são carlos 6

Het Imaculada Casa do Alívio do Sofrimento...

- met dezelfde naam als het hospitaal van padre Pio in San Giovanni [St.-Jan!] Rotondo! -

de 'Lichtkern van Figueira in São Carlos'... 

werd begin jaren negentig opgericht als een non-profit instelling, die zichzelf onderhoudt door middel van donaties ter ondersteuning van de diensten die gratis worden verleend aan de bevolking, in het bijzonder aan ouderen die in verpleeghuizen wonen, gezinnen in de periferie, evenals adolescenten en jongeren zodat ze wakker worden voor een leven gebaseerd op ethische en altruïstische waarden.

Voor ouderen biedt het Huis ambachtelijke workshops en ontspanningsmomenten aan. Voor kinderen en jongeren zijn de belangrijkste activiteiten muziekworkshops, en verschillende soorten van knutselen, evenals speelse spelletjes.

De Nucleus houdt dagelijks zijn deuren open voor degenen die rust en vrede zoeken en naar nieuwe levensstandaarden streven, evenals voor gebedsbijeenkomsten die worden gehouden door het Klooster van de Transfiguratie, deel van de gemeenschap en gekoppeld aan de Grace Mercy Order. 

Dit alles gelegen aan de Rua Abrahão João 1074, in São Carlos. Een blokje om wonen passionistinnen [cf. Gemma Galgani] in het Mosteiro São Paulo da Cruz, en ligt even verder een Umbandatempel, gewijd aan de orisha Pai Oxalá, de Hemelvader [aan wie de vrijdagen zijn gewijd]...

[bron]

simeon

Veertig dagen nadat Jezus was geboren... 

namen we Hem mee naar de tempel om hem aan de Heer voor te stellen, zoals in de wet staat. 

Joseph en ik stonden op het punt onze plicht te vervullen, toen een oude man, Simeon, ons kwam ontmoeten en belangstelling voor ons gezin toonde. Hij streelde de baby en ik liet hem Hem in zijn armen nemen, zijn armen trillend. Hij was zo blij, dat we in de war waren. Hij prees en dankte de Heer, omdat hij het Licht had gezien - zo noemde hij Jezus.

Arent de Gelder

We waren verbaasd en ontroerd door zijn woorden. 

Toen wendde hij zich tot mij, en vertelde me dat ik veel zou lijden vanwege dat Kind, dat ik veel zou lijden samen met dat Kind, Dat door velen zou worden afgewezen. 

Ik werd in mijn hart getroffen. 

Niet zozeer door het lijden dat ik zou moeten doorstaan... 

maar door het lijden dat hij aan Jezus had voorzegd.

-

Helaas wordt Jezus in de wereld nog steeds niet geaccepteerd. 

En blijf ik voor Hem en met Hem lijden. 

Lijd ik vooral om diegenen die Hem afwijzen.

Omdat deze afwijzing hun ondergang kan veroorzaken.

-

Weiger Hem niet, Jezus. 

Je zou mij laten lijden, je zou ons laten lijden. 

Je zou dit geschenk dat ik je vandaag wil geven verspillen. 

Denk dat ik Hem in je armen leg zoals die dag bij de heilige oude Simeon. 

Verwelkom Hem zoals hij Hem verwelkomde.

En herken in hem het Licht van je leven.

Dat Licht dat God je zal laten kennen.

In alle gebeurtenissen van je leven.

Rembrandt

Ik sta altijd klaar om Hem uit mijn armen te nemen... 

om Hem aan jou te geven. 

Zie, ik leg Hem op je hart. 

Hij zal het voor je openen om te hopen. 

Vertrouw Hem, geloof mij: 

bij Jezus voel je je opgelucht... 

bij Jezus zie je alles helderder... 

bij Jezus ben je nergens meer bang voor. 

Je hebt Jezus zo hard nodig. 

De wereld heeft Hem zo nodig...

die zonder Hem in de duisternis rondtast. 

Deze wereld van jou die gelooft in de valse lichten... 

van welzijn en plezier... 

en Zijn Vrede verliest.

-

Alleen Jezus kan het ware goed verkrijgen. 

