DIVINE MERCY St. Peter s Special Presentation /April2014

Transcription

1 DIVINE MERCY St. Peter s Special Presentation /April2014 It happened during a hot summer afternoon. Hollywood Film Director Cecil B. DeMille, found himself slowly drifting in a canoe on a lake in Maine while reading a book. At one point, he looked away from his book towards the lake and that's when he noticed a bunch of water beetles playing in the water. Well, one of the beetles must have got a little tired because it started crawling up the side of his canoe. And when it got about halfway up, that's when it attached the talons of its legs to the wooden side of the canoe and after a few moments: it DIED... DeMille watched for a minute in silence; and then turned back to his book. About THREE HOURS LATER, he looked down at the dead beetle once again and what he saw amazed him! The beetle had all dried up, and ITS BACK WAS STARTING TO CRACK OPEN. As he watched, SOMETHING BEGAN TO EMERGE FROM THE OPENING: first there was a moist head, then some wings. What came out was a Beautiful Dragonfly!! DeMille JUST SAT THERE IN AWE AND WONDER. After a few moments, the dragonfly began moving its wings and started hovering gracefully over the water where the other beetles were at play. But they didn t recognize the dragonfly. They didn t realize that the INNER BEAUTY OF THEIR FRIEND was at one time, the ugly beetle with which they had played with some three hours earlier. YES!! Even creation itself is CHARGED with the task of REVEALING the Mystery of the RESURRECTION I mean if such a transformation is reserved for a water beetle then how much more so is reserved for us as human beings when the INNER BEAUTY of our souls leave behind the shell of our bodies? RESSURECTION is a FAIT ACCOMPLI for everyone! That's not what we need to worry about every human being that has ever been conceived will find themselves united to an un-corruptible body, eternal body at the time of the Final Judgment. It's what happens afterwards that we need to be concerned with! Where are we, along with our loved ones, going to SPEND OUR ETERNITY united to these eternal bodies that never corrupt, that never get sick, that never die!!! That's the Ultimate Question posited before us by means of DIVINE MERCY St. Faustina, also known as the APOSTLE OF DIVINE MERCY, died a little over 70 years ago in the odor of sanctity. Meaning, following her death, a beautiful aroma filled the room that could be likened to fresh flowers everywhere and was perceptible by all those gathered around her. It's an ONTOLOGICAL STATE THAT BEARS WITNESS to THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS; it's one of the ways that Heaven reveals to us how someone has died in a state of Great Grace! During the course of her life, St. Faustina wrote: "My sanctity and perfection is based upon the close union of my will with the will of God." A statement like that provides us with insight concerning the kind of selfknowledge Faustina was in tune with during the course of her life. OOhh that we could all say such a thing and have it be true: "My sanctity and perfection is based upon the close union of my will with the will of God." But that wasn't always her story, for other than Jesus and Mary, NO ONE HAS EVER BEEN BORN A SAINT! It's a journey we are called to embark upon by means of walking the path of conversion. And for all of us, it's something that happens bit by bit over the passage of time. Such is the story of St. Faustina 1

