Daily Reflections on Divine Mercy

Reflection 189: Overcoming Fear

Fear results from various causes.  The perception of some immediate threat causes sudden fear as a sort of defense mechanism.  In fact, this could save your life if, for example, the immediate threat is a car swerving into your lane.  Sudden fear compels you to take action and avoid a collision.  However, fear can also result from other more remote factors that we experience as threats to our well-being.  For example, one may struggle with fear over an economic downturn or loss of profit in a business.  The fear may be, “How will I support my family?”  Or one may have health issues and this causes increasing fear about the future.  And the list could go on.  Though some forms of fear are healthy (swerving to avoid a car accident), most others are not.  Specifically, when fear causes anxiety and worry, leading one to lose trust in God and His providence, this is a problem.  But if God is alive in your heart, living and reigning there, His presence produces a supernatural confidence and trust in the midst of any and every struggle we face (See Diary #1001).

Reflect upon the specific fear you struggle with right now.  What is it that causes excessive worry and anxiety?  Whatever it may be, the Lord wants you to trust Him.  Yes, a certain “holy” fear can help us evaluate all situations properly and act diligently and responsibly, but too often what we actually struggle with is a lack of trust in God.  Reflect upon your fear and your trust and invite Christ more deeply into your heart so that His presence will cast out all useless fear, enabling you to fully trust in His care, providence and Mercy.

Lord, I do trust in You.  Help me to trust You all the more.  I surrender to You all that tempts me to fear.  I trust in Your perfect love and desire to rely completely on Your Mercy in my life.  My life is Yours, dear Lord, do with me as You will and guide me always.  Jesus, I trust in You.  

Image: woman wearing red sweatshirt, by Diana Simumpande

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Reflection 188: The Demands of the Lord

If the Lord asks you to do something, do you have an option?  You do insofar as you can say “No.”  And this is a sin.  But if you have chosen to follow Christ and your goal is Heaven, then it’s proper to say that we are obliged to do whatever the Lord asks of us.  His requests are certain and immovable commands of Love.  He will not budge.  He will not change.  This is only hard to accept if we are stubborn and unwilling to submit to Him.  But if we understand the nature of His Will, as described above, then we should be overjoyed when we hear His crisp clear voice speaking to us with commands of Love.  We should see His Will and His Law as the perfect answer to every problem and every need we have in life.  The demands of the Lord are demands we must give in to.  And one of those demands is that He desires that we all enter into and distribute His abundant Mercy (See Diary #998).

Reflect upon the demand from our Lord that you dispense His Mercy.  He not only invites you to do so, it is His immovable and irrevocable perfect Will.  He will never change His Mind.  There is only one option you have.  You must concede to be a missionary of His Divine Mercy if you choose His Will for your life.  Are you willing to accept this calling?  Are you willing to say “Yes?”  Ponder this question today and make a choice that reflects the certainty of God’s perfect Will.  Say “Yes” to our Lord and you will not regret it.

Lord, Your Will is perfect and the delight of my soul.  I thank You for inviting and obliging me to be an instrument of Your Divine Mercy in the world.  May I embrace this calling with zeal, love and devotion.  Use me, dear Lord, as You will.  And I thank You for the incredible honor of serving You.  Jesus, I trust in You.  

Image: Parable of the good Samaritan, by Burlison & Grylls

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Reflection 187: A Rainbow after the Storm

It’s fascinating how Creation itself proclaims the glory of God and teaches us about matters of faith.  Take a rainbow.  It is bright and beautiful, colorful and awe-inspiring.  Everyone rejoices on seeing a rainbow.  But there would be no such thing as a rainbow without rain, or storms.  Such is life.  We will have good days followed by bad and bad days followed by good.  We should not be surprised by one or the other.  On a good day filled with joy we should thank God and be aware that the “rainbow” is a gift.  We should savor it so that we will remember it on the bad days.  When a bad day comes we should thank God.  We should thank Him for the knowledge that this too shall pass if we wait patiently upon Him.  Life is full of ups and downs but the Mercy of God is eternal and it will bring us through all things, enabling us to rejoice after the storm has passed (See Diary #992).

