“My Adorable Jesus, as I have shared in Your sufferings together with You, and in those of Your afflicted Mama, I see that You are about to leave to go there, where the Will of the Father calls You. The Love between Son and Mother is so great as to render You inseparable, so You leave Yourself in the Heart of Your Mama, and the Queen and Sweet Mama places Herself into Yours; otherwise it would have been impossible for You to separate.”

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Reflection:

The main thing about this excerpt for me is that Jesus was obedient to the Father, no matter what the cost to him or to his mother.

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We see that Luisa has shared in both the sufferings of Jesus and Mary. They are about to separate and He will go where the Will of the Father calls him. We know where that will lead to, his crucifixion on Calvary.

This must have been extremely difficult for him to do in his humanity. Mary was his world, his heaven! They were inseparable.

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He tells us however in Vol 11. May 9, 1913 that their separation was only apparent. Being in the Divine Will they were fused together and bilocated into each other’s souls. He remained with her and she went with him.

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In our own lives we can ask are we willing to go where the Will of the Father calls us? This calling may be in the little things of our days, in all the situations the Lord allows which may challenge us and we are tempted to run away. We rarely run towards suffering but in suffering God is found. “…where there is suffering there is God, as God and suffering cannot be apart.” Vol 6. Dec 22, 1903

 

For instance, I have a strong dislike of dentists mostly due to a negative childhood experience.

The Lord is now calling me to visit the dentist, for my own sake. I would prefer not to go but it is necessary. It’s little things like these that may form our way of the cross with Jesus, and of course we may have much larger ones too.

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This may remind us of the Gospel of John 21: 18-19 in which St. Peter was told by Jesus he would be taken to place he would rather not go, to his death to give glory to God. We also, while perhaps not being called to give our lives, are nevertheless called to die to our human wills and to glorify God.

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Whenever situations occur which may entail some sufferings for us, may we pray for the grace to embrace rather than shun them, and then united with Jesus’ sufferings, use them for the glory of the Father and the good of all souls past, present and future.

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"But the paleness of Your Face, Your trembling lips, Your suffocated voice, as though wanting to burst into tears in saying good-bye—ah, everything tells me how much You Love Her and how much You suffer in leaving Her!

 

But to fulfil the Will of the Father, with Your Hearts fused into each other, You submit Yourselves to everything, for those who, unwilling to overcome the tenderness of relatives and friends, and bonds and attachments, do not care about fulfilling the Holy Will of God and corresponding to the state of sanctity to which God calls them. What sorrow do these souls not give You, in rejecting from their hearts the Love You want to them, contenting themselves with the love of creatures!

 

Blessing each other, You give Her the last kiss to strengthen Her in the bitter pains She is about to suffer; and giving Her Your last good-bye, You leave."

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Reflection:

Luisa describes the physical features of Jesus and how everything in his face portrays a sense of sadness and grief. She emphasises his love for his mother and how it breaks his heart in leaving her.

 

Nevertheless, in obedience to the Will of the Father Jesus follows the course of his Passion step by step and leaving his heart fused in that of his Mother and she in his, they surrender to all the Divine Will may demand of them.

 

We join him in making reparation for ourselves and for all who do not want to put God first in their lives. How many times do we put off being obedient to an inspiration to pray or to do some good to another person, perhaps because it would inconvenience us in some way? Do we see an opportunity to do good to someone as God wanting to fill our hearts with his love or do we see it as something we can do ourselves, for ourselves, but with hearts closed to his love?

 

Jesus gives his Mother his last kiss to strengthen her in the bitter pains she is to undergo and giving her his last good-bye, he leaves.

We, in receiving communion can bilocate into that scene and ask to receive his kiss to strengthen us for whatever way He wishes us to glorify him today or maybe another day. In our communions He is present to us in his body, blood, soul and divinity for approx. 15 mins, and then he leaves. May we pray for the grace to follow him.

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“My Lovable Love, as I with You, allow me to remain with Your Mama in order to console Her and sustain Her, while You leave. Then I will hasten my steps to come and reach You. But to my greatest sorrow, I see that my anguishing Mama shivers, and Her pain is such that, as She tries to say good-bye to Her Son, Her voice dies on Her lips, and She is unable to utter a word. She is about to faint, and in Her swoon of Love, She says, “My Son, My Son! I bless You! What a bitter separation—more cruel than any death!” But the pain yet prevents Her from uttering a word, and makes Her mute! 

