Over the final 9 days of Lent and Easter 2022 Scoop will be publishing a serialisation of Katya Rivas’s “The Passion”. To order a video about Katya’s work visit “A plea to humanity”
The Passion
Reflections that Jesus makes on the mystery of His suffering and the value it has on the Redemption. Cochabamba — Bolivia Spanish Editions: 1996 and 1998 - English 1st Edition - November 1999
The Scourging of
Jesus
Extract 14
Jesus
Look at Me, My
dear ones. Letting Myself be led with the meekness of a lamb
to the terrible torture of the scourging. On My Body,
already covered with blows and overwhelmed with fatigue, the
executioners cruelly discharge terrible lashes with braided
rope, with rods. I am punished with so much violence that
that there was no part of Me which was not prey to the most
terrible pain. The blows and the kicks caused immeasurable
wounds… The rods tore away pieces of My skin and flesh.
Blood oozed from all My members. Time after time I fell
because of the pain caused by the blows to My manliness. My
Body was in such a state that I resembled a monster more
than a man. The features of My face had lost their shape; it
was all swollen.
The thought of so many souls, who later
were going to be inspired to follow My footsteps, consumed
Me with Love.
While in prison I saw the faithful
imitators learning from My meekness, patience, and serenity.
Not only to accept the suffering and scorns, but even loving
those who persecute them and, if necessary, sacrificing
themselves for them as I sacrificed Myself.
During those
hours of solitude in the midst of so much pain, I became
inflamed, more and more, in My desire of perfectly
completing My Father’s Will. How I offered Myself in
reparation of His deeply offended Glory! Thus you, religious
souls who find yourselves in the chosen prison for love, who
more than once pass in the eyes of others as useless and
possibly harmful creatures, do not be afraid. Let them shout
against you and, during those hours of pain and solitude,
unite your heart intimately with your God, the only object
of your love. Repair His Glory violated by so many
sins.
†
Jesus Is Sentenced to
Death
Extract 15
Jesus
At dawn Caiaphas
ordered them to take Me to Pilate so that he might pronounce
the sentence of death. Pilate questioned Me, hoping to find
a reason to condemn Me, but at the same time his conscience
tormented him and he felt great fear at the injustice that
he was going to commit. Finally he found a way to ignore Me
and had Me taken to Herod.
In Pilate are faithfully
represented the souls who feel the movement of grace and at
the same time their own passion, who are dominated by human
respect and blinded by self love, and who allow the grace to
pass for fear of being mocked.
I did not answer any of
Pilate’s questions. But when he asked: “Are You the King
of the Jews?”, then with seriousness and integrity, I
answered: “You have said so, I am the King, but My kingdom
is not of this world…” With these words I wanted to
teach many souls how, when they are presented with the
opportunity to endure suffering or a humiliation that could
easily be avoided, they should answer with generosity: “My
kingdom is not of this world…”. That is, I am not
searching to be praised by men. My Home is not this one, yet
I will rest where it really is. Now, be encouraged to
fulfill My duty without taking into account the opinion of
the world. What matters is not their esteem but to follow
the voice of grace that drowns the lures of nature. If I am
not able to conquer alone, I will ask for strength and
counsel since, on many occasions, passions and excessive
pride blind the soul and impel it to act wrongly.
The
executioners who destroy My Body are not ten nor twenty.
There are many hands that hurt My Body; receiving Communion
in the hands - the sacrilegious work of Satan!
How can
they contemplate Me in this sea of pain and bitterness
without their hearts being moved with compassion? But it is
not the executioners who have to console but you, chosen
souls, so that My pain may be alleviated. Contemplate My
wounds and see if there is anyone who has suffered as much
as I, to show you their love.
†
Jesus
Is Crowned with Thorns
Extract
16
Jesus
In the Will of Father I have lived days of
intense sadness without complaining but accepting what the
Father wanted to make Me feel. When I was apprehended in the
Garden, My accusers were quick with every lie and I, without
the least resistance, allowed them to take Me to wherever
they wanted to. And when they wanted to encircle My Head
with the crown of thorns, I bowed My Head without
resistance, because I took everything from the hands of He
who had sent Me into the world.
When the arms of those
cruel men were exhausted by the force of discharging blows
against My Body, they placed over My head the crown woven
with branches of thorns, and parading before Me they said:
“So you are King? We salute you!”
Some spat at Me;
others insulted Me; others discharged new blows against My
head, each one adding a new pain to My Body, so hurt and
destroyed.
I am tired; I have nowhere to rest. Lend Me
your heart and your arms to cover Myself in your love. I am
cold and feverish; embrace Me for an instant before they
continue destroying this temple of Love.
The soldiers and
executioners, with their dirty hands, push My Body, and
others with disgust for My Blood, push Me with their lances
and reopen My flesh. With a shove they seat Me on sharp
stones; I cry in silence because of the pain. In a grotesque
way, they make fun of My tears. Finally they tear My
temples, forcing down the crown woven of thorny
branches.
