The Wonders of Divine Mercy

"Let the house of Israel say,"His mercy endures forever."Let the house of Aaron say,"His mercy endures forever."Let those who fear the LORD say,"His mercy endures forever."
~ from Psalm 118 (today's Psalm at Mass)






http://marian.org/news.php?NID=3595







The above link is a wonderful explanation of the special graces available on this special Easter day... this second Sunday of Easter, the day that tops off the holy Octave!
I finally figured out how to add images, though I wanted to have the image on the left bigger and now I don't know how to edit ;-/
Ah well, I learn a little more each time! ;)

I am just so in love with the Lord and His Church and I want to shout from the rooftops about His Divine Mercy to all souls! If only they knew how much He loves us!

He died for us... ("for He desires that all men be saved"), for starters... then, He gave us His Church, and throughout all the ages since Holy Thursday (when He celebrated the Last Supper which was also the first Holy Mass), He has given us His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Holy Eucharist.... "abide in Me, and I in you. "
"Do this in remembrance of Me." (So, every day of the week...not just on Sundays, Holy Mass is celebrated all over the world.... "Go out to all nations..."). Here is an awesome "Mass Clock" which you may refer to if you are unable to go to daily Mass (offer a Spiritual Communion):
http://www.transporter.com/FatherPeffley/Doctrine/MassClock.html

"My Flesh is real food.. My Blood is real drink...whosoever eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood will live in Me and I in him....will have eternal life" Anyway, read all of John Chapter 6! It is so very Eucharistic and speaks of just how merciful God is in that He has really stayed with us ("Behold, I am with you all days, even until the end of time" ) through the Holy Sacrament of the Altar...the Holy Eucharist, which is He Himself, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity! How awesome is that! He waits for us in the tabernacles of every Catholic Church! {just a sidenote: I think, however, that the Orthodox Church also has the Sacraments, including the Holy Eucharist like we do...only that they are not under the authority of the Holy Father (Pope Benedict XVI) in Rome}

Yet, interestingly enough, I believe it was John 6:66 (notice the numbers) where the disciples turned away and would not walk with Him anymore...because they could not understand this teaching of the Eucharist. Did Jesus call them back to tell them, "Hey, wait a minute guys..that's not what I really meant... It's only a symbol!" (because the language He used in John Chapter 6 was anything but symbolic!) No, He very sadly watched them walk away. "Will you also go away?" Let us say, like St. Peter the Apostle.. "Where would we go, Lord? You have the words of everlasting life"... He didn't understand the teaching of the Eucharist... and just how the Lord would give us His Flesh and Blood to eat and drink (the Greek...or is it Hebrew?... in the Bible, I believe, means "to chew" or "to munch"....quite literal, don't you think?). However, St. Peter and the other faithful Apostles stayed with Him, knowing that the Lord would show them. They went on faith . They said, "Jesus, I trust in You!" And then, the Last Supper, the first Mass happens and Our Lord, in His Mercy, shows them just how He will give them His Body and Blood, through a Sacramental form. Spiritual, yes... but spiritual doesn't mean unreal. "Truly, Truly, I say to you... unless you eat My Flesh and drink My Blood, you will have no life within you." This isn't something He just skims over...He repeats it several times! "This is a hard saying", the disciples murmured among themselves before turning away.
An interesting sidenote... Judas ended up leaving that first Mass early. He didn't comprehend and did not accept, with faith, the teaching of the Eucharist.

Our Lord's Divine Mercy is always waiting for us.. He waits for all with open arms. Now for those who know about the fullness of His Truth in His Church, we are bound by the Sacraments which He gave us. However, God is not bound to them Himself. So, though the ordinary means of salvation is found through the Catholic Church which He gave us... and thereby, through the Sacraments... (the "outward signs instituted by Christ to give grace").... He Himself is free to save whomever He wills. The Church can condemn no one, for she is the instrument of God's Mercy to the world. She is the Bride of Christ, as stated by St. Paul.

Keep in mind, though, that the Church was given the power to bind and loose...to forgive sins or to retain them... St Peter, the 1st Pope, was given the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. "He who hears you hears Me. He who rejects you, rejects Me". Ultimately, though, the Church is God's mercy in action. She wants to save souls! That is her purpose for existing. Would Jesus have left us to our own devices? To our own individual interpretations? Too many different "Truths" out there lead to scandal... Especially when Christianity is so divided! Every denomination has it's own version of what is meant by a particular passage in Scripture. Too many times, the context of Scripture is forgotten. Yet, God is NOT schitzophrenic! He is One (three Persons in one God) and His Church is One. "Father, I pray that they may all be one, as You and I are one..." Anyway, it makes perfect sense, then, that He would leave us a Church to guide souls to Heaven. To teach us that One Faith.... St. Paul speaks of "One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism"...

