16th Sunday in Ordinary Time…dedicated to Mary Mother of God

Patriarch Decries Christian Persecution in Iraq

IRBIL, Iraq, MAY 11, 2007 (Zenit.org).-
The leader of the Chaldean Church is calling for a stop to the persecution of Christians in Iraq.

AsiaNews reported that Patriarch Emmanuel III Delly of Baghdad made strong accusations against Iraqi authorities and foreign troops.

After returning from a stay in the United States, the head of the Chaldean Church denounced the sins of politicians and armies against Christian people.

“Christians are killed [or] chased out of their homes before the very eyes of those who are supposed to be responsible for their safety,” Patriarch Delly said during Mass on Sunday in the Church of Mar Qardagh in Erbil, in the Kurdistan region.

Iraqi clergy and bishops have made several appeals in recent months for the unity of the country and the rights of the Christian community.

“Today, Christians are persecuted in a country where everyone is fighting for their own personal interests,” Patriarch Delly said. Christians, he added, “have always lived in Iraq and over the years they have done everything possible to contribute to its development together with their Muslim brothers.”
ZE07051120

July 22
Memorial of St. Mary Magdalene

Collect:

Father, your Son first entrusted to Mary Magdalene the joyful news of his resurrection. By her prayers and example may we proclaim Christ as our living Lord and one day see him in glory, for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

July 22
Memorial of St. Mary Magdalene
Old Calendar: St. Mary Magdalen, penitent

Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, wasted the great beauty that God had given her in a life of sin, but one day she saw Christ and was touched by grace. On the day of our Lord’s crucifixion, she stood with the Mother of Jesus at the foot of the cross. At early dawn on the first Easter morning, Mary Magdalen and other women who had ministered to Jesus went to the Lord’s sepulcher. Two angels said to them, “He is not here, but is risen….Go, tell his disciples.” Mary Magdalen ran to tell the Apostles what she had seen and heard. Then Peter and John, hastening to the sepulcher, saw and believed.
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St. Mary Magdalene

The feast of St. Mary Magdalene is considered one of the most mystical of feasts, and it is said that of all the songs of the saints, that of Mary Magdalene is the sweetest and strongest because her love was so great. That love was praised by Jesus Himself; who said that because much was forgiven her, she loved much. Where she is buried, no one knows. Legend has her dying in Provence, France, in a cavern where she spent her last days, and her body resting in the chapel of St. Maximin in the Maritime Alps. Another has her to the Holy Land in the eighth century, was shown her tomb there.
She was the first witness to the resurrection of Jesus, His most ardent and loving follower. She had stood with Mary at the foot of the Cross on that brutal Good Friday afternoon and had been by the side of Mary during these difficult hours. On Easter morning, she went with the other women to the tomb and it was there, in the garden near the tomb, that Jesus appeared to her. It was she who brought the news of the Resurrection to the Apostles, and Peter and John raced to the tomb to see what had happened.
She was from Magadala, a small fishing town on the Sea of Galilee, between Capernaum and Tiberias. She was known to be a “great sinner,” a woman of the streets who heard Jesus speak of the mercy and forgiveness of God and changed her life completely. Her matter-of-fact witness to the Resurrection moved Peter and John to go and see for themselves: “I have seen the Lord and these things he said to me.” Jesus had chosen her to bring the news to them and she simply told them what had happened.
She has always been the example of great love and great forgiveness, one of those close to Jesus who grasped the truth of God’s love for human beings and spent her life bearing witness to that love.
Excerpted from The One Year Book of Saints by Rev. Clifford Stevens
Patron: Apothecaries; Casamicciola, Italy; contemplative life; contemplatives; converts; druggists; glove makers; hairdressers; hairstylists; penitent sinners; penitent women; people ridiculed for their piety; perfumeries; perfumers; pharmacists; reformed prostitutes; sexual temptation; tanners; women.
Symbols: Rich rainment; box of ointment; skull; book; vase of sweet spices; crucifix; open book; boat.
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Commentary by Thomas Fahey…Divine Will

Note to reader: As I began this 54th Edition of Letters of Gold, I had much more to say about the “Book of Heaven” being —Truly the Greatest Love Story ever Told— than has been published so far in this edition. .