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Disconsolate Queen, let me sustain You, dry Your tears and compassionate You in Your bitter sorrow! My Mama, I will not leave You alone; and You—take me with You and teach me, in these moments so painful for You and for Jesus, what I have to do, how to defend Him, repair Him and console Him, and whether I must lay down my life to defend His.” 

 

Reflection:

Here we see Luisa calling Jesus her “Lovable Love.” In this first sentence she reveals her closeness to him and that she is already making reparation, intending to follow him and do what He is doing.

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Trying to take control of the situation and wanting to console both Jesus and his Mother, she asks his permission to remain with her to give some support to her while He leaves and then promises to catch up with him. Fused in Divine Will we bilocate into that scene and with Luisa offer our sympathies and prayers to Our Blessed Mother. Luisa describes in detail the outward signs of Our Blessed Mother’s inner sufferings. She just about manages to give Jesus her blessing.

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Luisa wants to share in her sufferings and to ease her pain. She asks the Blessed Mother to take her with her and to teach her how to console Jesus, how to defend him, make reparation and even to give her life for him. I notice that Luisa focuses on The Blessed Mother’s sufferings to begin with, but doesn’t ask her to teach her how to console her (the Blessed Mother) even though she is in extreme suffering. The focus of them both is only on Jesus.

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We also need to ask Our Blessed Mother to take us with her and to show us how to suffer as she suffered, and in Divine Will to use our sufferings to console Jesus and make reparation for all mankind. Luisa even prays her to show her how to lay down her life for Jesus. We too are called to lay down the life of our human will for Jesus. One of the ways I find helpful in allowing the Blessed Mother to teach me is reading the daily excerpts from “The Virgin in the Kingdom of the Divine Will” book. These are mainly for the month of May but can be adapted for any month.

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“No, I will not move from under Your mantle. At Your wish, I will fly to Jesus; I will bring Him Your Love, Your affections, Your kisses together with mine, and I will place them in each wound, in every drop of His Blood, in every pain and insult, so that, in feeling the kisses and the Love of His Mama in each pain, His sufferings may be sweetened. Then I will come again under Your mantle, bringing You His kisses to sweeten Your Pierced Heart. My Mama, my heart is pounding, I want to go to Jesus. And as I kiss Your Maternal hands, bless me as You blessed Jesus, and allow me to go to Him.”

 

Reflection:

In this excerpt we sense the need of Luisa to be with both Jesus and his Blessed Mother. She is firm in her decision to remain with Mary – under the protection of her mantle – after previously asking Jesus’ permission to remain with her. She also places the intention of going to him at her command. She says, “I will” five times and describes what she will do for Jesus. We in our imaginations can see her physically standing in the gap for the Blessed Mother and bringing him all of her love, affections and kisses united with her own and placing them in each of his wounds. Then we see her returning to Mary bringing his kisses to console her in her own sufferings.

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Luisa is torn between two lovers, Jesus and his Blessed Mother. We can sense the tug of her heart to be with them both. Her heart pounds perhaps because she does not know what challenges she will find when she catches up with Jesus, but nevertheless she still wishes to go to him, regardless of the cost to her.

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She asks the Blessed Mother for her blessing, not just an ordinary blessing but a maternal one thereby affirming her as her mother. She also wants the blessing she gave to Jesus. In our hearts we hear her say, “I bless you, O daughter,” a blessing to sustain her as she takes her leave and in her journey with Jesus throughout his passion.

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We also are invited to be part of this sorrowful scene and fused in Divine Will we unite with Luisa and also receive the Blessed Mother’s blessing. May we allow the Holy Spirit to guide and inspire us to repair and minister to both the hearts of Jesus and Mary in our unique ways.

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“My Sweet Jesus, Love directs me toward Your steps and I reach You, as You walk along the streets of Jerusalem together with Your beloved disciples. I look at You and I see You still pale. I hear Your voice, sweet, yes, but sad—so much as to break the heart of Your disciples, who feel troubled.

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‘This is the last time,’ You say, ―that I walk along these streets by Myself. Tomorrow I will walk through them, bound and dragged among a thousand insults.’ And pointing out the places where You will be most insulted and tortured, You continue to speak, ‘My Life down here is about to set, just as the Sun is now setting, and tomorrow at this hour I will no longer be here! But, like the Sun, I will Rise again on the third day!’

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At Your words, the apostles become sad and taciturn, not knowing what to answer. But You add, ‘Courage, do not lose heart; I will not leave you, I will be always with you. But it is necessary that I die for the good of you all.'”