Nu geeft hij het aan jou: voel, proef Zijn Vrede in je hart... 

en bedank Hem met mij, laten we Hem samen bedanken... 

en tot Hem bidden voor degenen die niet bidden.

[bron]

bernardino 1

Foundation of the Teresa of Avila's House of Valladolid. 

Monastery called the Concepción de Nuestra Señora del Carmen.

Rubens, in kmska

Four or five months after the monastery of Saint Joseph had been founded in Malagón... 

a young gentleman of quality [Don Bernardino de Mendoza, brother of Álvaro, bishop] told me, that if I wanted to build a monastery in Valladolid, he would very willingly give me a house, with a most handsome and spacious garden attached to it, there was a large vineyard also inside, and he wished to give me possession immediately. 

As it was of great value, I accepted it, though I had not resolved to found a house there, because the place [Rio de Olmos] was about a mile from the city. But I thought we might easily go to the city afterwards, when possession had been taken. And as he made the offer so very willingly, I did not wish to refuse accepting so good a work, nor to check his devotion.

About two months later, a little more or less, he fell so suddenly ill, that he was deprived of the use of his speech, and was unable therefore to make his confession, although he gave many proofs of being sorry for his sins. He died in a short time, a great distance from where I was. 

Our Lord told me, that his salvation had been in great danger, but that He had Mercy on him, on account of the service done to His Blessed Mother, in giving that house to found a monastery of Her order; and that he should not be delivered from purgatory, until the first mass was said there, and that then he would be freed. 

The grievous sufferings of this soul were so continually present to me, that though I wished to found a house in Toledo, I left it at that time and hastened to found (as well as I could) one in Valladolid.

This work could not be effected so quickly as I desired...

because I was oblied to remain in Saint Joseph's of Ávila, which was under my charge, and afterwards I stopped for some time in Saint Joseph's of Medina del Campo. 

Being one day ther in prayer, our Lord told me to make haste, because that soul suffered greatly. Upon hearing these words, I commenced my journey immediately, though without any preparation, and entered Valladolid on the day of San Lorenzo. 

When I saw the house, I was exceedingly afflicted [buitengewoon gekweld], because I perceived it would be madness for the nuns to remain there without very great expense [much costs]; and although it was great  for recreation, because the orchard was so delightful, it could not be but very unhealthy, since a river ran close by it.

Though I was exceedingly fatigued, yet I wished to go and hear Mass in a monastery of our Order, which stood at the entrance of the city; but as it was so far away, it only increased my pain the more. However, I did not tell my companions, so as not to discourage them. For, although weak, I had some faith that the Lord would provide a remedy for the accomplishment of what He had told me. Accordingly, I privately employed workmen to commence building the walls (that so we might have enclosure) and to do whatever else was necessary.

The clergyman I mentioned before was with us, called Julián de Ávila, and one of the two friars who wanted to become discalced, and made acquainted with our manner of living in these houses. This license could not be obtained as soon as Sunday, but leave was given for mass to be said in the place we had prepared for a chapel, and accordingly it was said.

I had not thought that then would be fulfilled what I had heard concerning this soul: for although I was told it would be 'at the first mass', I thought it would take place at that mass in which the Blessed Sacrament would be exposed.

When the priest came to where we were to commune, with the Most Sacred Host in his hands, as soon as I approached to receive it, that same young gentleman I have spoken  of appeared to me, with a shining countenance, by the side of the priest, looking very glad and cheerful, and with his hands joined together. He thanked me for what I had done in freeing him from purgatory, and then that soul flew straightway to heaven.

Indeed, as soon as I understood that he was in the way of salvation, I was very glad, because when I had heard of his sudden death, I had been in a manner hopeless, fearing lest his soul might be lost, for it seemed to me that another kind of death was necessary for his manner of living, since (though he had many good qualities) he was given to the vanities of this world.

True it is, he told my companions he thought his death very near. Wonderful indeed it is, how pleasing to our Lord any service is which is done to His Mother, and great is His Mercy. May He be praised and blessed by all men, Who thus rewards woth eternal life and glory our mean and miserable actions, and make them great who are of themselves so worthless.