…Feast of Christ the King
November 26, 2006
(commentary)

The Feast of Christ the King comes to us every year and provides a special occasion for serious thought about Christ’s Kingship. Following are a few thoughts for consideration about the King and his Kingdom.
Jesus said in the Gospels that his Kingdom is not of this world. He also taught us to pray that the Father’s Kingdom (which is also his) would come into this world (in souls) so that the Father’s will could be done on earth as in Heaven. We often hear that the Kingdom will be in its fullness after the end of human history, leaving many to believe that we have to wait until the end of time for a glorious stage of the Father’s Kingdom to manifest itself and communicate its astonishing blessings to souls. But we now know from the “Book of Heaven” by the long-suffering Luisa Piccarreta that the Father’s Kingdom will not only reign in Glory in time—in human history—but that it absolutely must reign on earth in time—in human history—before the end.
After the Final Judgment, when Jesus turns the Kingdom over to his Father, no one will be able to add anything to the glory of the Father. No one will be able to merit. The blessed—that is, all those who attained Heaven, will enjoy God and his Kingdom for all Eternity, but they will be beyond the time of Faith and merit and will no longer be able to add to the glory of God.
But it is precisely in the time of Faith and merit during the latter stages (due to the Fall of Adam) of human life on earth that souls will be able to give God the proper and worthy glory that He had determined to receive when He brought Creation into being. And this can only happen when the Father’s Kingdom (His own Will) comes to reign in souls on earth, in human history, before the end. This is precisely what Jesus intended and predicted in the Lord’s Prayer.
Also, the knowledge of the Father’s Kingdom reigning in souls absolutely must be communicated to humanity in order for God’s purpose in Creation to be fulfilled. The method by which God might use to communicate this knowledge of the Kingdom would be up to His own choosing. He chose to do so through Luisa Piccarreta. And this most sublime knowledge contained in the “Book of Heaven” is not a new revelation added to the deposit of the Faith but an explication of what Our Lord intended in the prayer, the “Our Father.” But we must also realize that the “Our Father” includes also the prediction of the coming of the Father’s Kingdom on earth within the “new and everlasting covenant” of which the Holy Church reminds us in the Mass at the consecration: “Take this, all of you, and drink from it; this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for many so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of Me.”

In 1987, Pope John Paul II spoke at a conference in Aachen, Germany, and said: “Not everything has been revealed. The Holy Spirit is still approaching us.” Obviously the Pope was not indicating that the Deposit of the Faith was lacking anything in God’s public revelation. It seems what the Pope was saying to us is that God still has much to tell us in order to understand more fully what is contained in the Public Revelation. Did not Jesus tell the Apostles: “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will teach you all truth.”(John: 16-12,13)

— Preamble to the following five Topics—

Now, in the 34th year of our Apostolate for the Kingdom of the Divine Will, it seems fitting to share with those, who have been committed to living in the Divine Will for many years, insights into and reinforcements of what we have seen in the “Book of Heaven” but may not have understood well—or the circumstances of life have not allowed the effort to penetrate (with God’s Grace of course) the hidden Mysteries of His Will, so wonderfully manifested in the absolutely incomparable writings of Luisa Piccarreta.
A problem may arise, however, that the E-mail version of this issue of “Letters of Gold” will be read by many wonderful souls who have only begun to experience the first fruits of the knowledge of the Divine Will and may not be quite prepared for the deeper penetrations into the mystery of the Divine Will operating in souls—in fulfillment of the Lord’s Prayer. The extracts taken from the “Book of Heaven”, which are presented below, are limited only to those passages already in print and which were given the “nihil obstat” to the original, Italian manuscripts by Saint Hannibal Di Francia in 1926.
In spite of the possible problems concerning those who are fairly new to the writings of Luisa Piccarreta, it seems appropriate at this time to share with the readers of this newsletter the following five topics, whose themes were greatly expanded at the October 29-30 (2006) retreat here at the House of the Divine Will with good results.

