Hello, I'm Father Joe Roche of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception.

Thank you for joining us as we continue with our year-long journey, reading the Diary of

St. Maria Faustina Kavalska from beginning to end. Today we take up from where we left off,

beginning with Diary Entry Number 1268.

Today I felt more ill, but Jesus has given me many more opportunities on this day to practice virtue. It so happened that I was busier than usual, and the sister in charge of the

kitchen made it clear to me how irritated she was that I had

come late for dinner, although it was quite impossible for me to have come sooner. At any rate,

I felt so unwell that I had to ask Mother Superior to allow me to lie down. I went to ask

Sister N to take my place, and again I got a scolding. What is this, sister?

You're so exhausted that you're going to bed again? Confound you with all this lying in bed.

I put up with all that, but that wasn't the end. I still had to ask the sister who was in charge of the

sick to bring me my meal. When I told her this, she burst out of the chapel into the

corridor after me to give me a peace of her mind. Why on earth are you going to bed, sister, etc.

I asked her not to bother bringing me anything. I am writing all this very briefly

because it is not my intention to write about such things, and I am doing so merely to dissuade

souls from treating others in this way. For this is displeasing to the Lord. In a suffering soul,

we should see Jesus crucified and not a loafer or burden on the community. A soul who suffers with submission to the will of God draws down more blessings on the whole convent than all the working sisters.

Poor indeed is a convent where there are no sick sisters. God often

grants many and great graces out of regard for the souls who are suffering, and he withholds

many punishments solely because of the suffering souls. O my Jesus, when shall we look upon souls with higher motives in mind?

When will our judgments be true?

You give us occasions to practice deeds of mercy, and instead we use the occasions to pass

...