Divine Appeal Reflection - 117
Today, consider in Divine Appeal 117: "I want you to mortify yourself corporal, receive the suffering with joy and with no fear because it will repair for the mortification of many souls who could be lost in perdition."
A soul cannot understand this appeal unless it first understands that mortification is not punishment, but purification for love. When Our Adorable Jesus says, “I want you to mortify yourself corporal,” He speaks the language of the Cross, where human weakness becomes a place of grace. Mortification means voluntarily disciplining body, senses, appetites, habits, and reactions so that love governs them rather than impulse. It is not hatred of the body;(cf. 1 Cor 6:19; Rom 8:11) the body is sacred, destined for resurrection . Rather, mortification is the freeing of the body from tyranny over the soul. The Catechism (cf. CCC 1430, 2015, 2520) teaches that self-mastery belongs essentially to holiness and true freedom because grace must gradually reorder human desires toward God . Mortification therefore reaches far beyond bodily sacrifice; it touches every dimension of the person. Corporal mortification includes fasting, simplifying comforts, bodily discipline, and accepting fatigue without complaint . Emotional mortification means resisting resentment, self-pity, impulsive anger,(cf. Eph 4:31–32) and the constant need for emotional consolation . Intellectual mortification requires humility of mind—the willingness to listen, to learn, and to renounce the pride of always needing to be right . Relational mortification appears in yielding preferences out of charity, bearing patiently with others, and loving without seeking recognition (cf. Rom 12:10). Spiritual mortification means remaining faithful in prayer even during dryness, silence, and interior darkness . St. Lidwina of Schiedam transformed years of physical suffering and limitation into hidden intercession for souls,(cf. Col 1:24) revealing that even bodily weakness can become profoundly apostolic when united to Christ . The Bible reveals this principle repeatedly. Jacob walked with a limp after divine struggle; weakness became blessing (cf. Gen 32:24–31). Paul the Apostle accepted his thorn because weakness made grace visible . Our Adorable Jesus calls for mortification because undisciplined comfort often dulls love, while chosen sacrifice sharpens it for eternity.
The body itself can become prayer when its suffering is united to Christ with love (cf. Rom 12:1). Our Adorable Jesus reveals that suffering accepted in charity can mysteriously participate in the salvation of souls . Christianity never treats the body as meaningless: the Incarnation, Passion, and Eucharist reveal that redemption passes through human flesh (cf. Jn 1:14). Thus bodily sacrifice offered in love becomes apostolic.Simon of Cyrene physically carried the Cross,(cf. Lk 23:26) yet his bodily act entered the mystery of redemption . Corporal mortification includes fasting , rising faithfully for prayer, kneeling before God, simplifying comforts, accepting fatigue, enduring heat or cold patiently, and offering bodily weakness with trust. At its deepest level, mortification means receiving the crosses that cannot be escaped—illness, weakness, aging, loneliness, exhaustion, grief, or physical limitation—and carrying them with trust instead of rebellion . St. Margaret of Castello endured blindness, abandonment, and severe deformity, yet her hidden joy revealed that suffering surrendered to God can become radiant with grace. This hidden apostolate appears quietly every day: a mother losing sleep while caring for a suffering child , a worker offering bodily fatigue in silence, an elderly person enduring pain without complaint, a seminarian denying comforts for souls, or a patient uniting hospital suffering to the Cross for priests and sinners. In Christ, suffering offered with love no longer remains meaningless; it becomes intercession, purification, and hidden participation in redemption . When united to Christ,(cf. 2 Cor 4:10–12) even hidden bodily suffering becomes a form of spiritual rescue and love . These acts appear invisible, but Our Adorable Jesus gathers them. CCC 618 teaches souls are associated with His redemptive sacrifice. Thus, suffering borne in union with Christ is never wasted. This reveals a hidden truth: some souls may be saved because another accepted suffering in faith. The bedridden widow praying at night may touch the conscience of a stranger across continents. The student resisting pleasure may obtain grace for a friend in danger. Mortification becomes missionary where love gives it intention (cf. Col 1:24; Rom 12:1; Heb 13:15–16).
