Teresa Lo
The first week of October was a boon to so many locals who longed to take a break and spend time with families and friends. On that weekend, Vila São José opened up the space for the first retreat ever organized since the onset of the pandemic, thus the three-day journey in the “My life in the Heart of Jesus” headed off.
My role assigned in the retreat was a translator. Frankly, it was a great challenge to pick up this task given that I have never worked with the speaker. We then arranged a pre-meeting. I then got to know a few saints who had had special personal experiences with the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the history of the Church. However, I could feel my own poverty inside as these saints were all strangers to me. How could I translate properly the message while feeling a great gap between us cognitively and spiritually?
On the first day of the retreat, the retreatants prepared themselves to hear the message in the room above the chapel. The crucifix facing us through the window at that time delivered a most succinct message of divine mercy, as in the words of St Faustina: “In the evening when I was in my cell, I saw Jesus clothed in a white robe. One of His hands was raised in a gesture of blessing, and with the other He was touching the robe on His chest. There were two big rays, one red and the other pale, emerging from a fold in the robe on His chest. … After a while Jesus said to me, ‘Make Me a picture of this image in the form that you see, with the inscription “Jesus, I trust in You”’” (Diary 47).
By the same breath of God, we heard in our inner ears the calling of the merciful Jesus, inviting us to enter His Sacred Heart and receive His love, healing and consolation. In the three-day teachings, retreatants were endowed with a great deal of knowledge on the Sacred Heart, yet, at the end of the sessions, we could each recall the speaker’s gentle and true words: “The encounter of hearts in retreat is the thing that counts. For this, we need to ask for the grace to meet Jesus in person.”
In St Faustina’s experiences, the first and foremost thing to meet the Sacred Heart of Jesus is to trust in Him, to offer our soul, body and life to the infinite Trinity who is more than happy to shower blessings on us. Here came my question: Is it true that these blessings are given to us freely?
During a session on Abraham, God opened up my inner vision through His conversation with our spiritual father. He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspringbe” (Genesis 15: 5).
In that second of translating this verse, God showed me it is not me “looking up at the sky,” but joining Him to look above from heaven in the way the Psalmist described: “Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwells on high, Who humble himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth! He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the dunghill; that he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people” (Psalm 113:5-8).
What an inspiring way of seeing if I could join the eyes of God to see where I am from the stance of heaven! Instantly, I felt resonance with Abraham. In my perspective, I could only see my limitations in carrying out the task of translation, and that feeling of poverty created fear in me. Nonetheless, joining the eyes of God from above allowed me to see the many stars He has prepared for my mission.
In my mind’s eye, I could see myself shimmering with stars, my Lord holding my hands, leading me to the mountain behind Vila São José. As I walked on, I could look back every footstep taken – the college years, the translation experiences in my teaching life, the ups and downs along the life path. All were taken together and became my inner resources — the stars. Like Abraham, I was elated to get in touch with such a generous and loving God who loves us to the core.
Reviewing the three-day translation experiences, I fully felt the graces of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. As a matter of fact, the speed of the speaker was increasing to a point close to lightning, but miraculously, once the words entered my ears, they seemed to pass through me, calm and clear. The moment those words were translated, they were transformed, by the love of the Sacred Heart, into mellow and aged wine, nourishing the hearts of the retreatants and mine as well.
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11: 29-30).
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