Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan
to be baptized by him.
John tried to prevent him, saying,
“I need to be baptized by you,
and yet you are coming to me?”
Jesus said to him in reply,
“Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us
to fulfill all righteousness.”
Then he allowed him.
After Jesus was baptized,
he came up from the water and behold,
the heavens were opened for him,
and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove
and coming upon him.
And a voice came from the heavens, saying,
The words of John to Jesus echo within me: “yet you are coming to me? ”
And I see how many times Jesus comes to me: to be comforted on the Cross, to ask for my help in saving souls, to seek my company in the Tabernacle, in adoration. And how can I do all that? How can I console You? How can I help You to save souls? And You answer me by asking me to welcome everything that happens to me, pleasant or unpleasant, as something You allow—whether through my husband, my children, my work colleagues, my family; everything You place in my path each day. For all of it is meant to help me grow in virtue and to walk the path of holiness to which I am called.
To do this is nothing more than to fulfil Your will for me. Every day You come to me asking me to follow You and to do Your will. For although it is I who need Your Grace, Your Salvation, yet in order to give it to me, in order to help me, You need me to welcome You in every situation I live through. As Saint Augustine said, God who created you without you, will not save you without you. God needs my consent; He will do nothing if I do nothing. But once I tell Him that I want His salvation, His Grace, I must be willing to do His will—because only He knows what is best for me and for my life, even when I do not understand it, even when I do not fully like it.
Everything is a Mystery—a wonderful Mystery—when you place the reins of your life in God’s hands.
Matthew: Anna, sometimes I don’t understand why we are going through this; I feel overwhelmed and I can’t see the way out.
Anna: Matthew, despair comes over me at times too, but I see that the Lord is asking me to surrender in illness, to accept His will for me, for us.
Matthew: It is so hard—to see you suffer, so weak, and not be able to help you…
Anna: This is what the Lord is asking of us. Look, it seems pointless, and as though we understand nothing, but we must be certain that He will bring great good out of this trial.
Matthew: Such strength, Anna—and such serenity.
Anna: It is the Grace of Our Lord that sustains me and urges me ever more to surrender myself, for the salvation of many. He needs us—our Yes, our self-giving. Suffering with Him has meaning.
Matthew: How much I have to learn from you, from that trust in the Lord. Every day I ask Our Mother to help us to welcome all of this.
Anna: That is the only option we have—to pray and to live in Mary’s heart. She takes such good care of us…
Matthew: Thank you, Lord, for such a wonderful wife.
Anna: It is I who must give thanks for this husband, with such a generous heart.
Mother,
Help us always to say Yes to God’s will in our lives, and to treasure everything in our hearts, as You do, dear Mother. Blessed and praised be God!