On this Feast of Divine Mercy, we as Catholics in a particularly accentuated way rejoice in the great and immense mercy of God.
In reflection, I thought I'd share a couple excerpts from the Diary of St. Faustina I had been touched by as I was reading it earlier today.
The messages of our Lord to St. Faustina are a private revelation, meaning they are not binding beliefs on the faithful and do not belong to the Deposit of Faith. However, when the Church acknowledges and approves various apparitions and revelations (a very tedious and long process) such as Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Guadalupe, etc... it means that they do not conflict with Sacred Scripture and the Sacred Tradition of the Church. The messages St. Faustina received are nothing but an echo of those found in Scripture about the unfathomable mercy of our God. We as Catholics may choose to pray various prayers that have sprung from this devotion to His Divine Mercy (such as the Divine Mercy chaplet or the veneration of the image of Divine Mercy - pictured in this blog), but we don't have to.
I thought I'd just take a little time to share a couple passages from the Diary of St. Faustina where she recorded our Lord's conversation with a soul in various states. I will quote it verbatim.
Conversation of the Merciful God with a
Sinful Soul (Diary 1485)
"Jesus: Be not afraid of your Savior, O sinful soul. I make the first move to come to you, for I know that by yourself you are unable to lift yourself to me. Child, do not run away from your Father; be willing to talk openly with your God of mercy who wants to speak words of pardon and lavish his graces on you. How dear your soul is to Me! I have inscribed your name upon My hand; you are engraved as a deep wound in my Heart.
Soul: Lord, I hear your voice calling me to turn back from the path of sin, but I have neither the strength nor the courage to do so.
Jesus: I am your strength, I will help you in the struggle.
Soul: Lord, I recognize your holiness and I fear You.
Jesus: My child, do you fear the God of mercy? My holiness does not prevent Me from being merciful. Behold, for you I have established a throne of mercy on earth - the tabernacle - and from this throne I desire to enter into your heart. I am not surrounded by a retinue or guards. You can come to me at any moment, at any time; I want to speak to you and desire to grant you grace.
Soul: Lord, I doubt that You will pardon my numberous sins; my misery fills me with fright.
Jesus: My mercy is greater than your sins and those of the entire world. Who can measure the extent of my goodness? For you I descended from heaven to earth; for you I allowed myself to be nailed to the cross; for you I let my Sacred Heart be pierced with a lance, thus opening wide the source of mercy for you. Come, then, with trust to draw graces from the fountain. I never reject a contrite heart. Your misery has disappeared in the depths of My mercy. Do not argue with Me about your wretchedness. You will give me pleasure if you hand over to me all your troubles and griefs. I shall heap upon you the treasures of My grace.
Soul: You have conquered, O Lord, my stony heart with Your goodness. In trust and humility I approach the tribunal of Your mercy, where You Yourself absolve me by the hand of your representative (the priest in the Sacrament of Confession). O Lord, I feel Your grace and Your peace filling my poor soul. I feel overwhelmed by Your mercy, O Lord. You forgive me, which is more than I dared to hope for or could imagine. Your goodness surpasses all my desires. And now, filled with gratitude for so many graces, I invite You to my heart. I wandered, like a prodigal child gone astray; but you did not cease to be my Father. Increase Your mercy toward me, for You see how weak I am.
Jesus: Child, speak no more of your misery; it is already forgotten. Listen, My child, to what I desire to tell you. Come close to My wounds and draw from the Fountain of Life whatever your heart desires. Drink copiously from the Fountain of Life and you will not weary on your journey. Look at the splendors of My mercy and do not fear the enemies of your salvation. Glorify My mercy."
Conversation of the Merciful God with a Despairing Soul
(Diary, 1486)
"Jesus: O soul steeped in darkness, do not despair. All is not yet lost. Come and confide in your God, who is love and mercy.
--- But the soul, deaf even to this appeal, wraps itself in darkness.
Jesus calls out again: My child, listen to the voice of your merciful Father.
