Transcription
Welcome back, my dear friends, to this wonderful meeting of ours where we gather together to study and read the profound writings of the servant of God Louisa Picareta. In this important meeting of ours today, as well as the upcoming one scheduled for next Saturday, we truly want to focus our deep attention on the central theme of obedience.
This is a fundamental virtue that has served as a constant guiding light throughout every single aspect of Louisa's profound spiritual journey. If Louisa was able to progress to mature in her journey of faith and above all in her desire to unite herself with the Lord Jesus in order to live by his very will, the main path she followed was precisely that of obedience. Obedience first and foremost to the Lord, but which is also expressed through the figure of the spiritual father and the church. We must remember that Louisa out of obedience began to write these volumes and out of obedience in 1938 she stopped writing in obedience to the church. And so she shows us how truly her entire journey and above all the message of living in the divine will is a gift that the Lord has given to the church. And it is only through the path of the church that it can be received and understood. And the path that leads us into the church is precisely that of obedience. The great saints were those who, even if they had conflicts or misunderstandings with the authority of the church, always distinguish themselves by their attitude of obedience. Louisa is no different. In a similar fashion, all those who proclaim themselves to be children of the divine will should steadfastly walk along this sacred path of obedience.
Obedience is not a virtue that concerns only religious life. Obedience must be practiced by all Christians. The first book of Samuel says, "If you want to please God, know that you will do so more through obedience than through sacrifice." So if penance is a sacrifice of the body, obedience is a sacrifice of the will. And this second sacrifice is more pleasing to the Lord. The demanding path of following Jesus requires us to renounce all the possessions we have. But there is an even greater renunciation, one that is worth much more than all the goods we may have given up. To follow the Lord means to completely renounce even our own will. If we free ourselves from our own will, or rather if we unite our will with God's will, we will have so much peace in our spirit and we will desire nothing but what he wants, obedience. Because in obedience there is grace, the annihilation of selflove and there is the blossoming of the freedom of the children of God. Even if sometimes practicing obedience means doing so in things that seem most absurd to us, still if we entrust ourselves to obedience, if we walk the path of obedience, over time we discover how God has made use of it. It is the destiny of people to carry out in our daily lives a divine plan that is far greater than any of our own personal aspirations. If we practice obedience in everything, we will be able to move forward with a pure conscience, the Lord will never allow us to stray from the right path or let the devil deceive us or cause us harm. In fact, all actions that go against our rules are stumbling blocks for the spirit. Before the judgment of God, we should not have to account for anything done out of obedience because by obeying we are certain to be doing God's will. And obedience is the fruit of faith. It is the result of listening. The very word obedience comes from the Latin ab to hear. Obedience happens only when we have listened.
And so beginning very specifically from these deep considerations regarding the nature of obedience, now we shall move on to examine several specific passages to the careful reading of some passages from Louisa's own writings taken directly from the second volume where Louisa makes the virtue of obedience the fundamental and central theme of her spiritual reflections. And there is a remarkably unique and specific way of speaking that Louisa uses to define the concept of true obedience to call it out and to give a formal name to obedience. She affectionately refers to it as lady obedience. It's a bit like saying it is a definition that is actually quite charming because it describes a lady specifically with a capital L, a very elegant lady who is so incredibly persistent that she simply never leaves you alone. As long as you were not physically there, she truly and really is a sophisticated lady. And I would like to start reading with you this passage from August 17th of 1899 where Jesus begins to speak to Louisa about obedience. And then we will see how Louisa applies this virtue of obedience in her spiritual life. Louisa writes, "This morning, after having received communion, I said to my beloved Jesus, but how is it that this virtue of obedience is so persistent and at times so strong that it even becomes capricious?" And he Jesus says regarding obedience, do you know why this noble lady obedience is as you say? Because, and here he describes the characteristics of obedience. Because obedience puts all vices to death. And naturally, one who must put another to death must be strong, courageous. Thank you. And if that is not enough, it resorts to impertinence and whims. If this is necessary to kill the body which is so fragile, how much more so to put to death vices and one's own passions which is so difficult? because sometimes while they seem dead, they begin to come back to life again. So this diligent lady is always on the move and constantly watching to see if the soul shows the slightest resistance to what is commanded of it, fearing that some vice