Passage From Sister Faustina

[JMartyr73340]

Hello Everybody:

My mother is a big fan of Sister Faustina, and especially her diary. I found an interesting passage from her diary in a magazine called “Michael”. I was wondering what people thought of it:

"I want to be completely transformed into Your Mercy and to be Your living reflection, O Lord.

…Help me, O Lord, that my eyes may be merciful, so that I may never suspect or judge by appearances, but look for what is beautiful in my neighbors’ souls and come to their rescue.

…Help me, O Lord, that my tongue may be merciful,** so that I should never speak negatively of my neighbor, but have a word of comfort for all**"

Quite frankly, I don’t like that last line. To me it sounds like a good definition of political correctness. Jesus warned us not to to be like “a reed blowing in the wind”: a person who always says different things depending on who they’re with, merely to please them. Furthermore, Jesus had a lot harsh things to say about a lot people:

"Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. 'Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.” (Matthew 11:20-24)

Jesus is condemning entire towns in this passage! But,I suppose this can be interpreted in many different ways.

My personal gripe with what Faustina said has to do with the current moral state of our society. I feel like our society is in deep denial about its own sinfulness. It’s big on social justice (helping the poor and the needy) but doesn’t care at all about personal behavior. I mean, look at the Democratic Party. They want to help the poor (so they say) but they could care less about abortion, fornication, prostitution, sodomy, pornography, contraception, drug use, etc. And they’re constantly trying to shut everyone up about this stuff. That being the case, I think we need more people who are going to call people out for their bad behavior.

As Chesterton said, “We must not damn anyone; but we must always remind them that they’re damnable”

I don’t know…what do you guys think?

 

[AnneElizabeth]

I see how it could seem like that last line appears to be sanctioning political correctness, but I see it more in lines of what some of St. Paul’s letters say to encourage and lift others… that doesn’t mean find something to flatter another about.

There’s a bit difference between flattery (which is political correctness if you ask me) and someone finding an encouraging word to share with someone who needs it. Your encouraging word should be true, not falsehood as that is not encouraging, but lies for the sake of flattery or feel-good-ness. “niceness” is not encouraging. Its just glib, superficial. Encouraging word sees the problem reaches to the soul and lifts it to God in truth.

Is this helpful? Did I understand correctly?

 

[Dorothy]

The bolded part of St. Faustina’s message does not mean that you shouldn’t call sin what it is. Our Lord Jesus Christ wants us to stand up for correct morals (peaceful demonstrations of prayer at abortion clinics, etc.) and to correct others in a loving way when necessary, for instance…“Dear grandchild, I love you, but don’t agree with you living with your boyfriend.”

Sometimes people are irritable and it can be a trial to be with them. We can try to be upbeat and change the subject. But it wouldn’t be good to go around telling others that the person is a grouch, and you can’t stand him/her.

 

[mommy_k]

St. Faustina is right.

There is a problem with being either too lax or too hard.

Can you imagine telling a sinner-- that’s not a sin (when it clearly is) or telling a sinner–that’s it! Your’e going to hell.

Neither is the right way and neither would bring people to Jesus and the church.

We are to offer comfort even to people who are doing wrong and show them Jesus’ mercy by speaking kindly and lead them to the church.

 

[JMartyr73340]

St. Faustina is right.

We are to offer comfort even to people who are doing wrong and show them Jesus’ mercy by speaking kindly and lead them to the church.

I don’t know if this is correct. For example, regarding unrepentant sinners Jesus said:

"But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” (Matthew 18:17).

Tax collectors where despised and shunned in Jesus time, because they worked for the Romans and hence were considered traitors. I think this passage would also apply to unrepentant gentiles, such as the homosexuals in a gay-pride parade

As I quoted above, Jesus told the people of two towns, directly, that they were condemned to hell for their failure to repent. You can’t just ignore this passage and pretend it never happened.

Jesus was certainly very hard on the Pharisees for their sinfulness and lack of repentance:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness…”
(Matthew 23:27)

Jesus called the money changers in the temple “Robbers” and used violence to make his point:

"On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.” (Mark 11:15-17)

Sorry, but this man Jesus does not seem to be following Sister Faustina’s advice to "never speak negatively of my neighbor, but have a word of comfort for all." Quite the opposite, He seems to be a person who just says what’s on His mind.

