1 Kings 11:4-13 Solomon goes astray and worships strange gods
“When Solomon was old, his wives had turned his heart to strange gods, and his heart was not entirely with the Lord.” (11:4)
What happened? How could Solomon fall so horribly when he possessed the gift of wisdom and had received so many graces from the Lord?
Solomon begins with his heart entirely given to the Lord.
· Monday- “And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD. Then Solomon said, “The LORD has set the sun in the heavens, but has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. I have built thee an exalted house, a place for thee to dwell in forever.” (1 Kings 8:10-13)
· Tuesday- “Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven; and said, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to thy servants who walk before thee with all their heart;” (I Kings 8:22-23)
· Wednesday- Queen Sheba visits Solomon and is amazed at his wisdom:
“Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king which he could not explain to her.” (10:3)
How could his wives turn his heart to strange gods? Why didn’t Solomon see the truth of the darkness in the hearts of his wives and bring them to the light of the true God?
*The first message Cf. Luke 10:1-12
Diary of a MOC 1/11/18, Mission of MC and MOC
My little one, you are preparing the way for My Second Coming. It is My hidden martyrs of love, crucified through Me, with Me and in Me, that will usher in the reign of My Kingdom on earth.
the Gospel says:
“No purse” that means be Poor in spirit;
“No sandals” that means -detached from the things of this world; a life of sacrifice, hardships, difficulties, uncomfortable, penance (I had the image of people walking up the mountain in Medjugorje barefoot)
“no walking stick” -because I will sustain you, strengthen you, support you. I will lead you on this journey.
My Missionaries of the Cross must preach repentance again, as did John the Baptist. They must preach My love crucified, bringing souls to know intimately My love. They must be entirely detached from their egos, knowing themselves as nothing and miserable. They must be willing to speak the truth about the darkness within My priesthood. They must be willing to live rejected, cast out, and even stoned to death. (I conversed with Jesus, saying that I do not know how this will be. I see again the image of the red carpet-the women covered in the precious blood of Jesus. My Lord, how do the lay missionaries of the cross live this mission? ) They are priests within their families, and they live in the world. They will need great courage to be My light in the midst of the darkness. My daughter, tell my daughters to persevere suffering all with Me solely for love of Me.
Solomon’s heart, through the process of many years, becomes “drowsy”:
“But take heed to yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life” (Luke 21:34)
Message 2 – “disordered desires” “disordered attachments”
*The second message Cf. Mathew 10:1-24
Diary of a MOC, 30/18 “Mission of the 12”
My little one, I have chosen you to bear fruit for the Kingdom of God on earth. The mission is not easy, for the ways of God are never the ways of the world. All who are chosen by God to fulfill His plan on earth are hated by some, rejected by others, ill-treated, persecuted, for I came upon the earth to set one against another, for the ways of God will never be accepted nor appreciated by those who live for the things of this world. You have been asked by God to bring Him victim souls. A victim soul must fix his eyes on Christ, must desire with all his being to become one with his Master, must be willing to learn from Him and imitate Him. He must be willing to fight against all his disordered desires. This requires certain disciplines for my disciples:
1)” take no gold, nor silver, nor copper”- that means detached from the riches of this world, trusting that God will provide.
2)” no bag for your journey” which means that My disciples must allow My spirit to detach them from all disordered attachments. (my Lord, how do we know what is a disordered attachment?) Anything that weakens your desire for Me distracts you from loving Me, takes your gaze from Me.
3)” nor two tunics”- My disciples must live simply as I did, poor, never in excess.
4)” nor sandals”- a life dedicated to sacrificial love, penance, renunciation.
5)” nor a staff”- My disciples lean on Me; I become their support; I lead the way.
My disciples wear My yoke-the wood of the Cross, united to Me. I am their All. My disciples are the men and women consumed in love and desire for Me. They choose to live this way of life for love of Me and the consuming desire to be made perfect- which is to become Love. Only in this way will My disciples reflect the face and light of God in the world. These are my victim souls that possess the power of God on earth.
Hardened Heart/ Pure heart
Simple Path p. 43 ‘Why do some recognize Jesus while others don’t?”
Why did John the Baptist, Simeon, and Anna knew Jesus at a deeper level than others? The answer lies in hearts that seek with faith.
