Tuesday, October 5, 2010

The Door of His Mercy


Today is the Feast Day of  St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, Apostle of the Divine Mercy.

Every human person was created in God's image. Satan, in his absolute hatred for God, will stop at nothing to deface this image. As God's children with this divine imprint upon our souls we not only must battle against our own proclivity to sin but we must also battle powers and principalities. God's grace, however, is more powerful than satan's antipathy. Not only does the Lord help us battle the forces of evil, He also provides remedies for our own sinfulness.

It can be discouraging in our day to look around and see a world mired in sin. Viewed through human eyes it can be downright overwhelming. Many people would like to pretend that everything is just fine on the earth. Truth, however, tells us that this is not so. God would much rather we walk in his light and face evil, including our own, than bury our faces in the sand and pretend that it doesn't exist. One of the ways God does this is to expose the sins of the world (and our own) to a greater and greater degree until we must acknowledge it. He makes them obvious to us. Not so that we will despair, but so that we can turn to Him and accept the mercy and healing He longs to pour upon us. What easier way to draw our attention to the condition of our world than to have us confront it on a daily basis. The wounds of sin have surfaced on our earth and God  is longing to pour the balm of his love and mercy upon us.

In honor of St. Faustina's feast day, I have chosen a passage from her diary that reflects Jesus' yearning to show mercy to us all, if only we will accept it:

Let the greatest sinners place their trust in My mercy. They have the right before others to trust in the abyss of My mercy. My daughter, write about My mercy towards tormented souls. Souls that make an appeal to My mercy delight Me. To such souls I grant even more mercy than they ask. I cannot punish even the greatest sinner if he makes an appeal to my compassion, but on the contrary, I justify him in My unfathomable mercy. Write: before I come as a just Judge, I first open wide the door of My mercy. He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice. *                             1146


* The Diary of Maria Faustina Kowalska
   The Marion Fathers of the Immaculate Conception
   used with permission (but I have no clue where the copyright mark is on this keyboard, lol)

8 comments:

  1. I am so thankful that we serve a GOD greater than Satan! Thank you for your prayers...

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  2. Such a hopeful passage! Thanks for sharing it!

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  3. Anne,
    It's one of my favorite passages from St. Faustina's Diary because it gives hope to even the greatest sinners and everyone needs hope!

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  4. Thank You God for Your Mercy! Thanks Mary for this beautiful post :)

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  5. Mom,
    And Thank You God for little babies! You must be so excited!

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  6. This is a WONDERFUL post Mary! And, it came at a very pertinent time for me, as a friend and I have been discussing these very topics!
    I love when Our Lord told Faustina, "Do not fear, for I will make up where you lack"...I LEAN on this promise MANY times in my homeschooling journey!
    Thanks for sharing your beautiful thoughts with us...you are an inspiration to the spirit!

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  7. For those of us who understand something of the enormity of sin, how comforting of a reminder this is! Let us pray so that those around us obtain a sense of sin, AND understanding of God's mercy. What a wonderful thing it is to have a God Who begs us to take advantage of His mercy! How sad that we do not constantly find ourselves at His feet asking for it! Thank God for His mercy, and thank you, Mary for this wonderful post.

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