 

[littlestsouls2]

“Negatively of”, not negatively to. I always took “negatively” to mean “uncharitably.” Sometimes charity requires us to use “cannonballs” (St. Padre Pio), but we must do so with love.

St. Faustina is far from politically correct. She wrote, for example - under obedience - of the horrors of Hell, which await a large number of those who reject its existence.

I think she was saying that, rather than speaking uncharitably behind our neighbour’s back, we should be charitable and kind in our dealings with them. Maybe it is even a poor translation, but I hesitate to make such an assertion.

 

[JMartyr73340]

“Negatively of”, not negatively to. I always took “negatively” to mean “uncharitably.” Sometimes charity requires us to use “cannonballs” (St. Padre Pio), but we must do so with love.

As long as we are ready to confront evil in our society and warn people that they are on the path to hell, I have no problem.

The mercy of God and the fear of God are both virtues that co-exist together in every Holy Person. You must be careful not to overemphasize one virtue so much that the other disappears. If you overemphasize the mercy of God, you can fall into the sin of Presumption (I’m definitely going to heaven no matter what sin I do) and indifference to sin (God doesn’t really care if I sin right now, He’ll forgive me). When you overemphasize the mercy of God you destroy the fear of God.

Luther overemphasized the mercy of God when he said that all people are saved by “faith alone” (Sola Fide). Luther indirectly implied in this doctrine that the mercy of God is so great that no mortal sin can really lead to the damnation of a Christian.

She wrote, for example - under obedience - of the horrors of Hell, which await a large number of those who reject its existence.

So did Luther. He believed all people who reject Christ will suffer eternal torments. But if you overemphasize the mercy of God, it no longer matters. You don’t need to fear hell because God will never send you there. I can sin because the mercy of God is so great.

I believe this danger of overemphasizing the mercy God also lies in some of Faustina writings. For example, some of her writings imply that even if you are in a state of mortal sin at the moment of death, God will still offer you mercy and forgiveness. As far as I know, this is not true. Again, it sounds like Luther’s doctrine of Sola Fide (being saved by faith alone).

It is also worth noting that many clergy in the past expressed reservations about Faustina’s diary; which is different from the devotion itself. The quotes below are taken from a website that was *defending *The Divine Mercy. I personally think it should be taken as a warning: don’t take Faustina’s diary at face value (aka literally):

“Cardinal Ottaviani, then head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, attempted to persuade Pope Pius XII to sign a letter condemning the Divine Mercy devotion as written by Sr. Faustina. Instead, the diary was placed on the Index of Prohibited Books. This is not the same thing as a condemnation. This same pope, incidentally, blessed an Image of the Divine Mercy in Rome on 24 June 1956. Not exactly the action of one preparing to condemn this devotion.”

The devotion was not condemned (I say it very often) but **the diary ** was still a concern.

“Furthermore, Pope John XXIII did not “condemn” the diary or the devotion either. However, the Holy Office under his direction forbade circulation of “images and writings that promote devotion to Divine Mercy in the forms proposed by Sister Faustina.” Suppression of the devotion is not the same thing as condemnation.”

Again, the devotion is Ok, but the writings of Faustina need to be approached with caution.

 

[littlestsouls2]

As long as we are ready to confront evil in our society and warn people that they are on the path to hell, I have no problem.

The mercy of God and the fear of God are both virtues that co-exist together in every Holy Person. You must be careful not to overemphasize one virtue so much that the other disappears. If you overemphasize the mercy of God, you can fall into the sin of Presumption (I’m definitely going to heaven no matter what sin I do) and indifference to sin (God doesn’t really care if I sin right now, He’ll forgive me). When you overemphasize the mercy of God you destroy the fear of God.

Luther overemphasized the mercy of God when he said that all people are saved by “faith alone” (Sola Fide). Luther indirectly implied in this doctrine that the mercy of God is so great that no mortal sin can really lead to the damnation of a Christian.

So did Luther. He believed all people who reject Christ will suffer eternal torments. But if you overemphasize the mercy of God, it no longer matters. You don’t need to fear hell because God will never send you there. I can sin because the mercy of God is so great.

I believe this danger of overemphasizing the mercy God also lies in some of Faustina writings. For example, some of her writings imply that even if you are in a state of mortal sin at the moment of death, God will still offer you mercy and forgiveness. As far as I know, this is not true. Again, it sounds like Luther’s doctrine of Sola Fide (being saved by faith alone).