The saint does not rejoice because pain is pleasant, but because pain becomes inhabited by Christ. Our Adorable Jesus commands that suffering be received with joy and without fear because fear isolates pain, while love transforms it. Christian joy is not emotional excitement but confidence that the Cross bears fruit. Habakkuk (cf. Hab 3:17–19) learned to rejoice even when visible supports failed . Joy is rooted in God’s presence, not circumstances. The saints teach this with astonishing clarity. Saint Alexandrina of Balazar endured prolonged suffering as reparation, yet spoke of belonging to Jesus with interior delight. Her joy arose from union, not relief. Their witness corrects modern assumptions that comfort equals blessing. Daily life offers constant opportunities. The teacher unjustly accused can offer humiliation for youth far from God. The spouse abandoned emotionally can offer loneliness for marriages under attack. The nurse working through exhaustion can offer fatigue for dying souls. The young adult resisting sexual impurity can offer interior battle for the conversion of peers. Joy arises when suffering is consciously entrusted to Our Adorable Jesus. The Cross is not removed, but transfigured. The soul says: this misunderstanding can become intercession; this diagnosis can become hidden mission; this disappointment can become love. The world sees loss; heaven sees sacrifice. Our Adorable Jesus receives such offerings as consolation, because they continue His redeeming work (cf. Jn 16:20–22; Jas 1:2–4; CCC 164).
One hidden sacrifice may repair countless acts of rebellion never publicly seen. The appeal explicitly links mortification to reparation. This means the sacrifice accepted by one soul can repair for the refusal of many others. Sin often begins by rejecting sacrifice: choosing pleasure over fidelity, comfort over truth, revenge over forgiveness. Mortification counters that refusal. It says yes where another said no. Queen Esther (cf. Est 4:16) risked her life through fasting and intercession to save her people . Her sacrifice obtained deliverance. This principle remains. Saint Veronica Giuliani embraced penance for sinners unknown to her, understanding the communion of saints (CCC 946–962). The Church teaches that charity allows one member’s holiness to benefit another mysteriously. Practical examples reveal this hidden economy. The father who chooses honesty though corruption would secure income offers reparation for systemic injustice. The elderly man enduring cancer peacefully offers reparation for youth addicted to pleasure. The sister remaining faithful through community tensions offers reparation for divisions in the Church. The student refusing to cheat offers reparation for cultural dishonesty. These sacrifices are not symbolic; grace passes through them. Our Adorable Jesus seeks willing souls who will bear what many flee. Through chosen sacrifice, He pours mercy into souls who have forgotten Him. The Christian who accepts inconvenience, fasting, insult, illness, or loneliness with faith becomes co-worker in salvation. This is mystical apostolate. The unseen endurance of one faithful person may weaken the chains of many enslaved to sin (cf. Is 53:10–12; 2 Tim 2:10; CCC 1475).
The deepest mortification is not merely of food, comfort, or bodily pleasure, but of the ego that constantly seeks to be first (cf. Phil 2:3–8). Corporal sacrifice has value, yet it reaches fulfillment only when self-will begins dying into obedience. Our Adorable Jesus in Gethsemane accepted the Father’s will amid fear, sorrow, and anguish, (cf. Mt 26:36–44) transforming surrender itself into redemption . This is the summit of mortification: allowing God to reign where pride once ruled. True mortification therefore enters ordinary hidden moments: accepting correction without resentment (cf. Prov 12:1), remaining silent when misunderstood (cf. Is 53:7), not rushing to defend reputation, yielding personal preferences out of charity (cf. Rom 12:10), forgiving without recognition, and persevering faithfully in obscurity when no human praise is given . St. Maria Bertilla Boscardin lived hidden and often underestimated, (cf. Mt 6:4) yet sanctity quietly blossomed through humble obedience and unnoticed charity . Mortification therefore is not mere self-denial, but interior transformation: (cf. Gal 2:20) the slow surrender by which the soul learns to prefer the will of God over the restless demands of self . She teaches that hidden surrender often saves more souls than public action. Our Adorable Jesus seeks such souls today: priests faithful in interior dryness, spouses carrying one-sided sacrifice, workers choosing integrity without recognition, contemplatives praying in illness, young people renouncing secret sin. Their lives become extensions of His Passion. Mortification then is no longer private discipline; it becomes ecclesial love. The soul that receives suffering with joy and no fear enters a hidden priesthood of reparation. It consoles Christ. It repairs indifference. It opens channels of grace for those near perdition. In heaven, many conversions may be traced to sacrifices the world never noticed. This is why Our Adorable Jesus asks not merely endurance but joyful surrender. The Cross borne with love becomes a luminous bridge by which lost souls are brought back to mercy (cf. Lk 9:23; Phil 2:5–11; CCC 2100).
Prayer
Our Adorable Jesus, teach us the sacred meaning of mortification. Purify our body, emotions, mind, and will. May every hidden suffering, embraced without fear, unite with Your Passion for souls in danger. Make our sacrifices fruitful in mercy, and our daily crosses channels of grace for the lost, Amen.
Sr. Anna Ali of the Most Holy Eucharist, intercede for us.