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Reflection:

In these few lines we see the promptness of Luisa in responding to Love and going to Jesus to be with him. Love is both what calls and drives her. She know his steps will lead to Calvary and that it will be a tough road but Love doesn’t know separation. Her focus is only on seeking Jesus and she finds him and his disciples walking along the streets of Jerusalem.

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We can imagine her walking alongside Jesus and in joining her we observe him still pale from the harrowing separation from his mother and all it entailed. His voice also breaks from the memory of the evening, so much as to deeply trouble his disciples. He is already showing the signs of his passion in his physical body and because He wears his heart on his sleeve cannot hide it from his disciples. They become troubled, because whatever impression they had of him previously, it was not one of weakness, and to see this change must have been very concerning for them.

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The Divine Will however is in charge and It urges him on.

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He says this is the last time He will walk along these familiar streets and this news also troubles his disciples. We also can identify with that scene when we keep someone company in the last few hours of their life, or we may also sometimes remember being in familiar places with loved ones who are no longer with us, but whose memory those places evoke. The disciples no doubt would walk along those streets in the future, if not the following day, because as the gospels tell us, they all deserted him.

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He knew what his suffering was going to entail, and while He would walk those streets on the following day, He would not be surrounded by his friends and by love as He was then. Instead He would be surrounded by his enemies and by hate. He knew the disciples would abandon him in his hour of need. His focus however, was not on himself but on encouraging them. He told them to persevere and that He would never leave them, He would be with them always.

  

We are also called to respond similarly when we sense the call of Love from someone in whom Jesus lives. It is easier if we know the person, but when we don’t, perhaps we react hesitantly and weigh up the situation out of fear or self-centeredness. If we wish to live in the Divine Will we must be prepared to deny ourselves and to share in his sorrows and sufferings just as Luisa and the Blessed Mother did, and the little acts we do while fused in Divine Will, will be transformed into Divine Acts. “Take up your cross and follow me.” Mt 16:24

 

We also need to believe firmly that He is always with us no matter what our circumstances. Worldly joy depends on events but the joy of the Lord comes from knowing and believing that He is ever present. Even if we fall away from him, He is always there waiting for us to turn back.

 

A prayer:

Dear Jesus, fused in Divine Will, we pray for the grace to deny our human will and keeping our eyes on You, be willing to follow You step by step…. in good and not so good times. Amen.

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"In saying these words, You are moved, but with trembling voice You continue to instruct them. And before enclosing Yourself in the cenacle, You look at the sun which is setting, just as Your Life is setting; You offer Your steps for those who find themselves at the setting of their life, giving them the grace to let it set in You, and repairing for those who, in spite of the sorrows and disillusions of life, are obstinate in not wanting to surrender to You.

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Then You look at Jerusalem again, the centre of Your Prodigies and of the Predilections of Your Heart—Jerusalem which, in return, is preparing Your Cross and is sharpening the nails to commit the deicide; and You tremble, Your Heart breaks—and You cry over its destruction.

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With this, You repair for many souls consecrated to You, whom You tried to form with so much Care as portents of Your Love, and they, ungrateful and unrequiting, make You suffer more bitterness! I want to repair together with You, to sweeten the stabbing of Your Heart.

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But I see that You are horrified at the sight of Jerusalem, and withdrawing Your gaze, You enter the cenacle. My Love, hold me tightly to Your Heart, that I may make Your bitterness my own, to offer them together with You. And You, look with pity upon my soul, and pouring Your Love into it—Bless me."

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Reflection:

Here we see Jesus on his way to the cenacle but before doing so he looks at the heavens (sun) the earth (Jerusalem) and takes refuge in souls (in the cenacle). He makes reparation for those who having lived a long life are still closed to his grace. We also can make reparation by uniting our steps with Jesus’ steps for those we know of, and in the name of all, who for one reason or another choose to remain hard hearted. This category can also include those of us who may have lived a good life and are now faced with long term illness, various sufferings or perhaps just the natural process of ageing and we now find it difficult to surrender to the Lord’s will for our lives.

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Jesus had a special place in his heart for Jerusalem, the place He performed many of his teaching and miracles. He makes reparation for the refusal of his word in those who are consecrated to him and upon whom He bestowed special graces. He also sees the physical destruction of the city which was to occur within a few decades.

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He is horrified at the sight of Jerusalem, the sight of sin, and enters into the cenacle and is surrounded by those He loves and on whom He can pour out his love, including Judas. We also by uniting with Luisa and fusing in Divine Will and clinging tightly to his heart make his bitterness and sadness our own, offer it to the father for all souls who are closed to his grace. We desire to open our hearts to give him relief and allow him to fill us with his love.​

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