I really felt Divine Mercy Sunday this past week.
Because the teachings and encouragement of John Paul II (who was beatified on Divine Mercy Sunday:) were the major force behind my conversion of faith in college.
Because many of John Paul II’s writings have been a continuous source of inspiration and guidance for me and my husband in our relationship ever since we started dating.
Because God taught me some lessons this Lent about how generous His mercy is, and just how much I need it.
And because I have challenging situations in my life right now that the message of Divine Mercy Sunday speaks to my heart about.
The Divine Mercy image above is a depiction of a vision that Christ granted to a humble Polish nun in the early 20th century. The red ray stands for the life of souls, and the white ray stands for Christ’s sanctifying grace.
St. Faustina lived a remarkably humble, quiet, and seemingly-monotonous life, but outward appearances did not do justice to the richness of her prayer life, spiritual gifts, and intimate relationship with God.
One particular quote from the writings of St. Faustina really articulates a part of my own spirituality in relation to mercy:
O my Jesus, each of Your saints reflects one of Your virtues; I desire to reflect Your compassionate heart, full of mercy; I want to glorify it. Let Your Mercy, O Jesus, be impressed upon my heart and soul like a seal, and this will be my badge in this and the future life (Diary 1242).
The reason I love this prayer and desire of St. Faustina is that I feel so strongly that mercy is missing from our culture. I can feel it and see the need for it everywhere, especially in our personal relationships, and especially in our families. Every minute spent in traffic, every misunderstanding, every personal attack, oppression or challenge we face in our everyday lives and relationships–that’s when we’ve got to have mercy. On one another.
The word “mercy” sounds a little antiquated and vague, I know. So here’s how I translate being merciful in my own life.
- Be slow to anger and quick to forgive.
- Pray for right judgement before you speak or act.
- Be humble of heart. Pray daily to grow in humility.
- Pray daily for wisdom.
- Work especially hard at this with those you or deal with every day: your spouse, children, siblings, coworkers and roommates.
- Before you judge others, before you become angry, before you try to change another person, and before you act–ask God to reveal to you those things in your heart and life that need to change. Ask him to take out of your heart every thought, belief, feeling or opinion that is not of Him.
- Let your first reaction in adversity be compassion and trust in God’s guidance. Those who hurt you probably have something tough going on in their lives. The very fact that they’re not acting Christ-like reveals they need God. They need prayers.
- Don’t indulge in negative speech that we so easily fall into when we’re with “like minded” people. Don’t crack jokes at others’ expense. Catch yourself before participating in conversations that “roast” politicians, coworkers, or even friends and family. Yes, many people make bad choices or hurt us–sometimes over and over again. yes, there are people who have hurt us or our loved ones badly. But rather than our grudges and anger, they need a Heavenly wakeup call brought on by prayer.
Michael and I actually just finished praying the awesome Divine Mercy Novena, and it’s been amazing to see how God has worked in our lives over just the past nine days leading up to Divine Mercy Sunday. My thoughts in this post come from my reflections during this novena.
Jesus, I trust in you! Have mercy on us, and on the whole world…
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