As you may have noticed in some recent posts, I’ve lately been re-reading the Diary of St. Faustina. This is certainly a worthwhile 
endeavor, since Pope John Paul II, in 1994, described her as “a great mystic, one of the greatest in the history of the Church.” One can hardly receive higher praise than that. She says much about the will of God, and how she loves it. She says things like the following: “My Jesus, You see that Your holy will is everything to me. It makes no difference to me what You do with me… O will of God, you are the nourishment and delight of my soul… the knowledge of God’s will came to me; that is to say, I now see everything from a higher point of view and accept all events and things, pleasant and unpleasant, with love, as tokens of the heavenly Father’s special affection… When the soul does the will of the Most High God, even amidst constant pain and torments… it becomes mighty, and nothing will daunt it. Though tortured, it repeats: ‘Your will be done,’ patiently awaiting the moment of its transfiguration… Whatever the hand of my Lord holds out to me I will accept with gladness, submission and love.”
Well, that’s why she’s a saint and I’m not. But I couldn’t help reflecting on it all and trying to grasp the mystery of a soul that loves the Lord so much that even when his will requires suffering, hardship, and other difficult things (which it often does), there is no fear, resentment, perplexity, or discouragement. A couple weeks ago, during the Divine Liturgy, these issues were on my mind, as I pondered the difficulty of being spontaneously and passionately in love with Someone who regularly requires us to suffer. Then at Communion time, I heard (presumably from the Lord) these unexpected words: “You are still living according to the pleasure-pain principle.” It wasn’t a thundering denunciation, just a matter-of-fact statement. It was quite humbling, since that is a rather low level of life, yet I had to admit that it was true.
The pleasure-pain principle is actually a bit of Freudian psychology, but it’s more of a universal trait of (fallen) human nature that he just happened to name. Instinctively we seek pleasure (or the gratification of our urges and desires) and we try to avoid pain, because it is, well, painful! This instinct we share with animals, but the Lord would have us live on a somewhat higher level.
Pleasure is good; pain is bad. If that is our general approach to life, we will end up being denied eternal pleasure and will have to undergo eternal pain. But I think that many of us, without really reflecting on it, go about our lives in accord with the pleasure-pain principle, at least as far as our preferences go. We prefer good experiences to bad ones; we prefer pleasant weather to unpleasant weather; we like food that tastes good and we don’t like food that tastes bad; we prefer agreeable people to disagreeable people; we like things that feel good and we don’t like things that hurt; we would rather be healthy than sick; we prefer good fortune to misfortune; we like it when things go our way, and we don’t like it when they don’t, etc, etc. This approach is “natural,” but it won’t get you into the Kingdom of Heaven.
The Gospel flies in the face of all that. Love your enemies, deny yourself, take up your cross, go where you do not wish to go (see Jn. 21:18), take your share of suffering (2Tim. 2:3), offer your body as a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1), bear with others, do not please yourself (Rom. 15:1-2), accept discipline (Heb. 12:3-11), bear abuse for Christ’s sake (Heb. 13:12-14), rejoice under trial and the testing of your faith (James 1:2-3), avoid the gratification of the “flesh” in all its forms (Gal. 5:16-21), kill the earthly desires within you (Col. 3:5-10), etc. Well, no one can accuse the Scriptures of promoting the pleasure-pain principle!
It seems that many Christians don’t realize what it is that makes them distinctively Christian. It is much more than simply believing in Christ. It is consistently living a distinctive sort of life, one that does not adopt even the ordinary values (let alone the most sinful excesses) of the prevailing culture. For this we need a thorough transfiguration of our world-view and our own personal expectations of life. We have to have the attitude of him who said: “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church” (Col. 1:24), and “I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain salvation” (2Tim. 2:10), and “I will most gladly spend myself and be spent for your souls” (2Cor. 12:15). This is an important reason why the pleasure-pain principle should not be the basis of our lives: we are here to serve others, and even sacrifice ourselves for them, for the sake of their salvation. The pleasure-pain principle is radically self-centered; the Gospel of Jesus Christ is radically other-centered.