Reflect, today, upon the difference between a rainbow and a storm.  Imagine a rainbow full of radiant color stretching across the sky from one end to the other.  It is beautiful and inspiring, the cause for a smile and delight.  Now compare that to the storm that preceded it.  In the midst of the storm, the coming rainbow would not have been thought about.  Instead, the primary focus is to seek shelter.  Reflect upon how this may be similar to your personal life.  When you feel pain or are bombarded with challenges do you run and hide?  You should also remind yourself that every struggle is the precursor to a rainbow.  Keep the blessings of God’s Mercy alive in your mind so that they will daily carry you through the challenges of life.

Lord, keep my eyes on You at all times.  May I retain hope and joy in the midst of every storm of life.  Please remind me when I feel oppressed and bombarded that this too shall pass and that You will bring my struggles and my life to a full and joyous conclusion.  Jesus, I trust in You.  

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Reflection 186: Transpierced by God

Has your soul been “transpierced” by God?  Does He “pervade” you?  Do you allow yourself to “dissolve” into His divinity and become “enveloped” by His Mercy?  There are so many words we can use to describe our relationship with God.  Though they all add to an articulation of who God is and what sort of relationship we should have with Him, none of them will ever fully be able to present the mystery of our union with Him.  We are called to “oneness,” to “transformative union.”  And this union is like a drop of water being placed into the mighty ocean.  Slowly and surely, that drop of water is lost in the vastness of the ocean depths.  So it is with God.  We are called to a unity so deep and so profound that words will never suffice to speak what the soul is called to experience (See Diary #983-984).

What is your relationship with God like?  Are the words above even a faint description of your life of prayer and communion with Him?  Do you see and experience Him interiorly, calling you to His unfathomable depths of Mercy?  Or is He distant to you, seen by you as someone you talk about and are aware of, but not living a “holy fusion” with?  The words we use matter because they point to the deeper reality.  Reflect upon how you would describe your relationship with God.  And when you find that no words suffice, you are on the right track.

Most Holy Trinity, may my whole being become consumed by the brightness of Your radiance.  May I become possessed by You in every way so that it will no longer be my life that is lived, but is Yours living within me, consuming me and transforming me.  May I be like that one small drop of water, entering into the mighty Ocean of Mercy.  Jesus, I trust in You.  

Image: The Ecstasy of St Cecilia, by Bernardo Cavallino

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Reflection 185:  Generosity with Unlimited Resources

If you were aware of great famine in a far away land, and were also blessed with unlimited resources to address that famine, why would you withhold this gift from those in need?  Hopefully you wouldn’t.  Hopefully you would see your responsibility and do what was necessary to satiate the thirst and satisfy the hunger of those in dire need.  But there is a great famine, and you are blessed with an unlimited resource to address this famine.  The famine is the hunger and thirst for the Mercy of God.  Yet most people who are starving for this Mercy are unaware that this is what they seek.  The unlimited resource you have been given is the Mercy of God.  He has entrusted you with the task of dispensing His Mercy and withholds nothing from you.  Do you see the importance of your cooperation with this grace?  Do not shy away from God’s call to bring His limitless Mercy to others (See Diary #975).

In what way is God calling you to distribute His wealth.  No one is deserving of the Mercy of God, that’s why it’s Mercy.  But everyone is invited to feast on this grace.  The Lord wants to use you as a dispenser of His Divine Mercy.  All you need to do is to be ready and willing to allow Him to use You as He wills.  You will not be acting on your own; rather, God will act through you.  But He is only able to act if you let Him.

Lord, I thank You for the limitless gift of Your Divine Mercy.  And I thank You that I am called to become a dispenser of this grace.  Help me to say “Yes” to You in all things and to embrace the responsibility that You have given to me.  Use me, dear Lord, however You will, and give me the wisdom and courage I need to be a generous dispenser of Your Divine Mercy to a world in dire need.  Jesus, I trust in You.  