It is also worth noting that many clergy in the past expressed reservations about Faustina’s diary; which is different from the devotion itself. The quotes below are taken from a website that was *defending *The Divine Mercy. I personally think it should be taken as a warning: don’t take Faustina’s diary at face value (aka literally):

“Cardinal Ottaviani, then head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, attempted to persuade Pope Pius XII to sign a letter condemning the Divine Mercy devotion as written by Sr. Faustina. Instead, the diary was placed on the Index of Prohibited Books. This is not the same thing as a condemnation. This same pope, incidentally, blessed an Image of the Divine Mercy in Rome on 24 June 1956. Not exactly the action of one preparing to condemn this devotion.”

The devotion was not condemned (I say it very often) but **the diary ** was still a concern.

“Furthermore, Pope John XXIII did not “condemn” the diary or the devotion either. However, the Holy Office under his direction forbade circulation of “images and writings that promote devotion to Divine Mercy in the forms proposed by Sister Faustina.” Suppression of the devotion is not the same thing as condemnation.”

Again, the devotion is Ok, but the writings of Faustina need to be approached with caution.

I essentially agree with you; we must speak of God’s justice and His mercy.

The ban on St. Faustina’s diary was due to faulty translations, and has since been lifted. We can read her diary without scruple.

St. Faustina emphasised God’s mercy. Other Saints emphasised Divine Justice. Given the horrors of the 20th century, it seems fitting that God chose to emphasise His mercy to sinful humanity - at a time when many would be tempted to doubt God’s existence or His love.

St. Faustina encourages us to pray for the dying; this is admirable. She doesn’t say that deathbed conversions are the norm. Her writings are very similar to a number of other women whose holiness has been recognised by the Church.

 

[Dorothy]

I essentially agree with you; we must speak of God’s justice and His mercy.

The ban on St. Faustina’s diary was due to faulty translations, and has since been lifted. We can read her diary without scruple.

St. Faustina emphasised God’s mercy. Other Saints emphasised Divine Justice. Given the horrors of the 20th century, it seems fitting that God chose to emphasise His mercy to sinful humanity - at a time when many would be tempted to doubt God’s existence or His love.

St. Faustina encourages us to pray for the dying; this is admirable. She doesn’t say that deathbed conversions are the norm. Her writings are very similar to a number of other women whose holiness has been recognised by the Church.

Thank you for your post!

 

[JMartyr73340]

I was saying the Divine Mercy yesterday and I was thinking maybe Sister Faustina and Jesus did not like this thread. I certainly don’t want to upset either of them. Please do not think I am discouraging the saying of the devotion; or even the reading of the diary. I simply believe that many lines in the diary need to be approached with caution.

The ban on St. Faustina’s diary was due to faulty translations, and has since been lifted. We can read her diary without scruple.

It wasn’t just that. There were also concerns about the content itself. Her theological statements are sometimes confusing and even controversial.

Given the horrors of the 20th century, it seems fitting that God chose to emphasize His mercy.

He didn’t necessarily say this. Sister Faustina just said He did. Which brings me to an important point.The lifting of the Vatican ban is not a blanket approval to claim that everything in Sister Faustina’s diary came from the mouth of Jesus. That would make it more authoritative than even the Gospels.

The horrors done in the name of tolerance, equality, and sexual liberation in the 21st century (million of babies mutilated in the womb and their body part used for scientific experimentation) is far more horrific than what happened to the Jews in the 20th.

People in the 21st century are passionate about defending the rights of Sodomites to do Sodomy. They want to make Sodomy a Holy sacrament. We’re becoming exactly like Sodom. Ya, it all rhymes.

Europe and North America are in total denial about their own sinfulness. You know, the Muslims use to emulate and admire the Christian West. They wore Western clothing and watched Western television. But in the 70s they decided that Western culture was going off a moral cliff. In response they decided to radicalize. They have now lost all respect for both Western society and Christianity. And who can blame them? Christians allow sodomy parades. Christians allow abortion mills. All Christian children are drinking, fornicating and watching porn.

But none of that matters. We can all rely on God’s** infinite, unconditional, freely given** mercy - so don’t worry! Jesus loves us! There is no need to fear God’s judgement. A loving God does not punish. Jesus has no wrath. He’s just like Buddha the Compassionate.

