FAITH,INTIMACY AND CONFIDENCE

Divine Appeal Reflection - 198

Today, consider in Divine Appeal 198: "I implore you to abandon yourself in My heart and do what I have commanded you. I ask you for faith, intimacy and confidence."

Our Adorable Jesus, urges us to gain the precious virtues of faith, intimacy, and confidence. It is through the first step of faith that He calls us, for without this, communion with Him becomes impossible (cf. Hebrews 11:6). Faith invites us to surrender our hearts completely to the truth revealed by our Adorable Jesus, even when His designs remain hidden from our understanding. As the Catechism affirms, faith is the free response of our will to God, who reveals Himself and cannot deceive (cf. CCC 150). By embracing faith, we acknowledge our nothingness and entrust our destiny to His unfailing providence.

From this living faith springs intimacy with our Adorable Jesus. He desires to draw each soul close to His Heart, not to remain distant or unknown. Like He did with the Blessed Virgin Mary, He calls us into a life of loving connection, one in which we reflect on His word and remain near Him in both happiness and grief (cf. Luke 2:19,51). When we adore our Adorable Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament's Real Presence and let His love shape our hearts, our close relationship grows. The core of prayer, as the Catechism reminds us, is this connection with the living God (cf. CCC 2558).

Confidence grows naturally when faith takes root in our hearts and intimacy with our Adorable Jesus deepens. It is the childlike surrender of a soul that knows it is held securely within His loving Heart (cf. Matthew 18:3). Such trust enables us to place every fear, burden, and uncertainty into His hands, believing that He lovingly arranges all things for our good, even when suffering or confusion darkens our path (cf. Romans 8:28). Confidence flourishes when we contemplate the merciful gaze of our Adorable Jesus, who longs for our salvation with boundless love and never ceases to seek us, even when we stray (cf. CCC 609). His Heart, overflowing with mercy, assures us that He will never abandon those who abandon themselves to Him (cf. Psalm 37:5).

Our Adorable Jesus pleads with us to let these three virtues shape our daily lives—faith that entrusts, intimacy that unites, and confidence that surrenders. When we respond to His Divine Appeals with these dispositions, we begin to fulfill His commands not out of duty, but from the joy of loving Him. Abandoning ourselves into His Heart, we find true freedom—the freedom of knowing that our Adorable Jesus holds us securely on the path to everlasting life.

Prayer:

Our Adorable Jesus, we abandon ourselves into Your Heart. Increase our faith so we may always believe in You. Draw us into intimacy with Your Real Presence. Fill us with confidence to trust You in all things. We desire to live for You alone. 

Sr. Anna Ali of the Most Holy Eucharist, intercede for us.