Most Merciful Jesus, Goodness Itself

“Write, my daughter, that I am Mercy itself for the contrite soul. A soul’s greatest wretchedness does not enkindle Me with wrath; but rather, My Heart is moved towards it with great mercy.”

“My daughter, write down these words: All those souls who will glorify My mercy and spread its worship, encouraging others to trust in My mercy, will not experience terror at the hour of death. My mercy will shield them in that final battle… My daughter, encourage souls to say the chaplet which I have given to you. It pleases Me to grant everything they ask of Me by saying the chaplet. When hardened sinners say it, I will fill their souls with peace, and the hour of their death will be a happy one.”

“As I write these words, I hear the cry of Satan: “She’s writing everything, she’s writing everything, and because of this we are losing so much! Do not write about the goodness of God; He is just!” And howling with fury, he vanished.”

(Divine Mercy in my soul, Diary of the Servant of God, Sister Faustina Kowalska)

Jesus, Goodness Itself! I have no doubts anymore! You have expelled them! I trust in You Jesus! In Your Most Merciful Heart!

JESUS, KING OF MERCY, I TRUST IN YOU!

The more the world converts to secularism, the more does the Church need to cry out "Mercy!"

The more the human conscience succumbs to secularization, loses its sense of the very meaning of the word “mercy,” moves away from God and distances itself from the mystery of mercy, the more the Church has the right and the duty to appeal to the God of mercy “with loud cries.” (Mt 15,23) These “loud cries” should be the mark of the Church of our times…

Modern man often anxiously wonders about the solution to the terrible tensions which have built up in the world and which entangle humanity. And if at times he lacks the courage to utter the word “mercy,” or if in his conscience empty of religious content he does not find the equivalent, so much greater is the need for the Church to utter his word, not only in her own name but also in the name of all the men and women of our time. She must utter an ardent prayer, a cry that implores mercy according to the needs of man in the modern world.

May this cry be full of that truth about mercy which has found such rich expression in Sacred Scripture and in Tradition, as also in the authentic life of faith of countless generations of the People of God. With this cry let us, like the sacred writers, call upon the God who cannot despise anything that He has made, the God who is faithful to Himself, to His fatherhood and His love.

*Encyclical - Dives in misericordia , ch. 8, §15 -Pope John Paul II

© Libreria Editrice Vaticana 

Love and Mercy.

Corpus Christi: Panis Angelicus fit Panis Hominum!

Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Dominican theologian, Doctor of the Church
Prayers

A Clean Heart, Create for me, O God.

A reflection for the Gospel today, Feb. 10, 2010

Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591), Carmelite, Doctor of the Church
Counsels and maxims

«A pure heart create for me, O God » (Ps 51[50],12)

Purity of heart corresponds to the degree of love and grace of God. Therefore, when our Savior calls blessed those who are pure in heart (Mt 5,8), he speaks of those who are filled with love, since blessedness is bestowed on us according to the degree of our love. He who truly loves God is not ashamed of what he does for God before the world, nor does he hide it away in confusion though the whole world should scorn him. He who truly loves God considers the loss of all created things to be a gain and reward, together with the loss of himself for love of God… He that with pure love works for God
not only does not care whether or not it is known by others, but does not even do these things that God Himself might know it… It is a great thing to exercise oneself much in holy love, for the soul who has attained the perfection and fulfilment of love is not held back, whether in this life or the next, from seeing the face of God. He whose heart is pure profits equally from being raised up or cast down to become ever more pure. Whereas the impure heart is useless for anything except to produce still more fruits of impurity. In everything the heart draws out a knowledge of God that is flavorsome, chaste, pure, spiritual, full of joy and love.

———————————————————-

See, O Lord, how impure and imperfect, poor and lowly and unworthy we are; Look at Your people and see our sufferings, our loneliness, our hunger, our thirst, our pain, our destituteness, our sickness, our nakedness. Lord, You Whose Name is Mercy, hear our cries and heal Your people. Help us, and carry us, O Lord, carry us like a little child too feeble to walk. We are weak and imperfect, O Lord, and only would it be possible for us to become holy like You, if we do not rely on our own merits- for we have none, O Jesus- but trust fully in You who is Virtue and Holiness. You alone, O God, can create a clean heart for me. You alone can raise me to Yourself and make me holy. Amen+

*Inspired by a prayer of St. Therese of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face

————————————————————-

I considered that I was born for glory… After seven years in religious life, I still am weak and imperfect. I always feel, however, the same bold confidence of becoming a great saint because I don’t count on my own merits since I have none, but I trust in Him who is Virtue and Holiness. God alone, content with my weak efforts, will raise me to Himself and make me a saint, clothing me in His infinite merits. -St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Story of a Soul

In the end, it’s always the choices we make and why we made them.

Would you rather die or kill? I’d rather die. 

Lord, please help me to give up all my pride, all things that make me important and wanted and profitable. Help me to surrender all myself to You and to Love You blindly.

May I be an instrument of Your Great Love and Mercy, O Lord. Amen.

Mercy on us.

We all are victims of self-preservation- we are just not conscious of it. It fills everything we do. We don’t intervene, we don’t act, we don’t speak out, we don’t speak up- because we’re too afraid- afraid that we might get hurt, that we might not be accepted by “society”, that our friends will desert us, that our time may be wasted because there is no profit to be gained.

WE ARE AFRAID TO DO GOOD. But you know what I learned last Wednesday? Self-preservation is bereft of MERCY. When we preserve ourselves- we become MERCILESS. An old man told me, “the human mind cannot fully grasp the breadth of mercilessness- but we can use it to describe something or someone.”

How do we define the mercilessness of a person who has exploited and stole the innocence of children?  We cannot. But we can say, “MERCILESS!”

Those who have demoralized the Temple of the Holy Spirit- the human body- MERCILESS!

Those who kill their very own children, just so they could live a “better” life- MERCILESS!

Those who let the lost stay lost, and not guide them to the right path- MERCILESS!

Those who do not know what color to wear for the day, when a lot of peole don’t even have the basic necessities- MERCILESS!

Sadly, we have become merciless, because of self-preservation. Not only to other people, but even in our families.

The right path is the cross. That is why, WE ARE SAVED BECAUSE OF GOD’S MERCY AND GREAT LOVE FOR US.

God did not remain God, clothed in His Glory and Honor. He became like us, human.. dust. Just so we would be saved from our sins. God is full of mercy and forgiveness.

The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is the ultimate image of the mercilessness of human beings and the MERCIFULNESS OF GOD.

Let us all be merciful, as God is to us. Us who committed a lot of sins, ommitted a lot of holy acts and speeches, us who are weak, us who are poor in spirit, us who are prisoners of our own desires and wants and possessions, us who are DUST.

————————————————————————-

Thomas answered and said to Him, “my LORD and my God!” -John 20:28