Ave Maria Meditations
All the sufferings, all the humiliations and annoyances that may come upon you, come from the hand of your Father who knows what is most expedient for you. He knows by what road, by what winding paths, He will bring you to beatitude; He knows the form and the measure of your predestination.
Do not then let us be afraid of the sufferings, humiliations, temptations and desolation so that come upon us; let us try to “support God”: that is to say, to accept everything, absolutely everything, that He would have you accept.
The Father is the vinedresser who purges the vine, says Christ Himself, so that it may bring forth more fruit. He wishes to enlarge our capacity; He wishes to sound the depth of our weakness, our insufficiency, so that convinced of our powerlessness to pray, do work, or to advance, we may place all our trust in Him. Only let us remain docile, generous, and faithful. The hour will come when having emptied ourselves of ourselves, God will fill us with His own fullness.
Bl. Columba Marmion
And then from St. Faustina along the same topic: Truly, Jesus, I become frightened when I look at my own misery, but at the same time I am reassured by Your unfathomable mercy, which exceeds my misery by the measure of all eternity. This disposition of soul clothes me in Your power. O joy that flows from the knowledge of one’s self! Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary, n. 56
My child, all your sins have not wounded My Heart as painfully as your present lack of trust does that after so many efforts of My love and mercy, you should still doubt My goodness. Jesus to St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary, n. 1486
Be at peace, My daughter, it is precisely through such misery that I want to show the power of My mercy; the greater the misery of a soul, the greater its right to My mercy. Jesus to St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary, n. 133, 1182
And a last thought from +Fr. Willie Doyle, S.J.: Abandon yourself completely into the hands of God, and take directly from him every event of life, agreeable or disagreeable. Only then can God make you really holy.
