18/11/2015 12:58

8/11/2015 16:29

LETTERS OF GOLD

…

From the House of the Divine Will

Issue No. 80    July 2014

ANNOUNCING  THE  THIRD  FIAT  OF  GOD

Creation - then Redemption - now Sanctification

a  b

On the Subjects of Humility and Nothingness

(extracts, editing, and paraphrasing by T. Fahy)

 

Introduction:

 

          The original state of holiness in Eden was so perfect and so sublime and so pleasing to God that we have much difficulty in understanding the greatness of the reality of that original state. Only with the writings of Luisa Piccarreta do we begin to make the journey into the understanding of how incredibly marvelous was the original relationship between God and the first human, Adam.

When we think of holiness we think of those who became saints by the practice of heroic virtue. We even raise our eyes to the “unapproachable” holiness of Jesus and Mary. Jesus is God, who assumed human nature.  Mary is “The Immaculate Conception.”  But even the concept we have of the holiness of the Humanity of Jesus and that of Mary, is very poor and very faulty, because we base our perception of their holiness in our ignorance of what was truly happening within their interior lives. We know many things about their exterior lives from the New Testament and authentic private revelation, but we have known practically nothing of the enchanting marvels of their interior lives; that is, until we are exposed to the “Book of Heaven.”  Written first in Heaven and then on earth by the hand of Luisa Piccarreta,  these writings, little by little, make our spiritual eyes open wider and wider in holy astonishment to entirely new vistas of the supernatural world.

Jesus told Luisa that no other form of holiness even remotely approaches the holiness of Living in the Divine Will !  Divine Providence has kept secret the original state of man and his incredible holiness, and that same Divine Providence has kept secret the true reality of the holiness of Jesus and of his Mother until our times.  Even the fathers of the dogmatic Council of Trent admitted that they did not know the actual state of holiness of Adam in the beginning. They spoke of Adam having Sanctifying Grace and a number of preternatural gifts, but that was all, for God had reserved for our times to make known the reality of what He placed and created within the souls of Adam and Eve.

          The times referred to in the Old Testament cover a period of 4000 years.  After Adam lost the original state of holiness, for himself and the rest of mankind (with the exception of Mary), the graces of holiness, in anticipation of the coming of a redeemer, were generally attained by belief in and longing for that redeemer, faithfulness to the natural law and, later, also to the written law. 

          With the coming of Jesus, the Redeemer, and Mary, Co-redemptrix, a much higher level of holiness—the Kingdom of Redemption and Sanctifying Grace—was made available to humanity through the establishment of the Catholic Church and its sacramental system.  Beginning with Baptism, the theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity, and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, growth in the holiness of Sanctifying Grace is fostered by proper disposition for receiving the Sacraments, the practice of the moral virtues, cooperation with actual grace, acceptance of the cross, and resignation, conformity, and abandonment to the Divine Will.  Openness to this Kingdom of Redemption and Sanctifying Grace is greatly enhanced by the habit and practice of the moral virtue of humility.

          But, the human will with all its weaknesses, passions, and miseries continues its bloody battle against the Divine Will.

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Considerations that may lead to the willing acceptance

of one’s nothingness

Jesus’ mission of Redeemer definitely included the restoration of man’s original state to humanity in the Father’s Kingdom to come—the Kingdom of the Divine Will, prayed for in the Pater Noster, which would form a holiness in souls vastly exceeding the various degrees of holiness available in the Kingdom of Redemption.  But He did not speak of it to the Apostles; rather He gave a hint that this great restoration was yet to come as He prayed to His Father: “Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as in Heaven.”  When He taught that prayer, He said, “Thus, therefore shall you pray: Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come; Thy Will be done on earth as in Heaven. . .”  With those words, Jesus  prayed for something secret and very great to come in the future, which would be far better than, and different from, the way the Will of God has been done and is being done on earth.

