|
"Similarly, the just soul, for whom life finishes in
the affection of charity and the bonds of love,
cannot increase in virtue, time having come to
naught, but she can always love with that affection
with which she comes to Me, and that measure that is
measured to her.
" She always desires Me, and loves Me, and her desire
is not in vain -- being hungry, she is satisfied, and
being satisfied, she has hunger, but the tediousness
of satiety and the pain of hunger are far from her.
"In love, the Blessed rejoice in My eternal vision,
participating in that good that I have in Myself,
everyone according to his measure, that is that, with
that measure of love, with which they have come to
Me, is it measured to them. Because they have lived
in love of Me and of the neighbor, united together
with the general love, and the particular, which,
moreover, both proceed from the same love.
"And they rejoice and exult, participating in each
other's good with the affection of love, besides the
universal good that they enjoy altogether. And they
rejoice and exult with the angels with whom they are
placed, according to their diverse and various
virtues in the world, being all bound in the bonds of
love.
"And they have a special participation with those
whom they closely loved with particular affection in
the world, with which affection they grew in grace,
increasing virtue, and the one was the occasion to
the other of manifesting the glory and praise of My
name, in themselves and in their neighbor; and, in
the life everlasting, they have not lost their love,
but have it still, participating closely, with more
abundance, the one with the other, their love being
added to the universal good, and I would not that you
should think that they have this particular good, of
which I have told you, for themselves alone, for it
is not so, but it is shared by all the proved
citizens, My beloved sons, and all the angels -- for,
when the soul arrives at eternal life, all
participate in the good of that soul, and the soul in
their good.
"Not that her vessel or theirs can increase, nor that
there be need to fill it, because it is full, but
they have an exultation, a mirthfulness, a jubilee, a
joyousness in themselves, which is refreshed by the
knowledge that they have found in that soul. They see
that, by My mercy, she is raised from the earth with
the plenitude of grace, and therefore they exult in
Me in the good of that soul, which good she has
received through My goodness.
"And that soul rejoices in Me, and in the souls, and
in the blessed spirits, seeing and tasting in them
the beauty and the sweetness of My love. And their
desires forever cry out to Me, for the salvation of
the whole world. And because their life ended in the
love of the neighbor, they have not left it behind,
but, with it, they will pass through the Door, My
only-begotten Son in the way that I will relate to
you.
"So you see that in those bonds of love in which they
finished their life, they go on and remain eternally.
They are conformed so entirely to My will, that they
cannot desire except what I desire, because their
free-will is bound in the bond of love, in such a way
that, time failing them, and, dying in a state of
grace, they cannot sin any more. And their will is so
united with Mine, that a father or a mother seeing
their son, or a son seeing his father or his mother
in Hell, do not trouble themselves, and even are
contented to see them punished as My enemies.
"Wherefore in nothing do they disagree with Me, and
their desires are all satisfied. The desire of the
blessed is to see My honor in you wayfarers, who are
pilgrims, forever running on towards the term of
death. In their desire for My honor, they desire your
salvation, and always pray to Me for you, which
desire is fulfilled by Me, when you ignorant ones do
not resist My mercy.
"They have a desire too, to regain the gifts of their
body, but this desire does not afflict them, as they
do not actually feel it, but they rejoice in tasting
the desire, from the certainty they feel of having it
fulfilled. Their desire does not afflict them,
because, though they have it not yet fulfilled, no
bliss is thereby lacking to them. Wherefore they feel
not the pain of desire. And think not, that the bliss
of the body after the resurrection gives more bliss
to the soul, for, if this were so, it would follow
that, until they had the body, they had imperfect
bliss, which cannot be, because no perfection is
lacking to them.
"So it is not the body that gives bliss to the soul,
but the soul will give bliss to the body, because the
soul will give of her abundance, and will re-clothe
herself on the Last Day of Judgment, in the garments
of her own flesh which she had quitted. For, as the
soul is made immortal, stayed and established in Me,
so the body in that union becomes immortal, and,
having lost heaviness, is made fine and light.
" Wherefore, know that the glorified body can pass
through a wall, and that neither water nor fire can
injure it, not by virtue of itself, but by virtue of
the soul, which virtue is of Me, given to her by
grace, and by the ineffable love with which I created
her in My image and likeness.
"The eye of your intellect is not sufficient to see,
nor your ear to hear, nor your tongue to tell of the
good of the Blessed. Oh, how much delight they have
in seeing Me, who am every good! Oh, how much delight
they will have in being with the glorified body,
though, not having that delight from now to the
general Judgment, they have not, on that account,
pain, because no bliss is lacking to them, the soul
being satisfied in herself, and, as I have told you,
the body will participate in this bliss.
"I told you of the happiness which the glorified body
would take in the glorified humanity of My
only-begotten Son, which gives you assurance of your
resurrection. There, they exult in His wounds, which
have remained fresh, and the Scars in His Body are
preserved, and continually cry for mercy for you, to
Me, the Supreme and Eternal Father. And they are all
conformed with Him, in joyousness and mirth, and you
will all be conformed with Him, eye with eye, and
hand with hand, and with the whole Body of the sweet
Word My Son, and, dwelling in Me, you will dwell in
Him, because He is one thing with Me. But their
bodily eye, as I told you, will delight itself in the
glorified humanity of the Word, My only-begotten Son.
Why so?
"Because their life finished in the affection of My
love, and therefore will this delight endure for them
eternally. Not that they can work any good, but they
rejoice and delight in that good which they have
brought with them, that is, they cannot do any
meritorious act, by which they could merit anything,
because in this life alone can they merit and sin,
according as they please, with free-will.
"These then do not await, with fear, the Divine
judgment, but with joy, and the Face of My Son will
not seem to them terrible, or full of hatred, because
they finished their lives in love and affection for
Me, and good-will towards their neighbor.
"So you see then, that the transformation is not in
His Face, when He comes to judge with My Divine
Majesty, but in the vision of those who will be
judged by Him. To the damned He will appear with
hatred and with justice. And to the saved with love
and mercy."
|