might begin to come back to life. In her heart, she wages such a war against it and gives it no peace beforehand, so much so that the soul does not bow at her feet and worship in mute silence. the true nature of what she desires. This is the reason why she remains so persistent becoming almost like capricious and unpredictable as you say. Therefore, the practice of obedience serves as the essential tool that educates the human soul and gradually shapes and conforms it more and more to the divine will of God. And it is through the act of obedience that we are corrected. Because if our soul tends to wander away from God, here comes its constant persistence almost like it is breathing down our necks. It leads us to return once again to this narrow and straight path in order to bring us into a state of full communion with the Lord. And Jesus continues by saying, "Ah, yes, truly there can be no real or lasting peace without the presence of obedience in our lives. And if it seems that one enjoys peace, it is a false peace. It is peace because it aligns with one's own passions but never with virtues. And in the end one ends up ruined because by straying from obedience they stray from me who was the king of this noble virtue. Then obedience kills one's own will and pours out torance of the divine will. So much so that one can say that the obedient soul does not live by its own will but by the divine will. And can there be a life more beautiful, more holy than living in the very will of God? Thus with other high virtues with the sublime with the most sublime self-love can still be present but never with obedience. Here these are the first teachings of Jesus. When we consider the profound nature of obedience, these principles help us to deeply understand how true obedience is essentially this sacred path and this lifelong journey that continuously directs our entire life toward God and his divine purpose for us toward communion with him. It is the full realization of our life. But when we instead follow our own thoughts, our own conventions, what we call our principles, I do it on principle, that is when we stray further and further away.
But obedience also comes at a price. And this is an experience that Louisa lived through for her entire life. And in this passage that we are about to read from August 31st, 1899, it starts from a fact, from an event, from a request that the confessor makes to Louisa out of obedience. Furthermore, it goes directly against everything she is diligently building with Jesus. To show this, it is a profound test, a spiritual test that her personal confessor, Donarro De Janearo, makes Louisa undergo in order to carefully gauge the true quality of her obedience. Having given the order, the confessor instructed that when Jesus came, I was supposed to say, "I can't speak. Go away." I just took it as a bit of a joke. Oh, and not as a formal command. So when Jesus came almost without paying attention to the order I had received, I dared to say to him, "My good Jesus, just look at what the father wants to do." And he said to me, "Daughter, self-denial." And I replied, "No, Lord, but this is serious. Does this mean I shouldn't want you? How can I?" And for the second time he said self-denial. And I said, "Lord, what are you saying? Do you know if I can be without you?" And for the third time he said, "My daughter, my daughter, self-denial." And then he disappeared. Who can describe how I felt seeing that Jesus wanted me to be ready for obedience? And in the passage from September 1st, here Louisa herself speaks about obedience and how this obedience put her to the test. Here are Jesus words brief. "Self-denial, my daughter, self-denial." Now, let's see how Louisa she had to practice this self-denial through the virtue of obedience, which waged war against her own will, against what her life was being with Jesus. Out of obedience, she was asked to send Jesus away. And Louisa writes, "When the confessor came, he asked me if I had obeyed. And when I told him that I had not obeyed, how things had gone, the confessor renewed the command that I absolutely must not speak with Jesus, my only and sole comfort, and that I must drive him away if he came." And so realizing that the obedience I was being given was genuine within myself, I said, "Fiat volua, even in this. But oh, how much it costs me and what a cruel martyrdom it is. I feel as if a nail is driven into my heart, piercing it through and through. And since the heart is accustomed to asking and desiring Jesus constantly, just as breathing and the beating of the heart are continuous. So it seems to me that my desire and will for my only good are also continuous. So to try to prevent this would be like trying to stop someone else from breathing or their heart from beating. How could one live? And yet obedience must prevail. Oh God, what pain, what cruel torment. How can you stop the heart from asking for its very own life? How can it be restrained? The will used all its strength to restrain it. But since it required great vigilance, and from time to time I would grow tired and discouraged, the heart would break free and ask for Jesus. The will, realizing this, would try even harder to restrain it, but often, very often, it would fail. So it seemed to me that I was constantly committing acts of disobedience. Oh, what conflicts, what bloody battles, what mortal agonies my poor heart endured. I found myself in such distress and suffering that I thought my life would leave me. Yet it would have been a comfort to me if I could have died. But no, what was worse was that yes, I felt the pains of death, but without being able to die."
