Be faithful, be attentive, be Mine.
Within those three words to be faithful, attentive, and to belong to Jesus — to be Mine — we can find the whole program of how to remain firm in the apostasy that is presently spreading to the ends of the earth. These three little words pass through today’s Mass readings that act like a prism, breaking the light of these truths into colorful fragments of practical wisdom.
This day the Lord, your God, commands you to observe these statutes and decrees. Be careful, then, to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. (First reading from the Book of Deuteronomy)
In order to “be faithful”, we have to know what we are being faithful to. This is why prayer and meditation on God’s Word is so important. Do you read your Bible? Do you spend time reflecting on the daily Mass readings? This is so important because the Scriptures aren’t mere historical texts. They are the living Word of God!
Indeed, the Word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
However, the Scriptures can never be read in a vacuum; they come from the Church and so it is the Church who interprets them. This is why the Catechism of the Catholic Church should always be nearby because it “develops” the Scriptures according to Sacred Tradition—the teachings of the patriarchs, prophets, and Jesus that was handed on to the Apostles. Thus, the Catechism will help you to observe the “statues and decrees” of God’s commandments as expressed in the moral and spiritual laws that govern the Body of Christ.
To “be faithful”, then, is to be faithful to God’s Word as expressed in the teachings and true Magisterium of the Church. Put in the negative, it is to avoid all sin and occasions of sin.
The first reading continues: “Be careful to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.” Over the years, I have often said to myself, “Ah, cursed forgetfulness!” That is, forgetting to make good on my intentions; falling back into old habits; forgetting to do the good I know I should do. And the reason for this is simple: Christian life is not passive; it must always be active. We should always be intentional about all that we do, all that we say, all that we look at, and all that we listen to. Our whole life should be caught up in the present moment with an intentional act to love the Lord in it with all our heart and soul—no matter how small or menial the task at hand.[1]cf. The Duty of the Moment
To “be attentive”, then, is to be careful with all that you say, think and do so that it observes the commandments, which can be summed up in this: to love God and to love your neighbour as yourself.
The first reading continues:
Today you are making this agreement with the Lord: He is to be your God and you are to walk in his ways and observe his statutes, commandments and decrees, and to hearken to his voice… and you will be a people sacred to the Lord, your God, as He promised.
Jesus wants you to be His: to “be Mine.” Of course, the devil is always tempting one to think that in completely abandoning oneself to God’s Will, one is somehow annihilating his or her life—consigned to spending one’s years in sullen mortification and misery. Oh, what a lie! Oh, what a successful lie! On the contrary, those who completely dive into the deep with God do not lose but find themselves: their true selves. What they lose are the very lies that make them unhappy. And this brings them to a blessed state, even in their sufferings (and we all suffer, whether a pagan or a Christian):
Blessed are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they who observe his decrees, who seek him with all their heart. (Today’s Psalm)
Perhaps you are sad reading those words because you know the truth: you are not blameless; you do not seek Him with all your heart. But don’t you think Jesus already knows that? Why do you think He is knocking upon your heart right now?
The sinner who feels within himself a total deprivation of all that is holy, pure, and solemn because of sin, the sinner who in his own eyes is in utter darkness, severed from the hope of salvation, from the light of life, and from the communion of saints, is himself the friend whom Jesus invited to dinner, the one who was asked to come out from behind the hedges, the one asked to be a partner in His wedding and an heir to God… Whoever is poor, hungry, sinful, fallen or ignorant is the guest of Christ. —Matthew the Poor, The Communion of Love, p.93
What He asks of you today is to give Him your desire, even if it is weighed down by human weakness. What He asks of you today is to trust, once again, in His infinite love and mercy toward you. If He gave His life for you — if Everything gave everything for you — what could He possibly hold back from you now if you open the door of your heart?
