Jesus Speaks to Faustina and You

By Susan Tassone

Sophia Institute Press, 2020

425 pages; $16.95

EWTN Item: 81036

To order: ewtnrc.com or (800) 854-6316

 

Bestselling author Susan Tassone has come out this month with another book in time for Divine Mercy Sunday — Jesus Speaks to Faustina and You.

Much like her last book, Day by Day With Saint Faustina, this latest work follows the same easy-to-use pattern. There’s an entry for each day of the year that focuses on the words of Jesus to St. Faustina, which Tassone calls “the very heart of her Diary.” Clearly the messages Christ gives St. Faustina are also for us. “He is instructing us and drawing us toward having a deeper relationship with Him,” Tassone said.

Each day has a general theme, such as “Open Your Hearts,” Recycled Gifts” and “Proof of My Love.” Next comes a short passage or quote of Jesus’ words from Divine Mercy in My Soul: Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska. Following that is a short “Reflection.” Then comes a simple prayer, usually one or two lines, to help readers apply what they’ve just learned. One day, one page.

Along the way there are also some reflections filled with Scripture, quotes from theologians, scholars, saints and holy people to “help you to respond to God’s call to become the one you were called to be,” explains Tassone.

She points out that she was “stunned to learn that Jesus wasn’t just speaking to Faustina. He was speaking to each one of us. The more I entered into the Diary, the more I realized that Jesus was giving us a blueprint for life. He tells us exactly what we must do to live a life worthy of heaven. Jesus has very clear directions on how to deal with the fear and anxiety which is so prevalent today.”

She has chosen passages that show Jesus’ love for each one of us. For example, for Jan. 18:

BREAD OF THE STRONG

My child, that you may answer My call worthily, receive Me daily in Holy Communion. It will give you strength ... (Diary, 1489)

Reflection

“Every morning during meditation, I prepare myself for the whole day’s struggle. Holy Communion assures me that I will win the victory; and so it is. I fear the day when I do not receive Holy Communion. This Bread of the Strong gives me all the strength I need to carry on my mission and the courage to do whatever the Lord asks of me. The courage and strength that are in me are not of me, but of Him who lives in me — it is the Eucharist” (91).

Prayer

Thank you, dear Lord, that on days I can’t get to Mass and Communion You give me the opportunity to make a “Spiritual Communion.”

Jesus, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

 

And this one:

YOUR GOD-COMMANDED PURPOSE

Why are you afraid to begin work which I have commanded you to carry out? (Diary, 1181)

Reflection

We all have a specific mission and purpose that was given to us at our creation. YOU are the only one in the world that can fulfill it. No one else has your mission. We did not just happen to be. We have a place in God’s kingdom to occupy. And a work to accomplish. However, we can become afraid. Turn your fears about your work over to Jesus and allow Him to help. You don’t have to finish the work in a day. All you have to do is begin. You are important to God and a part of His great plan and integral part of salvation history! Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI states: “Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed. Each of us is loved. Each of us is necessary.” Billions of possible human beings God saw but He created YOU! There was something about you that He wanted to be with for all eternity. Remember that. Now get going!

 

Nervous about confession? There is this counsel:

 

GO TO CONFESSION

Pray for souls that they be not afraid to approach the Tribunal of My mercy. Do not grow weary of praying for sinners. You know what a burden their souls are to My Heart. Relieve My deathly sorrow; dispense my mercy. (Diary, 975) Tell souls where they are to look for solace; that is, in the Tribunal of Mercy (The Sacrament of Reconciliation). There the greatest miracles take place [and] are incessantly repeated. (Diary, 1448)

Reflection

A man was standing in line, waiting his turn to go to Confession. He was noticeably nervous about confessing his sins. The fellow standing behind him, who’d already offered a little prayer for him, leaned over and whispered: “Satan’s the only one who should be anxious about confession. Be at peace.” There’s nowhere we’re more loved than in the Tribunal of Mercy. There we’re wrapped in the Father’s mercy. Jesus comes to us, knocking on the door of our hearts, with a hand that was pierced for our sins. He’ll heal our souls if we come humbly like the publican, who fell to his knees, beat his breast, and with eyes downcast, pleaded, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” No one approaches the confessional in “good shape,” because, as St. John Chrysostom said: “Even if we reach the summit of virtue, we are saved only by God’s mercy.” Pray for reluctant souls, because in the Tribunal of Mercy, God works his greatest miracles.

 

If that’s not enough to get us to read and think about and put into action Jesus’ words through Divine Mercy and how they apply to each one of us, take it from Cardinal Robert Sarah, whose endorsement contains these words: “It is a great joy for us all that Susan Tassone continues the witness of St. Faustina Kowalska to the whole Church through her excellent books, making Faustina’s insights available to in a manner that is accessible to all.”

 

In this book, the comforting words of Jesus to the Apostle of Mercy are also extended to us.

Jesus, I trust in you!

 

Joseph Pronechen is a Register staff writer.