2 In the year 1905 Faustina came into this world as Helen Kowalska. She was the third of 10 children who grew up in a poor, but pious family in Poland. Jesus had plans for her from an early age. She once recounted how, when she was seven years old, while at a prayer service before the Blessed Sacrament: the love of God was imparted to me for the first time and filled my little heart. When she turned 18, she told her parents you want to enter a convent, but they refused. And so she did what the majority of us do when God nudges us towards the path we are meant to take she did what she could TO STIFLE THE CALL OF GOD by means of amusements and other distractions Have you ever been there?? Perhaps some of you are there today Knowing in your heart the road that God desires for you to walk upon by means of this internal DRIVING DESIRE that you simply can't shut off! It's a strange state of being in that, while part of you wants nothing to do with following this path because it's so contrary to what you've always known, there is another part of you that is drawn to it like magnet to iron and you just can't shut it off! And IT JUST WON'T GO AWAY! It's like the call of the prophet Jeremiah who cried out: "You seduced me oh God, and I WAS SEDUCED! (Jeremiah 20:10) Such was the experience of Helen Kowalska. In her diary, she writes: Once I was at a dance with one of my sisters. While everyone around me was having a good time, my soul was experiencing deep torments. As I began to dance, I suddenly saw Jesus at my side, Jesus racked with pain, stripped of His clothing, all covered with wounds, who spoke these words to me, `HOW LONG SHALL I PUT UP WITH YOU AND HOW LONG WILL YOU KEEP PUTTING ME OFF? At that moment the charming music stopped, the company I was with vanished from my sight; there remained Jesus and I Nothing could have been clearer for Helen than that! She left the dance and in the middle of the night, she rushed over to the Cathedral and without a care in the world of what others might think, she prostrated herself on the ground before the Blessed Sacrament and begged the Lord to help her understand what she should do next. She heard these words: "GO AT ONCE TO WARSAW; YOU WILL ENTER A CONVENT THERE." She rose from her prayer, went home and told her sister what had just happened. She then said: "Tell mom and dad goodbye for me." And with that, she left home with the one dress she had on and nothing else! And that's how she arrived at the front doors of the convent in Warsaw. With only the dress that she had on She was accepted to the congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy on 1 August 1925, at the age of 20. The normal development of Religious Life took over for a number of years. That is, six years And then Jesus manifested himself to her once again with instructions. Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU. I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and then throughout the world. BEHOLD THE PICTURE THAT WE HAVE BEFORE US THIS DAY. Jesus blesses the world by means of a priestly blessing with his right hand while his left points directly towards his pierced heart. A heart that still bears the wound of the lance that pierced his side as he hung upon that cross! A heart out of which once flowed, and now continues to flow: blood and water gushing forth as GLORIOUS RAYS of healing and mercy for souls. According to Jesus: "The pale rays symbolize the water that cleanses and purifies souls: the red rays represent the blood that gives new life to souls. 2

3 He goes on to say: "These rays will shield the soul before the JUSTICE of My Father. Fortunate are those who live in this shelter, for the Justice of God will not reach them there From this image, MERCY IS MADE INCARNATE as God's love now finds itself being poured out over the whole world in a whole new way! REALITY CHECK: the Church is over 2000 years old That means, she's been around for a long time but if we go back even 80 years ago, there was no such thing as divine mercy from Heaven! There was no such thing as the opportunity for souls to be shielded from the justice of God the Father at the moment of their breathing their last breath. In Light Of Humanity's Existence And Where Were At Along The Course Of Salvation History, we re living DURING A TIME OF SERIOUS BUSINESS when it comes to the historical moment of our existence! Many moons ago, one of the Desert Fathers set out on a journey towards the Mount of Sinai for he wanted to worship God on the mountain where Moses had brought the people of Israel after he had freed them from the clutches of Egypt. As he was passing by a populated village area, a brother came out to meet him. Right away, he began groaning and complaining: "Father, we are IN DISTRESS because of the lack of rain!" The old man said to him: "Why don t you pray and ask God to send you some rain?" "We pray! We even say litanies and still, it doesn't rain." "It's because you're not praying with intensity At that moment, he stretched out his hands towards the heavens in prayer and immediately it began pouring down rain. Upon seeing this, the brother was filled with fear and fell on the ground, burying his face in the dirt. All too aware of what would happen once news of this got out to the village, the old man turned around and left You're not praying with INTENSITY The pages of St. Faustina's Diary record the events that gave rise to Divine Mercy. During one of those nights, when she was alone and back in her cell: she saw an Angel, THE EXECUTOR OF DIVINE WRATH From the cloud, bolts of thunder and flashes of lightning were springing into his hands; and from his hands they were going forth, and they were striking the earth... She writes "When I saw this sign of Divine Wrath which was about to strike the earth, and in particular a certain place, which for good reasons I cannot name, I began to implore the angel to hold off for a few moments and the world would do penance. But my plea was a mere nothing in the FACE OF THE DIVINE ANGER. Just then I SAW THE MOST HOLY TRINITY At that very moment I felt in my soul the power of Jesus Grace, which dwells in my soul. When I became conscious of this grace, I was instantly snatched up before the Throne of God. Oh, HOW GREAT IS OUR LORD AND GOD AND HOW INCOMPREHENSIBLE HIS HOLINESS! I found myself pleading with God for the world with words heard interiorly 3

