Top Ten Questions That Jesus Asked: As Recorded in the Gospel of John

By Sr. Paulette Honeygosky

This book is a three-in-one. Book One clarifies the questions Jesus asked of the Apostles and the early Christians, - questions, that He continues to ask each of us. Book Two reminds us of the words, written and spoken by Saintly Pope John Paul II, - words, that invite each of us to begin to live resurrection-focused lives. In Book Three we have the words of my cousin, St. Faustina, a farmers daughter, third-grade educated words that reveal her daily growth in holiness and resurrection spirituality. Words the Risen Christ spoke, on His visits to her, from 1931 till her death in 1938.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Nov 23, 2010
• ISBN: 9781456700782

Sr. Paulette Honeygosky

The author, Sr. Paulette G. Honeygosky, a cousin of St. Faustina, was privileged to attend the Canonization of St. Faustina by Pope John Paul II, in Rome in April, 2000. She subsequently visited the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Krakow, Poland, - after which she wrote the book titled “About My Cousin St. Faustina”. A Sister of Charity, she was educated at Duquesne, St. Louis, Catholic, Kingston and Bonaventure Universities. Travel experience includes France, Portugal, Croatia, Canada, Poland, Italy. Sr. Paulette has also worked extensively as a teacher, a neighborhood development organizer, and an advocate for the elderly and poor. Mostly recently, Sr. Paulette has worked as an administrative researcher at Georgetown University, with CSIS, NATO, and with other related policy centers. Sister is currently with the INSTITUTE FOR PROMOTING DIVINE MERCY. In her spare time, Paulette is a volunteer researcher with CICM (The Immaculate Heart Missionaries at Missionhurst, Arlington, VA), and a regular visitor at the Arlington, Virginia hospital. She has authored several books, published by Author House (888-728-8467), among which are: “About My Cousin Saint Faustina,” “The Last Wish of Pope John Paul II,” “In Search of Heart Answers,” “Cling Not To What Is; There Is More,” “Text Message From Heaven To Earth,” “To Be Is Already To Be One,” “Putting on the Mind of Christ, in Accord with St. Paul and St. Faustina,” “About Ordinary Folks Who Said We Can,” “A Race To Be Won, All You Need To Know About Personal Integrity (published by Publish America, 301-695-1707) “Ten Questions Jesus Asked” in the Gospel of John Now that Bishop Paul Loverde has blessed the Divine Mercy Icon, that is travelling from parish to parish in the Arlington, Virginia Diocese, Sister speaks, when invited to do so, about Pope John Pual’s insight into THE DIVINE MERCY Message, given to her cousin St. Faustina in 1931, to give to the world, - as a reminder that Divine Mercy, God’s Unconditional Love, and His Promise of Personal Resurrection, is for one and all.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Book I

Dedication

Preface

Question Number Ten:

…Have I not told you that if you believe you shall behold the glory of God?

Question Number Nine:

…Do you now believe?

Question Number Eight:

…Will you lay down your life for me?

Question Number Seven:

(to the sick man, 38 years waiting, to get into the healing waters) Do you want to get well?

Question Nmber Six:

… But Jesus turned around, and seeing them following him, said to them, What is it you seek?

Question Number Five:

…Do you also wish to go away?

Question Number Four:

…Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned thee?

Question Number Three:

…Have I been so long a time with you and you have not known me?

Question Number Two:

…"Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?"

Question Number One:

Three times Jesus said to Peter, Simon Peter, son of John, Do you love me?

Book II

Preface

Chapter One:

Living a Life of Unconditional Love

Chapter Two:

Living a Life of Forgiving, Even as We Are Forgiven

Chapter Three:

Living a Life, Ever Aware of His Animating Presence Within Self

Chapter Four:

Living a Life of Trust in Him

Chapter Five:

Living a Life: Receiving His Graces, Blessings, Healing Miracles, Each Minute, Each Hour, Each Day, - on the Way to Personal Resurrection,

Chapter Six:

Living a Life Of: Praise, Thanks and Joy!

Chapter Seven:

Living a Life, Each Moment, Each Day, Each Passing Hour - Anticipating His Promise of the Fullness of Mercy, Expressed in the Gift of Personal Resurrection for Each and for All.

Book III

Introduction

Conference I.

Conference II.

Conference III.

Conference IV.

Retreat #1. Three-day Retreat. November, 1932.

Retreat #2. Retreat in Crakow (the Motherhouse). April 21, 1933.

