Winning Souls

By Marc Massery

Turn to any page of St. Faustina's Diary, and you'll find spiritual gems. Like this one:

[Jesus said], "My daughter, give Me souls. Know that it is your mission to win souls for Me by prayer and sacrifice, and by encouraging them to trust in My mercy," (1690).

Are you worried about the salvation of someone you love? There are two ways we can win souls for Jesus.

First: We need to offer sacrifices for them. Venerable Fulton Sheen says, “There is a price tag on every soul. Every soul costs something. Some souls are bought by prayers; others are bought through the kindness of alms; but most of them are bought the way Our Lord bought us, through pain and suffering.” Yes, Christ’s death on the Cross was sufficient, but He wants to complete His work of redemption through us. 

As Saint Paul says in Scripture, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church,” (Col 1:24). If we say “yes” to suffering for Christ, we can assist Him in the redemption of others. We can offer up the pain we’re already going through, or we can go out of our way to pray and perform penances for souls. If we pray a Rosary or a Chaplet of Divine Mercy every day for the soul of someone we truly love, it’s hard to imagine the Lord not pouring His grace out upon them.

Second: We need to encourage them to trust in God’s mercy. Many reject God because they think He is cruel and vindictive. It’s on us to tell them the truth — that He is Love and Mercy itself. As Jesus said to St. Faustina elsewhere in her Diary, “[T]ell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy” (699). 

Many of us have the tendency to shirk from our duty to evangelize. To make ourselves feel better about avoiding evangelizing, we quote this line misattributed to St. Francis of Assisi: “Preach the Gospel at all times, if necessary use words.” While there’s some truth to this, the Lord calls us to use our words to spread the Gospel. If someone rejects you for encouraging them to trust in God’s mercy, that feeling of rejection is just one more sacrifice you can offer up for their soul! 

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