[bron]

spoorweg 5

2016...

Husky Energy Oil Spill

!

[bron]

aflaat

adoratie > aflaat

>> grote genade voor mensheid

!

With the Eucharistic Body of My Son... 

exposed on My Immaculate Heart... 

today your Celestial Mother celebrates... 

with you and with all the praying people of the world... 

the Feast of the Sacred Body of Christ...

in which Heaven offers an indulgence... 

to all those who commune of this most precious Body of the Lord.

It is in this way... 

that the Communion with Christ must be considered special and celebrated... 

since My beloved Son will be granting, from Heaven, to whoever communes with devotion... 

the Grace of dissolving any fault, debt or act committed against His Sacred and unfathomable heart.

That Grace will gain more strength and amplitude inside... 

if the souls adore this Sacred Eucharistic Body for a few minutes. 

Just by looking at the value of the Sacred Body of Christ... 

souls will balance their errors... 

and be free from all of them... 

those that have led them to stray... 

from the Path of Love.

This act, which can be offered by each soul...

will attract an inexhaustible flow of Grace on humanity... 

and on all the causes that generate war, death and persecution... 

of Christians and non-Christians.

Grace will be for everyone... 

if the majority contemplates the Sacred Body of Christ... 

present in the Eucharist.

I thank you for adoring My Son from the heart...

because that makes His Mercy spread throughout the world.

Who blesses you, your Mother

Mary, Rose of Peace

[18.6.17]

vierentwintig 16

Now do you understand the importance...

of this task with Me... 

for the End of Times?

Altobello Melone

Lelio Orsi

Walk with Me...

just like I walked...

with My brothers in Emmaus.

Momo, Oratorio Santissima Trinità

So that once again... 

before your eyes, before your hearts, and before your souls...

you may see Me break the Bread that is shared with everyone...

that is shared in Christic and Divine Unity...

Vincenzo Catena

and you may drink of the Chalice...

of this Sacred Chalice of the Garden of Gethsemane...

so that you may  s h a r e  this crucial moment of the planet with Me.

When ignorance, indifference and impunity...

maintain the souls in the abysses.

[5.8.22]

vierentwintig 9

alleen dit (overstijgen v/Px) 

zal Mercy voor wereld rechtvaardigen

m.a.w. wereld redden

This is not a theory.

This is an imperious [heerszuchtig,gebiedend] need that I have...

before the imbalance of the planet and of humanity.

To be able to justify the action... 

of My Divine and Unfathomable Mercy.

Now you will understand... 

that beyond the power or authority...

that many believe that I have...

My true Redemptive and Merciful Work...

happens through My companions.

Through those who are capable... 

of offering themselves as instruments.

So that I may avail Myself of each one of them... 

and thus carry out the Will of My Lord.

Which must be the Will for each one of you.

[5.8.22]

vierentwintig 4

Wederkomst nakend

Px bereidt voorbereidende projecten voor

in Afrika, en elders in de wereld

wij moeten déélnemen

'aan Zijn Zijde lopen'

alleen zó zullen we ons herinneren

waarom we hier zijn/naar hier kwamen

This is why, in this moment, companions...

may the inner sun shine and beat within you.

That sun that reminds you of your origin.

That inner sun that reminds you of your purpose...

and the reason for being here, at this moment of the planet...

and under this crucial conjuncture for humanity.

This is the month of August...

to renew the vows with all the Hierarchies.

Because as My Return approaches...

in the same way, companions, I prepare...

through your self-giving and surrender...

the plans that I will develop.

As the preamble of My Return to the world.

The Plans that I expect to develop in Africa...

and in other parts of the world.

But if you, who have committed yourselves with Me, are not present...

when I call you and summon you to be by My Side...

under any situation...

how is it that you will learn?

From your homes and houses?

Through the television?

The Apostles of the end of times are apostles...

who surrender themselves to that which is unknown.

They surrender themselves to that which they cannot control...

and that which they cannot have power upon.

Because to follow My Steps...

is to follow and fulfill My Will.

Something that you will not understand today.

Something that you wíll know... 

when you can be by My Side.

Face to face.

