Quite honestly, last year and all previous years of my life, I was unaware of this day. I never really heard of it (because I wasn't paying attention), I didn't know where it came from, and I didn't know what it was all about.
But last summer, when I was finding myself in re-converting myself wholly to my Catholic faith, I discovered this gem of a feast day. Yes, a gem! My soul feels flooded with love for this day! And it is all because I read a book: The Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska.
It was difficult at first for me to accept her revelations--like St. Thomas, we like to use our own senses for "proof" instead of just believing someone else's words--but I realized that if we don't believe He can appear to people, then we must discount the writings and experience from St. Paul.
There were two main ideas from Jesus, conveyed by St. Faustina, that stuck with me the most:
“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 graces 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 and inscrutable 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…”
“There is no misery that could be a match for My mercy, neither will misery exhaust it, because as it is being granted-it increases. The soul that trusts in My mercy is most fortunate, because I myself take care of it.”These two paragraphs are essential to understanding God's mercy. For one, those who sin the most are most entitled to Christ's mercy. So someone who knows that they are a sinner, and they might even call themselves a "big" sinner, they can have full confidence in knowing that Jesus' help, grace, mercy, and love are not just for those who appear to be good all the time. That was His message in the Gospels, too. Jesus didn't come for the righteous, but for sinners. Likewise, when someone tries every moment of every day to avoid sin, when they delight in His Divine Mercy, they know will full trust that they can stand back and invite others in, because those who live in sin or who have great sins on their soul are more entitled to come to Jesus. What a beautiful thing! And it is because He said that there is no sin that is too great for His mercy. There is no combination of great sins that is too much for Him. There is nothing that Christ can't handle and forgive in a contrite heart. Jesus compared His mercy to a vast ocean. One where you can see no borders and no ocean floor. Even the worst sins are but a drop of water in this Ocean of Mercy. That, my friends, is difficult to understand. We humans tend to be very conditional in our forgiveness, and even when we forgive, it is hard for us to forget. But when a miserable and sinful soul runs to those merciful red and white rays from His Merciful Heart, the Heavens rejoice! Jesus has mercy on such a soul, forgiving their sins, seeing them anew, and pours out a flood of graces to help that soul who trusts in Him.
I can truly attest for His great mercy from my own experiences in the last year. When you but peek through the door for Him, He runs to you with open arms and a Heart full of mercy and grace. That grace shines in your soul so that you can understand the gravity of your sins. At that point, you feel the weight of them. You see yourself scourging Him or putting nails in His Hands. You have no choice but to throw yourself at His Feet with a sorrowful heart, seeking mercy and forgiveness. When you receive that forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, your life feels changed. You can actually begin to grasp the idea of an Ocean of Mercy. You feel so much inside you: grace, a heart on fire with love, and a deep desire to bring others to the Ocean of Mercy. It's not enough to keep such a treasure to yourself. My love for God has grown because of His mercy and I am a changed person because of it.
I have a particular devotion to St. Faustina because of her diary. I know she prays for every soul that reads it. She prays for souls who approach His mercy either for the first time ever or for the first time in a long time. I know she was praying for me before my first Confession in almost 9 years. St. Faustina is a great saint to turn to for help and prayers, and I know that she can't disappoint.
I pray for so many things today. I pray for all of you to read St. Faustina's Diary. I pray that you trust in Christ's mercy. I pray that you return to His mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I pray for your heart to be on fire for His mercy, and to understand that those people that you see around you every day, doing "bad things," are the ones who are most entitled to come to Jesus. They have the priority and greatest need! I pray for those souls daily, and I pray that you will pray for them too.
Seek His mercy, particularly today on Divine Mercy Sunday. Jesus said, "On that day all the Sources of my Mercy will be open. I wish that this Feast become a refuge for all souls, but especially for the sinners."
And now I will leave you with a few more quotes from Jesus Himself that are found in the Diary:
“Tell souls not to place within their own hearts obstacles to My mercy, which so greatly wants to act within them. My mercy works in all those hearts which open their doors to it. Both the sinner and the righteous person have need of My mercy. Conversion, as well as perseverance, is a grace of My mercy.”
“Today the Lord said to me, Daughter, when you go to confession, to this fountain of My mercy, the Blood and Water which came forth from My heart always flows down upon your soul and ennobles it. Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself entirely in My mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul. When you approach the confessional, know this, that I Myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest, but I myself act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy. Tell souls that from this fount of mercy souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust. If their trust is great, there is no limit to My generosity. The torrents of grace inundate humble souls. The proud remain always in poverty and misery, because My grace turns way from them to humble souls.”
"The greatest sinners could become great saints if they trusted in my Mercy. I delight in sanctifying the souls. The greatest sinners have the individual right to my Mercy. It is for Me a joy when they go to my Mercy. I overflow them with my graces above their expectations."
"The loss of each soul brings me to a mortal sadness. You always console me when you pray for sinners. The prayer that is most pleasing to Me is the prayer for the conversion of sinners. You have to know, My daughter Mine, that this prayer is always heard."
O, Blood and Water which gushed forth from The Heart of Jesus as a fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in You.
"Draw a picture according to how you see me, with the invocation: 'Jesus I Trust in You.' I want that image venerated throughout the world... Both rays mean the Blood and the Water. The pale ray symbolizes the Water that it justifies to the souls. The red ray symbolizes the Blood that is the life of the souls... Both rays emerged from the deepest entrails of My mercy when My dying Heart was pierced in the cross by the lance... I promise that the soul that venerates this image will not perish. I already promise here on Earth victory over the enemies: mainly at the time of death. I myself will defend them like my Glory. I offer mankind a container where they can come to the source of Mercy to gather graces. That container is this image with the inscription 'Jesus I Trust in You' under and not on the image."
For more quotes from the Diary: click here
For the Divine Mercy Chaplet: click here
For the Divine Mercy Novena: click here