Sarcasm aside, I am not saying that Sister Faustina was wrong to emphasize God’s mercy. I am saying that this is the attitude of our society today. Even many Catholics think this way. We are in a very serious moral/religious crisis, and most Catholics are saying: “Don’t worry about it, God is merciful”

You see, emphasizing God’s mercy in a time when nobody gives a frig about holiness and purity doesn’t make any sense to me at all. I can understand emphasizing God’s mercy in a society that was scrupulous and paranoid about going to hell. This is the exact opposite of what we have in our society today. Nobody cares. Even most Catholics think it’s impossible to go to hell, and never discuss the subject.

St. Faustina emphasised God’s mercy. Other Saints emphasised Divine Justice…

Then maybe she is not the saint for our time (aka her writings). We need to focus on Divine Justice, because that’s exactly what’s coming down on us if we don’t change - and it’s not going to be pretty.

I love Sister Faustina and I love St. Francis. But we can’t emphasize God’s mercy too much and ignore his wrath. That’s all I’m saying. We have to re-instill the fear of God into our society. This is the “Year of Mercy”. I’m fine with that. The next year needs to be the “Year of FEAR and TREMBLING”.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom…” (Proverbs 9:10).

 

[littlestsouls2]

It wasn’t just that. There were also concerns about the content itself. Her theological statements are sometimes confusing and even controversial.

I have never heard this from any authority. I am not doubting you, but do you have any reference(s) for this assertion?

He didn’t necessarily say this. Sister Faustina just said He did. Which brings me to an important point.The lifting of the Vatican ban is not a blanket approval to claim that everything in Sister Faustina’s diary came from the mouth of Jesus. That would make it more authoritative than even the Gospels.

Absolutely.

The horrors done in the name of tolerance, equality, and sexual liberation in the 21st century (million of babies mutilated in the womb and their body part used for scientific experimentation) is far more horrific than what happened to the Jews in the 20th.

People in the 21st century are passionate about defending the rights of Sodomites to do Sodomy. They want to make Sodomy a Holy sacrament. We’re becoming exactly like Sodom. Ya, it all rhymes.

Europe and North America are in total denial about their own sinfulness. You know, the Muslims use to emulate and admire the Christian West. They wore Western clothing and watched Western television. But in the 70s they decided that Western culture was going off a moral cliff. In response they decided to radicalize. They have now lost all respect for both Western society and Christianity. And who can blame them? Christians allow sodomy parades. Christians allow abortion mills. All Christian children are drinking, fornicating and watching porn.

But none of that matters. We can all rely on God’s** infinite, unconditional, freely given** mercy - so don’t worry! Jesus loves us! There is no need to fear God’s judgement. A loving God does not punish. Jesus has no wrath. He’s just like Buddha the Compassionate.

Sarcasm aside, I am not saying that Sister Faustina was wrong to emphasize God’s mercy. I am saying that this is the attitude of our society today. Even many Catholics think this way. We are in a very serious moral/religious crisis, and most Catholics are saying: “Don’t worry about it, God is merciful”

You see, emphasizing God’s mercy in a time when nobody gives a frig about holiness and purity doesn’t make any sense to me at all. I can understand emphasizing God’s mercy in a society that was scrupulous and paranoid about going to hell. This is the exact opposite of what we have in our society today. Nobody cares. Even most Catholics think it’s impossible to go to hell, and never discuss the subject.

You are right; we live in a wicked generation. And yes, there is a great need to talk about God’s justice. As St. Padre Pio said, the holy fear of God is what is most lacking in our times. The Diary of St. Faustina is not enough by itself alone. Personally, I think we need a combination of St. Faustina and St. Bridget of Sweden.

Remember: St. Faustina’s diary is a call to repentance (without which we cannot receive mercy). Her mission was to make known the mercy of God. She has done this admirably. Similarly, God used St. Therese, a Doctor of the Church, to make known the “little way” of trust and abandonment. We should be careful not to detract from their message; rather, we should see it for what it is, realising that it is not the definitive tool for evangelism. I think we can both agree on that.

St. Faustina: "…I saw two roads. One was broad, covered with sand and flowers, full of joy, music and all sorts of pleasures. People were walking along it, dancing and enjoying themselves. They reached the end without realizing it. And at the end of the road there was a horrible precipice; that is, the abyss of hell. The souls fell blindly into it; as they walked, so they fell. And their number was so great that it was impossible to count them. And I saw the other road, or rather, a path, for it was narrow and strewn with thorns and rocks; and the people who walked along it had tears in their eyes, and all kinds of suffering befell them. Some fell down upon the rocks, but stood up immediately and went on. At the end of the road there was a magnificent garden filled with all sorts of happiness and all these souls entered there. At the very first instant they forgot all their sufferings.” (Diary, 153).