Retreat # 3. Annual Retreat. January 10, 1934.

Retreat # 4. Eight-day Retreat at Vilnius, Lithuania. February 4, 1935.

Retreat # 5. Three-day Retreat, Vilnius, Lithuania. August 12, 1935.

Retreat # 6. Eight-day Retreat, Cracow. October 20, 1935

Retreat # 7. Eight-day Retreat. October 20, 1936.

Retreat # 8. One-day retreat. December 1, 1936.

Retreat # 9. December 30, 1936. One-day retreat.

Retreat # 10. One-day retreat. January 30, 1937.

Retreat # 11. Renewal of Vows. April, 1937.

Retreat # 12. First Sunday of the month. June 6,1937.

Retreat # 13. June 30, 1937. One-day Retreat.

Retreat # 14. First Sunday of the month. July 4, 1937.

Retreat # 15. One-day retreat. August 1, 1937.

Retreat # 16. Eight-day Retreat. October 25, 1937.

Retreat # 17. One-day Retreat. November 1937.

Retreat # 18. Cracow-Pradnik. January 10, 1938.

Retreat # 19. One-day Retreat. January 30, 1938.

Retreat # 20. Three days before Pentecost. June, 1938.

Retreat # 21. Transition into Forever and Ever.

Dedication

To the memory of my son, Michael; for him, I ask your prayers … that he may rest in peace!

He is now with Ann, his mother, and with Stella, his aunt; together, they will continue to praise and honor the

God of Divine Mercy, in an eternally joyous, now and forever moment.

Both in life and in death, we love you, Michael, and we remember.

                              Your Dad,

                              Capt. Ed Lebiedz

Preface

Very recently, Pope Benedict reminded us that - when we read the Scriptures, we are to read them, as St. Paul did, as though Jesus still walked among us; as though Jesus still talked to us. He does.

Pope Benedict said, St. Paul does not think of Jesus as a historian would; he does not see Jesus as a figure of the past. Paul certainly knows the tradition … regarding His life but Paul does not treat Jesus as someone in the past, but as the reality of the living Jesus. … Jesus lives and speaks with us today. This is the true form of knowing Jesus and knowing the tradition about Him. (10/8/08)

It was Pope Benedict’s thought, cited above, that prompted the writing of this book about the

TOP TEN QUESTIONS

WHICH JESUS ASKED

… as recorded in the Gospel of John.

Question Number Ten:

As recorded in the Gospel of John, Jesus asked more than ten questions but it seems well to selectively raise and reflect upon the TOP TEN that seem to be appropriate to this moment in our personal life, and in today’s global history.

John 11, 40

…Have I not told you that if you believe you shall behold the glory of God?

Jesus spoke these words on the day He raised Lazurus from the dead. We all know the story. Mary, Martha and Lazarus were friends. Jesus often visited and had supper with them. They were special; He loved them, and He loved to spend time with them.

So when Jesus heard that Lazarus had died, He wept. He just, plain and simple, wept because His friend had died, and He had not been with him in his final earthtime moment, and had not been with Mary and Martha in the grieving moments that followed.

But then He remembered Who He was; why He had come to earth. And He knew what He was to do. It was a moment to show forth the glory of God; it was a moment to affirm that each of us will experience our own personal resurrection; that death is not the end; that we and our loved ones will rise again.

So Jesus went the distance, a day or two away, and soon arrived at the home of Martha and Mary. Martha ran to meet Him and said, Jesus, if you had been here, our brother would not have died. But Mary went to the tomb; she knew that Jesus would follow. He would want to visit her brother’s tomb. When Jesus arrived at the tomb, He saw that many neighbors and friends had gathered to weep and pray. He said very simply, Lazarus, come forth.

Those who heard said, But Lazurus has been in the tomb four days now. Why is He calling him forth? But even as Jesus spoke these words, Lazurus, still wrapped in the burial cloths, did come forth and the promise of God, the promise of life, the gift of Divine Mercy in its fullest expression, was for the first time in human history, made manifest in the resurrection of Lazarus. In the message of the Risen Christ to St. Faustina, to give to humanity, we are again reminded that resurrection is a Divine Mercy gift, awaiting each of us.

That’s when Jesus said to Mary, to Martha, to Lazarus, to the weeping crowd, - and to you and to me,

Have I not told you that, if you believe, you shall behold the glory of God?