          When Jesus took the Apostles aside and explained to them in clear terms the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, He was explaining the Kingdom of Redemption and not the Kingdom of the Divine Will.  However, both Kingdoms are united, inseparably.  The first sets the stage for the latter. Both can be referred to as the Kingdom of God, because both are directly oriented to the holiness of God and sharing in the life of God by participation in the Divine Nature.  But there is a vast difference between one and the other.

The Kingdom of Redemption brings us to possess the mystical life of Sanctifying Grace.  This is like sharing in the “life” of the Sun by means of its rays of light and heat, while one operates with one’s own will.  The Kingdom of the Divine Will brings us to the far greater Real Life of God—the possession God Himself and His own vital principle—the Divine Will and It’s eternal, operating Act with Its innumerable and immeasurable effects.  This is the same Real Life of God that Jesus Himself lives in the Eucharist.

This Real Life of God can be thought of as entering into the Sun, itself, which is an incomparably greater sharing in the “life” of the Sun than merely living in its rays, because one’s substance, fused in the Sun, would be acting in and with the “will” of the Sun in whatever it does.  This analogy is a sign of the ultimate sharing in the Life of God—the true purpose of Creation.  And this was the Divine Life lived by Adam and Eve with God in the beginning of human history until they withdrew to live the lowly human life of the human will—a life of weakness, passions and miseries—separated from the strength, beauty, and sanctity of the Divine Will.

          From the “Book of Heaven,” also known as the “Gospel of the Kingdom of the Divine Will,” we learn that both the Kingdom of Redemption made known when our Lord was on earth is inseparably bound with the Kingdom of the Divine Will, which Jesus had regained for humanity during His hidden life, and for which He infallibly prayed in the “Lord’s Prayer” to His Father to come at a future time in human history.

The Lord’s Prayer was taught after Jesus began his public ministry. But before his public ministry, during the 30 years of his hidden life, Jesus concentrated on doing interiorly, with His human will fused with His Eternal Will, all that was required to restore the Kingdom of the Divine Will that had reigned in Adam in the beginning. The Reign of the Divine Will in souls on earth was the very purpose of Creation, which purpose was decreed in Eternity and must have its glorious fulfillment before the end of the world.

The term, ‘Kingdom of God” or “Kingdom of Heaven” is used many times in the New Testament, and precisely what is meant each time the term is used, is not always easy to discern.  Many times it refers to the life to be hoped for in Heaven after death. Other times in seems to refer to the holiness attained by the life of Grace derived from committed membership in the Catholic Church. Sometimes the term, “Kingdom of God” seems to refer directly to Jesus Himself, and then there is the term, “Your Kingdom” (The Father’s Kingdom) named in the “Our Father” prayer and which refers to the Kingdom of the Divine Will. Another reference, which seems to refer to the future Kingdom of the Divine Will, is when the Pharisees asked Jesus when the  Kingdom of God should come.

And being asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come?  He answered them,

and said:  The kingdom of God cometh not with  observation: Neither shall they say:  Behold here, or

behold there.  For lo, the kingdom of God is within you. And he said to his disciples:  The days will come, when  you shall desire to see one day of the Son of man;  and you shall not see it.  And they will say to you:  See here,and see there.  Go ye not after, nor follow them… (Lk 17: 20-24)

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The moral virtue of humility in souls has always been attractive to both God and men of good will, both in the Old and New Testament times.  It seems that it was more necessary in the New Testament times due to the greater degree of union with God that became possible in the Kingdom of Redemption with the establishment of the Catholic Church and its sacramental system to provide Sanctifying Grace and its increase in souls.

Now, with the beginning of the Reign of the Divine Will and its supreme sanctity—the Sanctity of Sanctities—the Gift of the Divine Will and the capability of operating in and with the Eternal Will of the Blessed Trinity, where even normally indifferent human acts are transformed into Divine, Eternal, Immense, and Infinite acts, Jesus wants us to be not just humble but to live constantly with the understanding of the truth of our own nothingness. The practical awareness of this truth opens the doors to incredible outpourings of graces and light to make our journey in the Kingdom of the Divine Will ever more rapid.