Image: St Anthony's Bread, by Lawrence OP, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. 

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Reflection 184: The Mercy of the Ministry of Priests

No, priests are not perfect.  They sin day in and day out.  They are in constant need of repentance and conversion in their daily lives just like all the rest of humanity.  But they are priests.  And because of their sacred ordination, the Lord speaks through them in a clear yet mysterious way.  Some speak with the authority of Christ only when speaking the words of Consecration at Mass or the words of Absolution in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Others embrace the charism of their ordination and are used by God in a multitude of other ways, through their preaching, their holy living, and their words of counsel offered to their flock.  Seek out these holy priests.  Listen to them and allow the Lord to guide you through them.  For in listening to the voice of God, spoken through them, you will be blessed with an abundance of Mercy (See Diary #968).

Ponder today, with all charity, the priests that God has placed in your life.  It may be your own parish priest, or a priest speaking through the written word, or a priest speaking through some other form of modern communication.  God will point you to His holy priests and will speak to you directly through them.  Listen to them, for in hearing their words you will be hearing the words of the Mercy of God.

Lord, I thank You for establishing the sacred priesthood as a sign of Your continued sacramental presence in the world.  I pray for all priests, especially those You have entrusted with my pastoral care.  May I always be open to You, speaking through them, in their sacred ministry.  And may I respond with abandon and generosity at the sound of Your voice spoken from their lips. Give me humility, dear Lord, that I may always hear Your voice spoken through priests.  Jesus, I trust in You.  
Image: Ordination and first mass of Saint John of Matha, by Vicente Carducho  

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Reflection 183: Attentiveness to the Value of Suffering

When we suffer, we look for a way out.  We seek relief.  But from Heaven, we will be able to look back and see the immense power of freely chosen and embraced suffering.  It’s not that suffering is good in and of itself; rather, it’s that suffering has been redeemed and endowed with a spiritual power by God as a result of the sufferings of Christ.  Therefore, if you trust in the Lord, let Him reveal to you, here and now, the great value of your suffering freely embraced.  By embracing every hardship that comes your way, you will be making an offering to God that can only be understood by grace.  This will not make sense to the world, but it will become a powerful weapon of Mercy through which the Lord will do great things to you and through you, He will flood the world with His grace.  Do not wait until Heaven to become aware of this sacred gift of the redemption of your inner suffering offered in confident prayer to God (See Diary #963).

Are you aware of the power of your suffering when you freely unite it to the sufferings of Christ?  Does this make sense to you?  This realization is only possible by grace and is only embraced by that same grace.  Reflect, today, upon what you do suffer interiorly and do not shy away from it.  Face it, embrace it and love it.  For in that holy embrace, God will work wondrously in and through your life.

Lord, make me attentive to the value of all I suffer in my soul.  Help me to see this as a gift of Your Divine Mercy.  I recognize the fact that I do not recognize the power in this holy gift.  Give me Your eyes to see my suffering as You see it, and Your Will to embrace it with a holy embrace.  I make this offering to You, this day, dear Lord.  Jesus, I trust in You.  

Image: Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence, by Lawrence OP, license CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

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Reflection 182: Wisdom to Penetrate the Secrets of Pride

Pride can consume us.  When it does, all we think about is ourselves and our own pain.  Perhaps you can relate to this.  Maybe you’ve encountered a wound and you sit and sulk over that wound.  It creates bitterness in your heart and you seek to heal that wound.  But when this happens, it is often our pride that leads us to remedy hurt through a form of revenge, anger or self-pity.  We can even fool ourselves into thinking that our desire to solve our problem and rid ourselves of the hurt is justified by God.  But if you are willing to let the Lord penetrate the inner secret of your soul, you will see that your motivation in many things is your wounded pride.  This is not the solution.  What is needed is Mercy.  Mercy solves every problem.  First, you must seek Mercy from God, then you must offer it unconditionally to others.  There is no other way to resolve the hurt and confusion present in your soul.  This is a hard lesson to learn, but necessary (See Diary #958).

