The Book of Heaven
—Unofficial Version—

September 18, 1924

Distance between living in the Divine Will and doing the Will of God.

I was thinking over what has been written on the living in the Divine Volition, and I prayed to Jesus that He would give me more light, to be able to clarify more this blessed living in the Divine Will to those to whom I am obliged to do so. And my sweet Jesus told me: "My daughter, unfortunately they are slow in understanding it. To live in my Will is to reign in It and with It, while to do my Will is to be submitted to my orders. The first state is to possess; the second is to receive dispositions, and execute commands. To live in my Will is to make my Will one’s own, as one’s own property, and to dispose of It. To do my Will is to take It into account as Will of God, not as one’s own thing; nor can one dispose of It as he wants. To live in my Will is to live with one single Will – That of God; and since It is a Will all holy, all pure, all peaceful, being one single Will that reigns, there are no contrasts: everything is peace. Human passions tremble before this Supreme Will, and would rather escape It; nor do they dare to even move, or oppose it, in seeing that Heaven and earth tremble before this Holy Will. Therefore, the first step of living in the Divine Will, which allows a creature to receive the Divine order, is in the depth of the soul, where grace moves her to empty herself of what is human – tendencies, passions, inclinations and other things.

On the other hand, to do my Will is to live with two wills, in such a way that when I give orders to follow Mine, the creatures feel the weight of their own will, which causes contrasts. And even though they follow the orders of my Will with faithfulness, they feel the weight of their rebellious nature, of their passions and inclinations. How many Saints, although they may have reached the highest perfection, feel their own will waging war against them, keeping them oppressed. And many are forced to cry out: ‘Who will free me from this body of death?’– that is, ‘from this will of mine, that wants to give death to the good I want to do?’

To live in my Will is to live as a son. To just do my Will would be called, in comparison, living as a servant. In the first case, what belongs to the Father belongs to the son; and then, it is well known how servants are forced to make more sacrifices than sons do. They have to expose themselves to more tiring and more humble services, to cold, to heat, to traveling on foot, and the like.

In fact, how much did my saints not do, though most beloved friends of Mine, in order to execute the orders of my Will? Instead, a son remains with his father, takes care of him, cheers him up with his kisses and caresses; he gives orders to the servants as if his father were ordering them; and if he goes out, he doesn’t walk, but travels in a coach. And while the son possesses all that belongs to his father, the servants are given only the recompense for the work they have done, remaining free to serve their master or not; and if they do not serve, they no longer have a right to receive any further compensation. On the other hand, nobody can remove those intimate relations between father and son, by which the son possesses the goods of the father; and no law, either celestial or terrestrial, can cancel these rights, just as it cannot unbind sonship between father and son.

My daughter, the living in my Will is the living that is closest to the blessed of Heaven. It is so distant from one who is simply conformed to my Will and does It, faithfully executing Its orders - as much as Heaven is distant from the earth, as much as the distance between a son and a servant, and between a king and a subject. Moreover, this is a gift which I want to give in these times, so sad - that they may not only do my Will, but possess It. Am I perhaps not free to give whatever I want, when I want, and to whom I want? Isn’t a master free to say to his servant: ‘Live in my house, eat, take, command as another myself"? And so that nobody may prevent him from possessing his goods, he legitimizes this servant as his own son, and gives him the right to possess. If a rich man can do so, much more can I do it.

This living in my Will is the greatest gift I want to give to the creatures. My Goodness wants to show off more and more love toward creatures, and since I gave them everything, I want to give them the gift of my Will, so that in possessing It, they may appreciate and love the great good they possess.

And don’t be surprised if you see that they do not understand. In order to understand, they would have to dispose themselves to the greatest of sacrifices – that of not giving life, even in holy things, to their own will. Then would they feel the possession of Mine, and would touch with their own hands what it means to live in my Will. You, however, be attentive, and do not be bothered by the difficulties they raise; little by little I will make my way, to make them understand the living in my Will."