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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, august eleventh, nineteen oh six, volume seven. Let us begin in the will and name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lord Jesus, quiet everything within me that resists your grace. Give me a heart that does not run from you when following you becomes difficult. Teach me to remain close to you with trust, especially when I cannot understand what you're doing. May my whole life become available to your love, and may your holy will find in me a willing and peaceful yes. Amen. A reading from the letter of James, chapter one verses two to four. Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance, and let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing. The catechism of the Catholic Church teaches in Paragraph six hundred eighteen The cross is the unique sacrifice of Christ, the one mediator between God and men. But because in his incarnate divine person he has in some way united himself to every man. The possibility of being made partners in a way known to God in the paschal mystery is offered to all men. He calls his disciples to take up their cross and follow him, for Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example so that we should follow in his steps. In fact, Jesus desires to associate with his redeeming sacrifice those who were to be its first beneficiaries. This is achieved supremely in the case of his mother, who was associated more intimately than any other person in the mystery of his redemptive suffering. Apart from the cross, there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven. There are graces we understand only after we have remained with Jesus long enough to discover what he was accomplishing within us. Louisa writes Finding myself in my usual state, I saw my adorable Jesus with a cross in his hand, all full of white pearls. Giving it to me as gift, he placed it on my breast and it sank into my heart as inside a room. Then he told me, My daughter, the cross is a treasure, and the safest place in which to keep this valuable treasure is in one's own soul. Or rather, it is a safe place when the soul is disposed to receive this treasure with patience, with resignation, and with the other virtues, because the virtues are as many keys that secure it, so as not to spoil it or expose it to thieves. But if it does not find especially the gold key of patience, this treasure will find many thieves who will steal it and spoil it. There is a difference between asking God to remove suffering and asking him not to let suffering separate us from him. The first prayer is entirely human, and Jesus Himself prayed in Geshenime that the cup might pass. Christianity never teaches us to enjoy pain or seek suffering for its own sake, but there comes a moment in the spiritual life when another prayer begins to emerge. Jesus, whatever happens here, keep me with you. That prayer changes something. It doesn't necessarily change the circumstances, it changes the place from which we live it. Saint James speaks with startling confidence about trials because perseverance can bring the Christian to spiritual maturity. Something can be formed in us precisely because we cannot escape immediately. Faith becomes more than an idea. Hope becomes more than optimism. Love becomes more than emotion. We learn to remain. And this is where patience becomes profoundly Christian. Patience is sometimes mistaken for simply waiting without complaining. But Christian patience is much richer. It's steadfastness under grace. It is the decision to continue trusting the Father when his providence is hidden from us. It refuses to measure God's goodness by the comfort of the present moment. Look at Jesus. At Calvary, everything visible seemed to contradict the Father's promises. Yet Christ's obedience did not collapse. His love did not withdraw. He entrusted himself completely to the Father. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph six hundred eighteen teaches us that Christ calls his disciples to participate in his sacrifice. This does not mean that our suffering adds anything lacking to the saving power of the cross. Rather, Jesus gives us the astonishing dignity of being united to Him. What would otherwise be merely endured can become an offering of love. This sheds light on living in the divine will. We often desire God's will when it leads somewhere beautiful. But the deeper surrender comes when we stop placing conditions upon our yes. We allow Jesus to possess not only our joys, prayers, works, and successes, but also the hours we would never have chosen. Perhaps today you're carrying something you wish were different. You don't have to pretend it's easy. You don't have to understand it. You don't even have to feel courageous. You need only remain with Jesus. And sometimes the holiest prayer a suffering heart can offer is simply this. Jesus, I'm still here, and I'm still yours. Let us pray. Jesus, my crucified and risen Lord, I adore you. When life is peaceful, keep me grateful. When life becomes difficult, keep me faithful. I place before you what I would change if the choice were mine. I place before you the questions that remain unanswered and the burdens that have made me tired. Don't let any of them become a wall between my heart and yours. In your divine will, receive everything I'm living and unite it to your perfect love for the Father. Where I'm weak be my strength, where I'm restless be my peace, where I'm tempted to pull away, draw me nearer. Jesus, I don't ask to walk ahead of you and understand the whole road. I ask only for the grace to remain with you. May your will be accomplished in me, through me and around me, for the glory of the Father and for the good of souls. Amen. Thank you for joining your faith anew today. Until tomorrow, stay in his will, and your faith will be made anew.