Then maybe she is not the saint for our time (aka her writings). We need to focus on Divine Justice, because that’s exactly what’s coming down on us if we don’t change - and it’s not going to be pretty.

We need both.

I love Sister Faustina and I love St. Francis. But we can’t emphasize God’s mercy too much and ignore his wrath. That’s all I’m saying. We have to re-instill the fear of God into our society. This is the “Year of Mercy”. I’m fine with that. The next year needs to be the “Year of FEAR and TREMBLING”.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom…” (Proverbs 9:10).

Absolutely.

“There are souls who thwart My efforts (Diary, 1682). Souls without love or devotion, souls full of egoism and selfishness, proud and arrogant souls full of deceit and hypocrisy, lukewarm souls who have just enough warmth to keep themselves alive: My Heart cannot bear this.” (Diary, 1702).

 

[JMartyr73340]

We need both.

We don’t have both. Not only do we not have both, we are only focusing on the ones we don’t really need. Sorry, I know you’re trying to be diplomatic here. So am I, but I think you’re missing my point.

We need to focus on saints who emphasized what our society is lacking; and not focus too much on saints who emphasized what our society has an abundance of. This is common sense. For example, if you have a society that is obsessed with social justice and helping the poor, then we don’t need to overplay Mother Teresa. If that same society has abandoned all sexual morality, then we need to focus more on saints that emphasized sexual morality (common sense).

Right now, we are doing the opposite. We are concentrating too much on saints who emphasized mercy (Faustina, Francis, Therese), and practically none who emphasized the Fear of God. Even if these “mercy saints” did, occasionally, talk about the fear of hell and the need to confront evil, we don’t talk about it; because their primary ministry, as you said, was focused on the opposite: mercy, abandonment, kindness, empathy etc.

The passages about Hell from Faustina are wonderful, but her focus, as you said, was the “Mercy of God” (these passages about hell are rarely mentioned by her devotees). This is why I said I don’t think she is the best saint for our time; because her emphasis (mercy) is not what our society is lacking.

Both the secular and religious people in our society today are oozing with mercy and compassion for the poor and the degenerate. They want to free murderers and rapists from prison. They hate institutions that make moral judgments. They want to be free from moral rules (Libertarians). Nobody has the right to judge anyone; not even judges.

Even the Communists and the Atheists in our time, who despise Catholicism for not accepting gay marriage, are zealous about helping the poor and being nice to other people:** “…never speak negatively of [your] neighbor, but have a word of comfort for all”. ** This describes their moral philosophy exactly. Great. Wonderful. These people believe in mercy and kindness. It’s not broken, so we don’t need to fix it.

In fact. our society is so obsessed with mercy and kindness that it no longer believes in correcting others, or even saying something negative to them. This is a sin; the only sin they acknowledge. Even many Catholics have fallen for this Buddhist error. I believe Sister Faustina may have as well, to some extent. The secular society is engaging in all sort of wicked behavior, mainly because nobody is talking about it and nobody is confronting it. And passages like this:

"…Help me, O Lord, that my tongue may be merciful, so that I should never speak negatively of my neighbor, but have a word of comfort for all"

are not helping the matter. I’m sure Faustina meant well. We need to be charitable in certain situations. But the times we are living in now is not one of those situations. For example, Dorthy, one of the ladies who replied to me above, said that if her granddaughter was living with her boyfriend, she would tell her this:

"“Dear grandchild, I love you, but don’t agree with you living with your boyfriend.”

Sorry, but this reply is scary. It lacks conviction and plays-down the spiritual danger of fornication. You need to lovingly warn your grandchild that living in a state of mortal sin leads to damnation. And you need to say it with conviction, so that she knows you sincerely believe it. This wishy-washy, “I don’t agree with you” just doesn’t cut it. You should also warn your grandchild that if she does not stop living in this state of mortal sin (which will put her in hell if she dies tomorrow in a car accident) then you will immediately cut off all financial help and never talk to her again.

Ya, we need some real, old-fashioned Catholic grandmothers who will put the fear of God into this wicked generation.