A hardened heart is set in its ways.
It reduces the work of God to make it fit in its natural logic and experience.
It is not open to see beyond what it controls.
A pure heart, on the other hand, believes that for God, nothing is impossible.
It is docile and malleable, willing to be pierced, pruned, and made new by God.
The soul which receives the gift of self-knowledge and sees the hardness of its own heart arrives at a moment of decision: It either accepts the gift or remains in darkness.
Hebrews 4:12-13
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before Him no creature is hidden, but all are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we
have to do.
Simple Path p. 199-201 “Fake Saints”
Pope Francis warns us about the lie of being “fake saints”:
God “generously forgives”..., but what he doesn’t forgive is “hypocrisy and fake saints,”... God prefers “sanctified sinners”—people who, despite their past sins, learn how to do a greater good. “Fake saints” are people who are more concerned with appearing saintly than doing good. ...
We are all clever and always find a path that is not right, to seem more virtuous than we are: it is the path of hypocrisy. They pretend to convert, but their heart is a lie: they are liars! It is a lie ... Their heart does not belong to the Lord; their heart belongs to the father of all lies, Satan. And this is fake holiness. Jesus preferred sinners a thousand times to these. Why? Because sinners told the truth about themselves. “Get away from me, Lord, I am a sinner!” Peter once said.
≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
However, we are all masters; we are all experts when it comes to justifying ourselves...when I find envy in my heart, and I know this envy is capable of speaking ill of another and morally killing him, I have to ask myself: “Am I capable of it? Yes, I am capable!” This is precisely how this knowledge begins, this wisdom to blame oneself. ...
Love Crucified too has been given the GIFT OF WISDOM – the wisdom of the Cross, yet, this is not enough. This is why the last two teachings of the Lord to us are so important. Like Solomon, we are also capable of going astray and becoming “drowsy”, of being unfaithful to the Lord.
· Today’s Gospel – Mark 7:24-30
“Lord even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.”
FAITH & HUMILITY
Humility – Living “wrapped in knowledge”, knowing I am nothing, miserable, capable of nothing without God. Knowing that I am capable of great sin, unfaithfulness, worldliness, betraying Christ…..
Knowing the IMMENSE MERCY and LOVE of Christ for me.
They must be detached completely from their egos, knowing themselves as nothing and miserable.
- “The following text was composed by Walter Ciszek around 1978. (With God in America, p. 62-63) This was the experience he had after his 2nd heart attack.
I just passed out, and during that time, I know I wanted to “go to God”. That was my whole disposition, because I came to the brink of this world where eternity began, and I had to pass over that. Yet, I felt that, though my spirit was outside the body, there was a certain kind of drawing of the body and the soul to each other. It was [. . .] the body that was not functioning. I went off and said, “Here I come, Lord, here I come.” I was trying to get over [to him], and I saw the Blessed Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 27 The Blessed Mother was [also there, but] turned sideways, so I didn’t see her face. I really wanted to get over to the other side, but nothing happened, [even though] I tried and tried. I was going into a deep depression when I saw I couldn’t get over, and my willful efforts were getting weaker and weaker. Then, when I became kind of frustrated, from nowhere it just happened that I felt infinite peace and, right after that, perfect reconciliation. The infinite peace I understood, but the perfect reconciliation I didn’t understand. Then, out of that [sensation], again I heard a voice speaking as if from eternity. It was a loud voice that filled the whole world with the splendorous light of eternity as it said, “I am going to cure you, and, at the same time, I am going to teach you how to live.” Then, when that voice disappeared, I heard within it a voice resounding like a thunder. I then saw Our Lord, appearing just as we visualize him in the New Testament. He was pointing at me and said, “I am going to teach you how to live”; then he began to tell me precisely what he meant. He said, “I am going to teach you how to be pure, how to be simple, how to be modest, how to be poor, obedient, prayerful, and believing. I am going to purify you, and, after that purification, I am going to enlighten and elevate you through compunction, sorrow, and repentance, by uniting you with me in my passion, in my suffering, sacrifice, reparation, and hope in the resurrection; all these together will be your act of love for me.”
Image: Sebastiano Ricci, Solomon Worshipping the Idols, 1724