I found on a website to a nondenominational church, a quote that they do not want to seek unity with any organized body of Christians. Hmmm.. didn't Jesus pray that we all be one?? I pray for Christian reunification someday.... for the scandal of Christian divisions to be over. It is so true that sad abuses in the past caused people to leave.. Those abuses were shameful and definately not okay! But, there was Martin Luther and then there was St. Francis of Assisi. They were both for reform. However, one did it by causing a revolt against the Church. The other did it by reforming from within the Church, with approval of the Holy Father.

(One of my faults , by the way, is that I am no good at remembering exact numbers and verses, except for a few quotes...sorry about that! I know the verses, in general, but still need to work on which chapter, verse etc... )

The image above, to the left, which our Lord presented to us through St. Faustina is so awesome, but only a shadow of the greatness of God Himself in His Divine Mercy for us. The image represents such beautiful imagery.. The two rays issue forth from our Divine Savior's Sacred Heart... the pale rays represent Baptism (how appropriate that Father sprinkled us with Holy Water today at Mass, to remind us of our holy Sacrament of Baptism!). The red rays represent the Sacraments of Confession and Eucharist... Holy Communion with He who is Mercy.

Today's Mass readings reflect God's mercy... the psalm "just happens" to be all about His Mercy. God truly speaks to us through His Word!! http://www.usccb.org/nab/today.shtml

The Gospel reading is especially compelling Jn 20:19-31 A piece of that is this:

"Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." When he had said this, He showed them His hands and His side.The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you."And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them,"Receive the Holy Spirit.Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.""
How awesome. Right there, if you can see it, Jesus gives the Sacrament of Penance (Confession) to the Apostles, and thereby, to the whole Church, through Apostolic succession. "He who has ears, let him hear".

A requirement to receive God's Mercy, is to give it to others. This reflects the teachings in the Gospel about the sheep and the goats and the Beatitudes.
"Whatsoever you did for the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me." Give drink to the thirsty, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, bury the dead, be a light for those in darkness... ("Don't hide your light under a bushel basket...")
Of course, God's Mercy is endless and even the worst sinner can receive it, if he repents and believes in the Gospel, like the Good Thief who received Paradise at the Word of Jesus as they both hung on their crosses, dying. I've heard Dismus (the Good Thief) described as "the thief who stole Heaven itself".

In the picture above to the right, St. Faustina is shown, adoring our Lord and His Divine Mercy.
I imagine that we could each place ourselves alongside her in that image, if we so choose.
St. Faustina, pray for us!!
I will close with some quotes from the website http://www.divinemercy.org/ :

"Her mission was to reiterate the message of Jesus’ death on the cross, that His passion and death was to beg mercy from the Father for the world, immortalized with His heartfelt appeal to the Father “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”
The moment when He expired on the cross was the moment when Mercy triumphed over Justice and He gained a second chance or redemption for the whole world.
The Divine Mercy message is to remind us of that forgotten truth of our faith which is God's merciful love for every person. In the message, The Merciful God reveals Jesus Christ the Saviour, as the Father of love and Divine Mercy.

Jesus said to Saint Faustina:
"You will be the secretary of My Mercy, both in this life and the next.."
(Diary, 1605).

"Your task is to write down everything that I make known to you about My mercy, for the benefit of those who by reading these things will be comforted in their souls and will have the courage to approach Me" (Diary, 1693).

"I desire that the whole world know My infinite mercy" (Diary, 687).

"Today I am sending you with My mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My Merciful Heart (...) before the Day of Justice I am sending the Day of Mercy" (Diary, 1588).

The Saviour desires, that the Divine Mercy message and His promises will be known by the whole world. His promises will be fulfilled under the conditions outlined in the Diary of Faustina, by our trust in God's love and mercy, which should inspire and our love and mercy towards our neighbor.

"I have opened My Heart as a living fountain of mercy. Let all souls draw life from it. Let them approach this sea of mercy with great trust. Sinners will attain justification, and the just will be strengthened in goodness"
(Diary, 1520).

"Both the sinner and the righteous person have need of My mercy. Conversion, as well as perseverance, is a grace of My mercy" (Diary, 1577).

"The graces of My mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is - trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive"
(Diary, 1578).


In conclusion, I will close with the final sentences of the Gospel for today:

"Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you." Then He said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see My hands,and bring your hand and put it into My side,and do not be unbelieving, but believe."Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"Jesus said to him, "Have you come to believe because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,and that through this belief you may have life in His name. "

The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ!!!

The Lord did many other things that were not recorded in the Bible, as St. John wrote in his inspired writings. Praise be to God for giving us His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church to guide us "in Spirit and in Truth". The Church has given us His full teachings, "whether it be by word of mouth or by writing". The Holy Catholic Church is guided by the Holy Spirit. May we all seek the fullness of Truth as He has revealed it in the Church which Jesus started with the Apostles.
"The Church is the pillar and bulwark of the Truth." St. Paul in 2Timothy 3:15 (St. Paul, please pray for us, you who are alive with Our Lord now in Heaven, during this Year of St. Paul, as declared by our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI)
Amen.