To remember everything... 

that happened throughout your lives...

and in all life of the planet.

[5.8.22]

nieuw huis 4

OLV wil niet langer pijn leven 

bij al wat ze ziet in Luanda/Angola/Afrika 

>> verbindt haar eigen met ons gebed

Today, I am here... 

with the rosary in My Hands...

because I unite My prayers to your prayers...

for all that which Africa and Angola need to achieve. 

My Mother's Heart no longer wants to live in pain...

for what it sees of this place, of this nation... 

and of other nations of Africa.

[19.7.22]

lac ste anne 5

"...some of those survivors that came with us...

that had certainly been through terrible times

and yet, they did not lose their faith..."

!

Jesus and His Grandmother, Saint Anne

Andre Prevost

opstaan 5

And as I continued... 

to write what it is that the Lord was downloading and releasing...

I began to see a picture of June 16th, I began to see a picture of Hector Pieterson... 

the South African school boy who was shot and killed during the Soweto uprising [1976].

And as I began to listen to the Lord, the Lord said:

June 16th 2020... 

will mark a different kind of celebration in South Africa. 

I was struck by the fact that I am receiving this picture of Hector Pieterson today, on the 12th of May, and only to discover as the Lord led that Sam Nzima, the brilliant South African photojournalist who took this winning image also died on this day, the 12th of May, in 2018. And as I listened, the Lord said:

I am restoring and changing the image of South Africa

I am changing the image of Africa.

There will be a new image in South Africa.

The Lord said:

June 16th 2020 will mark a new kind of celebration in South Africa.

And just as I continued to listen further to where this is going...

I began to hear the word Lillian Ngoyi! 

Lillian Ngoyi was one of the women who led the 9th August 1956 March of approximately 20,000 women to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to petition against the country's pass laws that required South Africans defined as 'black' under The Population Registration Act, to carry an internal passport, known as a pass, that served to maintain population segregation, control urbanisation, and manage migrant labour during the Apartheid era.

Wathint' abafazi, wathint' imbokodo! 

(You strike a woman, you strike a rock.)

A phrase that has become representative of the courage of women...

and strength in South Africa.

[12.5.20]

dageraad

Vuyokazi Matu

Zuid-Afrika 

!

bakhita 3

'If I would meet 

those slavers who kidnapped me, 

and also those who tortured me, 

I would kneel and kiss their hands, 

because if that hadn’t happened, 

I would not be a Christian and a religious now.'

bakhita 1

'bakhita'

fortunata...

geluksvogel !

einde leed

Blessed are those who suffer... 

and who, in the silence of their hearts, cry out for Mercy.

Because they will be granted not only the Grace for which they cried... 

but greater, profound and eternal blessings...

which will dissipate from their hearts the pain... 

and grant them the peace.

-

Blessed are those who, beyond solitude, pray, serve and trust... 

even though they inhabit the hells of this world...

where despair and hopelessness reign...

where joy was silenced by the indifference...

of those who generate pain.

-

The prayers of the innocent are heard. 

The weeping of women who cry out to the Father washes His Holy Feet... 

and His Heart sympathizes with those, who believed they were forgotten.

-

In the battle of these times, children...

the Heart of God is attentive to your prayers... 

and does not forget or abandon those who cry out... 

but seeks the exact time and hour to be able to intercede for the suffering souls.

-

That's why I tell you today, and I will always tell you.... 

that perseverance in God - beyond pain, suffering or loneliness - will always be rewarded.

The Father has compassion on those who wait with faith. 

His spirit sustains those in service. 

His Divinity comes to the aid of those who trust in Grace...

and greater blessings descend on Earth when the time has come. 

And the time has come.

The world clock has marked the Hour of Redemption.

While chaos battles evil, love triumphs in the depths of human consciousness. 

Everything is allowed.

The Creator announces through His Messengers...

that the Time of Redemption has arrived for everyone who believes. 

The Time of Mercy still beats in the hearts of those who cry out for an opportunity.

-

Therefore, beloved Africa... 

that since the origins of the Earth searches your way... 

your destiny already shines on the horizon...

the purity of your heart can emerge. 

