Marvelous Marcel's Top 10 List

So much has been happening in Miss Marcel's world that it's hard to believe a week has already gone by since the feast of Marcel's holy father. That was the day St. Alphonsus told us that one holy maxim, well ruminated, could make us Saints! 

I've been thinking for a while now that just as one particle of the Holy Eucharist contains all of Jesus (Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity), so too one verse of Holy Scripture must contain all of the Truth, all of Him too. Sure, one could take a verse out of context, read it wrong, twist the Holy Spirit's meaning, but so too (though Heaven forbid and may the angels prevent it) those who despise Jesus could badly receive the one particle of the Host, thus receiving Him to their condemnation rather than their salvation, as St. Paul warns.

But we're going to trust the Holy Spirit who is Love and Joy to protect Jesus and us from such unimaginable sadness. What is more worth our reflection, what has the power to fascinate and capture our hearts is rather the Sacred Reality that He whom all Heaven could not contain chooses to dwell in the poorest of tabernacles so that He may remain with us; that He who is all Truth wills to abide in every single word of Truth as well as in all of them taken together.

Which would explain how our one holy maxim could be the making of us. Jesus Himself is the making of us, and to savor His words and the holy maxims of the Saints is to savor Him.

It's time, then, to gather a few such holy maxims from our little brother Marcel and his Conversations with Jesus, Mary, and St Therese. I was delighted to receive some of them as roses you'd sent to my inbox in response to my request for your particular favorites. As for myself,  I find it so hard to choose just one that I'm grateful we're opening up room for more. I'll list mine last, though I'm still at this 11th hour wondering how I could possibly narrow my list of a hundred (or is it a thousand?) favorites to just one. Even two or three sounds impossible!

How about we try a more generous sampling of holy maxims, then. We can bring together the favorites you proposed as a top 10 list - our favorite top ten holy maxims from Marcel . . . We'll do it David Letterman style, you know, "3-2-1- blast off!" mode, so don't panic when I start at #10. We'll work our way down, down, down to our #1 favorite holy Marcel maxim.
Ready?
On your Mark, Get Set . . . Go!

Top 10 Holy Maxims from Marcel-Jesus

10. "The more you forget, the more you see your weakness and your ignorance, and the more you are dear to me and receive my kisses." (Conversations, Jesus speaking, 178)

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9. "In order to prove to me your love, you have only two things to do: to say to me, 'Dear Jesus, I love You a lot.'  Then look at me."
(Conversations, Jesus, 192)

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8. "And the words that I am saying here, I do not intend them for you alone, but also for other souls."
(Conversations, Jesus, 488)

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7. "God is kinder than you think; He is satisfied with a glance, a sigh of love."
(St. Therese said this, and since Marcel is the 2nd St. Therese, all that she has is his, including her words!)

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6. "You know, at least, how to breathe and to look; so, take your breaths and your glances and give them to me. Is that not to speak to me? Would you be afraid that I might not understand? Come, I understand you very well."
(Conversations, Jesus, 603)

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5. "Yes, I am always pleased with you, because whatever concerns you in no why offends me.  However I have one fear; it is that if you worry excessively, you will end up being angry, even with me, which would be very dangerous.  That is why I tell you that it is not appropriate to trouble yourself. Besides, everybody repeats the same thing to you: your Mother Mary, your sister Therese, and if Saint Alphonsus spoke to you, he would only tell you not to worry, since it is a useless thing to do and often even harmful."
(Conversations, Jesus, 438)

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4. "Even if your sins have earned hell for you an infinite number of times, you must not, for all that, lose confidence in my Love. Oh! Sin! Sin! Sin never offends my Love; there is absolutely nothing that offends my Love, except the lack of confidence in my Love . . . pray that sinful souls, so numerous, never lose confidence in my Love. As long as they keep this confidence, the Kingdom of Heaven does not cease to truly belong to them."
(Conversations, Jesus, 648)

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3. "Listen, I am going to tell you a new method of sacrificing yourself. Each time that you are troubled, even if only for the span of a breath, say this: 'Little Jesus, I offer You this worry as a sacrifice.' Then, remain in peace."
(Conversations, Mary, 596)

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2. "Do not worry any more, ever."
(Conversations, Jesus, 438)

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And the #1 Holy Maxim from Marcel (brought to you by our sponsors, St. Therese and the Holy Spirit) . . . . . . .

                                           Draw me, we will run!

You must have seen that coming! But if I we surprised you, all the better!
And now, I have a terrible secret - which would be no fun unless I told it to you, so here it is:

Thanks to the roses in my inbox, I only had room for one favorite holy maxim of my choosing (besides our #1 signature prayer, which I'm sure will make us saints, and a great number of others besides). All the ones you sent to me are among my favorites, and the one I somewhat randomly flipped to and added in as my contribution is a favorite too. I'm thinking we owe a big hug to St. Alphonsus for providing us, through his littlest child Marcel, not merely one or ten, but a whole book full of holy maxims. And that's why Conversations never gets old. Every page is a winner, and if you read it in a spirit of trust and forgetfulness, it is ever new, no matter how many times you re-read it!

No need to stop at ten, then. I wish you Marcel's whole book full of holy maxims. Enjoy, and remember: No need to worry any more, ever, but if you do, repeat after me: "Little Jesus, I offer You this worry as a sacrifice," and then, may God's glorious Peace enfold and surround you!