--- In the soul arises this reply: "For me, there is no mercy," and it falls into greater darkness, a despair which is a foretaste of hell and makes it unable to draw near to God.
Jesus calls to the soul a third time, but the soul remains deaf and blind, hardened and despairing. Then the mercy of God begins to exert itself, and, without any co-operation from the soul, God grants it final grace. If this too is spurned, God will leave the soul in this self-chosen disposition for eternity. This grace emerges from the merciful Heart of Jesus and gives the soul a special light by means of which the soul begins to understand God's effort; but conversion depends on its own will. The souls knows that this, for her, is final grace and, should it show even a flicker of good will, the mercy of God will accomplish the rest.
Jesus: My omnipotent mercy is active here. Happy the soul that takes advantage of this grace. What joy fills My Heart when you return to me. Because you are weak, I take you in My arms and carry you to the home of My Father.
Soul (as if awaking, asks fearfully): It is possible that there yet is mercy for me?
Jesus: There is, My child. You have a special claim on My mercy. Let it act in your poor soul; let the rays of grace enter your soul; they bring with them light, warmth, and life.
Soul: But fear fills me at the thought of my sins, and this terrible fear moves me to doubt Your goodness.
Jesus: My child, all your sins have not wounded My Heart as painfully as your present lack of trust does - that after so many efforts of My love and mercy you should still doubt My goodness.
Soul: O Lord, save me Yourself, for I perish. Be my Savior. O Lord, I am unable to say anything more; my pitiful heart is torn asunder; but You, O Lord...
Jesus does not let the soul finish but, raising it from the ground, from the depths of its misery, He leads it into the recesses of His Heart where all its sins disappear instantly consumed by the flames of love.
Jesus: Here, soul, are the treasures of My Heart. Take everything you need from it.
Soul: O Lord, I am inundated with Your grace. I sense that a new life has entered into me and above all, I feel Your love in my heart. That is enough for me. O Lord, I will glorify the omnipotence of Your mercy for all eternity. Encouraged by Your goodness, I will confide to You all the sorrows of my heart.
Jesus: Tell me all, My child, hide nothing from Me because My loving Heart, the Heart of your Best Friend, is listening to you.
Soul: O Lord, now I see all my ingratitude and Your goodness. You were pursuing me with Your grace, while I was frustrating Your benevlolence. I see that I deserve the depths of hell for spurning Your graces.
Jesus (interrupting): Do not be absorbed in your misery - you are still too weak to speak of it - but, rather, gaze of My Heart filled with goodness, and be imbued with My sentiments. Strive for meekness and humility; be merciful to others, as I am to you; and when you feel your strength failing, if you come to the fountain of mercy to fortify your soul, you will not grow weary on your journey.
Soul: Now I understand Your mercy, which protects me, and like a brilliant star, leads me into the home of my Father, protecting me from the horrors of hell that I have deserved, not once, but a thousand times. O Lord, eternity will hardly suffice for me to give due praise to Your unfathomable mercy and Your compassion for me."
Conversation of the Merciful God with a Soul Striving After Perfection
(my note: When perfection is spoken of in Scripture or by the saints, what is meant is holiness. This soul has resolved to live for God and has committed his life to Christ, determined not to commit sin anymore)
(Dairy, 1488)
"Jesus: I am pleased with your efforts, O soul aspiring for perfection, but why do I see you so often sad and depressed? Tell Me, My child, what is the meaning of this sadness, and what is its cause?
Soul: Lord, the reason for my sadness is that, in spite of my sincere resolutions, I fall again into the same faults. I make resolutions in the morning, but in the evening I see how much I have departed from them.
Jesus: You see, My child, what you are of yourself. The cause of your falls is that you rely too much upon yourself and too little on Me. But let this not sadden you so much. You are dealing with the God of mercy, which your misery cannot exhaust. Remember, I did not allot only a certain number of pardons.
