Daily Thought For August 16, 2021
Loving Providence
“Gaze upward to me, the eternal life. Look up at the angels and those souls who are citizens of the everlasting life won for you by the blood of the Lamb. It is my desire that the reward not be enjoyed alone. You must share my gift with others. This is my will for you. Charity finds perfection and is well-ordered when it is shared: The greater rejoice in the lesser, and the least find their joy in the great. When I speak of the lesser, I refer to their capacity, because each is as full as the other. This I told you in another place, that each one has a measure all its own.
“Charity is so unique yet shared! Imagine the unity of these souls with me and with one another. I am the source of all things; they know and acknowledge this with reverent fear. They are immersed in me and within me they find their dignity. Angels converse with humans, that is, with the blessed souls, and the blessed converse with the angels. Each and all lovingly rejoice in the others’ reward and jubilantly praise me without any sadness, sweetly, without any bitterness. This is so because during their lifetimes they enjoyed me in the love they shared with their neighbors. How did this come to be? It was done in my wisdom, through gentle, loving providence.
“Now look at purgatory and you will see my provident care at work for the poor foolish souls who wasted their time during life and now, separated from their bodies, can no longer depend on time. And so, I provide for their need through you who are still in the earthly life. You can do this by almsgiving, by having my ministers say the Divine Office for them, by fasting and by prayers said in the state of grace. By these means you assure that I will have mercy on these suffering souls. What gracious providence!
“I have shared with you this story of the soul’s interior life and salvation, so that you will be overcome with love for my providential care and willingly clothe yourselves with the light of faith and the firmness of hope. In this way you will be freed of all selfishness and in everything you do; your trust in me will be free and assured.”
—Excerpt from The Dialogue, Number 148 (God speaks to Catherine)
Hill, M. L. (2011). Foreword. In M. L. Hill (Ed.), Path of Holiness: Wisdom from Catherine of Siena (pp. 83–85). Boston, MA: Pauline Books & Media.