The Sacredness of Our Acts in the Divine Will

When the human person takes possession of the Gift of the Divine Will and begins to do his acts in the Divine Will as made known in the “Book of Heaven,” that person’s acts are really God’s own acts performed in and through the humanity of that fortunate soul, for this is the way God’s Will is done in Heaven. And even though the acts are God’s own acts, God does not consider them exclusively His, for the soul has freely desired for God to act in him and has let Him do so. Therefore, God is pleased to let the soul refer to these acts as the soul’s acts. And yet, these acts that come forth from this soul are divine, infinite, and eternal. The soul may protest to God that he does not deserve such an exalted honor, but God will respond: “You are right. Just love Me!” And God is delighted that this soul has freely given Him what He so much desires, namely, the opportunity to reign and dominate freely in the creature, fulfilling the very purpose of Creation.
Now the acts done in the Divine Will multiply forever. These acts contain the Holy Trinity within them and multiply the Life of the Trinity. These acts also contain Jesus within them, and multiply the Life of Jesus. These acts done in the Divine Will are true Hosts consecrated in the Divine Will, invisible to men but very visible to God and are full of Divine Life.
Remember: At the moment of Consecration at Mass, the Priest consecrates visible Hosts and multiplies Jesus and the Life of Jesus in each consecrated Host. AND THIS IS A VERY SACRED ACT on the part of the Priest. But it is really Jesus acting in and through the Priest that makes this Miracle happen!
Likewise, the person who acts in and by the Divine Will should be humbly aware that he performs VERY SACRED ACTS and ought to be very mindful of this reality, taking care that the exterior aspects of his acts, which serve as a veil for the divine action within, are proper and decorous—and a worthy sign, at least to God and to himself, of the sacredness of what is taking place. And this fortunate person should know that he is enabled to perform these Sacred Acts at anytime, in any place, and as often as he wishes. (with the innocence of a child within himself)

The Soul who Lives in the Divine Will
does with God what God does.

Jesus to Luisa: Now, my daughter, for you as well, it will be as connatural the centralizing of all that pertains to my Will, if you will arrive to doing the Divine Will as God Himself does It. The Will of God in you is that which reigns in God Himself. (V. 19)
Jesus to Luisa: “Why are you frightened? In my Will you cannot be exempt from doing what I do. It is a natural thing, and this is exactly the Sanctity in my Will: to do nothing of one’s own, but to do whatever God does.” …[Speaking of the Divine Will and human will operating in unity] “They are two waters fused together—one is forced to do what the other does. On the other hand, if they are separated, each one follows its own course. My Will and yours are the two waters fused together, and whatever one does, the other must do as well. Therefore, I want you always in my Will.” (V-14)
Whoever does*the Divine Will is nurtured by the light of the ‘Sun’ of God, and does all that God does. *[i.e. doing the Divine Will while Living in It] (V-11)
“My daughter, souls who live in my Will are the reverberation of everything. …And since my Will is the life of everything, they act in my Will to give life to everything… They harmonize together all the things that have been created by Me in my Will. …My Will makes them inseparable from Me; therefore, whatever I do, they do also. (V-13)
Moreover, the most consoling thing for the human heart is to be able to say: “What God wants, I want; what God does, I do.” The Heavens open to these exclamations, uniting Creator and creature, so that what one does the other does.(From one of Luisa’s Letters)