What is it that motivates you?  Perhaps you have some interior obsession that you can’t seem to shake.  Perhaps it lingers in your mind day and night.  Be attentive to this and identify it as your own sin.  Do not hesitate to humble yourself to the fullest extent and do not be afraid to take ownership of the pain you feel.  Pointing the finger at another does not heal and does not remedy anything.  We are solely responsible as a result of our pride.  Seeing this is a grace of the Lord’s mysterious and unfathomable Mercy.

Lord, I cannot shake the anger, the hurt and the pain I feel at times.  It is overwhelming and all-consuming, subtle and deceptive.  But it is my sin, lurking within me drawing me from You, keeping me from true repentance.  Lord, I do repent and I beg You to humble me so that I may love You with my whole being.  Jesus, I trust in You.  

Image: The story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, by Gustave Doré

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Reflection 181: Holy Indifference

Does it matter what the Will of God is for you?  That may sound like a strange question at first.  But think about it.  Does it matter what God wills of you?  What if He were to call you to constant work?  Or what if He were to call you to a restful repose?  Or what if He were to fill you with delight?  Or remove all delight from your soul?  Or call you to be extolled and honored in the sight of many?  Or draw you into the desert of solitude and hiddenness?

The truth is that it matters not what God’s call is in our lives, it only matters that He calls.  We must strive for a holy indifference in our lives.  A “holy” indifference is not indifference to God and His Will; rather, a holy indifference is a detachment to all preferences regarding what the Lord asks of us.  We must be ready for all but we must be willing to receive nothing.  The goal is to be ready for God and His Will, whatever it may be (See Diary #952).

Reflect upon whether or not you are ready and willing to accept whatever God wills of you.  What He wills is not as important as the fact that He wills.  This may be a difficult subtlety to grasp at first.  But it’s important to understand.  The simple truth is that we should be ready for anything God asks of us without clinging to our personal preference.  If you can achieve this level of detachment, the Mercy of God will begin to flow in abundance in your life, and through you into the lives of many others.

Lord, I surrender to You all my selfish preferences in life.  I give You complete freedom to do whatever You will in my life.  No matter what You ask of me, I accept, and no matter what You take from me, I give to You.  Give me, dear Lord, the grace of a holy indifference so that I may be free to love You and Your holy Will more than life itself.  Jesus, I trust in You.  

Image: Saint Mary of Egypt in the Desert, by David Teniers the Younger

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Reflection 180: The Passion of Jesus

We who are familiar with the Gospels may suffer, at times, from a certain indifference to the sufferings of Christ.  We hear the story read each year, have seen many images of the Passion, and as a result of this familiarity, we can fail to allow it to have the proper effect on our lives.  But the Passion is real, it happened, and we should give it our full attention.  Though it may not be pleasant, on one level, it is an act of love so mysterious that it requires much grace to enable us to penetrate its meaning and significance in our lives.  Every scourge, ridicule, nail and thorn wounded not only our Lord’s body, but it caused excruciating pain to His soul.  But every pain that He endured He took into His Heart and redeemed it, offering it to the Father for the salvation of all.  We must see this great mystery of our faith and gaze upon it in awe and holy wonder (See Diary #948).

Have you gazed upon the suffering Jesus?  Have you allowed yourself to see His pain and His suffering?  Have you seen Him endure all in silence and acceptance?  Reflect upon this incredible mystery of our faith this day and allow yourself to grow in love and compassion for Him who endured so much for you.  Know that His suffering destroyed the effects of sin and transformed suffering itself into the instrument of His Divine Mercy.

Precious Lord, I thank You for Your suffering.  For in this act You took human suffering into Your glorious soul and redeemed it.  You endured the effects of my sin and said not a word.  Lord, You paid the price for my sins and You did so with perfect love and resolve.  Give me the grace, dear Lord, to embrace all that I suffer and to unite it to the redeeming power of Your holy Cross.  In that unity, free me from my sins and pour forth Your abundance of Mercy.  Jesus, I trust in You.  

Image: Christ as the Suffering Redeemer, by Andrea Mantegna

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