Jesus told Luisa that a soul living in the Divine Will can grow more in holiness in one day than in centuries outside of the Divine Will.

The souls who live the Gift of the Divine Will participate in all the good that exists in time and eternity. They are living Hosts, full of life, consecrated by Jesus without the need of any mediation or scheduled times and places.

Jesus explained to Luisa that the Gift of Living in the Divine Will is the Sanctity of Sanctities, and that no other form of holiness even remotely approaches this Sanctity of Living in the Divine Will, and that He had never revealed this sanctity to any one before Luisa (except Adam and Eve and Mary) and that it includes a marvelous duality of operations— the operation of God in the soul, and the operation of the soul in God.

Through Luisa Jesus makes known to us the excesses that His Divinity performed in His Humanity that vastly exceeded those that His Humanity did outwardly.  He spoke to her about the how the soul of the Third Fiat can penetrate inside the Divine Will, embrace Its immensity, be multiplied with Him and penetrate everywhere, casting off human ways to act in divine ways—something not yet known.

The establishing of the Kingdom of the Divine Will is the greatest of all works, and while it is inseparable from the work of Redemption, the glory that it will give to God and the good that it will do for souls surpasses even the work of Redemption.

Jesus told Luisa that His Resurrection symbolizes those souls who will become sanctified with the Gift of the Divine Will.  He said that the Saints of the past are symbols of the exterior manifestations of His human nature. They were resigned but were not able to act in a continuous manner in the Divine Will.  Therefore, they received the seal of the works of the Humanity of Jesus but not the seal of His Resurrection.  Their number will be many and like the stars they will adorn the Heaven of the Humanity of Jesus, but the Saints of the Divine Will, symbolizing the Resurrected Humanity of Jesus will be few in comparison.

If the soul who comes to possesses one act  done in the Divine Will and could gather up all the good works of all souls of all centuries, they could never reach the value of single act done in the Divine Will. The understanding of this comes from the fact that the Divine Life reigns in the acts done in the Divine Will; whereas the works done outside of the Divine Will are lifeless.

Jesus was instructing Luisa one day and told her that man cannot receive a greater honor than to be admitted to life in the Divine Will.  He said that in just instants lived in the Divine Will and the smallest acts done in the Divine Will embrace centuries, and are clothed with such power that the soul can do and obtain whatever she wants to do with these acts, and that He is bound to give them the value that they deserve. In addition, these acts form pathways for others to enter the Kingdom of the Divine Will. He first wants heroic souls to come forward to live in the Divine Will and build the initial pathways of this Kingdom, otherwise, the future generations will not find the way to this Kingdom or know what to do to enter into It while on earth.

On another day, Jesus instructed Luisa that each creature has its sphere of life and activity within the immensity of the Divine Will, but lamented that so few work in the sphere assigned to them.  He said that those who do work in their assigned sphere are those who live in the Divine Will.  He takes these souls within the bosom of His Will, keeps them occupied and engrossed in the work He wants them to do in their assigned sphere.  By the creative power of the Divine Will, the soul is capable of doing in an hour what she would take a century to do outside the active possession of that Will.  Jesus says that one hour can purchase a century of good things:  love, profound adoration, sacrifices, etc., and when the work is done, the Divine Will and the soul take a rest together, before taking on another work in the Kingdom of the Divine Will.___________________

 

  For if any one thinks he iS something, whereas he is nothing,

he deceives himself. (Gal 6: 3)

 

Jesus told Luisa Piccarreta that there was no room for even humility in the Divine Will—only pure nothingness, because pure nothingness knows with certainty that any good that is ever done is of the “All” operating in the “nothing.”

This is a startling statement!  It is found in one of Luisa’s letters to Mr. Frederico Abresch in1940, but also in one of the upper Volumes of the “Book of Heaven.”  Jesus does speak positively about the virtue of humility in the lower, transitional volumes, but in Volume Eleven and higher Jesus wants Luisa and us to open our souls up wider in order to receive the light and benefits of the Divine Will more rapidly and effectively. And this is done by coming to understand and appreciate the very  truth of our actual nothingness.

