Oh Man...!

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.