Right here, we witness Louisa's profound inner struggle as she clashes intensely with her own human will and the call to obedience. The confessor asks her for a specific act of humble obedience. But her personal will, which is strongly supported by her deep desire to remain and to live constantly with the Lord, is at odds with this particular very strange request for obedience. This creates a deep tension within her soul as she seeks to follow the divine path, incomprehensible. And so within her there is like a nail that constantly wounds her along with the suffering she endures. It seems as if they are leading her to death but she does not die. And this makes her suffering even more intense. So Louisa is in the midst of this battle fighting this war between her own will and the will of her confessor who represents the will of God. And so she must allow the will of God to enter into her own will to unite with it and gradually transform it into the will of God. But this does not simply occur all of a sudden or in an instant. It does not happen through some kind of divine miracle. It happens exclusively through the profound power of love. If we truly and sincerely love and we know that Louisa loved Jesus very deeply, then it is through this profound love she had for Jesus that her human will was gradually trained to merge more and more completely with the divine will of God.
So what happens? Louisa continues, "After having shed the bitterest tears all day at night, finding myself in my usual state, my ever-kind Jesus came. And I, compelled by obedience, said to him, 'Lord, do not come because obedience does not want it.' And he, taking pity on me and wanting to strengthen me in the sufferings I was experiencing, did so with his creative hand. He marked my person and with a great sign of the cross left me. But who can describe the purgatory I was in? The worst part was that I could not throw myself toward my highest and only good. Ah yes, it was denied me to ask for and desire Jesus. Ah, those blessed souls in purgatory are allowed to ask to yearn, to pour themselves out toward the highest good. They are only forbidden to take possession of it. But not me. Even this comfort was denied me. Do you see to what point?" Louisa lived disobedience and it made her suffer. She even says it is worse than the pains of purgatory. At least in the pains of purgatory, there is this desire. There is this experience of love with the Lord. But the suffering is precisely not being able to possess it forever. And this is the purification in purgatory. So Louisa says, "Not even this was given to me. I cannot even participate. Not only can I not possess the love of God, but I can't even experience it because I must out of obedience send Jesus away from me. So this is an even greater suffering than the pains of purgatory."
So Louisa continues, "All night long I did nothing but cry. When my weak nature couldn't take it anymore, the lovable Jesus returned as if wanting to speak with me. And I immediately remembering obedience, which above all wants to reign, said to him, 'My dear life, I cannot speak, do not come because obedience does not allow it. If you want to make your will known.'" He goes to them, and it even seems that Jesus enjoys teasing. Louisa, it seems that the confessor and Jesus have agreed to keep picking on Louisa, to keep pressing Louisa on this matter of obedience. And this is a great trial, but one that Louisa manages to overcome out of love. And so Jesus continually goes to Louisa and Louisa continually sends Jesus away by virtue of that strange incomprehensible obedience that her spiritual father had given her. And as I was saying this, I saw the confessor and Jesus approached him and said, "This is impossible for my souls. I keep them so immersed in me that we form a single substance to the point that one can no longer distinguish one from the other. It's like when two substances are joined together, one is transmitted into the other. And afterwards, even if you wanted to separate them, it's useless even to think about it. In the same way, it's impossible for my souls to be separated from me." And having said this, he left and I was left more afflicted than before. My heart was beating so hard that I felt like my chest was going to burst. After that, I don't know how I found myself outside of myself. And forgetting myself, I don't know how, and forgetting the obedience I had received, I wandered through the vault of the heavens, weeping, crying out, and searching for my sweet Jesus. When suddenly I saw him coming to me, throwing himself into my arms, all aflame and languishing. Immediately I remembered the command I had received through obedience and right away Louisa puts it into practice. "Lord, do not tempt me this morning. Don't you know that obedience does not allow it?" See to what extent Louisa lives this virtue of obedience? We need to enter