Ask yourself, what was I doing before I was conceived?  When did I bring myself into existence? When did I choose to be male or female, tall or short, very intelligent or of lesser intelligence. Where and when did I choose to be born?  Am I willing to admit that I am like a shadow, whose existence depends on something else to cause the shadow, and me the shadow would disappear should the cause of this shadow leave?  Am I willing to admit that if I did anything good that it was Goodness Himself that did it, because on my own, all I do is void of any good, unless Goodness Himself gives me the grace to cooperate with the good that He does in me.

Again, Jesus taught Luisa marvelous things.  He taught her, and through her He teaches us.  He said that the sanctity of living in the Divine Will grows at each instant, and that nothing is left out from this growing, except doing our own will.  There is nothing that is denied to flowing in the endless sea of the Divine Will, even the most indifferent things—like sleeping, eating our meals, doing our duties, and similar things. These things can enter into the Divine Will with honor and as agents of that Will.  The soul only has to want it so and all things, great and small, provide opportunities for entrance into the Eternal Will; and Jesus says that this does not happen with the virtues.

          Concerning the virtues, Jesus said to Luisa that if someone wants to practice obedience, there is the necessity of the proper person to give the command, and it might be days or weeks that no orders are given to obey, regardless of the person’s good will toward obedience.  The same situation applies to all the other virtues, including humility.  Jesus refers to these virtues as virtues of this lowly world, and that other creatures are needed in order to practice them.  He contrasts this with the Divine Will, which He says is the virtue of Heaven and that He alone suffices to keep this virtue of Heaven in practice at every moment—to keep the soul operating in the Divine Will.

Jesus told Luisa that even humility always holds on to something of ourselves, and that humility is really knowledge of one’s self, all of which is good.  But living our nothingness is the true ideal and proper to advancing in the Life of the Divine Will.

Jesus usually prefers to manifest Himself to the little and ignorant ones, because they attribute nothing to themselves but attribute everything to his Infinite Love.

Jesus agreed with Luisa when she told Him that she could do nothing by herself, and told her not to be afraid, because He would do everything for her.  All He wanted was for her to give Him her will and that was all He needed.  He also told her that He knew how weak she was, and that she should draw the needed strength from Him.

Jesus distrusts persons who take glory in what that do and make themselves thieves of his graces.  For those persons who know themselves, He is generous with His graces.

Living in the Divine Will is to live with one’s will united with his Creator, dissolving one’s self in the Eternal Will and the “nothing” ascending to the “All,” as the “All” descends into the “nothing.” Jesus told Luisa that this is the most noble, pure and heroic act that a soul can do.

Jesus told Luisa that He had chosen her little because little ones do whatever those who have charge over them want them to do. The  little ones do not walk on their own but let themselves be led, because they fear taking steps alone. Little ones have a detachment that frees them from being concerned whether they are rich or poor, and they don’t worry about anything.  This gives them a pleasing freshness and beauty and gracefulness.

To live in the Divine Will one must live more from God than from one’s self.  The “nothing” cedes its life to the “All” in doing everything and allows His act to be the wellspring of all its acts.

God experiences great contentment when He sees that the soul places her acts in the safety of the Divine Will.  Even the acts of the “nothing” are small, they compete with the acts of the Trinity, and They enjoy watching the “nothing” work diligently to safeguard her nothingness by placing her acts in Their Will.

All the glory of the works of God in the material creation lies in their remaining in nothingness, with the exception of man, who is a composite of spirit and matter.  Man alone wants to do what he does without the will of his Creator.  Wanting his nothingness to act on its own, he believes himself to be something. 

When Adam wanted to be something, he left the “All” feeling subordinated to the “nothing,” and the “All” went out from man, and man lowered himself from the place of superiority to all created things to a place of inferiority to everything—the created things that had remained in their nothingness before the “All”.