4 "Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ for our sins and those of the whole world; for the sake of his sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us... As I was praying in this manner, I saw the Angel s helplessness: he could not carry out the Just Punishment which was rightly DUE FOR SINS. Never before had I PRAYED WITH SUCH INNER POWER as I did then. 2x "Father, we are IN DISTRESS because of the lack of rain! Father, we are in distress because of all the bad things happening throughout the world. We are in distress because our kids don't believe anymore! We are in distress because our children are living in sin!" In 1936, on the feast day of The Annunciation: on that day, Our Blessed Mother Mary said to St. Faustina: "I gave the world a Savior, you must make known His Mercy, and PREPARE THE WORLD FOR HIS SECOND COMING. He will then come, not as a merciful Savior, but as a Just Judge. Oh how terrible is that day! Determined is the day of justice... Angels tremble before it. Speak to souls of His Great Mercy while there is still time!! In short, what is DIVINE MERCY?? Divine Mercy is the time in which we live We live in a time when God's UNFATHOMABLE MERCY is being poured out all over this world like an ocean that swallows up all that is evil and sinful. We are here tonight because God has chosen each one of us, like he chose St. Faustina, to be his AMBASSADORS OF MERCY! He desires to use us as instruments of reconciliation for a broken world filled with broken souls. The news that's not so exciting is that this special time is one that is relatively short and will be followed by another time: a time of Justice Jesus has been explicitly clear with St. Faustina: "Tell souls about this GREAT MERCY of Mine, because the awful day, the day of My JUSTICE, is near: Before the Day of Justice, I am sending the Day of Mercy. I am prolonging the time of mercy for the sake of sinners. But woe to them if they do not recognize this time of My visitation. While there is still time, let them have recourse to the fount of My mercy. He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy MUST PASS through the door of MY JUSTICE. (Diary) Speak to souls my Great Mercy while there is still time And do so with Ardent Conviction and Unshakable Trust. PRAY WITH INNER POWER AND INTENSITY!! (My words) A staff member from a church in the U.S. was out walking his dog when suddenly he was mugged, stabbed in the heart and rushed to the hospital. His chance for SURVIVAL WAS SLIM TO NONE When the word spread among the church staff, they gathered to pray. They prayed sincere prayers, but their prayers were mostly polite and mild petitions, prayers that spoke of comfort, hope and changed hearts thing is, they were prayers that had already faced the hard facts of almost certain death 4

5 And then THE CUSTODIAN PRAYED those who witnessed it reported that it was the most ATHLETIC PRAYER ever witnessed. The custodian wrestled with God, he shouted at God and anguished with him as His finger jabbed the air and his body began to shake while he screamed out: You ve got to save him! You just can t let him die! You ve done it many times, Lord! You ve done it for others, you ve done it for me, now I am begging you to do it again! Do it for him! YOU Save him, Lord!!! One witness said that It was as if he grabbed God by the lapels, and refused to turn Him loose until God came with healing wings. When we heard THAT PRAYER, we knew, we just knew that God would indeed lay His healing hands on this man. And so it happened the man was healed... And so I say to you: "Ask, and it will be given you... Knock, and the door will be opened (Matt. 7:7) We are being called to EMBRACE A NEW WAY OF being ALIVE! We are being called to forget about what we think is supposed to take precedence in life like all of our Worries, Stresses, Fears and Concerns DROP THESE THINGS!! Look at the birds of the air! They do not sow and they do not reap and yet they are fed. Let the days own troubles be sufficient for the day. (Matthew 6:34) Ours this night is an invitation to embrace a new way of being alive by means of CHERISHING AND TRUSTING IN THE PROMISES GIVEN TO THE CHURCH during this time of Divine Mercy for the following promises made by our Lord to those dedicated to his Divine Mercy are truly astounding: 1. Take for example the Three O'clock Conversion Prayer Promise! Jesus promised St. Faustina that anyone who thinks about the passion he experienced but for just a few moments at 3:00 pm on any given day while praying the words: "O BLOOD AND WATER, WHICH GUSHED FORTH FROM THE HEART OF JESUS AS A FOUNT OF MERCY FOR US, I TRUST IN YOU". Our Lord PROMISES THE CONVERSION OF ANYONE whose name we attach to this moment of contemplation and prayer... our Lord says that at this hour, he refuses nothing to anyone who makes a request of him in virtue of his passion... - As to when they will receive that grace of conversion - that's between Jesus and them / we are simply asked to trust that their conversion will come to pass Let me say that again: the RISEN Lord of life promises to anyone who makes a request of him at three o'clock in the afternoon the conversion of loved ones. How that's going to play itself out, THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT. Do you TRUST in Jesus or NOT?? The only thing that s important is that each and every day believers throughout the world have the opportunity to claim the Conversion of someone, anyone, so that they might inherit Eternal Life!! As such, every day at 3:00 PM I do everything I can to recollect myself EVEN IF FOR JUST A FEW SECONDS, I turn to our Blessed mother and I say: "Blessed mother, please bestow the grace of conversion upon whichever soul needs it the most at this time on my behalf." And then envisioning our Lord crucified and bleeding upon that cross for my sins and the sins of the whole world I pray: "O BLOOD AND WATER, WHICH GUSHED FORTH FROM THE HEART OF JESUS AS A FOUNT OF MERCY FOR US, I TRUST IN YOU". 5

