THE WORD AND THE SAINT
October 5, 2023: Celebrating St.Faustina Kowalska
The Word gladdens the heart because the Word is the Mercy of God, the Word is the Divine Mercy that revealed itself to St. Faustina Kowalska! When Ezra proclaimed the Word, along with the other levites and the priests, the people cried, not because they were sad but because they were gladdened by the Word. When Jesus sent his disciples to carry the good news to the villages two by two, he commissioned them to cure, heal and exorcise because taking the Word meant taking gladness to the people.
The Word gladdens one's heart so much that it changes the lives of the one's who hear and understand it. The people heard it and when they understood it they wept, out of joy and gladness for the goodness that the Lord had shown them. The same happened to Sr. Faustina... she was so gladdened by the Word that she left everything and followed the Word.
Helena Kowalska, who lived in Krakow, was 19 when she had the vision of the Crucified Lord and that was during a dance with her friends! She was transformed and that very night she left everything, her old life, her firends, her family, her place and moved to Warsaw, 85 kms away, because the Word told her. New place, strange circumstances but her heart was full of the vision and finally she landed up with the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. The reason for the choice: she knew only that she was being led there. Soon the reason was clear too. By 22 she professed in the congregation as Sr. Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament (Faustina meant 'the fortunate one') and in 1931 her visions of Jesus as the King of Mercy began. The devotion to Divine Mercy began with these visions and today we know how profound this devotion has become.
The Word, listened to and understood, gladdens our heart and changes our lives. How attentive is our listening, how humble is our understanding and how committed is our love for the Word?
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