Strength and frailty [kwetsbaarheid] dwell in your core. 

You persisted beyond suffering. 

Therefore, wait and trust in the reign of peace.

-

Sacred Feet will step on your ground...

and Their Footsteps will mark your history. 

As in other times, peace will reign in you...

and you will know life from the ends of the universe. 

The heavenly mysteries will be revealed to you.

From the depths of your pain, hope will emerge again. 

New life will reign within you. 

There will be peace.

-

With these words, children, I say goodbye...

I bless you and I ask you to wait for Me in prayer on the 18th of July...

so that a Greater Plan of the Creator may be fulfilled... 

to deliver an extraordinary Message... 

to the hearts of My children in Africa. 

Their hearts await Me... 

and the Creator sends an answer.

-

I will create a bridge between the heart of Aurora and the interior of Africa... 

so that healing and redemption can permeate the deep wounds... 

of those who aspire to know peace.

I bless you today and always.

Your father and friend,

the Most Chaste

Saint Joseph

[10.7.22]

congo 1

Dear children...

The world is in evil ! 

I invite you to kneel for those who offend God.

As a Sorrowful Mother, I have come from Heaven to bring you an important call... 

the most important in these times... 

which is the prayer of the Holy Rosary for this humanity and for this planet.

Today, I carry My scourged [gegeselde] Son in My arms. 

This is the true example, the reference for all, of what men do to the Heart of God.

Pray for My Seven Sorrows. 

Pray for the Thorns that My Son receives. 

Pray for the Angels and their Trumpets, before God declares Justice to the world.

The times are accelerating, the changes too. 

Therefore, prepare yourselves in prayer, do not give up praying with your heart.

Persevere, just persevere. 

My call is urgent, to this part of the world... 

because I know that you can listen to Me with your heart.

-

Today, I bring My Son in My arms, completely wounded and wounded... 

so that you can see, My children, the cruelty of men... 

the indifference of hearts... 

the lack of love for the life that God has given you.

Through the streets of this world... 

through the regions of the East... 

many of My children are being mutilated...

while you are gathered here in prayer.

Persevere, My children! 

-

I ask you to think, for just a moment...

what God is perceiving from this humanity... 

and mainly what His Heart feels from you.

Today, I appear over/on this world.

I need you to respond to an urgent call! 

With an extreme effort, with a greater sacrifice for those who do nothing... 

and who follow the tribulations with their own desires and expectations.

But still, humanity has not known the Power of God.

-

Today, I place My Maternal Heart in front of the Creator's Altar as the only way out for this beloved humanity, which is lost day by day in suffering and pain.

My Heart is full of pain. Who can relieve it? Who will risk going out of himself? Who will leave their comforts and preferences to contemplate Me for just five minutes, and feel My sorrowful Heart, and the scourged Heart of My Son?

-

I come to announce a special call. 

Today, I will not be able to pour out My Graces to you. 

Because many do not deserve them. 

You are part of this humanity, of this Plan that God called you to live... 

Even your effort is not enough.

Place the prayer in the heart and not in the mind.

Persevere, My children! 

In this time, I need that you just give Me responses of love and charity. 

Call your brothers to live the prayer, tell your family and friends to pray. 

The world is darkening and most do not perceive it.

While the blood of many innocent souls runs through the streets of this world... 

I invite you to meditate on My Heart, and to think only of living in the Mercy of God, which is very much forgotten by this entire world.

I invite you, My children, to reinforce your armies. The paths must be more luminous, so I will remove the gloom [somberheid] from the paths of all My children.

I want you to be true, My children, and that you listen to the plea and the call of My Heart, because I have already done a lot for you. And who will do enough, what God needs right now, which is the prayer of the heart and living in God's Truth?

Pray with Me, My children, because the world is súffering!

-

Today, I come with the Angels of God's Justice. 

But I ask you, My children, not to take this moment as something normal.

Be thankful that I speak to you about all these things that are happening. 

Because many must wake up to what is happening. 

You cannot be distant from what happens in this world.

I do not come to bring you fear, but to establish peace. 

But if peace is not in My children, how will peace exist on Earth? 

Therefore...

Hearts and souls are dying! 