READ PRAYERFULLY AND REFLECT UPON, THE GOSPEL OF JOHN, CHAPTER 11

The Death and Resurrection of Lazarus

Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick. But when Jesus heard this, He said, This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. Then after this He said to the disciples, Let us go to Judea again.

The disciples said to Him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again? Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him. This He said, and after that He said to them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep. The disciples then said to Him, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover. Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep. So Jesus then said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him. Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.

So when Jesus came, He found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. Martha then said to Jesus, Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You. Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again. Martha said to Him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this? She said to Him, Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world."

When she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, The Teacher is here and is calling for you. And when she heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to Him.

Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him. Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and consoling her, when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and said, Where have you laid him? They said to Him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. So the Jews were saying, See how He loved him! But some of them said, Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?

So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, Remove the stone. Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her,

Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I know that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around, I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me. When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, Unbind him, and let him go."

Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done.

The question:

Have I not told you that, if you believe, you shall behold the glory of God. Trust, said the Risen Christ to St. Faustina, is a measure of our belief. Is your heart and being ever praying, Jesus, I trust in You?" This was the favorite prayer of St. Faustina.

Do you believe? Do you trust?

Your amswer:

Question Number Nine:

John 18

…Do you now believe?

It was time for Jesus to return from whence He came; His work and the Father’s Will was almost accomplished. So He had gathered with His men to eat His last Supper with them. It was a time for remembering; a time for clarifying; a time for getting them ready for their final earthtime moments with Him. His suffering, passion and death were about to begin.

He knew, as only God can know, that it was time to prepare them for the missionizing work they were yet to do; and for the persecution, and even for the martyrdom, they would soon endure.

On this night, He spoke to them plainly. Soon, He said, I will leave you. I will suffer, I will die, and I will resurrect, even as it is written. But I will not leave you orphans. I will send my Spirit to fill your hearts with understanding and hope. And with the courage to go forth and teach all nations that which I have been teaching you these many months that I have been with you; these many months that you have been with Me.

Though I spoke in parables heretofore, and did miracles that manifested the glory of my Father, I say to you now that, in a little while, I will leave you. You will grieve in these final earthtime moments with Me. But my Spirit, my presence, will be with you, and in the Light of the Spirit within you, you will remember My words and you will understand all that I have come to teach you.

And then Jesus eucharisted with His men, and together, they embraced the future and gave thanks for all the good, in Jesus’ name, that is, that was, and that was yet to be.

But still they wrestled within, - with His final question to each of them; His question to you and to me:

Do you now believe? NOW that you have heard and seen that nothing is impossible with God, that the wind and the rain obey him, that the water was turned into wine, that a few loaves of bread and a few fish were multiplied to feed thousands, that the blind were made to see, and the lame began to walk, - NOW, do you believe?

READ PRAYERFULLY AND REFLECT UPON,

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN, CHAPTER 18

In the Garden of Gethsemane …

When he had said this, Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to where there was a garden, into which he and his disciples entered.

Judas his betrayer also knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples.

So Judas got a band of soldiers and guards from the chief priests and the Pharisees and went there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.

Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to him, went out and said to them, Whom are you looking for?

They answered him, Jesus the Nazorean. He said to them, I AM. Judas his betrayer was also with them.

When he said to them, I AM, they turned away and fell to the ground.

So he again asked them, Whom are you looking for? They said, Jesus the Nazorean.

Jesus answered, I told you that I AM. So if you are looking for me, let these men go.

This was to fulfill what he had said, I have not lost any of those you gave me.

Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus.

Jesus said to Peter, Put your sword into its scabbard. Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?

So the band of soldiers, the tribune, and the Jewish guards seized Jesus, bound him, and brought him to Annas first. He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.

It was Caiaphas who had counseled the Jews that it was better that one man should die rather than the people.

Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Now the other disciple was known to the high priest, and he entered the courtyard of the high priest with Jesus.

But Peter stood at the gate outside. So the other disciple, the acquaintance of the high priest, went out and spoke to the gatekeeper and brought Peter in.

Then the maid who was the gatekeeper said to Peter, You are not one of this man’s disciples, are you? He said, I am not.

Now the slaves and the guards were standing around a charcoal fire that they had made, because it was cold, and were warming themselves. Peter was also standing there keeping warm.

The high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his doctrine.

Jesus answered him, "I have spoken publicly to the world. I have always taught in a synagogue or in the temple area where all the Jews gather, and in secret I have said nothing.

Why ask me? Ask those who heard me what I said to them. They know what I said."

When he had said this, one of the temple guards standing there struck Jesus and