Consider how with that crown, I wanted to make
reparation for the sin of pride of so many souls who,
wishing to be excessively praised, let themselves be
influenced by the false opinions of the world. Above all, I
allowed them to crown My Head with thorns. My Head suffered
cruelly this way in order to make reparation through
voluntary humility for the loathing and proud pretense of so
many souls. Souls who because they judge it unworthy of
their condition and status, refuse to follow the path set by
My Providence.
No path is humiliating when it is planned
by the Will of God… In vain you intend to fool yourselves,
thinking of following the Will of God and in full submission
of whatever He asks of you.
There are people in the world
who, when the moment of decision arrives (to undertake a new
type of life), reflect and examine the desires of their
hearts. Maybe they will find, in him or her with whom they
plan to unite, the solid foundations for a Christian and
pious life. Perhaps they will see that they will follow
their family duties in a way necessary to satisfy their
wishes of happiness. But vanity and pride come to obscure
their spirit and they let themselves be pulled by the desire
of being prominent and showing off. Then they do their best
to look for someone, who being richer or of high class, to
satisfy their ambition. O! How stubbornly they blind
themselves. No, I will tell them, you will not find real
happiness in this world and I hope that you will find it in
the next. Watch out, you are putting yourself in great
danger!
I will also talk to the souls to whom I call to
the path of perfection. How many illusions are in those who
tell Me that they are ready to do My Will and then they
pierce My Head with the thorns of My Crown.
Respectively,
there are souls whom I want for Myself. Knowing them and
loving them, I want to place them where I live, in My
infinite wisdom, where they will find all that is necessary
to reach sanctity. It is there where I will make Myself
known to them, and where they will give Me more comfort,
more love, and more souls.
But, so many deceptions! So
many souls are blinded with pride and arrogance for mere
ambition. They fill their heads with vain and useless
thoughts; they refuse to follow the path that lays out My
Love.
Souls whom I have chosen, do you think that you
fulfill My Will by resisting the voice of the grace that
calls you and guides you along that path which your pride
rejects?
My daughter, love of My sorrows, console Me.
Make a throne in your small heart for your King and Savior
and crown Me with kisses.
Crowned with thorns and covered
with a purple mantle, the soldiers presented Me again to
Pilate. Not finding in Me a crime for which to punish Me,
Pilate asked Me several questions, asking Me why I did not
answer him knowing that he had all power over Me.
Then,
breaking My silence I told him: ”You would not have that
power if you had not received it from above, but it is
necessary that the Scriptures be carried out.” And,
abandoning Myself to My Celestial Father, I was silent
again.
†
Barrabas Is Set
Free
Extract 17
Jesus
Pilate was
looking for ways to free Me. He was worried because of his
wife’s warning and confused between the guilt of his
conscience and the fear that the people would initiate a
riot against him. In the pitiable state in which I found
Myself, he exposed Me to the sight of the mob proposing that
he give Me liberty and condemn Barabbas, a famous thief and
murderer, in My place. The people answered in one voice:
“Let him die and have Barabbas set free!”
Souls who
love Me, see how they have compared Me to a criminal, how
they have lowered Me more than the most perverse of men.
Listen to the furious shouts projected against Me. See with
what fury they ask for My death. Did I refuse to go through
such shameful confrontation? No, on the contrary, I embraced
it for My Love of souls and to show them that this Love did
not only take Me to death, but to the most ignominious
death…
However, do not believe that My human nature did
not feel revulsion nor pain. On the contrary, I wanted to
feel all its revulsion, and be subject to its same
condition, giving you an example that will give you strength
in every circumstance in life and teach you to conquer the
revulsion to what you are offered when it is a question of
fulfilling the Divine Will.
I return to the souls I was
talking about yesterday… those souls called to the state
of perfection, who discuss with grace and retreat when faced
with the humility of the path that I show them, fearing how
they will be judged by the world or as they assess their
capabilities, convince themselves that they will be more
useful somewhere else to My service and for My Glory.
I
will respond to those souls: Tell Me, did I refuse or even
hesitate when I saw Myself being born at night to poor and
humble parents in a stable, far from My Home and Country in
the harshest season of the year?
Afterwards I lived
thirty years fulfilling the hidden and gloomy occupation in
the workshop: I went through humiliations and scorns from
the people who requested work done by Joseph, My father. I
did not detest helping My Mother in the most menial of tasks
in the house. Nonetheless, did I not have more talent than
that required for the rough work of a carpenter? I, who at
the age of twelve, taught Doctors in the Temple… But it
was the Will of My Celestial Father and, thus, I glorified
Him. When I left Nazareth and started My public life, I
could have had Myself known as the Messiah and Son of God,
so that men would listen to My teachings with veneration,
but I did not do it because My only wish was to do My
Father’s Will…
And when the time of My Passion came,
through the cruelty of some and the insults of others, the
abandonment of My own and the ingratitude of the mob,
through the unspeakable martyrdom of My Body and the
revulsion of My soul, see how with greater love, I was still
revealing and embracing the Will of My Celestial
Father.
