Ave Maria Meditations
From Part One of the Consoling the Heart of Jesus retreat by Fr. Michael Gaitley, MIC:
Desire Meditation
Behold Jesus in front of you, hanging on the Cross. See His gentle, sorrowful face. His Heart aches because so many for whom He’s dying have rejected His goodness and love. Will you reject Him too? Before you answer, listen to His words from the Cross, “I thirst.” He’s speaking to you. He thirsts for you. Do you thirst for Him? He thirsts that you might thirst for Him. Tell Him that you thirst for Him. Ask Him to help you thirst for Him more. Beg Him for this grace.
Jesus thirst for your love, and He wants your help. Will you help Him? Before you answer, look at how much He has given you. He created you in love, washed away your sins in His blood, clothed you with His divine life, and prepares a place in His Father’s house for you to dwell with Him in joy for all eternity…and there’s more. Jesus wants to share with you His mission. He wants your help in bringing everyone back to His Father. That, too, is His gift to you. Will you accept it? Will you help Him? He’s counting on your help. He needs you.
Many let Jesus down. They not only refuse His love, but they refuse the fits of the mission He wants to given them. Will you also let Him down? don’t worry if you’ve said no to Him in the past. He makes all things new and His mercy can bring good out of evil. Again, He wants to share His mission with you. Maybe your sharing in it looks different than before; maybe it’s exactly the same. No matter. He offers it, and He leads you to it, step-by-step, with His gentle hand. All you need to do is say yes. See how much He loves you, and say yes. Say yes to His love. Believe in His love, and say yes to His will for your life, even if you don’t know the details. Remember the gentleness of His face and the sorrow.
If you’re having difficulty saying yes to Jesus, turn to Mary. She knows how to say yes to God, and she’ll help you. Ask her: “Mary, my mother, please lend me your yes. Please be with me now. Help me not to let Jesus down. Help me to have courage and to believe in His love for me.” Ask the angels and your favorite saints to pray for you. Beg the Father and the Holy Spirit to give you a thirst for Jesus, to give you a burning love for the one who burns with love for you.
Now listen to some great news. After having been rejected by so many in our day, Jesus makes it easier than ever before to become a saint! He offers unprecedented graces. In fact, He Himself will take charge and make you holy. All you have to do is let Him. It won’t me too difficult. Trust Him. He speaks to you words such as these: “I see your weakness, but be not afraid. Just trust Me, and let Me do it, I will make you into a saint.” Such words remind us of what He said to the great apostle of Divine Mercy, St. Maria Faustina Kowalska: “Be not afraid of your Savior, O sinful soul. I make the first move to come to you, for I know by yourself you are unable to life yourself to Me.” (Diary, 1485)
Such words also remind us of what the saint of the Sacred heart, Margaret Mary Alacoque, understood so well when she wrote: “His Sacred Heart will do everything for me if I let Him. He shall will, He shall love, He shall desire for m and make up for all my faults.”
Look again at Jesus, hanging on the Cross. See His gentle, sorrowful face. Hear Him say to you, “T thirst.” Now earnestly pray: “Jesus, I thirst for you. Help me to thirst for You more. Use me, Jesus. Form me into a saint. Make up for all my faults. I trust in You. With Mary’s help, I give you my yes.”
