St. Faustina: Message of Divine Mercy

The Message of Mercy which St. Faustina so faithfully presented is one in which the reality of God's unfathomable and radical love is made present to the soul in an understandable and knowable way. Christ's Message of Mercy is, in a sense, the hope of all hopes.'Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet'

DENVER, CO (Catholic Online) - As the prophet Isaiah testifies, the People Israel were a people whose yearning for the Lord was of such an intensity that even his memory became the desire of their souls: "Indeed, while following the way of Your Judgments, O Lord, We have waited for you eagerly; Your name, even Your memory, is the desire of our souls" (26:8). Many years later, our God who the People eagerly awaited walked the earth, and, "as the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to him" (Lk 15:1), told a story of a man who had "two sons" (Lk 15:11). Two thousand years hence, that story which flowed from the lips of the Son of the Living God is the most often repeated parable the world has ever known: The Parable of the Prodigal Son. At the center of the parable of the Prodigal Son is the merciful father. "Only the heart of Christ who knows the depths of his Father's love could reveal to us the abyss of his mercy in so simple and beautiful a way" (CCC No. 1439, excerpt). God revealed himself as mercy and love when he uttered the parable of a son who was once lost but then found. Yet when we saw our Savior offer his life-giving body on the cross the mercy and love told in the story of the Prodigal Son was revealed anew in a blinding light of infinite, limitless, and incomprehensible brightness. One could argue that of the attributes of God, infinite Mercy is the one that brings the greatest consolation to the sinner's heart. "I affirm that . . . the Gentile peoples are to praise God because of his mercy" (Romans 15:8-9). The world needs understand that the Message of Mercy continues on as it is transmitted in the living tradition of the Catholic Church Christ himself founded. Guided by the Holy Spirit, the Church proclaims this day-as she will each day in the future-the Message of Mercy in its fullness. In the past century, there is one person in communion with the Catholic Church who stands out among all others as a brilliant lens which reflects and focuses Christ's Message of Mercy. She brings to the world the heart of Christ who alone knows the depths of Love. She brings us a profound message, not new but presented anew, which rends our hearts and brings tears to our eyes. And she does so not in her own words only, but in the words spoken by the Son who uttered the parable of a son who was saved by Mercy. Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska was the third of ten children born into a poor family who lived in the village of Glogowiec, in the heart of Poland. At the tender age of seven, she sensed within her soul the mysterious, loving call to the religious life. On August 1, 1925, St. Maria entered the convent of the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, in Warsaw. Thrilled to give herself completely to Christ, she wrote these thoughts on crossing the convent's threshold in her Diary: "It seemed to me that I had stepped into the life of Paradise. A single prayer was bursting forth from my heart, one of thanksgiving" (Diary, 17). St. Faustina offered herself completely to Christ in a radical denial of self; as a result, our Lord also profoundly gave of himself to her, showering her with many extraordinary mystical gifts during her time in the convent, where she spent 13 years performing her duties as gardener, doorkeeper and cook. Among these graces, she experienced the gift of contemplation, visions, revelations, the hidden stigmata, prophecy, reading into human souls, and mystical espousals. During her time in the convent, St. Faustina wrote down in her Diary the many sublime messages she received from Christ who is Mercy. As we read these messages, there is the constant theme-as we also find in the Gospel-of both boundless mercy and the serious, urgent need of repentance. Thus there is, as the Catholic Church teaches, an inseparable relationship between Christ's mercy and repentance. In keeping with the theme of mercy and repentance, it is necessary to make a few distinctions. A temptation which often presents itself is the notion that God is infinite love and mercy alone; that is, there is in this present age of widespread moral relativism and the "spirituality of me" the tendency to disregard-or disbelieve-in the fact that God is also infinite justice. For instance, as just one example of many, it is entirely common to encounter those who think it is really quite ridiculous to insist upon the requirement to attend Mass each day of obligation. Those who hold this view of dissent, carelessly think it matters little that they are at odds with the Magisterium of the Catholic Church Christ himself founded. And, in the same way, they are hardly concerned with the Third Commandment (see Exodus 20:2-17; CCC Nos. 2168-88), for they tell themselves over and over again in their disobedience that God loves them as they are. Yes, it is true that God loves us, but that fact does not in any way negate the call to fervent repentance and holiness which we are obliged to take seriously. The point is, is that one message of our Savior's Passion and Death is Mercy, but what that Passion and Death Christ endured has done for us demands justice. The two cannot be separated as if one alone matters. Therefore, just as the Gospel message which was written down under the breath of the Holy Spirit places demands upon our lives, so too does the Message of Mercy St. Faustina received from our Savior. Jesus revealed to St. Faustina that he demands we glorify and pay reverence to his mercy: "I demand . . . deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it. I am giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor: the first-by deed, the second-by word, the third-by prayer. In these three degrees is contained the fullness of mercy and it is an unquestionable proof of love for Me. By this means a soul glorifies and pays reverence to My mercy" (Diary, 742). Catholics have been given the treasures of the fullness of truth within the Catholic Church, where it is possible to receive the sacraments of life Christ himself instituted. Our Lord explains that the sacrament of Reconciliation, also known as Confession, is indeed the "fountain" of his mercy: "When you go to Confession, to this fountain of My mercy, the Blood and Water which came forth from My Heart always flow down upon your soul and ennoble 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 away from them to humble souls. "Tell souls where they are to look for solace; that is, in the Tribunal of Mercy. There the greatest miracles take place [and] are incessantly repeated. To avail oneself of this miracle, it is not necessary to go on a great pilgrimage or to carry out some external ceremony; it suffices to come with faith to the feet of My representative [in the sacrament of Reconciliation] and to reveal to him one's misery and the miracle of Divine Mercy will be fully demonstrated. Were a soul like a decaying corpse so that from a human standpoint, there would be no [hope of] restoration and everything would already be lost, it is not so with God. The miracle of Divine Mercy restores that soul in full. Oh, how miserable are those who do not take advantage of the miracle of God's mercy! You will call out in vain, but it will be too late" (Diary, 1602, 1448). The Message of Mercy St. Faustina so faithfully presented is one in which the reality of God's unfathomable and radical love is made present to the soul in an understandable and knowable way. Christ's Message of Mercy is, in a sense, the hope of all hopes; for it infuses within us a fresh, powerful and hopeful light; in fact, those who have taken our Savior's Message of Mercy to heart might even claim that it has given them an entirely new life. "And it will be said in that day, 'Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation'" (Isaiah 25:9). In following Christ to the very end, St. Faustina laid down her life in sacrifice for sinners through her constant and complete dedication to the Message of Mercy she received from Christ, which, for her, involved exhausting fasts and severe moral and spiritual trials. This beautiful, caring and tender Saint died in the opinion of sanctity on October 5, 1938, mystically united to the God she so completely loved. St. Faustina was only 33 years old. What great sacrifices this Saint made for the Church. St. Faustina, we love you. Pray for us that we may have Mercy. "Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet"-Diary, 699 ----- F. K. Bartels believes his Catholic Faith is one of the greatest treasures a man could ever have. He is managing editor of catholicpathways.com, and a contributing writer for Catholic Online.

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