 

[JMartyr73340]

“There are souls who thwart My efforts. Souls without love or devotion, souls full of egoism and selfishness, proud and arrogant souls full of deceit and hypocrisy, lukewarm souls who have just enough warmth to keep themselves alive: My Heart cannot bear this.” (Diary, 1702).

“Help me, O Lord, that my eyes may be merciful, so that I may never suspect or judge by appearances, but look for what is beautiful in my neighbors’ souls and come to their rescue.”

“Help me, O Lord, that my tongue may be merciful, so that I should never speak negatively of my neighbor, but have a word of comfort for all.”

 

[littlestsouls2]

We don’t have both. Not only do we not have both, we are only focusing on the ones we don’t really need. Sorry, I know you’re trying to be diplomatic here. So am I, but I think you’re missing my point.

We need to focus on saints who emphasized what our society is lacking; and not focus too much on saints who emphasized what our society has an abundance of. This is common sense. For example, if you have a society that is obsessed with social justice and helping the poor, then we don’t need to overplay Mother Teresa. If that same society has abandoned all sexual morality, then we need to focus more on saints that emphasized sexual morality (common sense).

Right now, we are doing the opposite. We are concentrating too much on saints who emphasized mercy (Faustina, Francis, Therese), and practically none who emphasized the Fear of God. Even if these “mercy saints” did, occasionally, talk about the fear of hell and the need to confront evil, we don’t talk about it; because their primary ministry, as you said, was focused on the opposite: mercy, abandonment, kindness, empathy etc.

The passages about Hell from Faustina are wonderful, but her focus, as you said, was the “Mercy of God” (these passages about hell are rarely mentioned by her devotees). This is why I said I don’t think she is the best saint for our time; because her emphasis (mercy) is not what our society is lacking.

Both the secular and religious people in our society today are oozing with mercy and compassion for the poor and the degenerate. They want to free murderers and rapists from prison. They hate institutions that make moral judgments. They want to be free from moral rules (Libertarians). Nobody has the right to judge anyone; not even judges.

Even the Communists and the Atheists in our time, who despise Catholicism for not accepting gay marriage, are zealous about helping the poor and being nice to other people:** “…never speak negatively of [your] neighbor, but have a word of comfort for all”. ** This describes their moral philosophy exactly. Great. Wonderful. These people believe in mercy and kindness. It’s not broken, so we don’t need to fix it.

In fact. our society is so obsessed with mercy and kindness that it no longer believes in correcting others, or even saying something negative to them. This is a sin; the only sin they acknowledge. Even many Catholics have fallen for this Buddhist error. I believe Sister Faustina may have as well, to some extent. The secular society is engaging in all sort of wicked behavior, mainly because nobody is talking about it and nobody is confronting it. And passages like this:

"…Help me, O Lord, that my tongue may be merciful, so that I should never speak negatively of my neighbor, but have a word of comfort for all"

are not helping the matter. I’m sure Faustina meant well. We need to be charitable in certain situations. But the times we are living in now is not one of those situations. For example, Dorthy, one of the ladies who replied to me above, said that if her granddaughter was living with her boyfriend, she would tell her this:

"“Dear grandchild, I love you, but don’t agree with you living with your boyfriend.”

Sorry, but this reply is scary. It lacks conviction and plays-down the spiritual danger of fornication. You need to lovingly warn your grandchild that living in a state of mortal sin leads to damnation. And you need to say it with conviction, so that she knows you sincerely believe it. This wishy-washy, “I don’t agree with you” just doesn’t cut it. You should also warn your grandchild that if she does not stop living in this state of mortal sin (which will put her in hell if she dies tomorrow in a car accident) then you will immediately cut off all financial help and never talk to her again.

Ya, we need some real, old-fashioned Catholic grandmothers who will put the fear of God into this wicked generation.

I understand you; I acknowledged that we are lacking the holy fear of God, as a society (and therefore as individuals).

My initial intention was to offer a different interpretation of St. Faustina to your own; that is all. I don’t disagree with your subsequent comments on sin, justice etc.

When St. Faustina says that she must “never suspect or judge by appearances,” I believe she is referring to Our Lord’s injunction to “judge not” i.e. don’t judge intentions. Certainly we must call a spade a spade; I think St. Faustina would agree with this.

I’m guessing you appreciate St. Alphonsus Liguori? … I do, too! I completely agree that we need more sermons like his.