Soul: Yes, I know all that, but great temptations assail me, and various doubts awaken within me and moreover, everything irritates and discourages me.
Jesus: My child, know that the greatest obstacles to holiness are discouragement and an exaggerated anxiety. These will deprive you of the ability to practice virtue. All temptations united together ought not disturb your interior peace, not even momentarily. Sensitiveness and discouragement are the fruits of self-love. You should not become discouraged, but strive to make My love reign in place of your self-love. Have confidence, My child. Do not lose heart in coming for pardon, for I am always ready to forgive you. As often as you beg for it, you glorify My mercy.
Soul: I understand what is teh better thing to do, what pleases You more, but I encounter great obstacles in acting on this understanding.
Jesus: My child, life on earth is a struggle indeed; a great struggle for my Kingdom. But fear not, because you are not alone. I am always supporting you, so lean on Me as you struggle, fearing nothing. Take the vessel of trust and draw from the fountain of life - for yourself, but also for other souls, especially such as are distrustful of my goodness.
Soul: O Lord, I feel my heart being filled with Your love and the rays of Your mercy and love piercing my soul. I go, Lord, at Your command. I go to conquer souls. Sustained by Your grace, I am ready to follow You, Lord, not only to Tabor (where Jesus was transfigured in His glory), but also to Calvary (where Jesus was crucified). I desire to lead souls to the fountain of Your mercy so that the splendor of Your mercy may be reflected in all souls, and the home of our Father be filled to overflowing. And when the enemy begins to attack me, I shall take refuge behind the shield of Your mercy."
Who Are You?
Each one of us could fit into one or more of these categories. See the tenderness and patient beckoning of our Savior and how gentle, meek and merciful He is when we respond to His grace and repent - no matter how weak we are or how much we have sinned.
All it does is take that one act of the will on our part to leave the path of sin and our sinful lifestyles and live upright in the eyes of God. Our Lord is saddened by the many who neglect His mercy and obstinantly choose to sin without converting their hearts and repenting. He holds out His tender and great mercy, and they throw it aside. Some - especially many Catholics themselves - neglect the Lord's decree of confessing to a priest and assume God's mercy - in arrogance - on their own because their hearts are not humble to Christ and His Church, even though Jesus gave His apostles and their successors (our priests) this power to forgive in the Gospel of John. We cannot determine on our terms the way God should forgive us our sins - but on God's terms, the way He laid out.
The proud have no place with God, but only the humble, our Lord says.
The Lord is so merciful and so good to us. When I think of how patient God is with me - especially when I think back before my conversion in college and before I decided to live entirely for Him - it brings me to tears and I am filled with gratitude. All those years of my life neglecting God, not thinking and living for Him each day. All those years of committing mortal sins. He was so patient, beckoning me. And when I finally realized the wrong way I was living my life, I knew it had to stop. And I remember clear as day thinking at that moment of grace: If I do not change my ways and respond to God's mercy toward to me, I will be spitting in God's face.
It was convicting.
Let us remember that when the Holy Spirit sheds light on our hearts and we sense a certain thing we are doing is wrong and sinful, and then we neglect that movement of grace and do not seek to change, we may as well be spitting in the face of Jesus Christ.
What matters is our will - where is our will in this? Do we not care to leave the sin behind? Are we trying? Are we "avoiding sin to the point of shedding blood?" (Hebrews 12:4) - Meaning, are we exerting ourselves in every way possible to not sin? Of course, we will still fall, many times unconscoiusly as Scripture tells us that even the just man sins (Proverbs 24:16) - especially into those vices we are weak in; but if we get back up, seek forgiveness, and have a firm purpose of amending our lives, we will slowly and humbly conquer those sins.
Conversion is a lifetime journey, but the act of our will to choose Christ and not sin and evil happens in each moment.
Happy Feast of Divine Mercy! Run to God's mercy and repent! He loves you incredibly!
"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His mercy endures forever!"
~ Psalm 136:1