Gratitude by Gail Rein

Marvels of the Multiplication of Acts in the Divine Will

Jesus to Luisa: “Beloved daughter of my Will, do you want to come into my Will to substitute in a Divine way for so many acts not done by our brothers, for so many others done humanly, and for other acts that are holy, yes, but human and not done in the divine order? I have done everything in the divine order, but I am not yet content. I want a creature to enter into my Will and, in a divine manner, come to kiss the acts that I have done, substituting herself for all as I did for her. Therefore come, come. I long for it; I desire it so much that I celebrate when I see that the creature enters into this divine ambience and, multiplying herself together with Me, multiplies herself in all and loves, repairs, and substitutes for all and for each in a Divine manner.
“I no longer recognize human things in her but all my things; my Love rises and multiplies itself; the reparations multiply to the infinite, and the substitutions are Divine. What joy! What festivity! The very Saints unite with Me and celebrate. Moreover, they await with ardor for one of their sisters to substitute for their own acts, holy in the human order, but yet not in the divine order.
Luisa: I entered into Jesus, and I did what Jesus did. Oh, how clearly I saw what Jesus had said to me! With Him I became multiplied in all, even in the Saints. But, returning to myself, some doubts arose in me; and Jesus added:
“One Act alone of my Will, even for an instant, is full of Creative Life. Further, who contains this Life, in that instant, can give Life to all and conserve all. Thus, from this single act of my Will the sun receives the life of light, the earth its conservation, and creatures life. Therefore, why do you doubt? And then, I have my Court in Heaven, and I want another upon the Earth. Can you guess who will form this Court?”
Whereupon I: “The souls who will live in your Will.”
Then He: “Well done. It is precisely they who—without the shadow of interest and of personal sanctity, but with Divine Sanctity—will live for the benefit of their brothers, and will make one single echo with Heaven.” (V-12)
“…Moreover, doesn’t the same thing happen in the Sacramental Hosts? If there are a thousand Hosts, a thousand times I am there, and to a thousand souls I give Myself in Communion, complete and entire. If there are one hundred Hosts, there one hundred Jesuses, and I can give Myself in communion to only a hundred.
“Thus, in every act done in my Will, the soul encloses Me inside; and I remain sealed within the will of the soul. Consequently, these acts done in my Will are Eternal Communions. They are not subject to the species being consumed as the Sacramental Hosts are, where my Sacramental Life ends by consuming the species. Rather, in the hosts of my Will there does not enter either flour or other material. The food, the material of these hosts of my Will is my own Eternal Will united to the will of the soul, eternal with Me; and these two wills are not subject to being consumed.
“Therefore, what marvel it is that all my Person will be seen multiplied as many times for as many acts as she did in my Will—even more, because I have remained sealed in her; and she has remained sealed as many times in Me! Thus even the soul will be multiplied as many times in Me for however many acts as she has done in my Will. These are prodigies of my Will, and this is enough to remove any doubt from you.” (V-12)
“My daughter, the acts done in my Will disperse the human acts; and, identifying themselves with my Divine acts, they rise even into Heaven. They circulate in all; they embrace all centuries, all points, and all creatures. (V-12)
The acts done in my Will, carrying in themselves the Creative Power, will be the new salvation of man and, descending from Heaven, will bring all goods upon the earth. They will bring the New Era and the triumph over human iniquity. Therefore, multiply your acts in my Will so as to form the arms, the gifts, and the graces to descend into the midst of creatures for waging a war of Love with them.” (V-12)
To live in the Divine Will is to Multiply the life of Jesus and to give Divine Glory to Him for all. (V-13)
Therefore, make your thoughts, your words, your heartbeats, your sufferings, all your being go around in my Will so that, with the passport of the light of my Will and of my divine virtue, you might enter into each creature and multiply my Life in each of them. (V-16)
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The Soul in the Divine Will is Bi-located Everywhere with God