a bit into Louisa's experience of her relationship with Jesus. To remove Jesus from her life would mean taking away her life, taking life from her. And so she continues these mystical experiences of hers. In fact, she travels throughout the whole vault of the heavens searching for Jesus, but she does not find him. But when she sees him, which one would say would immediately make her want to throw herself into Jesus' arms and live completely with him, here is where obedience intervenes. And Louisa immediately and without a single moment of hesitation responds by saying, "Lord, please do not attempt to lead me into temptation this morning. Don't you know that my vow of obedience simply does not permit such a thing?" And Jesus says, "The confessor sent me. That's why I have come." And Louisa replies, "That's not true. Are you perhaps some demon who wants to deceive me and make me disobey?" And Jesus, "I am not a demon." Then I said, "If you are not a demon, let's make a sign together, the sign of the cross." So we both made the sign of the cross together. And then I continued to say to him, "If it is true that the confessor sent you, let's go to him so that he can he himself can see whether you are Jesus Christ or a demon. And then I can be sure." So we went to the confessor and since Jesus appeared as a child, I handed him over to him saying, "Father, see for yourself. Is this my sweet Jesus or not?" Now while blessed Jesus was with the father, I said to him, "If you are truly Jesus, kiss the confessor's hand." And in my mind, I thought that if it was truly the Lord, he would humble himself to kiss the hand. But if it was the devil, he would not. And Jesus did kiss it, but not as a man, rather in respect to the priestly authority. And after that, it seemed the confessor tried to exercise him to see if he was the devil. And not finding him to be so, he returned him to me. But despite all this, my poor heart could not enjoy the embrace of my beloved Jesus. Because obedience kept him as if bound, restrained, especially since there was still no contrary order yet. So he did not dare to express himself, not even to say a word of love. This too is very interesting. Do you see? Louisa thinks that the Jesus who has come to her is actually the devil and she puts him to the test. So she says if you are Jesus let us make the sign of the cross. And even after this she says if you are Jesus let us go to the spiritual father to my confessor. And if you are truly Jesus kiss his hand. Do that act of humility because only through humility does it become evident. The presence of God. One can recognize the presence of God. The devil certainly would not have kissed the priest's hand. There you have it. Once again, Louisa wants to be sure that what obedience is asking of her comes from the Lord and not from something else. And she receives confirmation of this.
And now here is Louisa's reflection regarding obedience. Louisa says we could say this is a hymn to obedience. "So holy obedience, how strong and powerful you are. I see you in these days of martyrdom before me like a most powerful warrior armed from head to toe with swords of fire with arrows filled with every instrument to strike me. And when you see that my poor heart, weary and low, wants to lift itself up, seeking its refreshment, its life, the center to which, as if by a magnet, it feels itself being drawn. You watching me with a thousand eyes from every direction, wound me with mortal blows, have mercy on me, and do not be so cruel to me." Here, these specific words provide a meaningful summary of Louisa's own personal and spiritual struggle with the virtue of obedience. But now, in direct response to these words, there comes the profound and transformative teaching of Jesus regarding the true nature of obedience. But even as I am saying this to you now, the gentle and sweet voice of my most adorable Jesus makes itself heard clearly within me right here in my ear. And he says to me, "My child, here is exactly what Jesus says about the virtue of obedience. Obedience was everything to me. I want obedience to be everything for you." Obedience made me be born. Obedience made me die. The wounds I have on my body are all injuries and marks that obedience gave me. You were right to say that it is a most powerful warrior. Armed with every kind of weapon meant to wound, because in me it did not leave even a drop of blood. It tore my flesh to pieces, dislocated my bones, and my poor heart broken and bleeding. It went looking for relief from anyone who might have compassion for me. Becoming with me more than cruel, a tyrant, he was only satisfied when he sacrificed me on the cross and saw me expire as a victim for his love. And why is this? Because the duty of this most powerful warrior is to sacrifice souls so he does nothing but act. He wages relentless war against anyone who does not sacrifice themselves entirely