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The Voice of Christ
My child, when you feel the desire for everlasting
happiness poured out upon you from above, and when
you long to depart out of the tabernacle of the body
that you may contemplate My glory without threat of
change, open wide your heart and receive this holy
inspiration with all eagerness. Give deepest thanks
to the heavenly Goodness which deals with you so
understandingly, visits you so mercifully, stirs you
so fervently, and sustains you so powerfully lest
under your own weight you sink down to earthly
things. For you obtain this not by your own thought
or effort, but simply by the condescension of
heavenly grace and divine regard. And the purpose of
it is that you may advance in virtue and in greater
humility, that you may prepare yourself for future
trials, that you may strive to cling to Me with all
the affection of your heart, and may serve Me with a
fervent will.
My child, often, when the fire is burning the flame
does not ascend without smoke. Likewise, the desires
of some burn toward heavenly things, and yet they are
not free from temptations of carnal affection.
Therefore, it is not altogether for the pure honor of
God that they act when they petition Him so
earnestly. Such, too, is often your desire which you
profess to be so strong. For that which is alloyed
with self-interest is not pure and perfect.Ask,
therefore, not for what is pleasing and convenient to
yourself, but for what is acceptable to Me and is for
My honor, because if you judge rightly, you ought to
prefer and follow My will, not your own desire or
whatever things you wish.
I know your longings and I have heard your
frequent sighs. Already you wish to be in the liberty
of the glory of the sons of God. Already you desire
the delights of the eternal home, the heavenly land
that is full of joy. But that hour is not yet come.
There remains yet another hour, a time of war, of
labor, and of trial. You long to be filled with the
highest good, but you cannot attain it now. I am that
sovereign Good. Await Me, until the kingdom of God
shall come.
You must still be tried on earth, and exercised in
many things. Consolation will sometimes be given you,
but the complete fullness of it is not granted. Take
courage, therefore, and be strong both to do and to
suffer what is contrary to nature.
You must put on the new man. You must be changed into
another man. You must often do the things you do not
wish to do and forego those you do wish. What pleases
others will succeed; what pleases you will not. The
words of others will be heard; what you say will be
accounted as nothing. Others will ask and receive;
you will ask and not receive. Others will gain great
fame among men; about you nothing will be said. To
others the doing of this or that will be entrusted;
you will be judged useless. At all this nature will
sometimes be sad, and it will be a great thing if you
bear this sadness in silence. For in these and many
similar ways the faithful servant of the Lord is wont
to be tried, to see how far he can deny himself and
break himself in all things.
There is scarcely anything in which you so need to
die to self as in seeing and suffering things that
are against your will, especially when things that
are commanded seem inconvenient or useless. Then,
because you are under authority, and dare not resist
the higher power, it seems hard to submit to the will
of another and give up your own opinion entirely.
But consider, my child, the fruit of these labors,
how soon they will end and how greatly they will be
rewarded, and you will not be saddened by them, but
your patience will receive the strongest consolation.
For instead of the little will that you now readily
give up, you shall always have your will in heaven.
There, indeed, you shall find all that you could
desire. There you shall have possession of every good
without fear of losing it. There shall your will be
forever one with Mine. It shall desire nothing
outside of Me and nothing for itself. There no one
shall oppose you, no one shall complain of you, no
one hinder you, and nothing stand in your way. All
that you desire will be present there, replenishing
your affection and satisfying it to the full. There I
shall render you glory for the reproach you have
suffered here; for your sorrow I shall give you a
garment of praise, and for the lowest place a seat of
power forever. There the fruit of glory will appear,
the labor of penance rejoice, and humble subjection
be gloriously crowned.
Bow humbly, therefore, under the will of all, and do
not heed who said this or commanded that. But let it
be your special care when something is commanded, or
even hinted at, whether by a superior or an inferior
or an equal, that you take it in good part and try
honestly to perform it. Let one person seek one thing
and another something else. Let one glory in this,
another in that, and both be praised a thousand times
over. But as for you, rejoice neither in one or the
other, but only in contempt of yourself and in My
pleasure and honor.
Let this be your wish: That whether in life or in
death God may be glorified in you.
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