Mercy beyond understanding Then I heard the words: As you are united with Me in life, so will you be united at the moment of death. After these words, such great trust in God’s great mercy was awakened in my soul that, even if I had had the sins of the whole world, as well as the sins of all the condemned souls weighing on my conscience, I would not have doubted God’s goodness but, without hesitation, would have thrown myself into the abyss of the divine mercy, which is always open to us; and, with a heart crushed to dust I would have cast myself at His feet, abandoning myself totally to His holy will, which is mercy itself.—Faustina’s Diary –1552 God’s mercy is beyond our ability to understand. I believe that the deepest longing that we all share, even if often unconscious because of fear, is to be seen totally without anything hidden, and yet to then also be understood, loved and shown mercy and compassion. In art, movies and in our music, this longing can often be seen, heard and felt, and in our responses for a short time, we feel truly alive. Art can be the lance that grace uses to break through our life long defenses, which may actually be needed. However, not with the Lord who seeks only to show us love and mercy. We are more comfortable in thinking that God’s love is like ours, because it can be understood. Hence the problem in our understanding of God’s mercy towards each of us in our everyday struggles as well as our moral failures. We may actually need to hide aspects of ourselves from others because of our lack of ability to truly listen, see and show empathy and mercy towards one another. Not so with Jesus, for it is already known. “After these words, such great trust in God’s great mercy was awakened in my soul that, even if I had had the sins of the whole world, as well as the sins of all the condemned souls weighing on my conscience, I would not have doubted God’s goodness but, without hesitation would have thrown myself into the abyss of the divine mercy, which is always open to us; ”—Sr. Faustina Imagine if the quote from Sr. Faustina could be absorbed by us into our deepest, darkest parts of our souls. To understand that there is no barrier with God when it comes to showing love and mercy to us his children. Sr. Faustian understood her need for grace, the free gift of God’s love and mercy. She experienced this mercy in her own soul, for because of her holiness and humility, she truly saw what she would be like without God’s grace. The ‘Chaplet of Mercy’ is a prayer for all, without regard to who they are, or what they have done. We are called to be vessels of mercy for others, to pray for all, especially those near death. Limitations on God’s mercy are put there by us. Also, it is easy to want mercy for ourselves, but then justice for others. When in fact , they are not at odds with each other, it is our own limited understanding and inner conflicts that keep us from total trust as well as love and concern for the salvation of all. Dare we pray for such a thing? Yes! For why else would Jesus ask us to pray the Chaplet, which begs for mercy for the whole world…..past, present and future. For in God, there is only ‘Now’, so when we pray, we enter into that ‘Eternal Now’.—Br.MD Let us pray: (Chaplet of Mercy) Eternal Father, I offer unto you, the most precious body and blood, soul and divinity of your beloved Son Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole World. For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
Mark, In the above diary note of St Faustina we read........ I would have cast myself at His feet, abandoning myself totally to His holy will, which is mercy itself. When pondering the above and also the beautiful prayer [addressed to God the Father] that Jesus gave St Faustina........... Eternal Father, in Whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself. I see that we are looking at both Gods Mercy and His Justice at the same time! This has been a real eye opener for me! Why?.........because I pray this prayer in times of trial, suffering, despondency, grief, pain or in other words "in times of the real Justice of God!" When we really look at the prayer......we see that this is the prayer, to be prayed in the times of God Just Justice! for it tells us to have confidence and submit to this Justice because it is Gods Holy Will which is Love and Mercy itself. How can I be so sure? The following may answer this.... When I am in a suffering [a just justice of God, for myself or another] or when my children call me, in an agony and describe an incredible suffering that they are experiencing or a hopeless situation that seems to have no answer. I remind myself or my children, that this is in fact Gods Love and Gods Mercy! This Justice and the ensuing pain may not seem like Love or Mercy........ but it is! And we must first trust! I then pray this beautiful prayer and my children accept this. God has worked many miracles with this prayer of trust [in my family] during times of His justice! This Justice of God is actually His Holy Will in action! which is Love and Mercy itself!
Josephite, I find myself saying these same things to my adult kids also. I always are telling them that we have to accept what is happening as God's will and though we cannot see or understand the reason why, he is doing something much bigger behind the scenes than we can understand, and through this mercy something very good is destined to come about. We may not see it tomorrow or the next day, or even next year, but one day when we are with him in heaven we will know. Its all about trust.
Josephite, I think something lynnfiat posted in The Divine Will thread echoes your thought. From the Letters of Luisa Piccarreta: "Don’t you know that Redemption is preparation for the Kingdom of the Divine Will? And the Sacred Heart of Jesus is nothing other than the immense Reign of His Will. It is not the Heart that dominates; it is the Divine Will that dominates His Divine Heart. Poor Heart, if it did not have a Will to dominate it, it would be good at nothing. If the will is good, the heart is good; if the will is holy, the heart is holy. If our will gives place to the Divine, letting It raise Its throne in our will, the heart acquires the divine qualities by grace. Therefore, both in the Divine and in the human order, it is always the will that has the first place, the prime act, its rule. The heart and all the rest are in the secondary order... Therefore, to say that the Heart reigns, if the Divine Will does not reign, is absurd. They can be called devotions, pious practices...; if the Divine Will does not reign, the Kingdom does not exist. It exists in Heaven, but has no place on earth.However, the Holy Church, organ and messenger of the Supreme Fiat, through the Sacred Heart, through the Celestial Mama, beseeches the Kingdom of the Divine Will. She does not say it with words, but says it with facts.The Divine Volition is the King - His Heart, His wounds, His precious Blood, the sweet Queen, form the ministers that surround the King, and through them beseech the Kingdom of the Divine Will in souls."
The above words do echo these thoughts. I look to the writings of St Faustina and to the writings of St Elizabeth of the Most Blessed Trinity! They teach us so much about the One, Holy and Divine Will of God! They are approved by the Catholic Church and are beautiful because they repeat and replicate all the teachings of the Church. However, I struggle with the writtings of Lusia Piccareta because I can not explain to myself, how some of her writings are edifying and within the teachings of the Catholic Church, and yet some of her reported writings are not. But Yes the above words are beautiful!