 

[JMartyr73340]

Hello Everybody:

I’d like to apologize for this thread, especially to littlesouls2. I think I made a mountain out of a molehill. Sister Faustina just made an innocent comment in her diary and I jumped on it. I would like the moderator to erase this thread, if possible

Please understand that I’m not in a good/charitable mood. I’m getting frustrated with the secular culture up here in Canada. One our greatest Canadian Apologists, who I followed for years, recently converted to Anglicanism and is now attacking the Church. On top of that, one my best friends, who is a seminarian, recently got a poor evaluation for being “too traditional”.

All this put me in a mindset where I was unreasonably attacking everything I perceived to be “liberal”. I think I realized I went over the line when I attacked Sister Faustina. I think there was big element of pride in this as well…

Please continue to read Sister Faustina’s Diary **and ignore everything I said! **

 

[Dorothy]

Hello Everybody:

I’d like to apologize for this thread, especially to littlesouls2. I think I made a mountain out of a molehill. Sister Faustina just made an innocent comment in her diary and I jumped on it. I would like the moderator to erase this thread, if possible

Please understand that I’m not in a good/charitable mood. I’m getting frustrated with the secular culture up here in Canada. One our greatest Canadian Apologists, who I followed for years, recently converted to Anglicanism and is now attacking the Church. On top of that, one my best friends, who is a seminarian, recently got a poor evaluation for being “too traditional”.

All this put me in a mindset where I was unreasonably attacking everything I perceived to be “liberal”. I think I realized I went over the line when I attacked Sister Faustina. I think there was big element of pride in this as well…

Please continue to read Sister Faustina’s Diary **and ignore everything I said! **

Dear JMartyr,

I want you to know that I do appreciate your (name removed by moderator)ut, in spite of the fact that I was startled by your description of how I should approach a family member who was living with her boyfriend, and that my approach was wrong. .

I do believe that prayerful discernment is necessary, and then with the grace of the Holy Spirit I should go forth more boldly, (yet calmly in explaining why one should not be doing what they are doing.

This is something that I still ponder about, and with the help of a dear friend of mine we started to get together to share and pray how to speak the truth in love to our family, friends, and also our enemies.

Thank you for your humble expression in your message. Let us all pray and ponder together on how to articulate truth to others.

I certainly appreciate the insight and wisdom of the saints, and pray to understand correctly what they are saying.

Peace!

Dorothy

 

[JMartyr73340]

Dear JMartyr,
Thank you for your humble expression in our message. Let us all pray and ponder together on how to articulate truth to others.

I certainly appreciate the insight and wisdom of the saints, and pray to understand correctly what they are saying.

Peace!

Dorothy

Thanks Dorthy. I appreciate the feedback. Emotion can sometimes be the enemy of logic and also grace. I think this was an example of that. I should pray for the people in my diocese who I am upset at. I trust Jesus will forgive me for unfairly attacking one of his best servants…

I’ll take this as a growth experience.

God Bless.

JMartyr73340

 

[littlestsouls2]

Hello Everybody:

I’d like to apologize for this thread, especially to littlesouls2. I think I made a mountain out of a molehill. Sister Faustina just made an innocent comment in her diary and I jumped on it. I would like the moderator to erase this thread, if possible

Please understand that I’m not in a good/charitable mood. I’m getting frustrated with the secular culture up here in Canada. One our greatest Canadian Apologists, who I followed for years, recently converted to Anglicanism and is now attacking the Church. On top of that, one my best friends, who is a seminarian, recently got a poor evaluation for being “too traditional”.

All this put me in a mindset where I was unreasonably attacking everything I perceived to be “liberal”. I think I realized I went over the line when I attacked Sister Faustina. I think there was big element of pride in this as well…

Please continue to read Sister Faustina’s Diary **and ignore everything I said! **

All good!

Keep praying for the apologist, and for the evils that afflict your nation in particular. No prayer is lost.

Pax Domine!

 

[JMartyr73340]

All good!

Keep praying for the apologist, and for the evils that afflict your nation in particular. No prayer is lost.

Pax Domine!

Thanks littlestsouls2. Keep up the good work!

 

[Dorothy]

Thanks Dorthy. I appreciate the feedback. Emotion can sometimes be the enemy of logic and also grace. I think this was an example of that. I should pray for the people in my diocese who I am upset at. I trust Jesus will forgive me for unfairly attacking one of his best servants…

I’ll take this as a growth experience.

God Bless.

JMartyr73340

God bless you too!