Bodies are being mutilated and annihilated [vernietigd]!

In the life that God gave them. 

Woe to those who do such things!

I alone lie down at the Feet of the Lord.. 

to implore Him for His Mercy.

[12.2.15]

ngome 4

Medjugorje, 4th Station

Sister Reinolda conscientiously informed Bishop Bilgeri of these encounters. 

After careful consideration, the Bishop’s reply to Sister Reinolda... 

on the fourteenth of November 1956 was as follows:

¨If the matter is genuine, the Blessed Mother will see to its success. Preserve in your heart your great love and your secret, then you will derive a great spiritual profit from it. Since you revealed this matter to your spiritual director and to me, you have done your part, and can lay all else into the hands of Mary¨.

-

Sister Reinolda wrote the following to Bishop Aurelian Bilgari... 

on the 18th of January 1957:

¨Pardon me, please, if I am not silent, but speak about my secret again. How can the mouth and pen be silent if the heart is full to overflowing? Everything is as clear and alive before me as on the first day. This experience and impact on my spiritual life cannot be wiped away anymore. 

Should I want to forget it, I would have to give up praying. At each Holy Mass, Communion, and dozens of times at work, I am captured and my soul wants to shout and make the wish of Mary known to the whole world. 

The fact that I am supposed to be silent while my task is not yet done, causes me very often pain and my tears flow secretly. I pray every day, that you might understand the meaning of the message and not say it is nothing new. 

If you could only see Mary just once! She as the living tabernacle. She wants to give Jesus in the Host to the blind world. She only asks for souls who will receive the host, not only for some moments, but take it along into their daily life, without separation, just like a living tabernacle.¨

-

In her obedience to the Bishop’s wishes... 

Sister Reinolda patiently endured great sorrow and suffering on this her way of the cross, almost unable to do what Our Lady was asking of her to make her message known to the world. 

As love for the Lord in the Holy Eucharist and veneration of the Mother Of God were outstanding character traits in Sister Reinolda’s spiritual life, she was the instrument chosen by Mary to spread her message to mankind, despite having to overcome what seemed almost insurmountable difficulties in making this message known.

Prado Nuevo El Escorial (1981)

Nine months after her fifth encounter with Mary, on the 15th of March 1957...

Sister Reinolda had a sixth encounter with the Blessed Virgin Mary:

¨´I come to strengthen you. I make use of your nothingness. Be totally humble.´

Pausing, She drew me to herself and said:

´I want to save the world through the Host, My Fruit. 

I am completely one with the Host... 

as I was one with Jesus under the cross.´

´Fearful things are in store for you... 

unless you convert.´

Q: ´We?´

A: ´Yes, if the religious do not convert... 

and if the world does not convert.´

´Mother, just give me a sign!´

´You be all love and readiness. 

All people who hear and believe these, My Words, are going to receive a sign from me. 

Make all these Words known!´

Regina Pacis (sinds 2008...)

Two months later, on the 24th May 1957... 

Sister Reinolda had a seventh encounter. 

The following words were clearly heard:

´Don’t lose heart.´ [Verlies de moed niet.]

[bron]

germaine 3

Dans le champ où elle gardait les moutons...

son ange gardien veillait. 

Ce n’était pas un ange habituel. Dieu avait posté auprès d’elle un des sept Séraphins, comme on le fait une fois à chaque génération. C’est que Lucifer lui-même avait réclamé son âme. Lors d’un conseil céleste, il s’était levé en criant: ´J’exige un pouvoir plus grand sur Germaine. Je ne peux me contenter des blessures de son corps ou des abandons de sa famille. Laissez-moi la frapper de tuberculose, et elle deviendra comme les autres: coureuse de plaisirs et impure.´ 

Et il avait reçu permission. 

Aussi, depuis un an, Germaine s’épuisait [was uitgeput], d’âme et de corps. Elle ne ressentait plus la présence de Dieu. Elle assistait à la messe comme une pierre. 

Et c’est vrai que, habituellement et dans ces circonstances, les pauvres âmes s’abandonnaient au péché, cherchant dans les créatures cette affection dont on a tant besoin. 