Thus when overcoming difficulties and revulsion,
the soul generously submits itself to the Will of God. There
comes a moment in which, intimately united to Him, the soul
enjoys the most indescribable sweetness.
What I have said
to the souls who loathe the humble and hidden life, I repeat
to those who are called to a constant contact with the world
when, on the contrary, their preference would be toward
complete solitude and humble and hidden work.
Chosen
souls, your happiness and perfection does not consist in
following the taste of your preference and inclinations of
nature, in being known or unknown by creatures, in using or
hiding the talent you have, but rather in uniting and
conforming yourselves through love and with total submission
to God’s Will, to that which is asked of you for His Glory
and your own sanctification.
Enough for today, My little
daughter, love and embrace My Will joyfully; you know that
it is always done for love.
Meditate for a moment upon
the unspeakable martyrdom of My Heart, upon seeing it put
behind Barabbas. How I remembered then My Mother’s
tenderness when she embraced Me against her Heart! And how
vivid were the anxieties and fatigue that My adoptive father
suffered to show Me his love. How I remembered the benefits
I so freely poured over thankless people: giving sight to
the blind, giving the sick their health, the use of their
limbs to those who had lost them, feeding the crowds, and
resurrecting the dead. Now to see Myself reduced to the most
despicable state! I am the most hated of men, and I am being
condemned to death like an infamous
thief.
†
Jesus Forgives The Greatest
Sinners
Extract
18
Jesus
Pilate has pronounced sentence. My little children, consider attentively how My Heart suffered…
After Judas surrendered Me in the Garden of Olives, he wandered off and ran away as a fugitive without being able to silence the shouts of his conscience, which accused him of the most horrible sacrilege. When the news of My death sentence reached his ears, he gave in to the most terrible despair and hung himself.
Who will be able to understand the intense pain in My Heart when I saw that soul throw himself to eternal damnation? He who had spent three years in the School of My Love learning My doctrine, receiving My teaching, and many times hearing My lips forgive the greatest sinners.
Judas! Why do you not come and throw yourself at My feet so that I may forgive you? If you do not dare to come near Me for fear of those who surround Me and treat Me so badly, at least look at Me and you will see how soon My eyes will look at you.
Souls, who are entangled in the greatest sins… If at times you have lived wandering as fugitives because of your crimes, if the sins of which you are guilty have blinded you and hardened your hearts, if by pursuing some passion you have fallen into greater disorder, do not allow desperation to take possession of you when the accomplices of your sin abandon you and your soul realizes its blame. As long as man has an instant of life, he still has time to appeal to My Mercy and implore forgiveness.
If you are young and the scandals of your past life have left you in a state of degradation before men, do not be afraid! Even when the world may despise you, treat you as evil people, insult you, and abandon you, be certain that your God does not want your soul to be fodder for the flames of hell. He wants you to dare to speak to Him, to direct your gaze and sighs of your heart at Him, and you will soon see that His kind and paternal hand leads you to the source of forgiveness and of life.
If out of malice you have perhaps spent a greater part of your life in disorder and indifference, and now near eternity, desperation wants to blindfold your eyes, do not let it deceive you. There is still time for forgiveness. Listen carefully: if you have but a second of life, take advantage of it because you could gain eternal life during that second.
If your existence has passed away in ignorance and in error, if you have been the cause of great harm to men, to society, and even to religion, and for any reason you perceive your mistake, do not allow yourself to be brought down by the weight of faults nor by the harm for which you have been an instrument. But, on the contrary, allow your soul to be penetrated with the deepest sorrow, plunge yourself in trust and turn to the One who is always waiting to forgive you.
The same is true for a soul who has spent the first years of its life in faithful observance of My Commandments, but has little by little fallen from fervor into a lukewarm and comfortable life…
Do not hide anything that I tell you, for it is all for the benefit of the whole of humanity. Repeat it in broad daylight; preach it to those who truly want to hear it.
The soul who one day receives a strong jolt that wakes it up, all of a sudden sees its useless life, empty and without merits for eternity. The Evil One, with infernal jealousy, attacks it in a thousand ways, exaggerating its faults. He inspires in it sadness and loss of heart, and finally drives it to fear and despair.
Soul that belongs to Me, do not pay attention to the cruel enemy. As soon as you feel the movement of grace at the beginning of your battle, come to My Heart. Feel and watch how it pours a drop of its Blood over your soul, and come to Me. You know where I am, under the veil of faith…. Lift it and, with complete confidence, tell Me all your sorrows, your miseries, your falls… Listen to My words with respect and do not fear for the past. My Heart has submerged it in the endless depths of My Mercy and My Love.
Your past life will give you the humility that will fill you. And if you want to give Me the best proof of love, trust Me and count on My forgiveness. Believe that your sins shall never be greater than My endless Mercy.
†
(continuing)
EDITOR’S NOTES: In Lent 2022 Scoop is publishing - , for the 23rd time - a series of daily reflections on the Passion from Bolivian author Katya Rivas. Rivas has received an official imprimatur from the Catholic Church for several books.. To order a video about Katya’s work visit… apleatohumanity.com
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