My child, all your sins have not wounded My Heart as painfully as your present lack of trust does that after so many efforts of My love and mercy, you should still doubt My goodness. —Jesus to St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary, n. 1486
What Jesus asks of you today is to offer Him a new beginning; to begin again this very Saturday to say “yes” to God. To give Him your “fiat,” as did Our Lady: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”[2]Luke 1:38 With that, Our Lady received Christ within her very self. And with that same fiat, Jesus wishes to give you the Gift of Living in the Divine Will, which has been reserved for our times. It is the Gift of Jesus being able to live His life in you through a constant union of your human will in the Divine Will.[3]cf. The Single Will
What are you waiting for? As the liturgical verse before the Gospel says today:
Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
To “be Mine”, then, is to give not only your desire to Jesus, but to hand over to Him all your misery, all your failings of yesterday, all the good that could have been done… and let Him work all things to the good.[4]cf. Rom 8:28
If you do not succeed in taking advantage of an opportunity, do not lose your peace, but humble yourself profoundly before Me and, with great trust, immerse yourself completely in My mercy. In this way, you gain more than you have lost, because more favor is granted to a humble soul than the soul itself asks for… The graces of My mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is—trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive. —Jesus to St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary, n. 1361, 1578
Open wide your heart while there is still light—the light of Mercy. And say “yes” to Jesus who holds back nothing from you, no matter how grave your sin and past may be. He asks you once more: Be faithful, be attentive, be Mine.
—Mark Mallett is the author of The Now Word and The Final Confrontation and co-founder of Countdown to the Kingdom
Related Reading
The Great Refuge and Safe Harbour
The Sacrament of the Present Moment
The Crown of Sanctity by Daniel O’Connor, on the Revelations of Jesus to the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta (or, for a much shorter version of the same material, see The Crown of History) explains the “Gift of living in the Divine Will.”
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. The Duty of the Moment |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | Luke 1:38 |
| ↑3 | cf. The Single Will |
| ↑4 | cf. Rom 8:28 |
Alicja Lenczewska
Elizabeth Kindelmann
Through what became The Spiritual Diary, Jesus and Mary taught Elizabeth, and they continue to instruct the faithful in the divine art of suffering for the salvation of souls. Tasks are assigned for each day of the week, which involve prayer, fasting, and night vigils, with beautiful promises attached to them, laced with special graces for priests and the souls in purgatory. In their messages, Jesus and Mary say that The Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the greatest grace given to mankind since the Incarnation. And in the not-so-distant future, her flame will engulf the entire world.
Father Stefano Gobbi
Why Gisella Cardia?
Thirdly, the messages have frequently been accompanied by visible phenomena, photographic evidence found in In Cammino con Maria, which cannot be the fruit of subjective imagination, notably the presence of the stigmata on Giselle’s body and and the appearance of crosses or religious texts in blood on Gisella’s arms. See the pictures taken from her apparition website 
Jennifer
Why Manuela Strack?
Why the Visionaries of Our Lady of Medjugorje?
Why Pedro Regis?
Why the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta?
of the saints. It wasn’t until she became a “Daughter of Mary” that the nightmares finally ceased at the age of eleven. In the following year, Jesus began to speak interiorly to her especially after receiving Holy Communion. When she was thirteen, He appeared to her in a vision that she witnessed from the balcony of her home. There, in the street below, she saw a crowd and armed soldiers leading three prisoners; she recognized Jesus as one of them. When He arrived beneath her balcony, He raised his head and cried out: “Soul, help Me!” Deeply moved, Luisa offered herself from that day on as a victim soul in expiation for the sins of mankind.
immobile, rigid-like state that appeared almost as if she were dead. It was only when a priest made the sign of the Cross over her body that Luisa regained her faculties. This remarkable mystical state persisted until her death in 1947—followed by a funeral that was no little affair. During that period in her life, she suffered no physical illness (until she succumbed to pneumonia at the end) and she never experienced bedsores, despite being confined to her little bed for sixty-four years.
Why Simona and Angela?
Valeria Copponi