for her so that there are none left. No regard for whether the soul suffers or rejoices whether it lives or dies. His eyes are fixed on seeing whether she wins for he cares about nothing else and pays no attention to anything else. The name of this warrior is victory because he grants all victories to the obedient soul. And when it seems that she dies, then true life begins. And what did he not grant me? Is there anything greater than obedience? Through it, I conquered death, defeated hell, freed man from his chains, opened heaven, and as a victorious king, took possession of my kingdom, not only for myself, but for all my children who would benefit from my redemption. Ah, yes, it's true that it cost me my life, but the name obedience. Thank you. It sounds sweet to my ears and that is why I have so much love for those souls who are obedient. The profound and beautiful words of Jesus concerning the importance of obedience. Obedience was everything for Jesus and for all souls who want to live with Jesus. Obedience must be everything. And Jesus says, look, obedience is not just saying yes, Lord. Obedience also means paying the price for that yes yourself. He says, it was obedience that made me go to the cross. It was obedience that made me die there. It was obedience that made me shed every single drop of my blood. And it was done only for the sake of true obedience. The true name of obedience, the name of this warrior that is obedience is victory. It is the victory of Jesus. It is the victory of life over death. It is the victory over sin. It is the victory of love over sin, of grace over sin. It is the victory of good over evil. All through the obedience of the son, the obedience of Jesus.
And Louisa continues, "I resumed speaking from where I left off. Shortly after the confessor came and having told him everything I mentioned above, he renewed the obedience for me. You see, this obedience is really stubborn and persistent, insisting that I continue in the same way. And having told him, 'Father, at least allow me the freedom in my heart to ask for Jesus because the obedience to say when he comes not to come I cannot discuss it, I do it.' And he says, 'Do as much as you can and when you can't, then give yourself freedom.'" And so on the very next day, which was September 1st, in the year 1899, Louisa is finally and completely freed from this long period of obedience. And Jesus gives her this message, "My daughter. Always keep before your mind the light of my passion because in seeing my most bitter sufferings, yours will seem small to you. And in considering the cause for which I suffered so many immense pains, which was sin, even your smallest faults will seem grave to you. On the other hand, if you do not reflect yourself in me, even the smallest sufferings will seem heavy to you and your serious faults, you will consider them as nothing." And he disappeared. You see, Jesus says, "Look at me. Contemplate me. Look at how before the cross, before the passion, by looking at my sufferings, you realize that what you are experiencing is nothing compared to what I have gone through. And so even the obedience that is asked of you is nothing compared to the obedience that was asked of me as the son of God." And Louisa comes to understand this. In fact, she concludes, "Shortly after the confessor came and after asking him if I still had to continue disobedience, he told me, 'No, you can tell him whatever you want and keep it as long as you wish.' It seems to me that I am now free and I don't have much to do with this anymore. Such a powerful warrior. Otherwise, this time he would have become so strong that he would have killed me, which would have been a great gain for me because I would have been united forever to his will that is by dying. But as I say this, before me appeared a shining and beautiful eye and a voice says to me, 'And I would have joined together with you and I would have delighted in laughing because it would have been my victory.'"
And so Louisa is freed from this and leaves her final words regarding obedience. "Oh dear obedience, after having shared a laugh together, I would have left you at the gate of paradise to say goodbye to you and no more. Farewell so as not to have anything more to do with you, but I would have been very careful not to let you in." Here this virtue of obedience is an important virtue and the decisive virtue in Louisa's journey. Let us humbly petition the Lord to help us also faithfully live in this spirit of obedience, but always within the broader perspective of love, accepting it with a sense of profound and absolute freedom, so that we may truly allow the Almighty God to work his divine will within our hearts. Bless you, Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I love you. I hope you have a wonderful day and I will see you again next Saturday. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.