“Intimate communion of a soul with God. God approaches a soul in a special way known only to himself and to the soul. No one perceives this mysterious union. Love presides in this union, and everything is achieved by love alone. Jesus gives himself to the soul in a gentle and sweet manner, and in His depths there is peace. He grants the soul many graces and makes it capable of sharing His eternal thoughts. And frequently, He reveals to it His divine plans.” Divine Mercy in my soul #622
Blessed is the soul who sees the Lord approach it in this way. To be drawn into the depths of His love and mercy is a special grace of incomparable value. From this place and union is the soul brought to a higher place to see and speak the goodness of God.
Notice in these words of St Faustina, there is nothing done by the soul; all actions are taken by Christ Jesus. “God approaches…”, “Love presides…”, “Jesus gives…”, “He grants..”, “He reveals..”. There is only one thing the soul must do to receive the special grace of this mysterious union with God, be open.
The soul must be open to allowing Jesus to enter. As my brother, Patrick always says, “Jesus is a Gentleman”. He will never force Himself upon the soul. To fully receive God In the way St Faustina speaks, the soul must be open and invite Jesus to enter the heart. This comes with the need of being and remaining in a state of grace, for the soul can’t invite the King to reside within it if the house is not in order or if there are other ‘residents’ already present. Be those attachments or even demons, they must be renounced and cast out to make way for the Lord.
The soul must rid earthly attachments to give itself a singular focus on the Master. Imagine being invited Over for dinner by someone very dear to your heart only to have them spend the evening with their head down in the phone on social media or engrossed in work emails. You’d want to have their attention but not being giving any attention at all, you’d desire to be anywhere else. That is the same for Jesus, He wants all of our attention, our distractions cause Him pain and sorrow.
When we open our hearts to Jesus and invite Him into our soul, He gives us all of Himself. Pouring special graces into our hearts. In my own experience, when these graces are given the soul, peace and joy dwell within and an exuberance to sing the praises of God fills the soul, heart and mind. Praises rise and one feels like dancing.
Ask any of my brothers in Christ or my wife, they will tell you that I can’t help but sing His praises and tell of the things He’s done in my life. In large part, that is the purpose of The Road Of Faith, to give an outlet to share how great our God is through how He’s graced me. I’m no scholar nor an expert knowledgeable in the Church’s teaching or Catechism. I simply speak of what God has done for me.
If you knew the extent of this change, you’d know what I mean. I am a nature and practiced introvert. I joke that though I fell for my wife the first time I saw her, it took two weeks for me to find the courage to hold her hand (honestly not far from that haha). So when people find it difficult to reconcile who I am now vs that introverted ‘lil boy, there is only one answer. My wife made it clear when someone asked her about my exuberance for sharing Christ by a simple statement, “he met Jesus”. The simplicity of the change inside of me is something I often marvel upon.
When the soul opens itself and invites Jesus in, He will come and pour His graces in fantastic manner into the soul. From this intimate union flows the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Drawing the soul Close, Jesus “makes it capable of sharing His eternal thoughts”.