Learn to Think the Thoughts of Jesus: By Direct Contact with Him

Mary

My child, there is another way of coming to think the thoughts of Jesus, a very rapid, sure, and efficacious way. It consists in putting yourself in direct contact with Him.

2. Contemplate Jesus, preferably in the Gospels. Listen to His word, observe His action. But do not stop at the exterior; penetrate into His soul and discover behind His words and actions what He really thought and felt and willed. See above all how with Him each word, each action proceeds from love. Jesus is more than a Teacher uttering words of wisdom. He is the God of love. You have not yet understood His teaching if you have not discovered its source: the infinite love of His Heart.

3. From the contemplation of Jesus, turn for a moment to the contemplation of yourself. Find out how far you are from thinking, feeling, willing as He does. See what you must do, what obstacles you must avoid, what means you must take, what sacrifices you must impose upon yourself to bring about your  transformation into Him.

4. While thus contemplating Jesus and comparing your conduct with His, speak to Him. Speak to Him as if you saw Him. Is He not in you? Does He not hear your voice as truly as He formerly heard St. Peter’s, St. Mary Magdalen’s, and St. John’s? Does He not love you as He loved His disciples; you especially, whom He has given to me to be, like John, my child of predilection? Speak to Him directly, without any set formula of prayer. Tell Him in all simplicity what you are thinking, what you are feeling, and what you desire, just as you would speak about it to a brother or an intimate friend.

5. Do not forget to unite yourself to me in these intimate conversations with Jesus. You know that I am always near you and that to reach the Son you must go by way of the Mother. As you yourself will find out, you will be less recollected, less at ease, less loving with Him, when you do not feel me near you. I spent my life pondering over the things I saw and heard about My Son. Any meditation you make on Him will be but the repetition of one that I made centuries ago. Come close to me and I will make you understand and feel what I understood and felt when I explored the deep mysteries of Jesus.

6. Do not seek to multiply thoughts and reasonings. Just believe, love and pray. Believe! If Jesus said such or such a thing, the matter is settled. You need not look for other proofs. He said so, therefore it is true, infallibly true. Only believe. Men about you may affirm the contrary, at least by their conduct. What does it matter? Jesus has said it; believe it! Men will pass away, but the truth of our Lord will remain forever. Your feelings will incline you to side with men, or, at least, to remain indifferent to the teachings of Jesus. What does it matter? The question is not one of feeling but of believing. Jesus has said so! You must believe Him! Unite yourself to me and you will believe with a purer and firmer faith. Multiply your acts of faith. Multiply them, not as an effort at auto- suggestion, but in order to make divine truth penetrate to the depths of your soul, and to bring its practical consequences home to you clearly.

7. Love! Love the truth, because Jesus loved it; love it because it was only out of love that He taught it to men. Above all, love Jesus and learn to love Him more and more. According as you love Him more, you will imitate all the dispositions of His soul more perfectly, even without explicitly trying to do so. Come to me and I will unite my love to yours, and together we will love Jesus with a love incomparably pure and strong.

8. Pray! Ask Jesus to come and help your unbelief. Ask Him to make His thoughts, feelings, and wishes your own. Ask me to reveal Jesus to you, and to make you live His life.

9. Among the dispositions of Christ, preferably study the one you lack most, or the one for which you experience a special attraction, or the one which a recent disturbing event proves you need at once.

10. Instead of seeking inspiration for your prayer in the Gospels, you may have recourse to some other religious book, or to a known formula of prayer, or to a sacred hymn. But endeavor to connect everything with Jesus; to believe, to love, and to practice everything for the sake of Jesus.

11. Prepare your conversation with Jesus by foreseeing what you intend to say to Him and by endeavoring to be more composed. Always begin by asking me to lead you to my Son; put yourself in my presence, and then together we shall put ourselves in His. End your conversation by taking a practical resolution in the way I shall teach you later.

12. From time to time throughout the day, when going to and fro, or in the intervals between your different occupations, try to recall the thought which most impressed you in your conversation with Jesus, and repeat acts of faith about it.

13. Do you now begin to understand the truth of what I was saying a few minutes ago about the importance of this practice for anyone who wants to learn to think the thoughts of Jesus? If so, you will also understand that you should never, for any reason, omit this daily conversation with Him. Determine the precise moment when you are going to apply yourself to it and the length of time you will give to it; then, no matter what happens, hold to your decision. Shorten it if necessary, but never omit it! Do not omit it under the pretext that you have only time enough to say your morning and evening prayers. Rather reduce the length of these prayers by half in order to find a few moments for conversation with Jesus. Do not omit it because the only time you have is already consecrated to the reception of Holy Communion. Receive Holy Communion, but make your preparation and thanksgiving by way of conversation with Jesus. Do not omit it, objecting that otherwise you cannot do your spiritual reading. Make use of your reading as a preparation for your conversation, but always reserve some moments for direct contact with Jesus. Do not omit it on account of the multiplicity of your occupations; the more occupations you have, the greater is your need of self-possession, and self-possession is best found in contact with God. The men who have done the most fruitful work are those who were most closely united to Jesus.
Do not omit it because you have been negligent or unfaithful, or because you find yourself without thought or feeling. Who will cleanse you, who will cure you, if not Jesus? Come with me close to Him.

14. Have you understood me, my child? Either you will apply yourself resolutely and perseveringly to the practice I have just taught you and then it will be easy for me to transform you into Jesus, or like so many others you will not have the courage to do so, and then you will remain mediocre, and I will not be able to use you for the task I have reserved for you. Make your choice.

The Faithful Soul:
O my Mother, I give you my word of honor, that never, under any pretext whatsoever, will I omit my daily chat with you and Jesus. Under your guidance I will apply myself constantly to study your Son.