Mais Germaine restait simplement fidèle, récitant vaillamment [dapper] son chapelet et l’offrant pour les âmes des autres. Partout, dans le village, les filles de son âge étaient mariées et mères. Elle était seule.

-

´C’est une reine´...

pensait le Séraphin, observant, dubitatif, cette humilité sans détour [zonder omweg]. 

Et dans cette pâture déserte, si les hommes avaient pu voir les choses réelles, ils auraient assisté au défilé ininterrompu des millions de créatures célestes, venant assister et soutenir Germaine au milieu de ses moutons.

[bron] 

vuur brengen 1

Dear brothers and sisters, buongiorno!

The Gospel for this Sunday’s Liturgy tells us about a turning point. 

This is what it says: ´When the days drew near for Him to be taken up, He made a resolute decision to set His Face to go to Jerusalem´ [Lk 9:51]. Thus he begins his ´great journey´ toward the Holy City, which required a special decision because it was his last one. 

The disciples, filled with enthusiasm because they were still too worldly, dream that the Master is going to meet with triumph. Instead, Jesus knows that rejection and death await Him in Jerusalem. He knows He will have to suffer a great deal. This is what demands a resolute decision. 

And so, Jesus goes forward taking decisive steps toward Jerusalem. 

-

This is the same decision we must take, if we want to be disciples of Jesus. 

What does this decision consist of? For we must be serious disciples of Jesus, truly decisively, not ´rosewater Christians´ as an old woman I knew used to say. No, no, no! Decisive Christians. And the episode the Evangelist Luke narrates right after this, helps us understand.

-

They set out on their journey. 

A village of Samaritans, having learned that Jesus is headed toward Jerusalem – which was the city of their adversaries – does not welcome him. 

Outraged, the apostles James and John suggest to Jesus that he should punish those people by raining fire from heaven down on them. 

Not only does Jesus not accept this proposal... 

He also rebukes the two brothers. 

They want to involve Jesus in their desire for revenge and He will have none of it [Lk 9:52-56]. The ´fire´ that Jesus came to bring on the earth is something else [Lk 12:49]. 

It is the merciful Love of the Father. And it takes patience, constancy... 

and a penitential spirit to make this fire grow.

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James and John, instead, allow themselves to be overcome by anger. 

This happens to us too when, even when we are doing something good, perhaps even with sacrifice, we find a closed door instead of being welcomed. So we get angry. We even try to involve God himself, threatening heavenly punishments. 

Jesus, instead, takes another route. Not the path of anger. But that of a resolute decision to go forward, which, far from translating into harshness, implies calm, patience, longsuffering, not slackening the least bit in doing good. 

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This way of being does not connote weakness, no. 

But on the contrary, a tremendous interior strength. 

It is easy, it is instinctive, to allow ourselves to be overcome by anger when faced with opposition. 

What is difficult, instead, is to master oneself. Doing as Jesus did who, as the Gospel says, ´went on to another village´. 

This means that, when we meet with opposition, we must turn toward doing good elsewhere, without recrimination [verwijt,tegenbeschuldiging]. 

This way, Jesus helps us to be people who are serene... 

who are happy with the good accomplished...

and who do not seek human approval.

Now, we can ask ourselves: what point are we at? 

What point are we at? 

In the face of opposition, misunderstanding, do we turn to the Lord? 

Do we ask Him for His steadfastness in doing good? 

Or do we rather seek confirmation through applause? Ending up being bitter and resentful when we do not hear it? Many times, consciously or unconsciously, we seek applause, approval from others, and we do things for applause. No, that does not work. 

We must do good out of service, not seeking applause. Sometimes we think that our fervour is due to a sense of justice for a good cause. But in reality, most of the time, it is nothing other than pride, united with weakness, sensitivity, and impatience. 

So, let us ask Jesus for the strength of being like Him, of following Him resolutely down the path of service. Not to be vindictive. Not to be intolerant when difficulties present themselves. When we spend ourselves in doing good and others do not understand this. Or even when they disqualify us. 

No, silence and go ahead.

May the Virgin Mary help us...

make the resolute decision Jesus did... 

to remain in Love to the end.

[bron]