This is one reason I find the message of Our Lady of Fatima so important for the Church and the world of today. It is all about 
prayer and sacrifice for the sake of the salvation of souls, and has nothing to do with self-gratification or self-promotion or even living a moderately comfortable life—which means it is all about the Gospel and the way of the Cross that Jesus and the apostles preached. The following is an excerpt from the book Documents of Fatima and the Memoirs of Sister Lucia, by Fr. Antonio Maria Martins, SJ.
“Pope Pius XII was teaching in Mystici Corporis: ‘There is one stupendous mystery which we can never meditate on enough—the salvation of many depends on the voluntary prayers and penances of the members of the Mystical Body.’ The Lady of the Message [of Fatima] propounds the same truth, accentuating the sin of omission: ‘Pray, pray a lot, and make sacrifices for sinners; for there are many souls going to hell because there is no one to make sacrifices for them, nor to pray for them.’
“Pope John Paul II let this anguish escape from his lips in Fatima, when he was consecrating the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary: ‘How much it pains us that so many participate so coldly in Christ’s work of Redemption! That what is yet to be added to the sufferings of Christ is so insignificantly found in our bodies (Col. 1:24).’ A short time before he had proclaimed that our obligation to participate in the salvation of souls comes from our being integrated in Christ’s consecration to the Father. ‘I have consecrated Myself for them, so that they may also consecrate themselves in truth’ (Jn. 17:19). ‘In virtue of that consecration’—the Pope continues—‘disciples of all ages are called to dedicate themselves to the salvation of the world, to add something to the sufferings of Christ to help His Body, which is the Church.’ (2Cor. 12:15; Col. 1:24)” [emphasis added]
It is not stressed enough in contemporary preaching that all Christians, by the very fact that they are Christians, are called to labor and even suffer for the salvation of souls, that is, to obtain from the Lord grace and mercy for those of our brethren who at present have not the sense to seek it, and who thus may be in danger of losing forever their immortal souls. I have to realize that my life is really not all about me, because I am a member of the Body of Christ. If I am consecrated to God and to Our Lady, then I have placed myself at their disposal, so I should not be surprised if they don’t check with me before doing something through me (or to me, as it may seem!) for the sake of the salvation of other souls. That’s what I’m here for, and I simply trust that they are already taking care of me. So there will be sacrifices required, as well as a greater availability to be made use of for the divine designs for souls. My reward will not be lacking—if I don’t get all crabby about the demands placed upon me. “Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal which comes upon you to prove you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice in so far as you share Christ’s sufferings…” (1Peter 4:12-13).
So perhaps it is easier to see now how generous souls like St. Faustina were so eager to embrace the will of God—even when this meant suffering for them. They lived not for their own pleasure but were willing even to endure pain—contrary to ordinary human instinct—for the higher cause of obtaining grace for souls. As St. Paul was quoted above, he would endure anything for the sake of the salvation of souls. Maybe this doesn’t square with our own limited and earthbound logic, but the experience of the saints confirms repeatedly that there is much value in suffering in union with Christ for the spiritual benefit and salvation of souls.
We have to ask ourselves why we are here, what we live for, what our priorities are, and how much of our own pleasure and gratification we are willing to sacrifice so that other souls might enjoy the grace in which we now stand. “You were once disobedient to God but now have received mercy… you stand fast only through faith, so do not become proud, but stand in fear” (Rom. 11:30, 20). We owe it to others, who have not yet received what we have, to work for their salvation. But living by the pleasure-pain principle will just not bear any fruit. “Live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer by human passions [likes and dislikes, pursuing pleasure and avoiding pain at all costs] but by the will of God” (1Peter 4:2).
It really takes a deep cleansing of our spiritual vision and a consistent choice to live for Heaven and not merely for the benefits of this world (see Col. 3:1-4). But that is what makes us most profoundly Christian. Put your body where your mouth is, as someone once said. Don’t just talk about Jesus, take up your cross and follow Him! “Offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1Peter 2:5).
So, when I start getting uncomfortable with the will of God not being ordered to my tastes or general well-being as I would have it, I have to realize, as the Pope said above, that I am “integrated in Christ’s consecration to the Father.” Then I have to see what it looked like for Jesus to do the Father’s will, and the love with which He did it, and the immense fruit that was borne from it. Then perhaps I can leave instinctive reactions and attitudes behind and be taken up into mysteries fully human and fully divine.
