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If you want your dream to be, build it slow and surely. Small beginning, greater and heartfelt work grows purely.

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Welcome. This is David Russell and Your Faith Anew. Daily Reflections guiding you to live in the divine will. Today's reflection is from the Book of Heaven by the servant of God Louisa Picaretta, june twelfth, eighteen ninety nine, volume two. Let us begin in the will and name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lord Jesus, as you prepared Loisa to receive you in Holy Communion, prepare our hearts as well. Purify us of all that is not pleasing to you, enlighten our minds with your truth, and sanctify our souls with your grace. Teach us to approach you with humility, gratitude, and complete surrender to your divine will. Amen. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul writes Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person, for the temple of God which you are is holy. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches in Paragraph thirteen eighty seven Preparation for communion should include a lively desire to receive Christ and a respectful attitude and conduct. The bodily demeanor, gestures, clothing ought to convey the respect, solemnity, and joy of this moment when Christ becomes our guest. It also says in paragraph thirteen ninety four as bodily nourishment restores lost strength, so the Eucharist strengthens our charity, which tends to be weakened in daily life. And this living charity wipes away venial sins. As we continue our journey through the Book of Heaven, let us remain attentive to the truth Jesus reveals through Louisa, allowing these lessons to deepen our understanding of life in the divine will. In today's reading, Jesus Himself prepares Loisa's soul to receive him worthily in holy communion. Louisa writes This morning, having to receive communion, I was praying good Jesus to come to prepare me himself before the confessor would come to celebrate holy mass. Otherwise, how can I receive you being so bad and not disposed? While I was doing this, my Jesus was pleased to come, and in the very act of seeing him, it seemed to me that he did nothing but dart through me with his gazes most pure and sparkling with light. Who can say what those penetrating gazes operated in me? Letting not even the shadow of a little speck escape. It is impossible to say it. Rather, I would have wanted to let all this pass in silence, because the internal operations of grace can hardly be expressed as they are with one's mouth. Rather, it seems that one would counterfeit them. But lady obedience does not want it, and when it is for her, one must close one's eyes and surrender without saying anything else. Otherwise woes everywhere. In fact, since she is a lady, by herself she makes herself be respected. Therefore I continue. In the first gaze, I prayed Jesus to purify me, and so it seemed to me that everything that shadowed my soul was shaken off of it. In the second gaze I prayed him to illuminate me, because what good comes to a precious stone from being pure if it is not sparkling so as to capture the gaze of those who look at it? They will look at it, yes, but with an indifferent eye. Much more was I in need of that light, which would not only render my soul resplendent, but would make me understand the great action I was about to do, since I was not only to be looked at, but identified with my sweet Jesus. Therefore, it was not enough for me to be purged, but also illuminated. So in that gaze Jesus seemed to penetrate through me just as the light of the sun penetrates through crystal. After this, seeing that Jesus continued to look at me, I said to him, Most loving Jesus, since you were pleased first to purge me and then to illuminate me, be so kind now as to sanctify me. More so since I have to receive you, you are the holy of holies, and therefore it is not right that I would be so different from you. So, always benign toward this miserable one, Jesus leaned toward me, took my soul in his arms, and seemed to retouch it all over with his own hands. Who can say what those touches of those creative hands operated in me? How my passions, at those touches put themselves in their place. My desires, inclinations, affections, heartbeats, and my other senses sanctified by those divine touches, changed into something wholly other, and united among themselves, no longer clashing as before, formed a sweet harmony for the hearing of my dear Jesus. It seemed to me that they were like many rays of light which wounded his adorable heart. Oh how Jesus amused himself, and what happy moments those have been for me. Ah, I experienced the peace of the saints. It was a paradise of contentments and of delights for me. After this, Jesus seemed to clothe my soul with the garment of faith, of hope, and of charity. And in the very act of clothing me, Jesus whispered to me the way I was to exercise myself in these three virtues. Now, while I was doing this, unleashing another ray of