Ladies,
I have earth shattering news.
Jesus.
Is. A. Man.
You
may be laughing at me, or rolling your eyes, but up until reading St.
Faustina’s diary, I didn’t really believe it. Not that I thought
He was a woman, but I wasn’t fully convinced that He is a MAN.
Over
the years, I had heard countless talks/lines intent on convincing me
of the manliness of Jesus. But no matter how legitimate the words
were, I wasn’t completely convinced. In my mind He seemed so
perfect that He was too perfect to be a “real man” somehow. That
His perfection was somehow feminizing. That He was a bit of a
push-over and probably never jumped in mud puddles or brought home
lizards as a kid.
But
then I started looking into His relationship with St. Faustina.
And
I realized Jesus is a manly, manly, manly, MAN.
Not
some distant, cutesy Jesus-is-my-boyfriend.
A.
Man.
Like
the kind of man who would wrestle a grizzly bear and win just for
fun.
What
really struck me was His wildness, that He really was the untamed
Lion of Judah. But with His wildness, there was a great gentleness,
one that was genuine and tender. These aren’t different factions
at war within Him, He is one complete man. He took masculinity and
perfected it, giving us the ultimate-ULTIMATE MAN.
Allow
me to share with you SOME of the words He spoke to St. Faustina that
convinced me of the manliness of his humanity.
(27)
Once, when I was praying, Jesus pervaded all my soul, darkness melted
away, and I heard these words within me: “You are my joy; you are
My heart’s delight.”
(158)
“All this I created for you, My spouse; and know that all this
beauty is nothing compared to what I have prepared for you in
eternity.”
(238)
“My daughter, your heart is My heaven.”
(239)
“My spouse, our hearts are joined forever. Remember to Whom you
have vowed…”
(295)
At that moment Jesus asked me, “My child, how is your retreat
going?” I answered, “But Jesus, You know how it is going.”
“Yes, but I want to hear it from your own lips and from your
heart.”
(512)
“You are My great joy; your love and your humility make Me leave
the heavenly throne and unite Myself with you. Love fills up the
abyss that exists between My greatness and your nothingness.”
(576)
“My daughter, love has brought Me here, and love keeps Me here.”
(853)
“My daughter, I too came down from heaven out of love for you; I
lived for you, I died for you, and I created the heavens for you.”
(866)
“My daughter, I want to repose in your heart, because many souls
have thrown Me out of their hearts today. I have experienced sorrow
unto death.”
(960)
“…What are you thinking about right now?”
(1061)
“Beloved pearl of My Heart, I see your love so pure, purer than
that of the angels, and all the more so because you keep fighting.”
(1542)
“Know then that I want you to unite yourself more closely to Me. I
am concerned about every beat of your heart. Every stirring of your
love is reflected in My Heart. I thirst for your love.”
(1669)
“Heart of My Heart, be filled with joy.”
And
if you need any more proof that Jesus is in fact a man-
(928)
Then suddenly I saw the Lord, who clasped me to His heart and said to
me, “My daughter, do not weep, for I cannot bear your tears. I
will grant you everything you ask for, but stop crying.”
And
finally,
(587)
I suddenly saw Jesus in great majesty, and He spoke these words to
me: “My daughter, if you wish, I will this instant create a new
world, more beautiful than this one, and you will live there for the
rest of your life.” I answered, “I don’t want any worlds. I
want You, Jesus. I want to love You, with the same love that You
have for me. I beg You for only one thing; to make my heart capable
of loving You. I am very much surprised at Your offer, my Jesus;
what are those worlds to me? Even if You gave me a thousand of them,
what are they to me? You know very well, Jesus, that my heart is
dying of longing for You. Everything that is not You is nothing to
me.”
Oh
my.
Pardon
me as I blush.
Seriously!
In
His relationship with St. Faustina, it is very clear He is a man who
is desperately in love with a woman.
He
even sends his best soldier- St. Michael himself- to protect His
woman (706).
Sometimes
when she feels surrounded by darkness or there are demons attacking
her, Jesus comes out of nowhere and BAM! the Light shines in the
darkness and the darkness has not/cannot overcome Him and then He
holds her in His arms.
There
are multiple times when Christ looks like He’s about to storm off
and destroy Russia, but Faustina just asks Him not too and He’s all
“Don’t tie My hands! I have to do this, I can’t take it
anymore!” And she keeps asking Him not too and He eventually calms
down.
Jesus
is not all fun and games. Jesus can get angry. With righteous fury
of course.
He
is a wild man.
And
He also invented poetry and chocolate.
I
know we hear all the time that consecrated sisters are “brides of
Christ”, but I suppose I didn’t really believe they were the
SPOUSE of God. There were a couple moments when I was reading the
conversations between Faustina and Christ, and the prayers she would
write down, and honestly I would blush and ask myself- “am I
allowed to read this? It seems private…” When you realize she
meant every single word and it’s not just pretty words, it takes on
a whole new intensity.
I’m
still not sure why their conversations struck me so deeply. I’ve
been told since I was a baby that Jesus died for me, which when you
think about it is the most manly thing a man can do. Maybe I had
heard it so often the meaning of those words unfortunately became
muted. Whatever the reason, I was happily surprised it hit me the
way it did, and I am very thankful for St. Faustina writing it all
down.
I
highly encourage you to sit with the words, especially her prayers
she wrote throughout the diary, and go deeper in your relationship
with Christ.
