina. It’s kind of like the five jewels of that diary, which have five conversations of the Lord with souls in different circumstances, and one of them is with a sinful soul. And so I wanted to share with you today, read that conversation of Jesus talking with a sinful soul. And as I’m reading it, you might, as I’ve often said, maybe listen and see if there’s maybe one passage in particular which speaks to you. And I say, as I say, this can be in two different ways, for ourself, for our own sins, or for how we treat someone who has sinned. As I’m reading this, feel free if you want to close your eyes. Jesus says, “Be not afraid of your Savior. O sinful soul, I make the first move to come to you, for I know that by yourself, you are unable to lift yourself to Me. Child, do not run away from your Father. Be willing to talk openly with your God of mercy, who wants to speak words of pardon and lavish His graces on you. How dear Your soul is to Me, I have inscribed your name upon My hand. You are engraved as a deep wound in My heart.” And the soul says, “Lord, I hear your voice calling me to turn back from the path of sin, but I have neither the strength nor the courage to do so.” Jesus says, “I am your strength. I will help you in the struggle.” The soul, “Lord, I recognize your holiness, and I’m afraid of you.” Jesus, “My child, do you fear the God of mercy? My holiness does not prevent Me from being merciful. Behold, for you, I have established a throne of mercy on earth, the Tabernacle. And from this throne, I desire to enter into your heart. I am not surrounded by retinue or guards. You can come to Me at any moment, at any time. I want to speak to you and desire to grant you grace.” The soul. “Lord. I doubt that you will pardon my numerous sins. My misery fills me with fright.” Jesus, “My mercy is greater than your sins and those of the entire world. Who can measure the extent of My goodness? For you, I descended from heaven to earth. For you, I allowed Myself to be nailed to the cross. For you, I let My sacred heart be pierced with the lance, thus opening wide the source of mercy for you. Come then with trust to draw graces from this fountain. I never reject a contrite heart. Your misery has disappeared in the depths of My Mercy. Do not argue with Me about your wretchedness. You will give Me pleasure if you hand over to Me all your troubles and grief, I shall heap upon you the treasures of My grace”. The soul, “you have conquered, O Lord, my stony heart with your goodness and trust in humility, I approach the tribunal of Your Mercy, where you yourself absolve me by the hand of your representative, Lord, I feel your grace in your peace filling my poor soul, I feel overwhelmed by Your mercy, O Lord. You forgive me, which is more than I dare to hope for, or could imagine. Your goodness surpasses all my desires. And now filled with gratitude for so many graces, I invite you to my heart. I wandered like a prodigal child, gone astray, but you did not cease to be my Father. Increase Your mercy toward me, for you see how weak I am.”  “My child, speak no more of your misery. It is already forgotten. Listen My child to what I desire to tell you. Come close to My wounds and draw from the fountain of life, whatever your heart desires. Drink copiously from the fountain of life, and you will not weary on your journey. Look at the splendors of My Mercy, and do not fear the enemies of your salvation. Glorify My Mercy.” So that’s that meditation, reminding us that whoever is in Christ is a new creation. The old things have passed away. New things have come. And as He says, you will give Me pleasure if you hand over to Me all your troubles and griefs. And that’s a gift we can give to God right now during this Mass, giving Him all our troubles and griefs. And it’s a pleasure because it gives Him the joy of relieving us from that. So, we, by humbly recognizing our own sinfulness, but instead of giving into discouragement as the devil wants, turning to Him with trust and giving to Him all that weighs upon us. This is a gift we can do right now in this holy Mass. Amen. 

KEYWORDS / PHRASES:
1 Corinthians 5:17-21
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32