light, Jesus made me understand my nothingness. Ah, I seem to be a grain of sand in the midst of a most extensive sea, which is God. And this little grain went to dissolve itself inside that immense sea. It dissolved in God. Then he transported me outside of myself, carrying me in his arms, and kept whispering to me various acts of contrition for my sins. I only remember that I have been an abyss of iniquities. Lord, oh how many awful ingratitudes I have had toward you. While I was doing this, I looked at Jesus. He had the crown of thorns on his head. I stretched out my hand and I removed it from him, saying, Give the thorns to me, O Jesus, for I am a sinner. The thorns befit me, not you. You are the just one, the holy one. So Jesus himself drove it onto my head. Then, I don't know how, I saw the confessor from afar. Immediately I prayed to Jesus that he would go to prepare the confessor to be able to receive him at communion, and Jesus seemed to go to Father. After a little while he came back and told me I want the way you deal with me and with the confessor to be one, and I want the same from him. He must look at you and deal with you as if you were another me, because since you are victim as I was, I want no difference at all, and this, so that everything may be purged, and my love alone may shine in everything. I said to him, Lord, this seems impossible that I may deal with a confessor as one does with you, especially in seeing the instability and Jesus yet it is so true virtue, true love makes everything disappear, destroys everything, and with enchanting mastery makes God alone shine through all of its operations, and it looks at everything in God. After this, the confessor came to call me to obedience, and then celebrate Holy Mass, and so it ended. Then I listened to Holy Mass and I received communion. Now who can say the intimacy that passed between Jesus and me? It is impossible to manifest it. I have no words to make myself understood. Therefore, I let it pass in silence. This incredible passage reveals that preparation for receiving Jesus is not merely a human effort. It is ultimately the work of Jesus Himself. Louisa approaches him with humility, aware of her weakness and unworthiness. Rather than relying on herself, she asks Jesus to prepare her soul. What follows is a remarkable description of the action of grace. First, Jesus purifies. Then he illuminates. Finally, he sanctifies. These three movements are also part of our own spiritual journey. The Lord removes what darkens the soul, fills it with his light, and then transforms it through his grace. The more we surrender to him, the more he is able to accomplish this work within us. Notice that after receiving these graces, Louisa becomes increasingly aware of her nothingness before God. Authentic holiness does not produce pride, it produces humility. The closer we come to the infinite holiness of God, the more we recognize that everything good comes from him. This reading also teaches us something important about living in the divine will. Jesus desires that every faculty of the soul, our desires, thoughts, affections, heartbeats, and actions be brought into harmony under his reign. Before his touch, Louisa describes these faculties as clashing with one another. After his touch, they form a beautiful harmony pleasing to God. Living in the divine will is not primarily about extraordinary experiences. It is about allowing Jesus to bring order where there is disorder, light where there is darkness, and peace where there is conflict. When we begin our day by inviting Jesus to act within us, He gradually accomplishes in us what we cannot accomplish alone. Perhaps today we can imitate Louisa's prayer before communion, before prayer, or before any important duty. Instead of relying on our own strength, we can simply ask Jesus, prepare me yourself. That humble request opens the door for grace to do its work. Let us pray. Lord Jesus, we thank you for the loving care you showed toward every soul that seeks you sincerely. Just as you purified, illuminated, and sanctified Louisa, we ask you to do the same for us. Remove whatever casts a shadow upon our souls. Shine your light into the hidden places of our hearts. Touch every desire, affection, thought, and action, so that all may be ordered according to your divine will. Clothe us in faith, hope, and charity. Teach us true humility, so that we may recognize our dependence upon you in all things. Prepare us to receive you worthily in the Eucharist, and help us to live each day united with your divine life. May your love alone shine in our thoughts, our words and our actions, and may every heartbeat become a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to you. We ask this in your holy name. Amen. Thank you for joining your faith anew today. Jesus teaches us that the path to holiness begins with humility and surrender. Allow him to purify, illuminate, and sanctify your soul, and trust him to accomplish in you what you cannot accomplish on your own. Until tomorrow, stay in his will, and your faith will be made anew.