6 2. Then there's the promise made to anyone who prays the Chaplet of Divine Mercy at the hour of someone's death... Our Lord says that whoever recites the Chaplet of Mercy in the presence of the dying, that he will personally stand between God the Father and the dying person not as their Just Judge, but as their Merciful Savior!! In other words, they: regardless of the sins of their past life will receive The Gift of Eternal Life... If you know anyone at this time who is near the of their earthly journey - PLEASE, PLEASE PRAY FOR THEM A CHAPLET OF DIVINE MERCY It's the most beautiful gift you can give to a BEAUTIFUL SOUL that is about to be released from its earthly shell Whenever I'm called to anoint someone with their Last Rites, if the family is one of faith, I offer to pray the chapel together with them for their loved one. If I sense that faith is something somewhat foreign to the members of the family, then I personally offer up a chaplet of Divine Mercy for that individual. If we were walking along the street and saw someone of age carrying many bags, suddenly tripping and falling face flat on the sidewalk, we would AUTOMATICALLY RUSH TO THEIR HELP AND ASSIST THEM. We wouldn't need to think about it we would just do it! That's the kind of trust and love Jesus asks of us when it comes to bestowing his divine mercy upon the souls of those who surround us. It means embracing a NEW WAY OF LIVING out our faith on a daily basis by means of Divine Mercy! While these promises in and of themselves might seem too good to be true: that is exactly why we need to wholeheartedly TRUST THEM and claim them over ourselves, our enemies and our loved ones!!! It's not for nothing that underneath the painting it states: "Jesus I trust in you..." All that our Lord asks is that we Trust In His Great Promise Of Mercy For The World and for all sinners, believers and unbelievers alike during this short period of time in history... Do we REALLY TRUST in Jesus??? And finally, perhaps the greatest of all the promises is that which our Lord bestows upon souls on the feast day of DIVINE MERCY. Divine Mercy Sunday is now the title of the Second Sunday of the Easter Season. It was named by Pope John Paul II at the canonization of St. Maria Faustina on April 30, 2000, and then OFFICIALLY DECREED BY THE VATICAN. In order to receive the following promise, certain things need to be done on our part. 1. Starting on Good Friday, The Chaplet of Divine Mercy must be prayed for nine consecutive days. 2. Just prior to the feast of DIVINE MERCY, we must experience the sacrament of reconciliation. 3. On the feast day itself, we must receive HOLY COMMUNION All who do so, receive the following promise according to our Lord, they Shall have their souls wiped clean: as though they had just experienced Baptism! What that means is that all punishment due to sins in this life or the next life are wiped clear from our souls! What that means is that if you were to die immediately following the feast day of DIVINE MERCY, you GO STRAIGHT UP TO HEAVEN! 6

7 What that means is that if you were to die at any time following the celebration of this feast day, you only have to account before God for the sins that you will have committed from that feast day onwards! In other words, time spent in purgatory will be made in atonement for the sins we will have committed from the feast day of divine mercy onwards. What that means is that EVERY YEAR people all over the world have the opportunity to start everything over again when it comes to living a life of grace, when it comes to living lives as living Saints!! We live in a time when God' s UNFATHOMABLE MERCY is being poured out all over this world like an ocean that swallows up all that is evil and sinful. As such, God has chosen each one of us, like he chose Mary Magdalene to go tell the Apostles that he had risen, like he chose Peter to manifest healing miracles upon people whenever his shadow simply fell upon them as he walked by, and like he chose Paul to bring the GOOD NEWS OF SALVATION to the Gentiles and unbelievers! And like the Almighty chose St. Faustina TODAY HE CHOOSES YOU AND I to be His AMBASSADORS of Divine Mercy reconciling the brokenness of our world by spreading the news of his Divine Mercy. Jesus IS HERE: "PEACE be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you..." And now, over the course of the next a few minutes, that is exactly what we're going to do were going to BATTLE OUR WAY INTO PRAYER in order to make reparation for our sins and the sins of the whole world. Please join me as we all pray together the sung version of The Chaplet of Divine Mercy Jesus, I Trust in You 7