Because We Forget

Trying to remember the Lord who loves us

10/05/2021

Mt 11:25-30 At that time Jesus answered: "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him. "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

I don’t usually cry during movies, but one had me balling like a baby. Did you ever see the movie “The Notebook” starring Ryan Gosling and Rachael McAdams? It is about a young couple that falls in love one summer, and through lots of twists and turns, finally ends up married and living in their dream home. By the end of their life, they are both in a nursing home, and the man visits the woman every day and reads to her from “the notebook.”

Sadly, though, she has dementia and cannot recognize her husband who comes to see her. While she was still mentally sharp, though, she had written the notebook about their romance and life together. By the time the man finishes reading the notebook, she suddenly recognizes him and they dance for five minutes, before she sadly forgets again. I am not going to tell you how it ends, but be sure to have a box of Kleenex if you do watch it.

I mention the movie “The Notebook” because today is the feast of St. Faustina, also known as the “apostle of divine Mercy.” She was a Polish nun who only lived for 33 years (just like Jesus) and she also wrote a record of her romance with Jesus. Most people know her writing as “The Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, Divine Mercy in my Soul.” But do you know what she called her writings? She called it “The Notebook.” If you read the Diary you will see that she refers to different parts as “the notebook.”

I don’t know how long Racheal McAdams’ Notebook was but St. Faustina wrote six notebooks totaling 477 pages of written text. St. Faustina’s notebook (or Diary), like that in the movie, is also about a love affair, with wild twists and turns, that eventually ends in a mystical marriage, and the happy couple end up living in their dream home, the Father’s Mansion in heaven. The first time Jesus got her attention was when she was only 19 and on the way to a dance with her sister.

At the dance, she heard Jesus saying to her: “How long shall I put up with you and how long will you keep putting me off?” Without telling her parents, and without any real plan or preparation, she boarded a train for Warsaw, about 85 miles away. All she took with her was the dress she was wearing and her love for Jesus. She approached several convents until one Mother Superior finally accepted her on probation, until she earned enough money to pay for her habit. Lucky Mother Superior!

Why did St. Faustina write her Diary? I would suggest to you it was for the same reason that Rachael McAdams wrote her Notebook. That is, it was not because St. Faustina had dementia but because you and I have dementia. What do I mean? Well, St. Faustina is not only chronicling her love affair with Jesus but also trying to trigger our muddled memories and help us to remember our own love affair with Jesus.

And in our best moments in prayer – at Mass when a homily really hits us, or a scripture passage jumps off the sacred page, or in Adoration we feel we could stay with Jesus forever like Peter, James and John on Mt. Tabor at the Transfiguration – for a few fleeting moments we remember who we are, and what our life has been all about, and who our real romance has been with, and that we are headed for a mystical marriage with our Beloved and to live in our dream home in heaven. And then we dance with Jesus. But then, just as suddenly, we forget again, and go back to life as before, and do not know the Lord.

Folks, can I give you a little homework today? I know you are busy and do not have time. But really, you do not have time for anything else more important. Do three things today: watch the movie “The Notebook” (and have Kleenex handy), read a few pages from the real Notebook of St. Faustina, her Diary, and then go to Mass to receive Holy Communion. Jesus said in the words of consecration over the wine: “Do this in memory of me.” Why did he say that? Because we forget.

Praised be Jesus Christ!