When the “All” acts, the role of the “nothing” is to remain in its place and make itself available to receive the “All”.

The Kingdom of the Divine Will is marvelously and enchantingly  beautiful—the “nothing” dissolves itself in the “All”, and the “All” simultaneously fuses in the “nothing”—the created lowliness rises into the height of the Divinity, and the Divinity descends into the creature’s depths.  The two beings—one human, one Divine—become fused and identified in an inseparable manner—two lives throbbing as one.

The great and prodigious vocation to live in the Divine Will has the incredible quality of littleness bearing and embracing the Immensity, weakness bearing divine strength, and the “nothing” possessing the “All” can give everything to her Creator as her own.

Jesus told Luisa how precious and special to Him is a soul who lets the Divine Will live and operate in her, and that her beauty is so rare that it is impossible to find anything like her.  He added that He sees nothing in her but works of the Holy Trinity issuing forth from her.

When God gives Himself to the soul, He expects everything from the soul in response, including her nothingness, so His creative word can be repeated and impress the form of the “All” upon the nothingness of His creature.

If the creating and preserving act of the Divine Will were to withdraw from the heavens and the earth, the life of everything would vanish, because the Creation is a “nothing” which depends entirely upon the “All” to exist and to be preserved.

When the soul is elevated in the Divine Will, everything is left behind and she is reduced to her nothingness.  As this happens the “nothing” recognizes her Creator, and the Creator recognizes the “nothing”—but He recognizes a “nothing,” who is no longer cluttered with things that do not belong to Him.  Pleased with this “nothing,” He fills her with the “All.”

 

The Sanctity of Sanctities

 

Jesus told Luisa that the  soul who truly lives the Gift of the Divine Will, no matter how little and ignorant she might be, surpasses even the Saints, in spite of prodigious things that they have done. In comparison, the souls who live the Gift of the Divine Will that God has destined for His Third Fiat, will be as queens, and the others as if at their service.

Often the souls living in the Divine Will apparently do nothing, yet the opposite is true. In reality they do everything, because by living in the Divine Will these souls do the Will of God as God does It, even though this is not observed by others.  The power of God resides in these souls, so they are not simply channels for the performance of miracles. They, with God, provide the grace and supernatural energy for the work of the missionary, the speech of the preacher, the patience of those suffering sickness, the endurance of those slandered, the obedience of those under authority, etc.

The souls who live the Gift of the Divine Will participate in all the good that exists in time and eternity.  They are living Hosts, full of life, consecrated by Jesus without the need of any mediation or scheduled times and places.

Through Luisa, Jesus makes known to us the excesses that His Divinity performed in His Humanity that vastly exceed those that His Humanity did outwardly.  He spoke to her about how the soul of the Third Fiat can penetrate inside the Divine Will, embrace Its immensity, be multiplied with Him and penetrate everywhere, casting off human ways to act in divine ways—something not yet known.

The establishing of the Kingdom of the Divine Will is the greatest of all works, and while it is inseparable from the work of Redemption, the glory that it will give to God and the good that it will do for souls surpasses even the work of Redemption.

In the “Book of Heaven” Jesus said the following, which I quote: ”The most perfect, the most sublime humility is to stop reasoning and discussing ‘why’ and ‘how,’ but to dissolve oneself in one’s own nothingness.”  When this is done by the soul she becomes dissolved in God, and this brings about the most intimate union with God and the perfection of love for the One who created her—her highest Good. The soul attains the greatest advantage when she gives up her own reasoning to acquire divine reason. She abandons the folly of discoursing about herself—“whether she is cold or warm, and whether things that happen to her are good or bad.”  This soul will acquire a heavenly and divine language.  Convinced of her nothingness, she will be vested with a garment of protection and remain in profound peace.  And every aspect of herself will take on a beauty so pleasing to the most beloved Jesus.

 

To live in the Divine Will is a gift, the greatest gift, a gift of infinite value, a gift given in abundance to those who understand and believe their ”nothingness.