In Its immensity, such a soul is situated in the past. Whatever is lacking to my Glory, the offenses not atoned for, the love not given to Me—this soul provides what is lacking to my Glory, makes most beautiful reparations to Me and gives Me love for everyone. In my Will, such a soul radiates to the present; she is extended to future times. In every place and for everyone, she gives Me what Creation owes Me.… I am with her on earth, and she is with Me in Heaven; our interests are one; our life is one; our will is one. (V-13)
The Divine Will is everywhere and we, by living in It, find ourselves in Heaven and on earth to love Him with all, in all, and in every place. (A letter of Luisa)
My Will is life of all and flows everywhere, and together with my Will she flows in every affection, in every heartbeat, in every thought and in all the rest that creatures do. She flows in every act of her Creator, in every good I do, in the light I send to the intelligence, in the forgiveness I give out, in the love I send forth, in the love I ignite, in the blessed souls I beatify—in everything. There is no good I do or point of Eternity in which she does not have her little place… (V-16)
In this single Act [of the Divine Will] is found everything; It makes everything its own, and it puts its exchange of love everywhere. Therefore, to live in my Will is the prodigy of prodigies. It is the enchantment of God and of all Heaven to see the littleness of the creature flowing in all the things of its Creator, while, as a solar ray bound to this single Act, it diffuses itself everywhere and in everyone. (V-18)
Oh, how beautiful will be the voice of my newborn in my Will, of the little daughter of my Will. All things, all creatures will render it speaking to Me. It will be more beautiful than if I would have given to Creation the use of the word. I love you so much that I want to hear your voice in the sun, loving, adoring, glorifying. I want to hear it in the celestial spheres, in the murmuring of the sea, in the darting of the fish, in the bird that sings and warbles, in the lamb that bleats, in the turtle-dove that coos. Everywhere I want to hear you. I will not be content if in all the things created by Me— my Will holding the first place—I do not hear the voice of my little newborn, rendering to Me all Creation speaking, giving Me love for love, glory, adoration for each thing created by Me. (V-19)

As I went around for all created things to imprint everywhere my ‘I love you,’ my adoration, my glory to my Creator; so I acquired new knowledge of how much God has done for the creature and how much He has loved us. (V-19)

[Note: There are many more extracts on the above theme in the unpublished Volumes.]

Creation print byJoadoor

REAL LIFE of God in the soul compared to the Mystical Life of Grace

In Volume 16 of the “Book of Heaven” there is a section in which Jesus speaks to Luisa about forming his Real Life in her as He forms his Real Life in the Sacramental Hosts.
Luisa is shocked by this revelation from Jesus and says to Him: “My beloved Jesus, is this not a new and singular thing that You are saying to me—that one who lives in your Will lives real life in it? Is it not rather that mystical life that You live in the hearts that possess your Grace?”
Jesus responds: “No, no. It is not mystical life as for those that possess my Grace, but do not live with their acts identified in my Volition and do not have sufficient matter in order to form for Me the accidents in which to imprison Me. … I find Myself in hearts that, while they possess my Grace, they do not live fully in my Will. I am in them by grace but not really.”
T. Fahey: This revelation to Luisa from Jesus is truly remarkable. I have pondered this for years, and am sure that theologians will one day provide valuable and precise insights into this wonderful mystery. Meanwhile, I would like to share some of my own insights into this matter, in the hope that they will be helpful, or at least stimulate some theological discussion which will provide clarity to this mystery already accepted by St. Hannibal Di Francia with his 1926 “nihil obstat.”
Briefly: I consider God’s Real Life to be his own, uncreated and eternal Life, and his Mystical Life becomes a means of participating remotely in that Life by means of created Grace.
Using an analogy: The Sun has its own real life, which is that of atomic fusions, which generate immense energy resulting in light and heat. To live in and possess the Sun’s real life a person would have to enter into the Sun or the Sun would have to come down to earth and envelope that person. Of course, in either case, the person would be consumed and annihilated. Yet the Sun, remaining in its place in the sky does share its life remotely by “creating” rays of light and heat (like the Divine Will creates Grace) and emits these rays, which come to the earth for our great benefit. These rays of light and heat are a remote, “mystical” participation in the life of the sun but the Sun is not really in us. Likewise: Divine Will and Grace.

Adela Maria, BSP: To receive Newsletters of Gold email
to:www.fahyt@bellsouth.net